Kingdoms of Kalamar - Player's Guide A D20 System Sourebook from by Kenzer and Company Rating: (4.5 out of 5 hearts) By Bernard H.V., aka DMKabori

An Early Review on the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide, released by Kenzer & Co end of April 2002.

I would be dishonest if I didn't admit to being biased towards the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting for D&D by Kenzer & Co. I, along with a small but very enthusiastic crowd of "KoKers", have been waiting for the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide since the release of the Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting Sourcebook last year.

The packaging: a striking maroon faux-leather hardcover with the D&D, KoK, and PG logos all above a large image of a used and battered shield on the front. 'Rulebook IV' is written at the bottom. The backside briefly cites what's inside in typical backcover marketing style.

The overall content: the first thing that jumped at me when I opened the 272 page book was the black & white presentation and artwork in lieu of any colour. Also the paper quality is different than that of the Campaign Sourcebook: it is a matt finish rather than semi-gloss--you can tell "something's different". Text density seems average to better than average. Almost second every page you'll find either a useful table or some inspirational art. That said, you immediately see that the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide is a goldmine of game information. And what a motherlode it is! 202 pages of games rules in 12 chapters each supported by some background material within. Afterwards there are appendices (68 pages) featuring a glossary, large reference tables, pages of feats, and spell planning sheets, all cross referencing material from most official 3E D&D sources (crammed in with very dense text), even including several issues of Dragon! You'll find an improved Character Record Sheet for this setting as well.

Okay let's look at things chapter by chapter. Just beforehand, I'd like to add that only an extensive review could do this product justice, hence its length. Here we go:

Chapter I: Races.
Right away you'll see that, unlike the KoK Campaign Sourcebook, there is extensive treatment upon the Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-elves, Half-hobgoblins, Half-orcs, Halflings AND Hobgoblins! Several sub-races are presented (including Dark Elves, who are the Tellene version of the Drow). Hobgoblins, which receive distinguished treatment in this setting, are an established menace. They are physically bigger and live longer than humans do. Hobgoblins are depicted as ruthless but honour-bound creatures consistantly challenging humans in certain regions of the continent of Tellene. And yes, you can play a hobgoblin PC, the race is fully worked up for play. Hobgoblins generally consider cheating worse than losing--and they have a highly competitive culture. While Orcs remain a classic foe familiar to all fans of D&D, Hobgoblins become much more important to the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting...

Humans do not receive racial trait rules for their 6 main cultures (but there is a long language table and variables concerning height and weight). However, this chapter does dedicate 4 pages discussing (mostly for setting flavour) the details of the 6 main human cultures around Tellene. Many campaign house rules can use this information to refine human characters. There is extensive treatment of languages further on in the book. This chapter has some advice on converting your FR or OA characters for use in KoK. There's also a full page crammed with notes on Tellene Naming Conventions that's very useful and it helps to shade in more colour into the setting itself.

Chapter II: Classes.
Initially there's a quick discussion on the core classes of game, although the monk seems neglected while the psion and psychic warrior were incorporated into the discussion. Right away there are rules changes for the setting--in particular the list of feats for the Fighter has changed significantly at the expense of mounted and ranged weapon feats in favour of new tactical feats for the foot soldier. Each core class has remarks concerning their distribution across the lands and cultures. The second page of this chapter holds a long table with the complete list of deity domains for all 43 deities. "Finally", some might say. Reading that table shows many domains from some WotC publications.

Next we get into 6 new variant classes: the Basiran Dancer, the Brigand, the Gladiator, the Infiltrator, the Shaman, and the Spellsinger. These are full size classes (20 levels) that serve to replace some popular multiclass combinations while answering concerns on XP earnings, and some include unique features that tie into the setting. Each is presented in the familiar format utilized in the PH. Remarks are included concerning these variants in the KoK setting, such as the races and cultures who typically assume these classes and KoK gods typically associated with them.

The most setting specific is the Basiran Dancer--a combination of dancer and martial artist (a bard/monk that neatly circumvents the alignment barrier to the actual multiclass combination). Despite the name, this class is actually portable into other D&D games--as is most of the content in this entire book.

