Covenant Items from Midnight for BRP

I've started to play a basic BRP based fantasy game at home, and the first adventure we did was a small crypt crawl. Naturally they found a magic sword.

Before you start to groan, let me tell you the kids have already started to ask for dragons and maybe a demon or two. They want fantasy to feel fantastic.

So, what can you as a GM do with the proverbial magic sword to keep it fresh and interesting? Well, I remembered the Midnight campaign setting for D&D 3rd ed. It might be a little to grim for children, but there was a few rules ideas in there I could steal. I'm thinking of Covenant Items.

Covenant Items are magic items that "grow" with the wielder. It's a neat solution to the question of what to do with the simple +1 sword when you find a +2 one.

Since we play in the Kingdoms of Kalamar, this sword is blessed by Brovandol, of the Knight of the Gods, and thus its powers are themed to that.

• +5/+10   -  Lvl 1 - Countermagic
• +10/+20 -  Lvl 1 - Sharpen
• +15/+30 -  Lvl 2 - Protection
• +20/+40 -  Lvl 2 - Countermagic
• +25/+50 -  Lvl 2 - Sharpen
• +30/+60 -  Lvl 3 - Protection
• +35/+70 -  Lvl 3 - Countermagic
• +40/+80 -  Lvl 3 - Sharpen

The idea is to have the weapon develop with the character, so the first column is how many skills points have been put into the weapon. The first value is for those who like me uses a d6 for skill advancement, and the second if you use a d10 (like modern CoC does).

Just as a random fact the levels happens to match with the different levels of the Halls of the Valiant, as the church of the Knight is knows as.

The powers are names of Magic spells from the Big Yellow Tome edition of BRP, and roughly correlate to familiar RQ spells like Bladesharp, Shield and Spell Resistance.

Now I have adventure hooks and a money sink ready for the character to develop those powers!

I bet I could use these rules for...

Longtime readers of this blog knows I am a nutcase when it comes to collecting some games. I have multiple copies of the 2nd ed. DragonQuest rules in addition to the 3rd ed. copy I own. It's a very old school game, quirky and fiddly like the best of them. I have been charmed by it since I first read it, but have yet to play it. One reason for that is the fact it's designed to be played with a hex map for tactical combat, and that is a bit of a hassle in a Hangout session.

Now I caught the bug again, since I took down my Kingdoms of Kalamar books. KoK is a fantasy world that is a bit like Greyhawk in that it's medieval fantasy without any special twists. There's nothing to get "weirded out" by like in Tekumel och Glorantha. Just plain fantasy. For some a bit too plain, even.

What would be better pairing then than to play it in that world using the down to earth and deadly DragonQuest system? I have now spent some days thumbing through books and pondering how it could be done. God knows if I'll ever be able to convince anyone to try it, but it was fun to think about for a few days.

So, this got me thinking.

How often have you encountered a book, a film och a tv-series and felt it just had to be turned into a rpg? Quite a few times I'd guess.

How often have you taken down an old favourite game, like that less than loved rules set you love that don't get the love on the blogs and on g+, and felt it should be cool to use it for, that thing? For me it happens all the time. My version of the classic gaming ADD is strongly connected to that behaviour. Last time I counted I owned 103 different rules system (counting separate D&D editions as different games), so that could be why.

Maybe it's just me being odd...

Gamer ADD strikes again

I had just decided that I needed to capitalize on the enthusiasm I had left from JackerCon and run an online Hangout game of my own. I found an old favourite on my shelves, Tomb of Abysthor, and decided it would be suitable for a Delving Deeper game. After browsing the module a bit I found that maybe I should have a lead in adventure to bump up the participants to level two. Once again I went to the shelves and found DCC #31. All set. Except that I felt I needed to have a settlement next to the dungeon for refreshing hitpoints, buy potions and suchlike. Guess what? I grabbed my copy of the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting and now I feel I have to read that 300 page book to find a good place to set the dungeon. Argh!

I wonder if I'm making this too hard?

Forgotten Dragonquest

I have gotten this idea, that I want to use DragonQuest for something. Since I have just been re-reading the grey box Forgotten Realms the first thought that struck me was to combine the two. Have anyone out there tried it?

