RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Okay, I've been looking for a campaign setting that is geared less towards fantasy and more towards historical accuracy. I mean, the regular fantasy elements are fine (magic, dragons, etc.) but I'm looking for a setting that leans more towards chivalry, nations at war, knightly orders, etc. and I've been considering Kingdoms of Kalamar. I only briefly looked at it and I wondered if anyone here has experience with this setting. Can someone provide me with some general background on the setting and describe what the political atmosphere or the setting is? Also, are there elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. in the setting or is it all human with non-humans as 'monsters'? Thanks in advance for the input.
I bought this setting when it first came out, and I did not like it. I do not recall alot of specifics, but the item has sat on my shelf since then.
It doesn't come off as much mroe accurate, really.
How historically accurate do you want to get? This may be a job for some homebrew.
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First off, I have a few Kalamar books: Kingdoms of Kalamar, Kalamar Player's Guide, Kalamar Atlas, Kalamar Villain Design Handbook, and Strength & Honor: The Mighty Hobgoblins of Tellene.
Second, I've actually played very little Kalamar. Too many books, too little time...
Here's my opinion. Kalamar is relatively new yet it caters to oldschool players. You get the impression that Mr. Gygax would be proud of this setting. The folks at Kenzer paid a great deal of attention to detail, especially to the geography. Everything from wind currents, trade routes, and plate tectonics are quite well described. The Atlas itself is Kalamar's greatest claim to fame as far as I'm concerned. A great resource for any DM attempting to create a campaign setting or world-building. Other insights follow:
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Races: Lots in common with Greyhawk, except hobgoblins play a major role in Kalamar. As far as antagonists go, these guys are honourable, powerful, yet evil. A refreshing change from bloodthirsty orcs.
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Religion: Polytheistic pantheon. However, all the races share the same 45 gods, they just have different names for them. Makes sense, but every god ends up with twelve different names and 3 to 11 nicknames, which can be a bit confusing sometimes. For example, The Vicelord is also known as "The Insulter," "His Immenseness," "Abaser," "The Indolent One," "Master of Depravity," "Slayer of Morals," "Violator of the Pure," "The Ravisher," "Sodomizer of All" (my personal favourite), "Almnas" to Brandobians, "Jy" to the Dejy, "Lamako" to Kalamarans, "Zohszi" to the Svimohzish, "Larr" to the Fhokki, "Foobia" to the Reanaarese, "Minakil" to the dwarves, "Lhaghari" to the elves, "Lothoeloth" to the gnomes, "Noorshar" to the halflings, "Stirnoggul-Brog" to the hobgoblins and finally "Grurg" to the orcs.
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Classes: Same base classes, but extra classes added: Basiran Dancer, Brigand, Infiltrator, Shaman, Gladiator, and Spellsinger.
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Other examples of detail: Great maps, every kingdom is detailed, every language is detailed and has a unique alphabet illustrated, church colours, holy days, & favourite animals are given for every god, constellations are illustrated and described, timeline going back 1000 years, population of every city, code of law & criminal code provided, army listings for every country, nomenclature chart, NPC reference chart (10 pages!), glossary, and a partial dictionary of several different languages.
It's a fun medieval setting, but don't expect anything out of the ordinary such as flying trains or dragon armies. If you're looking for a historically driven medieval setting that pays huge amounts of attention to detail, give it a try.
I too bought the setting when it came out, and I have to say that I didn't particular care for it. I never managed to read through the whole thing, I passed out about the time I was reading about the migration routes the humans followed to end up where they are now, and how they separated into the various kingdoms, etc. Perhaps that is something that would be of interest to you, but it was a little bit too in depth for me.
I like to have a good history for a campaign setting, don't get me wrong, but that went back just a little bit far for me.
But if that's the kind of thing you're looking for, I'd say go for it.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Hagen, the way you describe it does sound pretty much like what I'm looking for. I wasn't pleased with Eberron because it was a little TOO 'fantastic' with the trains and airships and all that. Forgotten Realms was pretty good but I wanted more national conflict and armies on the move. There's not a whole lot of good old-fashioned knights-on-horses warfare in FR outside of Cormyr.
I like FR's Cormyr. It's one of my favorite places to base a campaign out of (Waterdeep and Calimshan are the other two favs). I just wish that more of the setting was geared in the knightly fashion. It sounds like Kalamar might be a step in the right direction for this. I'll take a deeper look. Thanks!
You might also want to look at The Game of Thrones RPG it's based off of George R. R. Martins fantasy novels and is a low magic setting.
Hey Fatespinner,
I've been a Kalamar fan and DM for many years now and I have to say that you'll be hard pressed to find a more detailed and politically driven setting. Kalamar is more Greyhawk or Lankhmar in feel and the entire setting is more based on fantastic "realism" than many other settings.
As mentioned above, the setting book will seem a little dry when you first read it but if you give it a chance, you'll find a wealth of subtle plot hooks and game ideas that aren't so over-the-top.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Hey Fatespinner,
I've been a Kalamar fan and DM for many years now and I have to say that you'll be hard pressed to find a more detailed and politically driven setting. Kalamar is more Greyhawk or Lankhmar in feel and the entire setting is more based on fantastic "realism" than many other settings.
As mentioned above, the setting book will seem a little dry when you first read it but if you give it a chance, you'll find a wealth of subtle plot hooks and game ideas that aren't so over-the-top.
Awesome! This is starting to sound exactly like what I'm looking for. As for exceedingly long background stories, I don't mind. As I said, I played Forgotten Realms. :)