The Brigand seems to serve as a replacement for the Fighter/Rogue multiclass combination. Brigands have odd progressions for their BAB and their Fort, Ref and Will Saves (the only class outside the norm). They have about 85% of the Rogues abilities, while less than 50% of the Rogues Skill Points (4 at 1st, 3 each level thereafter. Another "non-conformity"?). The brigand also has a short bonus feat list, a very short class skill list, and, proving that charisma is important to this class, some special abilities associated with intimidating and bluffing others. I think the Brigand has more potential than what an intial reading of the class reveals, I'm not certain as I haven't playtested one. This class originally appeared as an NPC class in Kenzer & Co's adventure The Invasion of Arun'Kid (IIRC).

Next comes the Gladiator--a pure pit fighter! With showmanship and fighting prowess combined, my reading of this class' features evokes visions of the films Thunderdome and Gladiator, as well as the WWF. One can be as campy or as serious as one likes with this specialized fighter. The Gladiator has a number of extraordinary (Ex) abilities tailored to undermine his opponent in the midst of battle while pleasing a crowd. This class looks like good fun and should please many players who appreciate the concept of the arena fighter and his potential outside the arena! By 8th level the Gladiator may use any simple, martial or exotic weapon available without the non-proficiency penalties... Now the show will really go on!

Fourth is the Infiltrator. This class combines some traits of the Ranger with some others of the Rogue. While having no spell casting abilities, this class benefits from progressively faster movement like Monks do (but less so), and the woodland stride at 2nd level much like Druids enjoy. For players who like to have their PC's sneak around the countryside raiding and sabotaging an enemy's turf, this class is perfect. Remember that the DM's entitled to apply this class as NPC opponents. PC rangers will have more to worry about now...

The Shaman, already presented in WotC's Oriental Adventures, and also by d20 publishers like Green Ronin and Mongoose Publishing, receives a different but concise treatment for the KoK setting. Closely modelled upon the Druid (the Shaman has, for example, about 90% of the Druid's special abilities), the Shaman fulfills a generic need for the more barbaric cultures beyond what the Druid might offer given its quasi-Celtic roots. The difference between the Druid and the Shaman is in the fine details... The creation of a Shaman character requires the selection of a totem animal spirit, which is permanent, and this awards the Shaman a benefit (or two) depending upon the animal type. For example, if the totem is a deer, the shaman receives a +2 bonus to initiative and the new Instant Stand feat. There are 13 totems listed in the PG, from Bear to Wolf; one could probably invent a few more for fussy players. Considering the diversity of cultures across the wilder parts of Tellene, one could argue that the KoK Shaman fits the setting more logically than the Druid. One could even eliminate the Druid from one's game and replace it with the Shaman altogether. One further interesting feature of the Shaman: the time spent resting (i.e. sleeping) has no effect upon a KoK Shaman's ability to prepare spells--all they need is one hour of quiet meditation per day. Thus the Shaman has a serious edge over others in surprise encounters great outdoors... The Shaman can also cast as many spells per day as a Cleric, indeed 2 of these spells at higher class levels are domain spells! Mind you, their BAB and Fort Save progression is weaker than the Druid's. An interesting version, I think--certainly a none too complicated variant.

The last class is the Spellsinger. This class, in a sense, is very much an "improved sorcerer": a slightly better skill list, spell progression as wizard if Charisma is high enough for bonus spells, and no somatic nor common material components. "Wow, she can cast spells in armor and spontaneously as a sorcerer! RUN while you can!!..." (Well, it's not that scary, sorcerers still cast more spells per day.) Spellsingers must sing their magic and thus use a verbal component to all spells (whether the spell requires it or not), while the material components they might need are only those that have a listed gp or XP value. The Spellsinger is described as originating from Elven culture on Tellene and passed on to others, especially the dwarves who are implied to utilize cooperative magic as a preference. This class has good multiclassing potential!

Chapter III: Prestige Classes. 11 new prestige classes (10 levels each, not 5). I'll sumarize them very briefly:

Alliance Merchant - the masters of politics and commerce, and the conspiracies that bind them. Not for good aligned characters! This prestige class is linked to the Golden Alliance native to Tellene--a rather nasty bunch of capitalists indeed if one has read the KoK Campaign Setting Sourcebook.

