In the savage north lies a realm where only those who slay mighty draconic linnorms are fit to rule. Where giants and trolls dwell just beyond the veneer of civilization, lying in wait to attack any who tread too far into the wild. Where the magical influence of the First World of the fey hides just beyond a thin layer of reality. Where barbarians, berserkers, and raiders constitute civilization, and the weak serve the strong. These are the fabled, savage, and noble Lands of the Linnorm Kings.
Lands of the Linnorm Kings presents a comprehensive overview of these mighty kingdoms, a realm of powerful viking kings, capricious fey, and savage beasts.
Inside this book, you will find:
A complete overview of the seven realms of the Linnorm Kingdoms, from the traditional raiders of Broken Bay to the sinister fey of Grungir Forest and the war-torn borderland of Hagreach, complete with histories, notes on current events and society, and a gazetteer of each region.
Detailed maps of seven of the most important cities of the Linnorm Kingdoms, from the streets of White Estrid’s Halgrim to the sprawl of Kalsgard, the region’s capital.
Numerous adventure sites and events where hopeful adventurers can prove their worth.
Rules for building reputation among the vikings of the land, using weregild to avoid blood feuds, and designing effigies and punishments capable of putting fear into the hearts of your enemies.
A bestiary of new monsters and NPCs from the land, such as the legendary linnorm Fafnheir and the fey animal template or iconic Ulfen raiders and berserker cannibals.
Lands of the Linnorm Kings is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game setting.
Written by Matthew Goodall, Jonathan Keith, Colin McComb, and Rob McCreary
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-365-1
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
So I wanted to be sceptical about this product. Living in the region of this world from whence the vikings set sail to raid the world, my childhood was filled with lore of that glorious people. So when I learned that Paizo was doing a book on the Linnorm Kingdoms, I was excited. I wanted to be sceptical but that just didn't happen. It was Paizo so it had to be good. Even when the book arrived in my mail box and I started reading the thing, I tried so damn hard to be sceptical. But it didn't happen.
See, like every regional sourcebook Paizo has released for the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, this one does not describe every minute detail of viking society. It doesn't reveal the inner workings of Gorum's clergy in the region nor does it give a page-long account of the average farmer's day (yes people, there are indeed farmers in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings). What the book, like every other regional sourcebook to date, does do is provide an unbelievable amount of locations, personalities, and conflicts for us GMs to take to the gaming table and give our players a good time. And it does that damn well.
The book starts out with a gazetteer of the seven kingdoms and a timeline spanning from -624AR to the present date. Each entry discusses the social mindset of the kingdom and then proceeds to describe some of the most interesting locations in the kingdom. These entries are well written and filled to bursting point with adventure material. While each kingdom is a part of the Linnorm Kingdoms, they are all very different and some kingdoms aren't really kingdoms at all but rather wild regions claimed by no Linnorm King. Each kingdom presents its own set of possibilities. If you want to focus on the political tension between the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and Irrisen, then Hagreach is just the kingdom for you. If you find the struggle between tradition and progress to be fascinaing, the Ironbound Isles should keep you busy for a while. If you want to really explore the viking raiders aspect of this viking culture, look no farther than the Broken Bay. And so on and so forth.
The next chapter features specific events and adventure sites that can serve as fodder for the creative GM's mind. These sites and events can all set the stage for entire campaigns set in the Linnorm Kingdoms and, in the case of sea raids, beyond. Each entry includes a stat block containing information about where the site/event is located, its master, and any notable inhabitants as well at least half a page of fluff about the entry.
The third chapter in the book introduces three new mechanics to the game - reputation, effigies, and weregild. Reputation is just that. The mechanic is a representation of your character's reputation based on the adventures he's been on and the experiences he'd had during those adventures. It allows the character bo "buy" certain advantages, such as a favor, a gift or loan, or weregild payment. Effigies are used to strike fear into the hearts of enemies. Sample effigies are the standard effigy (such as heads mounted on spikes), blood eagle, the nithing pole, the tree of souls, and the wicker man. Finally the weregild mechanic represents an aspect of viking law that allows a person to pay with money for any crime he may have committed. The chapter wraps up with a description of three magic items - the banner of the ancient kings, the harp of storms, and the greatsword Rixbrand.
The last chapter in the book is the bestiary. It features three monsters (the huldra, the mindslaver mold, and the mountain troll), one template (the fey animal template), four generic NPCs (the berserker cannibal, the Blackraven scout, the longboat captain, and the ulfen raider), and one very unique NPC - Fafnheir, the Father of All Linnorms.
This book is a must-have for GMs running games set in Golarion. Even for games not specifically set in the Linnorm Kingdoms, there's a lot of cool information to get from this book. The new mechanics are decent enough and I could see effigies and reputation being used in non-Linnorm Kingdoms games. The bestiary is just phenomenal. I really enjoyed the generic NPCs and I hope it's something Paizo will continue doing. If you're running a game set in the Linnorm Kingdoms, those generic NPCs will come in very handy.