Somebody, I have forgotten where I read it, wrote that the feel of that early FR is very much like the Old West. It's a borderland where civilization is slowly being established, and the daily experience of the encroaching wilderness. I happen to be a big fan of Westerns, so I'm totally buying that depiction of the Forgotten Realms. But, this also made me think about other settings where the "feel" have suddenly clicked for me. Forgotten Realms was never presented that way.

One day when I was browsing the setting book for Kingdoms of Kalamar, I suddenly realized that the schtick this setting had was not to be special at all! The special about it was that it was just a quasi medieval setting presented in as a clear and "realistic" way as possible. No oddities or specials like Talislanta or Tekumel. Take apeek at the books and you will find that was exactly what was described on the can. God knows why I hadn't understood that. This was kind of the inverse of the experience of FR.

I still haven't gotten that feeling for Greyhawk.

Making deities matter

I just browsed the Players Guide for the 3rd ed setting Kingdoms of Kalamar. In the chapter on clerics it had some options I found interesting. Those who have followed me through the years know I have a soft spot for KoK, and this was something I felt could be imported to other games.

You know how clerics can turn undead? In newer editions of D&D, that it because the channel some kind of positive energy from their god. That sounds kind of iffy to me, but you can take the concept and run with it.

If your cleric is channeling power from the gods when casting spells (from a spell list that is mostly identical to all), why not take one effect that conceptualize the area of influence of that god, and make that a power of the cleric?

So, a cleric of the god of merchants should be able to channel the power of smooth talking, charming or something similar. A cleric of the god of death should be able to somehow be more deadly once in a while. A cleric of the god of love could... Well, you get the idea.

How about that?

You could make it happen on a d20 lower than the character level, on a 1 in 6 or just once every session. Scalable to every power setting. Also, if the death channeler just gets +1 dmg or kills outright is also one of those "setting dials". Even a +1 could be fun. Everyone likes to be somewhat special.

You say it sounds like those fiddly "daily" powers from my post on old school "feats"? Yeah, it will take some bookkeeping unless you make it happen just once every session. Everyone should be able to remember if they have used their power this night, unless very drunk while gaming, right?

Then you could just tweak the spell list to be unique for every god/temple/whatever. I think the power channeling idea is more fun, though.

Alphabet Challenge ends

After a few days of inactivity I think the alphabet challenge project is dead. My visitor stats went down and comments were almost nonexistent. While I write for my own enjoyment I do like to see that somebody is enjoying what I write and this apparently wasn't a success for me nor my readers.

Even though I constantly get google hits from people looking on Kalamar stuff, it seems those people are not many or vocal enough for me to get the kind of sustainable conversation that makes you slog on when you write according to a plan, and not from the random whims of my heart.

Now I will go back to my usual musings. Maybe not as challenging or developing as a writer, but easier and more fun.I do think I did manage to produce a few posts of some entertainment value, though.

Next up: Reign and the D&D endgame

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Merchant's Tongue

In almost every game world, there is a language that everyone knows. A "common" if you will. In contrast to our world where things like latin evolved from the learned world, the game worlds very often base it on commerce. KoK is no different. Today I will base my musings on languages.

So, why have a "common" at all? Isn't is very "unrealistic"? I guess it is, but also very handy. I have played games where not everyone could talk to each other, and it was fun a while. A short while. Having to roleplay not understanding is quite strain on the group after a while.

If we want to have a common language, what can we do with it? I have seen people suggest that you could imagine that a language evolved mainly for trade and commerce should have problems to convey subtler things. Maybe you could have a penalty to your die roll if you tried to talk diplomacy using the trade language?

Another interesting option is that the trade language can actually make people understand what the other person want, not what they say. If the language is used for trading, and maybe it a gift from a god of trade, it could be a magical effect transmitting just those kind of impressions even if you are not talking about trading. Try to wrap your head around that one.

Something which are very common in game worlds is the old empire. Usually it is long gone and the realms of today are the smaller states resulting from the squabbling and infighting which resulted from that collapsing civilization. You could build a lot of interesting game situations based on the fall of Rome. Seen from that point of view, maybe the different national and tribal languages are all strongly influenced by the language of the empire. In that way you have suddenly made that "unrealistic" common language make a lot of sense.

In the Kalamar setting there are multiple languages. There are even lists of common names in different languages, and examples of glyphs in the different alphabets. Since I am quite interested in typography, I like that bit. It's very cool to both have your cake, and eat it. You let everyone converse in Merchant's Tongue, but then the old treasure map you give out as a handout is written in old Brandobian letters!

