Messantia Box Set Received

[EricKRod]

Alright guys, just a few of the basics. Received box set today. :lol: Same look and size as Shadizar box set. Three small colored two-sided maps for miniature use. 16 npc cards, detailing some npc's and monsters (Grey Devil, Water Dragon, Ghoul, Spawn of the Black Heart, Bone Golem). 61 small circular punch-outs for use as miniatures. Good map that has some details and is numbered marked for key sites. Map looks original and doesn't show that big statue on the front of box anywhere.

Three reference books on the inside: Book 1 GM guide, Book 2 Secrets of the Streets, Book 3 Adventure "Adventure of the Golden Skull".

This box set looks really nice and is a great deal for the money. I haven't fully read through all the books, so I can't give you an answer about how many errors are to be found, if any. :?:

Eric in Vegas

 

[Camelon75]

Let me start by stating quite clearly I love the Conan products, I have purchased them all and will continue to purchase what I believe are very high quality products.

Just wondering if anyone else noticed the striking similarity between the Zamorian thug in Shadizar and the Argosian thug in Messantia.

maybe the both use the same stylist? :lol:

 

[Padre]

"Adventure of the Golden Skull"? What kind of lame title is that? Or is the Golden Skull do adventuring there?

Anyway, waiting for my copy of Messantia and Aquilonia. I want it NOW, dammit!

 

[EricKRod]

Well, I don't know if I would call the adventure "lame". The adventure is not what you think and is very interesting. I definately can relate about waiting for the products to arrive. Aquilonia just got here the day after Messantia and it's hard to decide which is my favorite.

Eric in Vegas

 

[GregLynch]

Well, I don't know if I would call the adventure "lame". The adventure is not what you think and is very interesting. I definately can relate about waiting for the products to arrive. Aquilonia just got here the day after Messantia and it's hard to decide which is my favorite.

Eric in Vegas

Glad to hear you're enjoying it.

 

[ethicalsean]

So... are there any goodies for the noble in the Messantia box set? It just so happens I'm playing an Argossean noble and am looking for a little love

 

[EricKRod]

My screen name say's "Eric in Vegas", not "Pimp in Vegas". If you need some questions answered about the Messantia box set, then I am happy to obliged. However if you need female companionship, then you should look into your local "cat-house". :lol:

Pimp in Vegas

 

[ethicalsean]

Let me rephrase that, is there any specific content such as feats, regional intrigue, and other stuff for the noble... or is it more a pirate book?

 

[RabidAntiShemite]

I have to say that the map is very disappointing. It something that I could put together in photoshop in a matter of a couple of hours.

After the map fiasco with Shadizar, I thought they'd try and raise the bar with this one. I was wrong.

That said, the writing and material is top notch.

 

[EricKRod]

Let me rephrase that, is there any specific content such as feats, regional intrigue, and other stuff for the noble... or is it more a pirate book?

Yes, they have some cool new character types that would fit well with a Noble class ( Merchant Prince, Agent of the Crown, etc.) Also have new feats and skills that would work well like 'Public Influence', 'Rapier Wit', 'Silver Tongue', 'Strong Social Standing', etc.

There is a great chapter on page 62 called, "Power & Politics: Guilds & Merchant Houses". Right up your alley.

As to the map thing, I don't really know how much detail you need in a map. All the critical area's are marked with explanations of each and other parts of the city are left open so a games master can design his own, unique campaign details.

Please give me an example of a superior roleplaying game map. I want to know what game company and what supplement it was in. Please

Eric in Vegas

 

[Camelon75]

Please give me an example of a superior roleplaying game map. I want to know what game company and what supplement it was in. Please

I will try to give examples of maps where I think the quality is good and only use examples where the subject is similar ie a city source book.

• 
  AEG Released a city box set for 7th SEA called Frieberg, I found this one of the most useful box sets ever to own.
  
