Tales of the Black Kingdoms

[Trodax]

......I managed to pick up a copy last night from the game store near my office.

Damn you folks of the civilised world!
Here I am, stuck at the end of nowhere (Sweden), waiting for delivery. It probably won't be here until the end of next week, and me wan'ts it now goddammit!
:evil:

 

[Hyborian Apeman]

My gaming store finally got this in, and I was out of town :x

I will be picking it up tonight, and I am anxiously anticipating reading it.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

I get it tomorrow. I'll tell you what I think, but of all the writers so far, I've liked your stuff the best so far.

SPOILER- my players don't read this. All other highlight the box below.

In my campaign, it will turn out somewhere in the end of the summer that the bad guy behind the entire uberplot is running the show from a lost city deep in the Black Kingdoms, so I am looking forward to incorporating this supplement into the plot. Don't disappoint me Nick 8)

Raven

 

[Mortepierre]

Wohoooo! Just got it. Looks sweet and the 'jungle' bestiary doesn't look bad either 8)

Now to read it...

 

[René]

Can someone already give a few more or less detailed impressions?
Thanks!

 

[Mortepierre]

Tales of the Black Kingdoms

Author : Nick Bergquist
Cover art : Kieran Yanner (outstanding !) :shock:
Interior art: Tony Parker (average to good)

80p. B&W book with color covers

You get one (color) map of the Black Kingdoms (& Realms of the South) on the inside cover (both at beginning and end of book, but it’s the same map twice.. at least as far as I can tell)

Table of Content: (1p.)
- Introduction (1p.)
- Tale #1: Shroud over Zabhela (22p.)
- Tale #2: The Ruins of Atlaia (29p.)
- Tale #3: The Red Citadel (19p.)
- Black Bestiary – 14 animals of the South (7p.)
- License (1p)

New content? A sidebar on the Orisha (animal spirits) pantheon

I have yet to take the time to delve fully into the adventures but a few things jump to mind already:

1] The color map could have used more and less details at the same time. Less because it includes Iranistan (what for?!?) and is (over)crowded with names from the Conan novels. More because apart from the three main locations (one per adventure), the map isn’t much help to the DM (or the players for that matter)

2] No entry for the Atlaian (sub)ethnic group while they are described as rather extraordinary compared to other ‘natives’ :evil:

3] A new spell or two for priests of the Orisha would have been welcomed (if only to add ‘flavor’ to the location)

4] A treasure map is referenced in the second adventure. Having it as a visual aid for the players would have been nice

5] I appreciate the ‘trick’ the author uses to force the players to give up the one ‘nifty’ magical item they find. Very much ‘Conan-style’ encounter :twisted:

Sorry folks, no spoiler. And now back to reading and checking stats...

 

[sanseveria]

I also just recieved this, at first glance it looks very good. I was worried about the non-Quilliams cover, but now having looked at it up close, I say Bravo, very nice piece.

The interior content looks good, I would have liked a bit more of a sourcebook feel for the areas in question, but I realise it's a scenario book, so I won't pick on that point.

I'll give more info when I get through reading it fully.

One irritating thing that I did notice, (the only, really) is that allot of the BAB/Grap: bonuses look incorrect.

SS

 

[sanseveria]

I guess I have a question for Nick, under the description of the Tentacle Spawn of Jullah, I notice the SA: Paralizing Lather (or something like that) but there's no description of its effects. Any chance these could be provided?

Thanks,

SS

 

[Hyborian Apeman]

I have been enjoying TotBK. One thing I would have liked is a scale for the various encounter maps. It makes it a little easier to draw things up on a battle map and not have to worry about being inordinately far off.

 

[Mortepierre]

Nick,

Question about p.4, second column, 3rd paragraph.

It states that the regent of Zabhela is Naferakphon but then adds that Theramidos worships Set.

I am a bit confused here. Are Naferakphon and Theramidos supposed to be the same person? If not, just who is Theramidos?

Btw, a rough map of the city would have been nice...

 

[toothill man]

my faith in the line has been restored this book is great.the stories are very conan and the pictures of the main npcs greatly aid description.the adventures are good and the settings have great flavour my one minor pick is one of the links between adventures ho hum the group are drunk and end up in a slavers train again :shock: my solution is the hostages/sacrifices from the first adventure could include a high born from that tribe to escort.but that is the only thing I would change with the beastry at the back great for adding flavour to the setting

 

[Nickbergquist]

Nick,

Question about p.4, second column, 3rd paragraph.