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Lamellar Armor

Can you tell that I pick the most catching words in the index of the KoK campaign sourcebook? I have once again missed a day, but hopefully this will be of some interest.

In a sidebar of the KoK sourcebook we can read about lamellar amor. It's the kind of stuff you usually see in sourcebooks, right? More classes, monsters, equipment and spells. Using all of this is another kettle of fish, entirely.

I once ran a 3rd ed campaign. It started when the game was fairly new, and it ran for something like five years. Originally I had intended it to be longer, but the group became geographically dispersed and the game fizzled. In that game I allowed everything imaginable. We had weird spells, weird items and god knows what. I totally lost any sense of control of where the feel of the game was heading, and I knew nothing of how to make it right. Doing the right thing from the beginning would have helped, I guess. But what?

Now I see all this options as something of a hindrance. Considering how common the "rules light" meme is in the OSR parts of the web, I guess I'm not alone. I'm not against the idea of new stuff, but it has to somehow reinforce the setting.

So, what use are a thing like lamellar armor? Well, I think one way to make a secondary world, like a game world, come alive is to make it stand out. To have all the magicians cast spells from the same PHB spell lists, and to have the all monsters be the same old, same old from the MM, it will feel just like any other game world. While you can go as far as Talislanta, or Glorantha, or Tekumel, I think there might be a middle ground.

Take some of that crunch, like special classes or a odd piece of equipment that might have the same game stats like any other, and make it culturally significant.

Let's say our bold hero, having slain a hobgoblin chief, wanders into Bet Rogala i Pekal wearing the armor of his fallen enemy. Suddenly everyone's attitude towards him seem different, and suddenly people start to expect him to behave in a special way. Maybe they suddenly want him to take part in some dangerous task, or religious ritual? What if that kind of armor is something only the sacred chief, bound to be sacrificed to the gods after the campaign or war, is supposed to be wearing. Suppose that armor means something else, and quite significant as well, to some other culture the characters might encounter.

In that way even a suit or lamellar armor might be more than just another piece of "kewl power" from the latest sourcebook to plunder for maximum powergameing potential. Maybe it can be that as well...

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Joto II

What would you call somebody who refused to believe the existence of the gods, when their followers are all over the place using powers which should tell all and sundry that the powers they follow are the source of them?

Let's take a look at King Joto II of Shynabyth. He wages a long and bitter war on a nearby theocracy and don't tolerate any religion in his realm. Quite an odd fellow in the polytheistic realms of common rpg fantasy. Consider that the majority of my readers are from the US, another realm where the refusal to accept the existence of a god probably will forever lock you out of higher office. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in the western world, the US is about as religious as it gets. King Joto would be odd even there.

But, imagine he is right?

No, I'm not going to make this an issue about American culture, but investigate an uncommon twist in fantasy rpgs. Let's for a moment consider that the king is right. This could happen in many different ways.

The first way would of course be that the divine magic is nothing but arcane powers in different garb. Lots of fancy robes, mitre and other garb it is. Then the question is why not everyone can wield all kind of magic? Maybe it's just a question of training. I could see interesting campaigns happening when the players find the ancient way to unify all the forces of nature. Eh, magic, I mean.

The second way could be that in the realm of Shynabyth the divine powers are just imaginary, and their powers useless. Is there a anti-magic aura radiating from the king himself? Ars Magica, a game I usually am not that fond of, had this idea about how arcane magic didn't work around people of strong and pure faith. Now, imagine something in the same vein, but opposite in effect. Is it a curse, or a blessing? What would happen should the king meet his end? Would divine power suddenly start working? Would it seep back into the culture?

The third option, just to pick some, could be that all those powers are really psychic powers channelling the inner energies of the caster. Both Tunnels & Trolls and Talislanta have wrought their worlds of fantasy out of that mould. Talislanta is actually the only fantasy rpg that I know of where the very existence of the gods is undefined.

Now, how could you use this in your game? Just imagine an idea out of option two up there! How would you win that war against the theocracy? By extending that aura of non-belief into their lands, of course! Back in the 2nd ed era there was at least one Planescape adventure where the player characters could make a village slide into the abyss by furthering the idea of chaos! I see opportunities like that here.

