Jürgen Hubert

A fascinating look at the culture of #NorthKorea . It was particularly interesting for me since I actually had a North Korean co-worker back during my university days. (comment on The cleanest race)

Review of "Tian Xia Character Guide": A delightful expansion to Pathfinder 2E character options (Migrating this review manually from the previous instance.) This work contains player-facing options for Tian Xia, the "Asian"-themed continent of Pathfinder's Golarion setting. A huge part of the book discusses different ancestries. Some are variant takes on existing ancestries, such as kobolds, goblins, leshies, and so forth. Others are new to this volume. The kitsune were to be expected. Tanuki are a bit more obscure, although still fairly recognizable. But the more obscure ones stand out - my favorites are tsukumogami poppets, old items whose spirits have awakened to sentience. Another major chapter is on archetypes, many of which are tied to local arts and crafts. In such cases, their section have copious notes on these crafts, which will help the players and GMs to understand their cultural significance. However, a word of caution - there are some archetypes which can drastically shift the tone of a game. The most blatant of these is the Starlit Sentinel - yes, now you too can play a Magical Girl/Boy right out of anime in Pathfinder 2E. GMs should be ready to either enforce archetype rarity classifications, or face the consequences. All in all, this book whetted my appetite for its companion piece, the Tian Xia World Guide.

I've already read this book in English, so reading it in Italian is good practice. Progress is slow, since I am still at early A2 levels. Still, I persevere. But there are a lot of inside jokes that I lack the cultural references for. If you are curious, this RPGNet thread has some details on those: forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/brancalonia-spaghetti-fantasy.933066/ #dnd #ttrpg (comment on Brancalonia: Manuale Di Ambientazione)

Review of "Impossible Lands" (4 stars): "Impossible Lands" is not without its flaws, but nevertheless a good read The Impossible Lands are another regional sourcebook for the #Pathfinder setting of #Golarion, showcasing a region in northeastern Garund that has been shaped by the millennia-old conflict between the archwizards Nex and Geb and their namesake countries. After providing us with a few further character options, the bulk of the book is dedicated to regional descriptions. The city-state of Alkenstar is the primary source of firearms in the Inner Sea region. Since it is located in the Mana Wastes, where magic is unreliable, the inhabitants had to rely on technology to protect themselves, and the city has a strong "clockpunk" vibe. It also has a strong "American frontier city" vibe as well, including similar ethnical values and well/class structures - perhaps too much so, and it feels somewhat out of place in northwestern Garund. Furthermore - and this is a major trend within this book - its population of a mere 53,600 people seems far too small to support this much industry. Its allied city of Dogun Hold, one of the major dwarven Sky Citadels, is more interesting for me - I am always enjoying more variant cultures of the major nonhuman ancestries that show that they aren't all monocultures. The isle of Bhopan, inhabited by Beastkin, Fey, and Fey-Touched Humans, is a domain right out of the First World. If you want to run a adventure with fairy tale whimsy, this is the place. There seems to be some metaplot attached to some Pathfinder Society adventures ("The Perennial Crown") that might be worth looking up if you want to learn more about this place. Even more so than with Alkenstar, its population (1,017) seems ludicrously small to support a city with such a massive court and palace. But it could work if you focus on the fairy tale atmosphere. People and places exist and fulfill roles because that's what the story needs, and not because it makes socio-economic sense. A GM who puts some thoughts into this could drive more rationally-inclined player characters nuts here. Geb is one of the two "Great Powers" of the region. It is a nation ruled by undead, and has survived for thousands of years as a fairly stable society. You get a good idea of how it works and why it works, and why and how the living participate in this society. Whether the PCs are here on missions of commerce or diplomacy, as revolutionaries, or as ambitious citizens, Geb has a lot to offer for a campaign. The island of Jalmeray was colonized by Vudra a long time ago, and thus serves as the best place in the Inner Sea region for adventures inspired by Indian culture and folklore, while . Of particular interest to player characters are the four local martial arts schools, based on four of the elements. Personally, I am most intrigued by the so-called "Curse Shepherds", a sect who abduct curse-afflicted individuals and imprison them on an island off the coast. The Mana Wastes are one of the major regions of Golarion where you can have adventures in a post-apocalyptic landscape (Numeria and the Sarkosis Scar being the others). Here, the landscape was devastated by wild magic, and any kind of mutated creature (including warbeasts from the conflict between Nex and Geb) might appear here. However, unless you have parties that primarily rely on nonmagical abilities, I would use this environment sparingly - every spell that is cast has a chance to go wild, and an entire campaign set in this area could quickly become tedious for spellcasting characters. The last entry is Nex, the other Great Power - instead of undead, this nation is run by mages who have next to no restrained when it comes to experimenting with their powers. The region reminds me of the setting of Monte Cook's Numenera - a fever dream of the fantastic that bears little resemblance to any real world cultures. The jargon, too, is fairly dense - a GM preparing to run adventures in this nation will probably need to re-read this chapter once or twice to get a grasp on its culture. Additionally, the nation relies heavily on "fleshforged" creatures, but I would have appreciated it if the book had some introductory text that explained what such creatures actually are (beyond mage-shaped monstrosities). On a final note, while Geb's cultural stasis for the last four thousand years is understandable because of its undead rulers, the same cannot be said for Nex. Yet I do not get any sense that there have been major cultural or political shifts in the last four millenia since its founder vanished. How many real world cultures have changed so little in such a long time? This book is uneven in its quality. Nevertheless, the Impossible Lands are a fantastic place for adventures, and - keeping recent metaplot developments in mind - it will likely crucial to future developments in the Inner Sea region. Thus, it's well worth reading for Golarion fans.

@fnordius@muenchen.social To be honest, while it is written for #DnD, I don't think D&D is actually the best #TTRPG for this setting, particularly since it only permits characters to rise to Level 6. Maybe some hack of #WRFP would work, although whatever system you use, you would need some good rules for brawling scenes.