It states that the regent of Zabhela is Naferakphon but then adds that Theramidos worships Set.

I am a bit confused here. Are Naferakphon and Theramidos supposed to be the same person? If not, just who is Theramidos?

Btw, a rough map of the city would have been nice...

Yes! A map would be nice. As for Neferakphon/Theramidos: from my original text: "The Regent of Zabhela is a Chaga called Theramidos. He is an elderly statesman who has two heirs, both daughters, who he seeks to marry to likely prospects (other Chaga) in the near future to insure a proper heir to the rule of Zabhela. Theramidos is a dedicated servant of Set, but his interest in religion is flimsy at best, and he is far more involved in the economic development of the city."

My guess is that there is a source I am unfamiliar with that gives the Regent the name Neferakphon, and it was changed (but the second reference was missed). The solution: His full name is Lord Theramidos Neferakphon. :wink:

 

[Nickbergquist]

my faith in the line has been restored this book is great.the stories are very conan and the pictures of the main npcs greatly aid description.the adventures are good and the settings have great flavour my one minor pick is one of the links between adventures ho hum the group are drunk and end up in a slavers train again :shock: my solution is the hostages/sacrifices from the first adventure could include a high born from that tribe to escort.but that is the only thing I would change with the beastry at the back great for adding flavour to the setting

Thanks! Glad you liked it! True, though, the "we start as slaves in a caravan" thing might be well-used; but it seemed like great way to throw PCs in to the middle of the action, and was a sort of homage to de Camp's adaptation of the Conan tale, "Drums of Tombalku," in which Conan and another poor Hyborian spend a lot of time learning to despise the politics of Tombalku and the madness of Gazal. In fact, if I had been able to, I would have included an additional scenario I have which takes places in those two locations and would bridge the "Shadows" scenario with the "Atlaia" tale...

 

[Deadpool]

The Ziggurat map is hard to understand. Is there a better map that someone could send me?

Otherwise, it is well done. Good continuation and story.

 

[Mortepierre]

My guess is that there is a source I am unfamiliar with that gives the Regent the name Neferakphon, and it was changed (but the second reference was missed). The solution: His full name is Lord Theramidos Neferakphon. :wink:

lol! The perfect answer :lol:

Now, if you could also answer Sanseveria's query about the spawns, I would be set to play the first story 8)

 

[Belkregos]

In fact, if I had been able to, I would have included an additional scenario I have which takes places in those two locations and would bridge the "Shadows" scenario with the "Atlaia" tale...

cool...any chance to get that as a down load :lol:

 

[Trodax]

OK, I finally got a hold of TotBK, and have just finished reading it. I love it! The scenarios have a very strong Howard-feel to them, and I can't wait to run them.

Great work Nick, I think TotBK just offered some serious competition to Across the Thunder River (which is also brilliant) as my favorite Conan sourcebook so far!

I have a couple of points of criticism though, if your interested in what I think could be improved on for future books (all in all, I'm a very happy customer, so don't take them as major complaints!):

The Ziggurat map is hard to understand.

This was the major gripe I had with the book; the maps. As has been noted, it was unfortunate that they all lacked a scale, and this one in particular (the one on page 42 that is) I had some trouble grasping. Maybe I'm just stupid, but to me the description in the text didn't quite seem to match up with the map.

Another thing I sort of disliked was the way scenario #2 (Ruins of Atlaia) was structured. What I'm getting at is that it was laid out as a novel, with more of the plot revealed as you went along. Maybe for some people, this is a good thing; making it a more exciting read when you don't know how the scenario is going to end. Not for me though; I prefer for my RPG scenarios to have the entire plot laid out in the introduction. Otherwise I just have to go back and reread the whole thing when I finally find out what the story's about.


But to end on a more positive note, I'll just repeat myself; Tales of the Black Kingdoms rocked my boat!

 

[René]

Is the bestiary about "normal" beasts or weird critters / demons?

 

[Hyborian Apeman]

Is the bestiary about "normal" beasts or weird critters / demons?

The bestiary in TotBK has a little of both.

 

[Deadpool]

This was the major gripe I had with the book; the maps. As has been noted, it was unfortunate that they all lacked a scale, and this one in particular (the one on page 42 that is) I had some trouble grasping. Maybe I'm just stupid, but to me the description in the text didn't quite seem to match up with the map.

Trodax - I could not agree with you more. I must have spent an hour just trying to figure out the darn layout from the description. I also agree with your assessment of Scenario #2.

But overall - I was very impressed and happy with my purchase. I just hope that they are able to have a better catographer (sic).