  City state of the invincible overlord has a very nice lay out for its map, that's the new necromancer games hardback version
  
  Heart of glass by Troll lord games gives a nice layout , and quite similar to Messantia, but it has 2 sides with an artist impression on one and a top down block view on the other, IMHO it is still better than the Messantia main map with a crisp cleaner look to the top down view.
  
  Theives Quarter by game mechanics is a city source book focused on one quarter, guess which one, but the cartography in that is of a very high standard.
  
  And finally as they are not really fantasy but they are city books Arkham and Kingsport maps are even preferable to the lumps of colour produced in Messantia.

I have said this before on this forum, Whilst I like the Messantia boxed I really dont like this map and if I knew who produced it I would think twice before buying any other items they produce or at least ask to see them first

On a seperate note a good map is very useful to a city campaign, or even a few adventure it generally alloows the gm and player to get a very quick feel for the location with out having to go into too much detial, oh so the temple district is that big, it makes pc think twice about travelling all over the city as they can visualise the distance and different areas they would have to cross at a distance, and finally my most important reason for wanting good quality maps, I really dont like buying rubbish ones, that simple, but when its part of a greater box set we seem to get lumbered with one we may never use as it hasn't recieved the same level of production value as the rest of the set.

All of the above is only my opinion and I offer it so if you view the items you can make your own mind up.

:roll:

wow, now for a cuppa tea

 

[Arkobla Conn]

After looking at the map myself, I must concur. While it's better than that Shadizar thing, it's still ugly. First and formost, Get the numbers OFF the players map. Oh, Gee, lets go to house 145...that looks like it's in a central location and must be important. Duh. You can reproduce the map on 8 1/2 x 11 in black and white with numbers for the GM. After you save on the numbers, then you can think about a bit more character.

I've seen plenty of good maps myself, and very much like to use them as a player aid. It's a great reference as long as it doesn't give away anything. At least if you are going to number some houses, you gotta number them all....

 

[RabidAntiShemite]

The maps from Across Thunder River bury the maps and cartography in this product. It is really a step down. Like I said, I could make it with Photoshop in about 2 or 3 hours... and I'm not that good with the program.

Also, another great example of a city map is Genavue for Kingdoms of Kalamar.

 

[Nickbergquist]

"Adventure of the Golden Skull"? What kind of lame title is that? Or is the Golden Skull do adventuring there?

Anyway, waiting for my copy of Messantia and Aquilonia. I want it NOW, dammit!

As author of books 2 and 3, I can safely assert that the title is "Vengeance of the Golden Skull," a nominal improvement over "Adventure of the Golden Skull," which sounds a bit like Little Bunny Fu Fu in the land of Hyboria to me.... :shock:

Anyway, hope everyone likes my contributions to the set; I have just now seen it, and am rather impressed.....but since I am a contributor, I am a biased soul!

 

[Nickbergquist]

So... are there any goodies for the noble in the Messantia box set? It just so happens I'm playing an Argossean noble and am looking for a little love

Book two is full of detailed stuff for nobles: The Merchant Prince PrC, House Agent PrC, bargaining, haggling and info gathering rules, detailed social discourse rules, and so forth. The main book is loaded with good stuff, too; Messantia is a "profit and intrigue"-oriented setting, rich with possibility for those who raise quill pens and count coins with their mighty thews as often as they plunge broadswords in to the hearts of deviltry.

 

[Padre]

Got mine

- The main map - looks useful, but it's pretty ugly. The technique makes me ask myself "Did I PAY for THAT?".
- The smaller maps are not too good either. Don't want to sound mean, but computer graphics in Messantia suck.
- Counters are okay.
- Cards are okay.
- The books look okay, but I'd prefer one in place of three. Full colour of course

 

[The Warlord]

Alright fellas, I've got a concern about the city box sets. Map issue withstanding, I thought the Shadizar box set was way overpriced. Don't get me wrong, the books, particularly the main color one, were great! However, the maps did lack, and besides that the counters, though neat, had stock pieces, and many that I thought didn't fit.