[From a to Z in Kalamar] Inolen

I remember that when the campaign setting source book for Kingdoms of Kalamar was published, I read some reviews that feel the setting was too dry for their tastes. They must have missed the section about Inolen in Brandobia!

This is a city, rules by a duke who makes everything he can to befriend bands of mercenaries. He also pays on time and let them handle things as the see fit. Naturally there are patriots who feel the duke are heading out on deep waters and wonder if it's time to act. Add to this the fact that there are caves a few miles south, known to be havens of monsters in prehistoric times, and "Farmers insist that otyhughs lives in the caves". Adventure time! Also, " he [i.e. the duke] is greatly concerned about the rumors of a secret cult of a dead god of Tellene". Epic Adventure time!

Now I really want to run/play a campaign in that city and its environs!

A few thoughts on blogging

I have noted a clear trend in visitor stats and comments lately. Every since I started my alphabetic blogging, comments have been scarce. Yesterday I even found out that some people have proudly proclaimed not to read any bloggers who post their way through the alphabet in April, at all! What's the deal with that?

What I post here is not something I will force anybody to read, we all post what's on our mind and hope somebody enjoy it. To have some people state how they avoid reading something is a kind of negativity I just don't understand.

Anyway, I'm finding new interesting stuff in Kalamar, and hopefully somebody comes around who might find something entertaining.

The reason I skipped a letter was because a storm that caused electricity to fail and when it took many hours more than usual to get home from work you don't always feel like blogging. So, one letter a day meant I skipped one letter.

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Hobgoblins

On Tellene there are one race which in addition to humans, elves and dwarves have managed to build a civilization. I quite like the fact that it happen to be the hobgoblins.

Having humans in funny suits is not all that interesting, and the kind of anthopology 101 that Glorantha becomes in it's worse moments is probably not that fun either. Well, the latter might not be true if you like to read more than play, and enjoy canon debates, but let's ignore that for now.

So, hobgoblins are something special, and quite interesting without the above mentioned excesses. Two things define hobgoblins, and they are enough to build an alien enough society to be fun. Those two things are strength and honour. While strength is kind of self explanatory, it is very focused. It means you have to have the power, since power is strength, to control the most precious of all, someones life. Being able to kill, but not necessarily to do it, is a defining factor in the hobgoblin culture. The second one, honour, is all about doing something the right way. Exercising influence, or proving your ability is honourable. Now combining that with the value of strength is interesting.

Imagine you are fighting a hobgoblin, and you are actually a character of some standing. Should your weapon break, or you fall, your hobgoblin opponent might actually stop and yell to his subordinate to provide you with a weapon so the fight can continue! This makes me think of intelligent gamers who suddenly stricken by the brain damage that is alignment rules, will sometimes kill defenseless kobolds or orcish females and cubs "because they are evil". What's the honour in that?

Take one trait, and then another which seem to be slightly ajar from the first one and make them the basis of a demi-human culture and I think you'll have something interesting on your hands. How hobgoblins are treated in KoK is one of the subtler things I like with this setting.

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Fhokki

Different races are common enough in fantasy settings. One thing I find interesting is how the designers of Kingdoms of Kalamar have included multiple human cultures in addition to the demi-human ones. In our world there are multiple cultures with different languages, traditions and some common physical traits. Why would a fantasy world be different?

Naturally there are people of great stature, blond and blue eyed and a fancy for rough living and disdain of the effete cultures in the civilized lands. More often than not, especially when the world builder are of American background, these are modelled on the old norse culture and the vikings.

I can tell you that people in this part of the world usually cringe when that happen. The popular cultural view of vikings in the US is not always that well aligned with neither self image or history. Not being of Asian descent, I can only guess at how much things like Oriental Adventures make people from east Asia cringe.

Anyway. On Tellene, the world of Kalamar, there are nordic barbarians and they are called Fhokki. One of these days I'm running a campaign with those people mashed up with something else. That is one of the things I like with how many cultures in Glorantha are similar to cultures in our world, but then there are things mixed in which twist them just that much into weirdness. In general I think that is a good idea. Take scoop full of inspiration from our world, but then add that something extra and twist a bit. Imagine something like the Imperial Romans, but add a strong belief in reincarnation and a cyclical view of history like the Mayan calendar. How about that?

