Kingdoms of Kalamar: Campaign Setting Sourcebook (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying)

This comprehensive sourcebook provides a wealth of information on the nations of Tellene, their history, their politics, and their people. Includes details of religions, languages, laws, and all aspects of society.

Lavishly illustrated, including a 3' X 4' map of Tellene.

This volume contains all the information a GM needs to run an exciting, adventure-filled campaign.

Six human culture/ethnicities clash and mix to destroy or create nations; hobgoblin empires struggle to maintain and expand against hostile neighbors; elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings try to keep their cultures living and free from the dominance of human influences. Orcs, giants, and monsters on the fringes of civilized lands exist logically according to their natures and resources, with realistic rivalries and goals.

Histories of peoples and nations, backgrounds for adventures, current events, languages, timelines, military forces and more are detailed here - while leaving future events entirely up to the DM and the players. The setting is also well supported by adventure modules, a Player's Guide, an Atlas, sourcebooks, and a web-community where the designers actually thrive on feedback from the consumers.

It's also the only Offical game setting produced under license for the D&D3e game system by a company other than Wizards of the Coast, with far greater quality standards than what mere d20 licensees produce.


Terrific World - the best out there   December 18, 2002
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

I have been a player of Dungeons and Dragons since around 1980 or so. I believe this is the best world sourcebook on the market, bar none. The world is a nice outline, but does not have too much detail where you feel straight jacketed into running a high magic world a certain way, like the Forgotten Realms. You get a lot of plot hooks in each chapter and there are lots of ways you can run the plot hooks. And, an added bonus from the design of the book is that it is very easy to just drop in a random module or adventure here. You're not so overwhelmed with details where it would take tons of work to modify a generic adventure. A thing I particularly liked is that you, the PC, can become the most powerful person in the world. In the aforementioned Realms, there is always Elminster or some near god-like bad guy. In Greyhawk, you have legendary characters going back to the game's creation. How can you outshine them? All in all, this book will give a DM a nice world that is quickly playable and easily adaptable to any campaign you want. If you want high magic, it's easy to add in dragons, magic items and whatnot. But, what is the Realms with Elminster and a magic shop on every corner? If you want to run a low magic world, you are all set. It's certainly easier to add the magic in than take it out


A very detailed world that is full of flavour   December 18, 2002
Richard McGain (Australia)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

The Kingdoms Of Kalamar Campaing Setting is a very detailed book that skips completly over the "crunch" that seems to be a prequisite for most D&D book these days and instead get down to the serious buisiness of discribing the world.

Although many of the human realms are inspired by real world examples (Rome etc.) they still manage to portray a very different world. In the world of Tellene, humans dominate the world but are given heaps more flavour than the standard fantasy humans. Kingdoms of Kalamar uses human sub-races that each have individual appearances and culture.

The section on language further enhances this and although I may never find a practical use for them (apart from naming my characters of course) they add so much to the setting, showing that there is actual structure behind the some say bizarre place names of the setting.

The gods of the setting are, despite whatother reviewers have said, original and their depth is amazing. With information on the organisation of the churches, sacrafices and holy places, it is much better done than any other setting I have seen.

The minor sections of the book, like the armies of Kalamar, laws and section on Tellenes constilations are not entierly nesesary but they add even more detail to the setting already displayed.

Kalamar presents as a low magic campaign world but can be played at any level. One of the things I like most about Kalamar is it's versatility and the magic of the world is a prime example. There could easily be no magic or flying cities it's up to you. This differentiates this setting from those like the Forgotten Realms that are stuck at certain levels.

A mature look at slavery is one of the best things I like about the setting as it is fully integrated and can be used as a moral device for my players.

All in all the Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting is a very good buy for any game( because the D&D stuff in it is limited to some horse breeds, a few magic items and a NPC index) or indeed just as a source of ideas and material.