Pyramid Pick
Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide
Published by Kenzer & Company
Written by Lloyd Brown III, Brian Jelke, David S. Kenzer, Noah Kolman, Don Morgan, Mark Plemmons
272 b&w pages; $29.95
I admit that the advertisements for the Player's Guide had me cracking up. Imagine a company claiming that quality and cross compatibility are assured because the product is an officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons book. Even more humorous to me was the "Rulebook IV" on the cover. With those two factors in mind, I already felt doubtful about how useful a campaign specific book would be based on the marketing alone.
Imagine my surprise when I discover that a good chunk of the book is indeed easily compatible with any setting, and that the whole book is a top-notch product. Broken up into twelve chapters with six appendices and an index, the Player's Guide is a tour de force on how to write a supplement.
While chapter one, Races, isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea due to it being specific to Kalamar, it does provide some new material as well as variants that have no increase in base levels. For example, if you ever wanted to play a hobgoblin or half-hobgoblin and found the Slayer's Guide a bit lacking, this chapter has you covered. The other races of Tellene, like dark elves, deep gnomes, and golden Halflings, are detailed with fewer powers, making them standard characters instead of characters whose base race makes them a higher level. Each race starts off with a brief introduction, . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: May 17, 2002
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