Gossamer Worlds: Poetica Mundi (Diceless) PDF

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The Grand Stair stretches behind the scenes of the multiverse,
The Doors upon its unfathomably vast span leading the way to gossamer worlds of limitless variety and infinite possibility. Poetica Mundi is a realm where poetry itself is the foundation of reality—where rhyming phrase beats laser rays...

There once was a gossamer realm,
With poetical force at the helm,
In delicate prose,
They spun weals and woes,
And nursed every ash, oak, and elm.

The waves and the wind and the hills,
Shift as pentameter spills,
These lyrical words,
Sing brightly as birds,
A manifestation of wills.

Sometimes it is madness, be sure,
Banality's bane is its cure,
When poetry's pouring,
Never tis boring,
Wide wonders drip wet with allure.

Gossamer Worlds: Poetica Mundi presents one of the infinite possibilities within Lords of Gossamer and Shadow by Jason Durall, powered by Erick Wujcik's Diceless Roleplaying.

Note: for a few sidebars, game mechanics and the domain table this product breaks with out standard format and is written in poetic verse.

Pages: 13
Author: Matt Banach
Cover Illustration: Marek Rakuč

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5.00/5 (based on 2 ratings)

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An Endzeitgeist.com review

5/5

Fifteen pages in total await, with two devoted to cover and credits,

leave thirteen, all suffused with content galore.

This must have required a gazillion of edits...

Why? Let's not tarry and read more!

Now this is unlike any of its brethren before,

even though I've reviewed more than a score.

You see, there's magic in worlds uncounted -

and on others, you'll find mechs, laser-mounted.

But in this world, which sees its fair share of strife,

reigns but one principle: Poetry is life.

And yes, let me state this brief and terse:

This whole book is written mostly in verse!

Where the forces of nature itself align,

and pentameters grow the waves,

with the fair muses' gift so sublime,

there is power is the lowliest staves.

Many lands and places dot this world,

courtesy of the fair poet's powers and that of their muses.

Granted, some of them may seem quite absurd,

but rules are provided for these roles and their uses.

The muses, symbiotically sustained,

by the poet's toil and victories

ensure that reality's maintained;

thus comes to life each of their stories.

The mistress of this wondrous land,

is neither mad, nor wicked witch or empress;

but beware if you plan to make a stand:

Mary Fair, of Copper Hair, commands legions, diverse and endless.

Among the skies of this weird world,

the fractalox fly free:

Embodiments of poetic math

suffused with chaos theory.

We get stats for the most common of their ilk,

gliding on tendrils of perfect polygons,

through skies, blasting foes with their photons,

silent, as a hand on purest, cold, silk.

Beyond the lands of far and wide, this land sports a nasty, mystic pox!

It scavenges your mind and rattles your thoughts, makes you want to eat your socks!

Fans of classic simian islands will get my drift; but wait a second, before you sift

through the internet's ether to research - I will state it here, all loud and clear:

The wretched fruit and color and word - all may infect your being,

as Orange, here, is more than all of these, more than a verbal sting:

It could be symptom or cause of most terrible afflictions - reality rejects it,

as your poetry crashes and you try oh so hard to correct it.

It may brand you an outcast, a leper or worse,

In this world that's governed all by verse.

From Meadowland to Newfangle Town,

you'll only be greeted with a sneer and a frown.

Perhaps, the one recourse is then, not to exert a poetic spasm,

but to visit instead, Ceasura's Chasm?

The space, that lies between all things,

where in absence, silence sings.

Obviously, we conclude,

anything other would be rude,

with a nice table of a concise summary

of rules of the world Poetica Mundi.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed not a single botch.

Two columns of text on each page,

provide this text's content and stage

and you don't have to be a scholar to appreciate art most gorgeous, all in color.

You won't have to scroll through this in crawl

there's a bookmark for one and all.

This inspired book by Matt Banach,

had me cackle with glee like a manic.

Please be lenient with my butchering of verse

shill out the low asking price from your purse.

This is my favorite in the whole line,

if this were bound paper, I'd kiss its spine!

I can't really praise this too high -

5 stars plus seal from this German guy.

Thus, I remain your reviewing kraut,

sincerely yours,

Endzeitgeist out.


Might yet enkindle you

5/5

Gossamer Worlds: Poetica Mundi presents a most unusual realm. Within “Poetry is both the spiritual substance of the world and the motive force behind all forms of creation, destruction, and change”, that is right, poetry is the force of life, movement and alteration, and all powers of destruction are under the control of poetry. This creates a setting whereby, as is stipulated “All communication, whether it be spoken, written, or conveyed telepathically, shall be in poetry.” From such expressions of poetry comes power and this means potentially anything can be changed and influenced via poetry.

Now this got my attention, as I was looking over Macbeth for an upcoming lesson when I decided to procrastinate. This pdf is what I opened appropriately enough, and I think it presents a wonderful roleplaying challenge. The setting, the world, is medieval, but it is also extremely high in magic, as the sole mode of effective communication: poetry, opens up immense possibilities. There are still stats and abilities and the system still stands, but think of the challenge of Poetica Mundi as an overlay to the system. This is an immensely original idea, and there is advice offered for helping a game master realise the full potential of the setting. Of course it would fit if one wanted to bring any of the stories from poems and plays to life in a game.

Suitably, almost everything written in this text is a poem, except stats (always resistant to the charm and beating life of poetry) and the help section. I wish this were a bit longer, as it is colourful in language and images but somewhat short. This is not quite enough to lose a full point for me. Fortunately, the price is excellent and you are buying something original in the world of rpgs.

The final thoughts deserve to be included so as to consider if this product is right for you:

Poetry made real,
recited with such zeal,
great beauty and appeal,
coax even jaded hearts to feel.



Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.

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