Bounty Hunter - this class offers tricks to over come the intelligent "prey" they're after. The Bounty Hunter is an expert at subduing foes for capture.

Mariner - a special class for special characters... one has to have nearly died at sea to qualify. This prestige class should prove popular with those frequently adventuring at sea! On land, the Mariner is somewhat diminished, but not overly so...

Golem Master - a very special class more appropriate for villains and quirky NPC's, not really an adventurer but rather a artisan or craftsman. What this class can create is very impressive indeed...

Muse - finally a prestige class well suited to the Bard. Designed to support allies in social and combative situations.

Order of the Slayer - an undead slayer. This prestige class has an interesting setting-specific history. Fighters and Paladins, for example, can augment their undead destorying capabilities--immensely!

Restorer - a Hobgoblin class dedicated to the restoration of the ancient Hobgoblin empire of Kruk-Ma-Kali. Especially appropriate for evil Hobgoblin sorcerers...

Sentinels of Providence - a setting-specific secret order offering a prestige class that excels at defeating evil outsiders. The class even offers the ability to turn outsiders and access to an anti-outsider domain. Slaver - slavery is common to certain parts of Tellene, and so an evil class is an obvious development. Great for villains!

Vessels of Man - an anti-deity, cleric hunting prestige class for those disaffected from religion and the gods. With an SR of 20 versus divine spells at 10th level, one has a good idea what this group's all about.

Warlord - truly a staple and probably a necessity. Whether good or evil, or somewhere inbetween, the warlord is equiped to lead and conquer. Great for PC's itching to carve out their own empire!... :) The art despicting the gruff, scowling, armored warrior lounging on his throne is most inspirational!

Chapter III closes with a "DM's Note" encouraging further setting-specific prestige class development including a few ideas relating to the Campaign Setting Sourcebook material--like the "Unchainer" based upon the Brotherhood of the Broken Chain--Slavers should beware!

Chapter IV: Skills.
This chapter starts with 3 and a half pages discussing the Craft skill in detail. While some people may think this a waste of space, even the most jaded should be impressed by the completeness and thoroughness of the material. It's all there in front of us, no initial research needed--and plenty of ideas lurk within as well!

A skill table is presented, just as in the PH, but this time just for the new classes from Chapter II. Afterwards we get new uses for some standard skills, further variants of the Knowledge and Profession skills (also inciteful), and the introduction to the new skill Pantomime (Wis, usable untrained). Pantomime won't upset one's game being a cross-class skill for everyone except the Basiran Dancer and the Gladiator. One could easily justify making Pantomime a class skill for Bards, Monks, and perhaps Rogues, depending upon one's campaign house rules.

Speak Language receives special mention. 27 languages are touched upon (short discussions as to use and familarity) followed by an interesting optional variant language system employing two new skills: Ancient Language (Int; Trained only) and Read/Write Language (Int; Trained only). The ideas expressed concerning fluencies and rankings in languages aren't too complicated (there's a nice 1/2 page table that puts it all together), and they should be useful to those who consider language an important element of the game.

Chapter V: Feats
A great many KoKers (KoK fans) will like this chapter. Of 103 feats listed and discussed, 7 are ported in from other WotC sources--perhaps because they were deemed useful to the KoK mileu? The vast majority are new and many require nativity to certain regions to be able to access them. A number of new feats are only available to 1st-level characters. Some feats are specialized to particular situations and, being so specialized, they award +4 bonuses, often to a skill, but a few to a save instead! About 30 deal with spells and saves, while at least 50 feats have nothing to do with combat at all (I did a quick count). Some combat feats permit interesting stunts, for example, there's a feat that halts an opponent who tries to move through your threatened area if your AoO is successful. (Those sneaky rogues are going to be in for a rude surprise against some fighters!)

