Scarred Lands Gazetteer: Ghelspad
Sword & Sorcery Studios made a big splash by being the first to arrive with their Creature Catalog for their up and coming Scarred Lands campaign setting, which hit the streets before the D&D 3e Monster Manual did. This was followed by a second big splash when they came out with their book on magic in the Scarred Lands, Relics & Rituals, which won acclaim for both its innovation and how well the book's rules fit with the prevailing D&D rules.
At long last we get the low down on what the setting alluded to in these earlier products is really like. The Scarred Lands Gazetteer: Ghelspad details the continent of Ghelspad, which seems to be the main continent of concern for the Scarred Lands setting.
A First Look
The Scarred Lands Gazetteer is a 48 page long booklet. Interestingly enough, there is no D20 logo on the product. As one might suspect, this implies that there is no game mechanical material or copy of the Open Gaming License (OGL) within. This is, in fact, the case with the exception that the D&D / D20 System clerical domains are listed for the deities.
The cover is color with a large "Scarred Lands" title emblazoned across the top of the front cover, which also includes and excerpt from the color map that is included within. The book comes shrink wrapped with a piece of cardboard, doubtlessly to preserve the aforementioned full-color map, which is not stapled or glued to the book in any way.
The interior has the same "cracked" border pattern seen in previous Scarred Lands products. The interior is black and white, and has a modest amount of black and white artwork scattered throughout. Some sections that are presented as in-game historical text are presented with a faux "parchment" look.
The inside of the cover is adorned with black and white depiction of the coats of arms associated with the nations and city stated described in the books.
The Scarred Land Gazetteer is priced at $8.95 US.
A Closer Look
The Scarred Lands Gazetteer is divided into 6 Chapters: History of the Scarred Lands, History of Ghelspad, Nations & City States, Topography of Ghelspad, Organizations, and Cosmos & Cosmology. Each of the chapters is told from the vantage point of a different sage or operative in the Scarred Lands setting.
Chapter 1: History of the Scarred Lands
The first chapter is unsurprising. It's the same two-page blurb that you have already seen if you have purchased a Scarred Lands product and didn't skip straight to the spell and/or monster descriptions. To summarize, the titans once existed as primal forces in the land. They had children, the gods, which realized that they could draw power from the mortal races of the land.
The Gods – who could feel the suffering of mortals – decided that the titans must be laid low, or the mortals would be threatened. For good or ill, the gods rebelled and imprisoned or destroyed all but one of the titans. This titanic clash, which occurred scantly over 150 years before the beginning of the campaign, wracked the land and left it with many unusual features and hazardous minions that persisted long after the war with the titans was over.
Chapter 2: History of Ghelspad
The second chapter begins to fill in the blanks for those whose curiosity was heightened by earlier Scarred Lands products. This chapter outlines the histories of the nations and people of the scarred lands since the time of the war with the titans.
The chapter is told from the perspective of a sage named Yugman, who details a brief history of events in the last 150 years in the Scarred Lands setting. It paints a picture of a world ever so slowly recovering from the war with the titans, an effort that is complicated by the efforts of mortals who have their own agendas (most particularly Calastia) as well as the continued presence and further appearance of titanspawn that continue to be a thorn in the side of the mortal races.
Chapter 3: Nations and City States
The third chapter gives a brief overview of the major nations and/or city states of the Scarred Lands. There is a standardized format used for the listings, including the official or predominant worship, the complete name of the nation, capitol, other cities of note, ruler, government, population composition estimate, allies, and enemies.
The section on nations and cities is obviously not as thorough as the likes of the Kingdoms of Kalamar book, but it is well presented and digestible, and gives a prospective DM a good idea of the underlying conflicts in the setting in short order. Thought the theme of the ever-present threat of the titan spawn is weaved throughout the text on the chapter, it is clear that the Hegemony of Calista is a force to be reckoned with in and of itself.
Chapter 4: Topography of Ghelspad
This chapter is probably more important a feature of this setting book than the topography chapter is likely to be for other settings, and one of the most prominent features of the setting is how the land has been altered by the war with the titans. The bizarre features of the landscape include the blood sea, where a titan lays chained, wild forests, unnaturally hot plains, and other remnants of the war.
Chapter 5: Organizations
This chapter describes the major influential organizations of the continent. This ranges from the mysterious Courtesans of Idra, the assassins of the Cult of Ancients, the inscrutable druidic Incarnates, mercenary legions, paladins, and the illustrious warrior order of the Vigils of Vesh, as well as a variety of arcane factions.
Chapter 6: Cosmos and Cosmology
This last chapter briefly enumerates the deities of the Scarred Lands, as well as the titans, a description of the calendar months and a brief synopsis of the planes of existence. The only hint of rules related material in the book is the mention of clerical domains granted by each of the existing deities.
Summary and Conclusions
As a setting book, the Scarred Lands Gazetteer is not nearly as meaty and thorough as the Greyhawk Gazetteer and the Kingdoms of Kalamar book. However, you pay much less for it, and it is well written and does a good enough job giving a prospective DM the major details on a number of locations within the continent of Ghelspad, as well as a sufficient picture of the threats and conflicts within the setting to run a campaign therein.
The campaign setting itself is a well-conceived and exciting variant of the standard fantasy fare. Between the Scarred Lands Gazeteer and the other Scarred Lands products already released and yet to come, this should be an outstanding campaign setting. The Gazetteer contains the major missing details for those whose appetite was whetted by the Creature Catalog and Relics & Rituals books. If you have been waiting to run a Scarred Lands game, this is the missing peice.
If you are the sort of person who likes fleshing out a world yourself, or prefers not to be hemmed in by more details than you currently plan to use, the Scarred Lands could be an excellent setting for you. If having many prefabricated details is more important to you, perhaps you should look into the likes of Kingdoms of Kalamar instead.
-Alan D. Kohler
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