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Elos Desert

Why on earth would you want to include a desert in your campaign? Sand, rocks and a few scrubs and some poisonous snakes. What is there to like?

Everyone have heard of the long lost city Irem, or City or Pillars or the Nameless City of H.P. Lovecraft's story, right? Lost cities even have been found in classic D&D modules. Basically, deserts invite you to enter the endless seas of sand and prove your mettle against the elements. There might be treasure there.

The Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali lies hidden somewhere beyond the Elos desert. There's also that font of knowledge and trade Dijishy, city of time, itself so old nobody knows when it was built or by whom.

Deserts means old and deserted things, mysteries and treasure. One of my favourite covers of a gaming product was the old 2nd ed supplement "Cities of Bone" for Al Qadim. I loved that picture.

Those endless wastes speak of ages gone by, and of ancient things best forgotten. If that isn't spelled "adventure", I don't know what is!

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Diaday

In the Merchant's Tongue, the first day of the week is called Diaday. That is the topic of today's post, the first day of this week.

Many settings have created new funny names for common things, in order to add a sense of otherness to it. Sometimes it's just new names on the same seven week days, and sometimes it's ten days of unpronounceable stuff with multiple syllables. The latter seldom works better for a game setting.

So, except for those who wish they were like Tolkien, what use are these linguistic execises?

I remember when I first got hold of Planescape, the planar setting for 2nd ed. AD&D. I loved that place, and even though I hate alignments I dream of one day go wild with the myriad possibilities inherent in the idea of the planes. Apart from Tony DiTerlizzi's amazing artwork and art direction, one of the most notable things with Planescape was it's use of planar jargon.

Now, have anyone of you out there actually used that stuff? If you think it would sound silly to talk like that round the game table when everyone else is talking English, imagine how stupid you would feel if everyone was talking German, Swedish or Finnish and you as the GM wanted to introduce that exotic phrases?

Nice try, but no thanks.

These days I see things like Diaday and think it might be the limit for me. No more linguistic immersion. Some chrome to make that setting shine, but apart from some words used sparingly I think it is enough.

Tomorrow is Pelsday and I'll take on 'E'.

[From a to Z in Kalamar] College of Magic

Our 'C' word is the College of Magic, in the Principality of Pekal.

In most fantasy worlds, there are (for lack of a better world) universities. Sometimes they teach all and sundry, and sometimes they are the guardians of knowledge, hoarding the arcane mysteries. Kingdoms of Kalamar is no different.The college in Bet Rogala teaches all the arcane mysteries, but they keep close tabs on everyone practising the mystic arts. Unregistered magic users can expect to be treated roughly, since the college have close ties to the political power in the Principality.

So, how come there are such a site of learning? Quite a few of the pioneers of our hobby met in wargaming clubs at university, like the founder of GDW and Dave Arneson and Dave Wesley to just name a few. I hardly think that it the reason for the common theme of wizard schools, though. Thinking back to some of the classics of fantasy literature I find few if any magic schools neither. Maybe there's something obvious here that I'm overlooking.

Why would you have a college of magic in your game, though? If there's something that have the potential to wreck the best laid plans of evil wizards and other baddies, that must surely be inventive players shuffling the cards of fate by magic. To be able to control what spells, and magical research a player will be able to access you will have a lot more control of your campaign.

Then there is the school of magic as a font of adventure. It's kind of obvious these days, post Harry Potter, what kind of adventure you could have at a school of magic.

Have anyone ever heard of such a campaign idea before Harry Potter? Oddly enough, I have not.

Taken to its extreme, here we see the birth of Ars Magica, a game which I have empirically come to understand just don't work for me. With that I conclude that in my games I think the college of magic is something as simple as my way to control the purses and power of my players.

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Battle of Kadir Ridge

In the section about the Kalamar empire in the KoK campaign set, under the heading Mountain Ranges, there is a mention of the Battle of Kadir Ridge. Today I'm going to take a look at how to use that in your game.

This is what we know of the battle. The Emperor of Kalamar sough to control the riches of the dwarfs, and marshalled his armies to attack. One of his group of allies were some fire giant chieftains. Then when the battle was won, the Marshall in charge fell upon his allies.

So what can be done with this?

So, both fire giants and the dwarfs have been slighted by this emperor. Both these groups probably want revenge, and the giants wanted something from the dwarfs which lured them into that fateful alliance.