Chapter VI: Religion
This chapter is a principle component of what distinguishes the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting from all other published settings. Within one'll find out that the gods of Tellene have no use for race, gender, or any other physical considerations, and that they are known by numerous names depending upon the culture worshipping them. There's a lengthy discussion on choosing a deity to worship, and on followers, worshippers and temple officials. You'll find a wonderful table showing the common non-human names for 43 deities in dwarven, elven, gnomish, halfling, hobgoblin and orc. This is followed by a full page-size table citing each deity's common human name (i.e. in Merchant's Tongue), alignment (BTW in the KoK setting a cleric's alignment must match her or his deity's alignment exactly), weapon (relates to the spiritual weapon spell too), their symbol and the associated divine focus. As noted earlier the deity's domains are cited in the chapter on classes (on page 34).

Page 96 of the KoK PG provides a large table on converting gods from the core PH (i.e. Greyhawk), and from the long list of gods found in Forgotten Realms. A small table shows commonly worshipped gods by core class (the 6 variant classes above already presented their preferences therein). Next comes a 16 page discourse on the canon attritubed to each of the 43 deities. Very helpful if only just background--players playing clerics will find this incredibly inspirational. Included in this canonical treatise is another large table citing the title of the priesthood, the name of the church, the title of their canon, and when in the day (or night) the clerics restore their spells, for each deity. Reading some of the canons, I find plenty of the KoK setting's flavour emerges. Very interesting and useful!

Chapter VII: Equipment
This chapter starts with alchemical mixtures, continues with herbal concoctions, then poisons and then jumps to slavery. There's even a half-page-size table on the costs of slaves. All wonderfully nefarious topics rendered in vile detail. Excellent, I say! While initially setting-specific, this material is portable to other settings with little trouble. New weapons, ammunition and armor are presented lastly. There are a few original ideas here--also portable. Much of the equipment and natural items in this chapter, though simple, are nicely rendered in realistic drawings.

Chapter VIII: Combat
This 4 page "chapterlet" discusses a few fighting schools in the setting and presents typical feat chains relating to the career paths of 6 well known fighting forces or armies. The right-hand column of the last page describes four new combat options: kick, shield disarm, throw (your opponent, not objects), and unbalance.

Chapter IX: Adventuring
From travel on the roads found around the continent of Tellene, to the occurance and definition of nasty diseases, this chapter covers more material native to the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. There's also a 2 page section on PC nobility followed by about 6 pages discussing temple ranks and a PC's direct involvement in his or her faith's affairs--even if they are not clerics themselves. The DM will find several boxed sections of "notes" directed at adjudicating many issues of noblity, faith, clergy, followers and even sainthood...

Chapter X: Magic
The material in this chapter comes new to the D&D game. We are given channeling positive (or negative in certain cases) energy, and the divine benefits of being king. Firstly, in the character has taken the channel positive energy feat (first presented in the fifth chapter of the book), they may be allowed by their church a special ability unique to their faith. There are 43 channeled abilities. An ability, if used, uses up an opportunity to turn/rebuke undead.

Lastly, kings, and even their immediate noble subordinates, are awarded the favour of the gods. This means they receive divine protection for swearing fealty to a faith, or forging an allegiance to a religion, or a promise of mutual support. A small table summarizes the protection awarded per title from Baron to Emperor. (The Emperor of Kalamar, unless he has annoyed the deities he worships, is consequently quite hard to kill!)

Arcane-wise there are no new magic rules associated with this setting--but there are plenty of new spells for all in the next chapter... The lack of background information concerning wizards and other arcane classes is a disappointment--but not a serious one. Some detail concerning wizardly apprenticeships and magic colleges particular to the setting would have been nice.

Chapter XI: Spells
12 pages of domains and 32 pages of spells highlight this chapter. Much of the formatting of this chapter follows the layout familiar to those possessing the PH. To start off, a short discourse on spells entitled Bigby, Leomund, Otto, Tenser and others that have their names changed to setting-specific names of "famous spellcasters". Nice touch I think. Then scalable spells are a new concept introduced to the game; although it is only a half-page discussion supported by 6 spells found among the 140+ in the book. Scalable spells, generally speaking, are spells that are castable at different caster levels by caster's choice with or without preparation depending upon the class played. There are two examples, and while examples are general useful, they do not always replace a concise explanation. Thus the concept remains foggy to me--perhaps I have to "see it" in play to better understand it's implications.

