Tolrendor DM's Blog

Welcome to the last post in my review series (you can find the whole series here) of the Migard Campaign Setting. It’s been quite a journey, and we’ve encountered some strange and wonderful places, peoples and more along the way. But we’re not finished yet! Our final stop on the tour is enough to chill you to the bone: literally, as we head into the frozen wastes of the Northlands, before turning our attention to more mystical matters: the Midgard pantheon of gods and demi-gods.

Chapter 9: The Northlands

The Northlands of Midgard are separated from the rest of the regions we’ve encountered by the sea known as the Nieder Strait. It comprises a number of jagged peninsulas, covered by lofty peaks and frozen tundra. Clearly a land apart, the beginnings of the chapter strongly emphasises this with an extensive section on the climate, the culture and the politics. This has heavy ties to the Icelandic and Viking cultures of our own world, with of course the fantasy elements of reaver dwarves, giants, trolls, rune magic, and the Nordic (with a few twists) pantheon.

The chapter continues with brief descriptions of the various small kingdoms that make up the region, an interesting mix of giant, human, dwarf and were-kingdoms. What’s not to like about an armoured polar were-bear king ruling over a mixed population of were-bears, fey bears and Vikings? As usual there are reams of interesting adventure possibilities here, some of which are highlighted in the ‘Adventures in…’ section which accompanies the description of each realm.

So why then for me does this chapter not have the ‘zing’ of those I’ve already covered? I can’t quite put my finger on it: I love Viking culture and mythology, and the ideas here are a good blend of historical and fantasy tropes. That may be part of the problem; maybe it’s all a bit familiar, and therefore does not have the ‘wow, what a cool idea’ impact of the other regions. Also, there’s not really any crunch in this chapter, and although I’m the first to state I don’t read campaign settings for the rules (especially as I don’t play the PFRG), some well-developed crunch can really enhance the flavour of the material. For example, I’d have loved to see Rune magic in greater detail – I suspect that this is contained in the Northlands regional guide that was released a while back – I don’t have that book, so can’t comment further – although just a side-bar of information is enough to put it on my wish-list, so maybe the kobolds got it right after all! 🙂

Chapter 10: The Pantheon

This is a big chapter, with a large number of gods presented in different regional pantheons, roughly corresponding to the main chapters, from the northern gods (closely modelled on the Aesir of our own Viking mythology), all the way to the ancient southern powers with an Egyptian feel.

At the start of the chapter quite a lot of space is given over to rules defining the domains and game aspects necessary to ground clerics and other divine characters in the setting. It never feels however as if this overwhelms the setting material: in the description of each god there is an introductory header defining the domains, symbol and preferred weapons of the deity, and then the remainder is information on the rites, major temples and shrines, high priests, holy works and other setting material. Each god is rounded out with a section on ‘What <this god> demands’ – which can be a rich source of trials and tribulations (and adventure) for your divine characters and of course their companions 🙂

One of the most interesting ideas in the chapter is the concept of Masks: that each deity as their worshipers see them may only be the aspect that the power wants them to see, and that the actual god may be something entirely different, or in fact simply an aspect  of another power. This is a fascinating concept which mirrors real-world mythology, for example how the pantheon of the ancient Greeks morphed into the Roman deities, taking on aspects that were more suited to that culture. It is quite clear that Wolfgang Baur (original creator of Midgard) sees the way the gods interact with their followers in different regions as a key part of the flavour of the setting.

Appendices

The first Appendix is a set of backgrounds, talents, specialisations and spells for using the the AGE (Adventure Game Engine) system with the Midgard Campaign Setting. I don’t profess to know anything about this RPG system, so I won’t pretend to review this material. Suffice to say that a lot of the backgrounds seem to present iconic Midgard character options which players can use to engage with the setting. Looks fun 🙂

Finally the tome rounds off (Appendix 2) with some regional random encounter tables. Whether you like this sort of material or not, it does serve to give some ideas to the monsters found in each area.

And thus, after 295 pages of Midgard goodness, we are finally at the end of our epic journey!!

So what next? Well the grand summary of course!! 

So would I recommend Midgard Campaign Setting? You bet!

As easy as that? Yup!

I have read and re-read this tome with great enjoyment. Obviously, I was a patron of the project, so have some bias, but I don’t think I’ve let that colour my views to any great extent. I didn’t contribute to the project, so essentially I’m just a pre-ordering customer.

But to put it simply, this product delivers ideas in spades. They leap out at you page after chapter after page. I don’t like everything in the setting – I’m sure you won’t either – but what I do know is that the material gets me thinking – of epic adventures, grand cities, ancient cultures, weird magic and just plain old D&D fun. In the final analysis, that’s what a campaign setting should be about!!