Anyway, looking at the value of the Across the Thunder River book, it's cheaper, has a higher page count, full color, and cover to cover useful information. More bang for the buck.

Now, if this pattern holds true it looks like Aquilonia (which has gotten glowing reviews) will be the much better buy than Messantia (seems to be lukewarm). I currently have all the Conan Mongoose products, 'cept these two latest. Aquilonia will be a sure bet, but Messantia, I'm hesitating on. I mean, it would seem wiser to just download some city maps, then use info from Road of Kings (another great supplement) or another city supplement (Waterdeep, Lankhmar, etc).

I'd love to see a resurgance in box sets, but these city ones just don't seem to cut it. What about some really neat tricks that'll seperate the box sets from the (what seems to be far superior) sourcebooks. I'm talking at least a cool poster or two (remember those?). Wasn't it neat when the Ravenloft box set came with Tarot Cards? Why couldn't Shadizar Come with cool coasters or something? Messantia what about cool shipping documents, or better yet cards for all the boat types of Hyboria. Boat picture on one side, ship stats on the other. Be neat to show the characters the proper ship sillohoutes (sp?) during gametime. I'm sure there are many other great ideas that could really make those sets shine, as opposed to being one thin color book, two thinner b&w books, and a few maps.

I love the Conan game, but really hope the future box sets step it up.

 

[gav]

Have to agree with you Warlord.
Across Thunder River is a great sourcebook yet I am still to use it fully. We have just finished the Shadizar game, which we enjoyed but there were a few little problems I had with it, like certain maps not provided and the ones that were provided were poor and cheap looking IMO.
The main sourcebook was very good {great work Vincent], but the Npc book I didnt much like I thought that some of the information could of been in the main book.
The Npc cards were very useful and were used a lot. The counters were used at the end of our game only, some of the artwork on them was horrible and not very Conanesque more DnD so I didnt use those ones.
Overall the box set was about average, I generally didnt feel as though I was getting good value for my money but Im sure mongoose will make things better as time goes on. I really look forward to Aquilonia but I will not be buying messantia because from the feedback Ive been getting it sounds as though the Maps and counters will be of the same quality as before. I will probably regret missing out on the supplied scenario. :roll:

 

[Padre]

Exactly my point

As for Messantia and Aquilonia - I ordered both and so far Aquilonia is quite better. As with other books by Vincent Darlage, the contents of Aquilonia are all useful from cover to cover. With Messantia however...

The maps are nothing special. No eye candy for sure - they just 'are included'.

The cards are okay, but they're nothing to write home about. Same goes for counters - good recycled art.

The first book is really good, covering most important details about Messantia. It's not the level of Vincent's work however, so no feeling of "everything you need and more" here.

The second book is... dissapointing. I found most of it pretty useless. Prestige classes are - again - nothing special IMHO. The new rules seem a waste of space to me - who needs a rules set for running a debate? Why learn strategies, modifiers and other rules for things that should be roleplayed? Plus, most feats are connected to the debate mechanics, ergo u-s-e-l-e-s-s. Advanced rules slaves? Whatever. OK, spells and creatures are okay, but that's FIVE pages out of 32.

The third book is a 32-page adventure. I'm still reading it, but so far it seems pretty good, though I think it would take only 1-2 gaming sessions to complete it.

To summarize - if you want to run adventures with intrigues, rich merchants and some backstabbing - buy it. If you buy all Conan supplements - you will buy it sooner or later. If you want as much bang for the buck as possible - look elsewhere. In my opinion, Messantia box wouldn't lose much value if it was a 128-page full color softback, like Pirate Isles. It's a good product, but below the level of other Conan supplements. On a 1-10 scale, I'd give it 6,5.

 

[GregLynch]

It's a good product, but below the level of other Conan supplements. On a 1-10 scale, I'd give it 6,5.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't care so much for it, particularly since, iirc, you were intending to send your PCs to Messantia.

As the first book of the set was my baby, I'd like to hear what you felt was missing. Feel free to PM me if you like.