So far in this series, I’ve looked at incremental world development, and how you might approach peopling and monstering your world. This post is building on the last post, where I discussed how genre, and the implied amounts of magic and monsters in them can affect how your fantasy world is going to deviate from “Normal Earth” if you’re doing a nuanced and thought out build. So let’s look at that.
So, in the last month or so, Wizards and its adjacent organizations have been involved in some serious issues around race, sexuality, and some stuff I will not reprint here because wow did their vetting process fail to pick up on some red flags. Their responses have been weak, milquetoast affairs that do nothing to actually address anything, and several well-known podcasts and live plays have publicly announced that they are moving away from 5e D&D as the basis for their games and shows. So, what are the options out there? What non-D&D, and non-D&D-esque/based games are there out there for you? Let’s talk fantasy games!
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The Summit of Kings. What is it? How is it? Should you buy it? Well buckle up, because this is a review The Summit of Kings by Brandon Dixon!
Originally, this was going to be part of a twofer post on faiths and monsters, but both components turned out to have way more scope than anticipated. So this installation in the short world building series is going to be all about monstering up your world. If you haven’t already, check out parts one and two of this series on world building, as this post references ideas in them. Those can be read here, and here. As with the previous posts (and future ones), this isn’t a definitive “how-to”. These are just my ideas and concepts for world building based on my experience over the years as a GM and DM.
To say that the 5th edition of D&D has a dearth of campaign setting material is an understatement. Most of its base setting, the Forgotten Realms, are undescribed in this edition so far. Its few forays into other settings, such as the Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica and Eberron: Rising from the Last War, have been hit-and-miss affairs. Both offering tantalizing looks into their respective worlds, but those looks were similarly incomplete in an effort to create books that were both sourcebooks and adventure guides. So the announcement that there would be a new campaign setting released understandably got people excited. Rumours ran rampant when, in the Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus (BGDA), Exandria was mentioned. This was huge, as Exandria is the world made by Matt Mercer for the famous Critical Role live play. Then the book dropped, and Exandria was welcomed into the list of official D&D worlds. This is the first of a multi-part review of this world.