The Lands of the Linnorm Kings is one of the most robust Pathfinder Campaign setting books I have read. Paizo has really stepped up their quality, as this book contains detailed and well written regional information, campaign integration guidelines (including a reputation rules-set), and a nice bestiary (with some generic NPCs). This book was written by a dream team of Paizo authors, Matthew Goodall, Jonathan Keith, Colin McComb, and Rob McCreary and contained everything I expected from a campaign supplement with an attention to detail that took it above and beyond.
The regional information section includes a timeline and details on the areas of Broken Bay, Grungir Forest, Hagreach (Which includes the city of Trollheim), Icemark, the Ironbound Islands, Southmoor, and the Thanelands. Each area contains background information, a gazetteer, information on the rulers, and a map of the capital (or significant landmark). This section was really interesting to me as it gave much more detailed information on areas I have played and run in PFS. I particularly liked the area on Hagreach as I have always been curious about Trollheim, the Blackravens, and Freyr Darkwine.
The following chapter, the Proving Grounds, is a list of adventure sites and events. When I first skimmed this chapter I dismissed it as adventure hooks and MacGuffins. When I took the time to read through it, I realized that they are more like adventure seeds. Each section includes a short stat block with a location, master, and notable inhabitants. It then has detailed information for building adventures around a location and an event. It gives a GM everything they need in order to build a rich adventure without leading them by the nose through a prebuilt scenario. Awesome job Paizo!
Chapter 3 has tools useful for GMs running campaigns in the Linnorm Kingdoms or any Viking setting including rules for reputation, effigies, weregild and ransom, and stats on three powerful magical items. As I read through this chapter I imagined myself either playing or running a game with Viking raids, adventuring to dark caves and fighting linnorms, massive Viking combat, and delving deep into the Ulfen culture. This chapter seemed very specialized in its use and will be widely ignored by players and GMs who focus on PFS and those not interested in creating their own Viking campaign setting.
The Bestiary goes a little beyond what I expect from a campaign book. We are given the usual encounter tables (all bestiary 1, 2, and this book) and a collection of creatures. We have the usual monsters of the region (5 new creatures!), plus four detailed generic NPC! This was my second favorite section since it gifted me with unique monstery goodness plus some nice statblocks to aid me with Ulfen encounters and character concept inspiration.
Who should buy this book?
Anyone interested in running a Viking game. It has plenty of details to run a game in the intended region or the location details, adventure seeds, and rulesets can be easily ported to any campaign setting .
Readers who want to deepen their understanding of another awesome region of Golarion.
GMs and Players looking to deepend their Ulfen Characters’ backgrounds.
PFS Judges who want to run richer locations and encounters in scenarios based in this region.
In conclusion, I love this book. I don’t run home games anymore yet I found myself wanting to build a Viking setting after reading it. I enjoyed the fluff, as setting and character detail are my favorite part of the game. Thanks Paizo for assembling a great collection of authors who were able to fit the richness of a 200 page campaign setting into a 63 page supplement.
I really enjoyed this book. It really brought the Lands of the Linnorm Kings into sharper clarity for me. Previously i did not have much interest in this country, but now I am very interested in it.
There are only two negatives i can say about this one. One is the same problem I had with Rule of Fear, the book about Ustalav. As in that book this one also has chapters for the individual areas, but then certain sites within the area are detailed in another chapter. This was annoying in Rule of Fear and still annoying in this book. It just makes for more flipping back and forth then should really be necessary. It would be so much better in both books just to have that information in the same chapter section.
The only other negative i would say associated with this book, is that there was not a whole AP devoted to this area. Just a really brief stopover during the current(and to me, boring) AP.
All in all, this book is well worth the price, and i hope that Paizo eventually sets an entire AP in this area.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Just out of curiosity, if Fafnheir's name considered Open Game Content? I know the dragon Fafnir is mythological, and so can't be protected content, but the spelling here seems to be unique to this book, and between that and the prohibition that specific character names are Product Identity, I'm curious where "Fafnheir" falls.
Just out of curiosity, if Fafnheir's name considered Open Game Content? I know the dragon Fafnir is mythological, and so can't be protected content, but the spelling here seems to be unique to this book, and between that and the prohibition that specific character names are Product Identity, I'm curious where "Fafnheir" falls.
Fafnheir's name is deliberately similar to the mythological name you mention... but we changed the spelling PRECISELY to protect it as product identity. It is not open content as a result.
are there any set modules out for this setting yet?
I have a northlands setting and having some pre-written modules would be great as I dont always have the time to write my own.
There's Curse of the Riven Sky as well. Although in my opinion the plot in that is generic enough that it could take place almost anywhere in Golarion.
Creative Director
