The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Baalgor Wastelands is the second book by Bill Coffin for the Palladium Fantasy system. The wastelands was a area destroyed in the Elf-Dwarf war. This book gives some history of the area and it current state of affairs. Below is a break down of my thoughts on the book by chapter.

Part One: The Baalgor Wastelands: To get you started in the book is a overview of a history for the region. It touches briefly on events leading to Elf-Dwarf war and during it. After that is a real nice section on traveling through the desert. There are rules for water consumption, heat exhaustion and wearing heavy armor to list a few. A GM that uses all these rules will soon have players keeping close track of their supplies. It will also make the Water Warlock everyone's best friend.

Part Two: The People: During the Elf-Dwarf war both sides brought races from other dimensions to fight for them. There are still some members of these races running around in the wastelands and this section describes them and some other new races. It also has reprints of some already established races. Some of my favorite are the Baalizad who are on the run to the surface from a mysterious enemy they call the "Demons of the Deep." The Gosai a race brought to the world by Elves to be used as assassins and spies. They now wander the wastelands as nomads but still continue the conflict started during the war with the Quorian. The Quorian were brought by the Dwarves to fight the Gosai. In the process of the war all the Quorian who know how to return them home were killed. They have been searching ever since for a way to get back. That's not all the new races but these are my favorites.

Part Three: The Places: This is by farthest the biggest section since it's a overview of the Baalgor Wastelands by geographical regions.

The first one described is the Rocky Coastline. This is the some 400 miles of coastline on the Sea of Scarlet Waters. It's the most built up area of the wastelands and has three types of communities in it. The first is Western Empire colonies. Since these are usually made of undesirables they do not get much support and quickly fail. The next is the Pirate Coves of the varies Pirates operating in the Sea of Scarlet Waters. Some are small towns for the use of pirates and others just nice places to hide the loot. The last and by far the biggest is Free City of Troker. This is a ancient city built by the Dwarfs for the Elves as a gift. Though it was to become the sight of many bloody battles during the wars. In the time since the war it has also been the sight of more then a few failed Western Empire colonies. It's currently a free trade city that attracts large numbers of pirates and the monster races. The current leader rules with a iron fist to keep some semblance of control in the city.

Next is the Stony Desert and area that resembles sections of Arizona. The population of this area is widely dispersed and very mobile. There are the Dragonmen tribes just trying to survive. The Eandroth Caravans that pass back and forth trading goods as they go. They are a major source of supplies in this region. The Quorian wander the area as simple nomadic camps. There is also the troublemakers of the areas. The Marauder Crews who are groups of bandits that prey on the people of the Stony Desert. Also the Gromek have set up War Camps as part of their war with the Giant Kingdom of Mt. Nimro (more on this in a future book). The short version they were pushed out of the area around Mt. Nimro and are know fighting to keep the Giants from taking the wastelands over to.

The Sandy Desert is the most inhospitable region of the wastelands and lies in the middle of the Stony Desert. It has some of the groups from the above section but in smaller numbers. The Eandroth Caravans and Gromek War Camps are of much smaller size. There are two big groups in the region. One is the Gosai tribes which make their homes here. Also several tribes of Minotaurs have come to the surface from deep beneath the Sandy Desert. These tribes are still trying to figure out what to do since they had been in hiding before the war.

The Rocky Desert is the start of the Baalgor Mountains. It was heavily hit by the magic unleashed in the war between the Elf-Dwarf war. The Circle of Absolute Elemental Power that destroyed the Golden City pulverized this area. There are large numbers of broken rocks and debris from the shattered mountains. There are a few Eandroth Caravans but not many since the land is to rough for their wagons. The Giants have strongholds that they use as advanced camps in the war against the Gromek. This is where the Baalizad have come to the surface in their long journey to escape from a enemy who they don't even know the appearance of. The Minotaur tribes are varied here. Some are still up to the old ways of worshipping the old ones but some have turned to new paths.

The last region is the Eastern Baalgor Mountains and is the site of the heaviest fighting between the Giants & Gromek. They each have cities and strongholds which they attack each other from. Both sides are determined to control this area but there is no sign of a winner in sight. This will not be a safe place for playing groups mostly composed of the so-called handsome races (Dwarf, Elf, Human) as they will treated like second rate people and most likely be used as pawns in the war. If they are not that lucky they will become slaves.

Part Four: Adventures: This section gives you a group of Hook, Line & Sinkers to use in the Baalgor Wastelands. They cover the entire region and should be of good use for GM starting up or moving a group here. They range from combat to politics so they players will be kept hopping.