1. The emperor now have in his possession the fabled dwarven warhammer of giant slaying. The very existence of this item is anathema to the giants, who have decided to get it back. What happen when the decoy the giants have used accept the item from the adventurers who have procured it? Will they maybe have investigated a bit and found out about that camp of giants a bit off who are there to receive the artifact? What happens when the dwarfs show up and demand their item? That could be one "fetch this item and earn a bag of gold" adventure to remember.

2. By now the dwarfs and the giants have realized that the Emperor is not to be trusted, and that they have a common enemy. How will the party feel about the idea of earning some luxurious items crafted by dwarven smiths, if they do this small political assassination of a certain Marshall?

3. One day the dwarfs unleash their monstrous automaton they have been building since the day of the defeat at Kadir Ridge (I see before me that steamroller from the cover of module DA1). Maybe the only one mighty enough to stand against it, and it's fire belching powers are a fire giant or three? I bet a diplomatic mission to the giants would be quite interesting for a party in the Emperor's employ.

Hey! Run with it.

Tomorrow we see what can be found in Kalamar with the letter 'C'.

Blogging Challenge, from A to Z

Like some of you might have noticed, the idea of blogging your way through the alphabet is taking root in the bloggosphere. I have decided to, not very imaginative I know, to jump on the train.

From today and further on in April, I will walk through the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting with the alphabet as my guide. Come along!

[From A to Z in Kalamar] Ablutor - the shimmering one

One thing I like with Kingdoms of Kalamar is that the gods are not the same from all cultures and races. I've always found the idea of a "dwarven pantheon" slightly odd, since why would the gods order themselves after the smaller beings classes and divisions? In KoK, the gods are known by different names and manifestations for each culture, which makes more sense to me.

Another thing is that the campaign set contains mentions of raiments, festivals and how to advance in the church. This is a far step from just a nondescript source of healing spells. Let's take a look at one of these gods for our letter A.

Abluthor, known as "Bendon" among the Brandobians, is the god of moons, night and beauty. While you might wonder why bold adventurers should worship such a silly god, there are great campaign fodder in one of the festivals mentioned in the KoK book. Once every 280 years, the three moons of Tellene line up in the sky and a great festival is held. At this festival, three great magical charms are sacrificed, and then dispersed all over the world again by magic.

How about it's now 278 years since the last time, and your characters are looking for those quests establishing their own immortal legend and place in society as name level heroes? Go hunt for three magical charms in different corners of the world! Thinking of moons, night and beauty I immediately see potential for interesting conflicts with werebeasts (moon), thieves in the night (night) and maybe a new twist on the theme of beauty with traps and dangers that might cause CHA penalties. Quite a hindrance for a cleric of Ablutor, I'd guess? See, NPCs, monsters and traps for a world spanning campaign from just a simple example of a festival!

Fragments of campaign potential: Kingdoms of Kalamar

As I was reading my Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign set, I realized how to write setting background. Let's take a look at this.

The kingdom of Cosdol in Brandobia is described as a peaceful nation of magicians and merchants. But, the description also mentions how the capital is overrun with refugees from a tsunami-like event out on the coast. Combine this with the fact that the king's main advisor have just been assassinated and how that have forced the prince to take a more part in the ruling of the land. Do you smell change and conflict yet? Add to this the fact that Cosdol have a legal code based on elven morals, which means very lenient laws, and the fact that the whole land of Brandobia is split in three nations which are constantly at each other's throat.

Now we have a nation that is described as ordered and prosperous, but with a lot of tension. I can see a lot of things you could do in a Brandobian campaign. Let's just suggest that the influx of refugees means more social unrest. Quite likely, I'd say. Add to that one of the strange cults which can be found in the lands, with a strong and charismatic leader. Imagine that happening at the same time as more assassinations, probably payed for by a foreign power. I think it could be quite fun.

Good writing for a setting means sowing the seeds of change while describing how everything fits together, feels real and there being an imagine of normality. Sometimes Kingdoms of Kalamar have been accused of being a bit plain, and almost dull. Reading this I'd say the most plainly described setting can be filled with interesting conflict, if you just read the plain description thinking of how this situation in balance could be tipped in the favour of somebody.

I'm not sure if I managed to make it clear, but I got some insight from this and I wanted to somehow impart the gist of it in a post.