So, being on a long holyday in mountainside with three
small
children, during their blessed long naps, I read the
two books in
series.
I was struck by them (positively).
They contain loads of useful informations on
Pavis/Prax, tons of
insightful suggestions on the EWF, hundreds of
surprisingly fitting
scenario hooks. My respect for the editor and his
helpers surged up.
The long Grey Company Campaign is simply beautiful
(even if a bit too
long for my taste, but you can always cut when you
have more material
than you need while the opposite is not possible). The
hero bands are
very useful to arrange encounters/helpers/adversaries
all over Prax,
the Greatlands or even Dragon Pass and Kethaela.
There are invaluable pearls, like the
military/intelligence
informations about Lunarized Prax, the notes on
Mostali, on
Dragonewts, on Praxian Heortlings (a very mysterious
bunch of
outcasts until now) and humorous hints (such as the
Newtling Trading
Society). There are occult geomantic (or should I say
Gloranthomantic?) and massonic sects and loads of
infos on assassin
organizations. There are even almost complete (!)
references to
published material about Prax in other fanzines, canon
sources or web
sites.
In short, there is room for a dozen campaigns,
allowance for finally
extending your twenty year old RQ2/3 campaign (with
stats
available!!) or input to start a new one engaging a
lovely mix
between the old approach (RQ era) and the new one
(HW/HQ age).
A few observations: the stats for some guys seem too
high, in my
opinion: the number of masteries and
double-double-wibbles is maybe
too generous, but you can easily adapt them to your
taste. In the
Lhankor Mhy Library description there is surprisingly
no mention to
well known NPCs (maybe trademarked by lost authors?)
like Floriat
Fedora or Kollen Siff or Senna or Lucien the Diviner.
A serious
question about heortlings rests unanswered (do they
form tribes and
clans in Prax or simply live according to anonymous
stead/family
groups, easy prey to any nomad or Lunar magic-using
villain?).
The prize is not too high, considered the sheer number
of pages (more
than 100 each book), illos, stats and small font used
to better fill
any single page with Gloranthan Lore.
Buy it, read it, use it!
Ciao,
Gian
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