In the above review I have left much out and only lightly touched on what was mentioned. It's a big book and full of background material. Bill Coffin has added a whole new depth to Palladium's Fantasy setting and it will only get better as more books by him come out. The only problem I had about this book was the need to find some players to use all my adventure idea with.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Baalgor Wastelands
Author: Bill Coffin Category: game Company/Publisher: Palladium Books Line: Palladium Fantasy Cost: $20.95 Page count: 216 ISBN: 157457-02-2-6 Capsule Review by Shawn Merrow on 05/24/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	The Baalgor Wastelands is the second book by Bill Coffin for the Palladium Fantasy system. The wastelands was a area destroyed in the Elf-Dwarf war. This book gives some history of the area and it current state of affairs. Below is a break down of my thoughts on the book by chapter. Part One: The Baalgor Wastelands: To get you started in the book is a overview of a history for the region. It touches briefly on events leading to Elf-Dwarf war and during it. After that is a real nice section on traveling through the desert. There are rules for water consumption, heat exhaustion and wearing heavy armor to list a few. A GM that uses all these rules will soon have players keeping close track of their supplies. It will also make the Water Warlock everyone's best friend. Part Two: The People: During the Elf-Dwarf war both sides brought races from other dimensions to fight for them. There are still some members of these races running around in the wastelands and this section describes them and some other new races. It also has reprints of some already established races. Some of my favorite are the Baalizad who are on the run to the surface from a mysterious enemy they call the "Demons of the Deep." The Gosai a race brought to the world by Elves to be used as assassins and spies. They now wander the wastelands as nomads but still continue the conflict started during the war with the Quorian. The Quorian were brought by the Dwarves to fight the Gosai. In the process of the war all the Quorian who know how to return them home were killed. They have been searching ever since for a way to get back. That's not all the new races but these are my favorites. Part Three: The Places: This is by farthest the biggest section since it's a overview of the Baalgor Wastelands by geographical regions. The first one described is the Rocky Coastline. This is the some 400 miles of coastline on the Sea of Scarlet Waters. It's the most built up area of the wastelands and has three types of communities in it. The first is Western Empire colonies. Since these are usually made of undesirables they do not get much support and quickly fail. The next is the Pirate Coves of the varies Pirates operating in the Sea of Scarlet Waters. Some are small towns for the use of pirates and others just nice places to hide the loot. The last and by far the biggest is Free City of Troker. This is a ancient city built by the Dwarfs for the Elves as a gift. Though it was to become the sight of many bloody battles during the wars. In the time since the war it has also been the sight of more then a few failed Western Empire colonies. It's currently a free trade city that attracts large numbers of pirates and the monster races. The current leader rules with a iron fist to keep some semblance of control in the city. Next is the Stony Desert and area that resembles sections of Arizona. The population of this area is widely dispersed and very mobile. There are the Dragonmen tribes just trying to survive. The Eandroth Caravans that pass back and forth trading goods as they go. They are a major source of supplies in this region. The Quorian wander the area as simple nomadic camps. There is also the troublemakers of the areas. The Marauder Crews who are groups of bandits that prey on the people of the Stony Desert. Also the Gromek have set up War Camps as part of their war with the Giant Kingdom of Mt. Nimro (more on this in a future book). The short version they were pushed out of the area around Mt. Nimro and are know fighting to keep the Giants from taking the wastelands over to. The Sandy Desert is the most inhospitable region of the wastelands and lies in the middle of the Stony Desert. It has some of the groups from the above section but in smaller numbers. The Eandroth Caravans and Gromek War Camps are of much smaller size. There are two big groups in the region. One is the Gosai tribes which make their homes here. Also several tribes of Minotaurs have come to the surface from deep beneath the Sandy Desert. These tribes are still trying to figure out what to do since they had been in hiding before the war. The Rocky Desert is the start of the Baalgor Mountains. It was heavily hit by the magic unleashed in the war between the Elf-Dwarf war. The Circle of Absolute Elemental Power that destroyed the Golden City pulverized this area. There are large numbers of broken rocks and debris from the shattered mountains. There are a few Eandroth Caravans but not many since the land is to rough for their wagons. The Giants have strongholds that they use as advanced camps in the war against the Gromek. This is where the Baalizad have come to the surface in their long journey to escape from a enemy who they don't even know the appearance of. The Minotaur tribes are varied here. Some are still up to the old ways of worshipping the old ones but some have turned to new paths. The last region is the Eastern Baalgor Mountains and is the site of the heaviest fighting between the Giants & Gromek. They each have cities and strongholds which they attack each other from. Both sides are determined to control this area but there is no sign of a winner in sight. This will not be a safe place for playing groups mostly composed of the so-called handsome races (Dwarf, Elf, Human) as they will treated like second rate people and most likely be used as pawns in the war. If they are not that lucky they will become slaves. Part Four: Adventures: This section gives you a group of Hook, Line & Sinkers to use in the Baalgor Wastelands. They cover the entire region and should be of good use for GM starting up or moving a group here. They range from combat to politics so they players will be kept hopping. In the above review I have left much out and only lightly touched on what was mentioned. It's a big book and full of background material. Bill Coffin has added a whole new depth to Palladium's Fantasy setting and it will only get better as more books by him come out. The only problem I had about this book was the need to find some players to use all my adventure idea with. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)