The Inside Scoop on Gaming

City of Telndar is an excellent supplement for any GM who wants a pre-generated city.

Telndar is set near the end of a peninsula at the edge of an island nation. As such, it is relatively isolated and has the entire unexplored peninsula to itself, giving ample opportunity for exploring and adventuring. Surprisingly, Telndar exists in the middle of the peninsula, near a series of forests, so don't expect to see any docks or ships. It is primarily a self-sufficient city, but is now reentering into trade. This new open trade policy has sparked contention within some elements of the city and is the basis for most of the city's political intrigue.

The city includes the castle that everything grew around it: a monastery with an extensive library, a theatre for all the high society members, and a small university as a center of learning. These all give the GM a good basis for practically any number of adventure seeds. Also included are the obligatory guilds district and thieves quarter. Being a city on the edge of the explored world, there are many adventurers present year round. The city provides many services for these adventurers, including a variety of weapons shops, adventure supply stores, and a horde of taverns and bars. The city even has two competing "groupings" of adventurers: those who prefer to go out adventuring, and those who prefer to drink and talk about their grandiose adventures.

The book covers each quarter of the city. Each section describes all of the major businesses and provides their floor plans, as well as information on their owners. The descriptions of the people include a few sentences on their personality and their take on the internal political struggle in Telndar. This information is sufficient for a GM to create interesting NPCs. There are also a couple of adventure hooks for each section of the city that give GM's quick ideas to introduce the players to the city.

Telndar would make a great city for practically any campaign. Whether the PCs just visit the frontier for a short time, or want to base their adventures from there, this city provides abundant opportunities for interactions and adventure hooks. The primary limitation of the city, of course, is its location on the frontier. While there are relatively few stats and the city can be transported to virtually any system, it is would be impossible to move to city to the middle of an empire. Everything about the city, its layout, its citizens, its political problems, all depends on the city's frontier status.

Of interest to GMs of Esæne, a new character type is included: the artisan. They are designed specifically as NPCs, normal citizens who knows their craft well, but do not have any special talents or training for combat.

The city maps are all of high quality and the building layouts are actually quite good. The book's cover and the few pieces of artwork in the book are of noticeably lesser quality, but are sufficient to add character to the book. Perhaps the best graphic included with the book is the 8.5 x 14" color map of the city. The main streets and buildings in the city are labeled and the map is a good for a quick reference when you don't want to flip through the actual book for a more detailed map.

One problem that I have with my copy, but doubt exists in all copies, is that the pages are slightly off alignment. The binding is just two stapes, and the pages weren't printed exactly centered, so some of them stick out further than the others.

Although this is a supplement for BaDGe Publications World of Esæne, the inside cover includes the basics of the game mechanics. So, if you decide to just purchase this sourcebook, you get enough of a feel for the rules to be able to interpret the stats given in the book. This is a good thing, for my impression of the system leans far closer to Wes Johnson's negative review than Papyrus's upbeat one, although I would recommend anyone read both before considering purchasing the system. If you are interested in learning more or want to purchase Telndar, be sure to look at BaDGe's website at www.badgepubs.com as this is the only place where you can buy Telndar.

The book is half-height with a light cardstock cover. Although it is 65 pages long, the pages are relatively small and the whole book seems like it would fit in 40 pages of a normal sized sourcebook. This short length means that it is not the great value that it would first seem like for its $8 cost.

Telndar provides the outline of a city, but you still have to fill in many of the details. Of course, not everyone wants a city that is completely fleshed out, as it would be in a 500-page box set for a city! Those who need a city at the edge of a kingdom and desire some flexibility to customize it to their world won't be disappointed in Telndar.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

City of Telndar
Author: Brant Guillory Category: game Company/Publisher: BaDGe Publications Line: World of Esaene Cost: $8 Page count: 65 Capsule Review by Matt Clay on 04/03/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Generic	City of Telndar is an excellent supplement for any GM who wants a pre-generated city. Telndar is set near the end of a peninsula at the edge of an island nation. As such, it is relatively isolated and has the entire unexplored peninsula to itself, giving ample opportunity for exploring and adventuring. Surprisingly, Telndar exists in the middle of the peninsula, near a series of forests, so don't expect to see any docks or ships. It is primarily a self-sufficient city, but is now reentering into trade. This new open trade policy has sparked contention within some elements of the city and is the basis for most of the city's political intrigue. The city includes the castle that everything grew around it: a monastery with an extensive library, a theatre for all the high society members, and a small university as a center of learning. These all give the GM a good basis for practically any number of adventure seeds. Also included are the obligatory guilds district and thieves quarter. Being a city on the edge of the explored world, there are many adventurers present year round. The city provides many services for these adventurers, including a variety of weapons shops, adventure supply stores, and a horde of taverns and bars. The city even has two competing "groupings" of adventurers: those who prefer to go out adventuring, and those who prefer to drink and talk about their grandiose adventures. The book covers each quarter of the city. Each section describes all of the major businesses and provides their floor plans, as well as information on their owners. The descriptions of the people include a few sentences on their personality and their take on the internal political struggle in Telndar. This information is sufficient for a GM to create interesting NPCs. There are also a couple of adventure hooks for each section of the city that give GM's quick ideas to introduce the players to the city. Telndar would make a great city for practically any campaign. Whether the PCs just visit the frontier for a short time, or want to base their adventures from there, this city provides abundant opportunities for interactions and adventure hooks. The primary limitation of the city, of course, is its location on the frontier. While there are relatively few stats and the city can be transported to virtually any system, it is would be impossible to move to city to the middle of an empire. Everything about the city, its layout, its citizens, its political problems, all depends on the city's frontier status. Of interest to GMs of Esæne, a new character type is included: the artisan. They are designed specifically as NPCs, normal citizens who knows their craft well, but do not have any special talents or training for combat. The city maps are all of high quality and the building layouts are actually quite good. The book's cover and the few pieces of artwork in the book are of noticeably lesser quality, but are sufficient to add character to the book. Perhaps the best graphic included with the book is the 8.5 x 14" color map of the city. The main streets and buildings in the city are labeled and the map is a good for a quick reference when you don't want to flip through the actual book for a more detailed map. One problem that I have with my copy, but doubt exists in all copies, is that the pages are slightly off alignment. The binding is just two stapes, and the pages weren't printed exactly centered, so some of them stick out further than the others. Although this is a supplement for BaDGe Publications World of Esæne, the inside cover includes the basics of the game mechanics. So, if you decide to just purchase this sourcebook, you get enough of a feel for the rules to be able to interpret the stats given in the book. This is a good thing, for my impression of the system leans far closer to Wes Johnson's negative review than Papyrus's upbeat one, although I would recommend anyone read both before considering purchasing the system. If you are interested in learning more or want to purchase Telndar, be sure to look at BaDGe's website at www.badgepubs.com as this is the only place where you can buy Telndar. The book is half-height with a light cardstock cover. Although it is 65 pages long, the pages are relatively small and the whole book seems like it would fit in 40 pages of a normal sized sourcebook. This short length means that it is not the great value that it would first seem like for its $8 cost. Telndar provides the outline of a city, but you still have to fill in many of the details. Of course, not everyone wants a city that is completely fleshed out, as it would be in a 500-page box set for a city! Those who need a city at the edge of a kingdom and desire some flexibility to customize it to their world won't be disappointed in Telndar. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)