NPC Codex + an atlas(or google maps over africa or central asia)
I'm not sure it's what you're looking for, but it might help.
The inner sea world guide really helps out. Enough info for u to get a feel for the politics and tone of the countrys with important towns and people, but open enough for u to set up ur own campaigns.
What you're talking about is a sandbox setting.
Check out the Wilderlands of High Fantasy d20 boxed set by Necromancer Games. Here's a review and here's another. Here's the NG forum for the product. It's a massive sandbox world/campaign setting with lots of maps, NPCs, small city statblocks and sketeched adventure hooks. Some people ran great sandbox campaigns in it. It's 3.5 though and a d20 update of licensed Judges Guild material, of which NG did a few more products.
NG published many similar products albeit of smaller scope and with a bit of a module/adventure built in though still quite sandboxy. Check out The Grey Citadel for example or the Lost City of Barakus. "The Mother of all Encounter Tables" is another interesting NG product and they have a wilderness hex crawl line/setting.
Frog God Games the inheritor of some NG material is publishing some similar material for PFRPG and there's an upcoming campaign setting from them. Stoneheart Valley might be something similar for PFRPG.
So in general check out FGG and the old NG stuff.
Also Razor Coast while having plot is still very sandboxy and nonlinear. Just check out the reviews...
And last not least The Alexandrian blog articles on hexcrawl, encounter design, the importance of wandering monster tables, and (advanced) node based design might be interesting food for though.
$70 is about the retail price for the print box and IMHO more than fair. Set up an eBay search and maybe you get it for slightly less. I'd grab it up for 70 though ..
Oh i see you got the price from the judges guild site. This baby is out of print, prices on amazon and eBay tend to be mostly horrendously inflated, but the last auction starting low ended at about $ 70 I think. Or try no nobleknightgames or get the PDF.
I would really like to buy an open world campaign book that just has the world map, detailed maps of all cities and towns and notable NPCs in them that a DM can just overlay with their own grand Story but if a party just wants to roam and travel, that middle ground is better filled and works as well. Then as a follow up book they can release small side quests organized by city town or region. So you can take your party out on a elder scrolls kinda system where if you or they get tired of the main quest you can side quest unplanned for on the fly fun.
Paizo does kinda do this, but more focused. Only real problem is that its in separate books, and almost all of this focus is on Varisia.
Varisia: Birthplace of Legends provides an overview of the region itself, with separate books specifically about the major cities, Magnimar, Korvosa and Kaer Magra(sp), and their surrounding areas.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing them make a Big Book of Varisia that compiles all this together (and various individual stuff from the Adventure Paths, continuity nods or not)
SpirosBlaak suits your suggestion.
Christina ill have to look at my SpirosBlaak again. That said many of the old Mythic Vista books could qualify, but Wilderlands excels.
Check out this eBay auction for a complete d20 Wilderlands/Judges Guild lot at $100 (incl City State of the Invincible Overlord, Caverns of Thracia, PG to the Wilderlands and the Wilderlands box)
|
Christina ill have to look at my SpirosBlaak again. That said many of the old Mythic Vista books could qualify, but Wilderlands excels.
Check out this eBay auction for a complete d20 Wilderlands/Judges Guild lot at $100 (incl City State of the Invincible Overlord, Caverns of Thracia, PG to the Wilderlands and the Wilderlands box)
You should try and go for this set - at this price it is a good deal and will match what you are looking for almost perfectly.