As I’ve posted before, I rarely run my own campaigns in published settings; I enjoy the creation of my own settings too much. However, I grew up in the RPG hobby alongside great settings such as Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, etc.

The Midgard Campaign Setting has joined that group in my mind – a iconic D&D setting ripe for plunder, and ready to become either a richly detailed background to your group’s adventures, or an inspiration for your own world and tales.

Get it, and enjoy!!!

The fourth part of my review series heads westwards into (very) strange magic-afflicted lands, and then north to the remnants of the great elven empire. Once again, prepare for the marvellous and the unexpected along the ride!  You can find the rest of the series here, here and here!

Chapter 7: The Wasted West

Ok, so this chapter is definitely strange, with a capital S! The Wasted West is a region blighted  by an ancient arcane war of unimaginable power, ostensibly against the ‘imperialism’ of the elves, but carried on between city-states after their retreat from the world with hugely destructive consequences. The outcome is a wide region blighted by ancient ‘Old One’ monstrosities from another world, drifting across a desert landscape in a magical ‘slumber’, with a few battered remnants of the once powerful wizard-ruled cities and realms scattered around the edges.

For my tastes, this is all possibly a bit too much on the weird side. There are heavy overtones of Cthulhu, 4E’s Far Realm, and even a post-holocaust vibe. In Wolfgang’s own terminology (from his newly published Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding, an offshoot of the Midgard project), this is definitely towards the ‘wild-eyed wahoo” style of fantasy.

However, please don’t let my (I’m typically a low/medium fantasy guy) impressions put you off here – there are some fantastic ideas in this chapter. The pick of them for me has to be the White Knights of Bourgund – where every knight is backed by a mage bonded to his/her armour, and able to cast spells remotely through it on telepathic command. How cool is that! As is often the case in Midgard however, nothing is quite as it seems – the bonded wizards are effectively enslaved and spend their lives in a tower ‘serving their knights – a situation ripe with the seeds of resentment and betrayal 🙂

Elsewhere in this region, we have ancient mages, barely human after centuries of manipulating the ley lines that pollute the area, and calling forth dark powers; haunted giants, sentient (and hungry) jungles; a city of potion makers in a swamp; ‘Old One’ worshipping goblins, and much more! I’ve actually read this chapter front-to-back several times now, and despite my initial thoughts, it’s really growing on me!

There is also quite a lot of rules content in this chapter: magic effects and arcane storms in the Wastes; the Armour Bonded Mage archetype (from the White Knights section), a fantastic table of potions side-effects; ghostly encounters, and rounded out by an ancient spellbook, which includes a number of new spells with the flavour of ancient decayed magic.

Chapter 8: Domains of the Princes

After the weird but wondrous Wasted West, there seemed a slight danger that this chapter would appear a bit humdrum. After all, this region is the remnants of the ancient elven empire, and that’s a topic that’s been covered in numerous settings, right?

Not so in Midgard! For a start, the ‘remnants’ of the empire are still ruled by an elf (The Beloved Imperatrix), and she’s been on the throne a long time … so long that virtually all of the major nobility are related to her in some way. As she gets older and older, the political implications of this grow larger – and this atmosphere is well portrayed in the book. Most of the key figures of the Imperial Court are described, along with their relationships and political allegiances.

Secondly, almost exclusively, the major houses of the realm still have access to the fey roads, magical pathways through the shadow realm that can be used to travel across the empire much faster (and more safely…?) than by traditional means. An interesting section covers the origins of these roads, as well as providing an incantation for their use. The Imperatrix uses these roads to control the realm, including moving her court between the three main cities (the Great Procession) every three years.

The chapter continues with a description of the major cities and baronies. I love the Germanic ‘Holy Roman Empire’ feel to this region, both in the names (Hirschberg, Bad Solitz, Salzbach etc…) and in the vast variety of holdings, noble houses and titles. There is a great section on granting a barony to your player characters, and the possible complications and adventures that this might bring to your high level party 🙂

Finally, the chapter covers the great forests that were once the heart of the elven empire: one of which is still inhabited by ‘exiles’ i.e. elves that did not leave the lands when their kin retreated from the world many centuries ago; and the other totally abandoned and now essentially a dangerous hunting ground for ancient treasures and magics. One thing I like about this whole concept is that Midgard’s elves are very much not the ‘Tolkienesque’ elves typical in D&D, but are rather much more ambiguous – indeed they are the fey of European mythology – alien, complex, and perilous – adventurers beware!

To the Far North …

Our journey draws to an end, with only two chapters still to cover. But if you would continue along the way, pack your fur cloak, and your sword, because we must take ship now, headed for the cold and unforgiving Northlands…