Next, new spells are summarized per class, and 73 domains are presented as available to clerics in this setting. 65 domains come from the PH, Forgotten Realms, Defenders of the Faith. While the related KoK gods are reiterated per domain, all but the PH domains are fully described. Some people might be irritated by this use of space, to repeat FR domains for example, yet the high expectations of a comprehensive setting with 43 deities probably demanded some "borrowing" for completeness. (Who's prepared to create 40+ new domains while some perfectly good ones are already available? At some point one starts reinventing the wheel.) Eight of the domains are totally new and unique to KoK and 2 from FR are modified. In keeping with the concept of non-racial deities, there are no racial domains.

Looking at the new spells, one'll find 120+ are new, while forty or more are selected from FR (19 of 38) and DotF (24 of 51). Regarding new spells "native to KoK", there are 7 for the Basiran Dancer, 2 for the Bard, 40 for Clerics, 9 for Druids/Shamans, 2 for Paladins, 1 for the Ranger, and 68 for the Sorcerer/Spellsinger/Wizard classes. With respect to specialist wizards, all the schools seem well represented.

(Note: Page 205, the first page of the appendices, credits the 7 feats, 43 domains and 43 (again) spells ported in from other WotC sources.)

Chapter XII: Magic Items
In this chapter one'll find 10 pages of magic items, armors, shields, weapons, potions, rings, rods, staves, wonderous and cursed items, and minor and major artifacts. A number of setting-specific items show up here as expected for a setting sourcebook.

Appendices. I will be very brief here.
Glossary - 7 pages! Not too many publishers are so thoughtful. Kudos to KenzerCo!

Place of Origin Table - 7 pages of d10,000 tables to find out where a PC or NPC originated. It looks like fun to use, and it even suggests population densities if one looks at it closely.

Feats - 13 reference pages of ALL official feats listing name, type, source, prerequisite and short description. Wow.

A new KoK PC sheet - a somewhat more logical and useful layout. For example, only the untrained skills are listed; 13 lines below them are blank for the trained skills. Smart idea!

Spell planner - while I don't use such lists for play to date, these 26 pages of crammed info remain a useful reference summarizing all the official spells. And the principle level of organization is by class (some by prestige class), from Assassin to Cleric to Druid/Shaman to Vessels of Man (etc.)

Index - 10 pages of thorough references; whether it's a spell, a feat, a section heading, or a name of some class ability or fighting school, you'll find it listed here. An excellent close to a fine product!

So, for a product relating to a D&D setting, the Kingdom of Kalamar Player's Guide deserves praise for it's completeness in many areas relating to characters who are supposed to be native to the setting. Aside from the potential debate some people may have over the new variant classes, overall, I think the new content shines brightly. There is even a wealth of useful tables and charts that are excellent references--a hallmark of KenzerCo's style in all of their products. This shows considerable thought by this company with respect to supporting it's customers gaming needs. I hope WotC is embarrassed by KenzerCo's initiative and generally excellent quality of content, I repeat CONTENT, over WotC's rather haphazard record.

If one takes into account the rules-lite KoK campaign sourcebook (which is more for DMs) with this new Player's Guide, the combination strongly competes against most other settings on the market so far in terms of detail and comprehensiveness.

Inevitable comparisons will be made by many between the KoK PG and WotC's Forgotten Realms or Oriental Adventures (all 3 being official D&D products by the way), and I think where the KoK PG may lack in artistic presentation (fancy colour art and page backgrounds), it more than makes up in the game material. Being less costly than the other two, having excellent content, and thus being more accessible to people's budgets, this new PG deserves a 4/5 minimum--to be precise, I would rate it a 17 out of 20! ;)

I'm very much inclined to believe the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting and associated products are a labour of love for the folks at Kenzer & Co... And it shows!

-Bernard H.V., aka DMKabori.
Note: the Kingdom of Kalamar Campaign Sourcebook features a few setting-specific items and a few horse breeds not described in the KoK Player's Guide.

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