Nyambe
Dungeons and Dragons has long had an Oriental Adventures book, well before the Legend of the Five Rings setting became so well-known. A few years back they added Arabian Adventures (or Al-Qadim as most people knew it). Nyambe, subtitled "African Adventures", is a book about a region which typically hasn't received much attention in the gaming world. While creating its own continent, history, and cultures, Nyambe draws liberally from our world's ancient African folklore and customs.
African cultures haven't been covered very well in games in the past. The only supplement I can remember is Rifts: Africa, which was even more post-apocalyptic than the rest of the Rifts world. Japanese influences have been rampant in the gaming community in recent years; here's hoping Nyambe starts a trend.
As a quick note, many of the core races and classes have their own names in Nyambe. It's a little difficult to pick up the terminology sometimes. For the purposes of this review, I'll refer to (for example) Dwarves as Dwarves and not Utuchekulu. Don't worry, there's a pronunciation guide for almost everything, and they even tell you how to make the clicking noise.
Culture and History
Nyambe (or, more properly, Nyambe-tanda) is a continent shaped roughly like Africa rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Much like the real Africa, it has a a lot of diverse terrain. It is dominated by savannah, rainforest, and scrub plains, with relatively small regions of desert, swamp, and mountains. A few islands (most of which are quite important to the backstory) lie off the coast. It's a big place; about 5000 miles from top to bottom and around 3500 across.
Politically, it is dominated by Nibomay (an Amazon empire), Bashar'ka (a theocracy), Mademba (the homelands of the shadowy gnomes), Mabwe (a powerful but repressive monarchy), Taumau-boha (a monarchy with rich farmlands and "Egyptian" influences), Boroko (strongly influenced by the middle east), and Kaya Vua Samaki (a merchant's federation with some "eastern" influences). There are also a half-dozen or more smaller cultures, and various "racial" cultures. There are no Orcs, which is part of the backstory (they were the defeated evil empire that ruled many years prior).
Every culture has its own writeup, including some of the current events, mysteries, and problems that culture is having. Lots of plot hooks there. There's also a "GM Secrets" section with possible truths behind these mysteries.
I have a little bit of knowledge about African cultures (not too much, but a little), and from what I read, Nyambe seems to draw well from sources in the real world without going to extremes - it's not too historical and detailed (as Ars Magica can sometimes be), but it's not totally cliched and stereotypical (as Kindred of the East can be). The book includes such things as ritual scarring, face painting, magical rings decorated with images of female anatomy and rods with images of male anatomy, mask-wearing societies, nose rings, and lip plugs, making it all seem a part of the culture and not pointing to it as something weird or unusual. There are a few things in historical Africa missing from this book, but one can't include everything.
Crunchy Bits
There are many parts of this book which can be used quite easily in other games. One thing that other publishers might like is that almost the entire book is open gaming content ("pages 24-251 inclusive"), and I hope that people dig in and use some of it.
The best, in my mind, is probably the expanded poison table on page 108. Poison use in combat isn't considered evil in Nyambe, and it is much more widely available - thus the much greater number of them. There's even stuff in there that could make a 20th level Dwarven Monk worry. There are a couple diseases in here too, to add to the existing ones, with expanded rules for frequency and treatment.
There are several new feats and spells, which are nifty of course, but it's not a huge number. The core races are changed a little (Halflings burrow into the earth, Half-Orcs have their own society, Dwarves live on the surface, the Elves have tails), and one new race of not-quite-half-dragons.
There are a bunch of encounter tables (ahh, reminds me of the old days), most of which give widely varying encounter levels on the same table. You'll have to adjudicate many of the results when using it yourself. Let me amend that - you'll have to just plain toss out some of the results, or work them into the plot somehow.
The magic items are interesting. I especially like the trinkets - "everyday" magic items, like fertility charms and bowls that don't spill - but there's also a selection of artifacts that actually seem like artifacts, instead of the watered-down items in the DMG.
The prestige classes are pretty cool, and make up for the fact that there are only a limited number of "base classes" in Nyambe (Fighter, Cleric, Sorcerer, Rogue, and Evil Mage, with different names). There are tips for adapting the prestige classes from the DMG, and the new ones include monster hunters, unarmed fighters, master smiths, leopard cultists, "magic eaters", mask makers, witchdoctors, drummer/dancer/bards, amazons, poison oracles, and zombi cultists. The Magic Eaters have my vote as "most powerful class to extend into epic levels." God damn, that's a lot of Spell Resistance.
For those who love clerics, Nyambe will be a field day, as arcane magic is vilified (and, in fact, casting it at all is usualy an evil act!). There are briefs on 29 gods and spirits (Orisha), each with its own domains. The Orisha of Nyambe seem much more involved than the gods of most other fantasy worlds, and they serve as mediators between the humans and the Overpower (an Uber-deity who created Nyambe and perhaps the whole world).
Those out there who wished that the "dragon's blood" aspect of the Sorcerer class were more developed need look no farther than page 56.
All in all, the crunchy bits in this book are quite evocative of the setting, and very useful.
Art and Layout
It has an index. Bless them and praise unto their families for a hundred generations, the book has an index. A good one, too. Even the table of contents makes sense. Better than I could say for some companies out there (you know who you are).
There's a short color section at the front of the book, which has some ok art in it. It's pretty, not outstanding, but it adds to the book. The map is also in color, though some of the text could use more contrast.
All of the races and cultures have pictures of typical men and women from that group. Gender equity is quite good. The new armor and weapons have pictures too, as do some of the magical items and all of the monsters. The quality is usually good, though I find some of it too rough or cartoonish for my liking. My favorite illustration has to be the Ndalawo, a wraith-like leopard that really looks incorporeal.
I didn't see any significant typos, which is good. This may have to do with the fact that Nyambe was around as a web-based supplement for a long time before it was printed. In general, headers look like headers, boldface and other emphasis are used appropriately, and the layout looks professional. It's what you'd expect from Atlas Games (makers of Ars Magica, Feng Shui, Unknown Armies, and others).
Final Comments
I'm quite impressed. I like seeing alternate settings for D&D, and this one is well-written. A lot of effort went in, and it shows. When I see a product for nearly $40, I always have to ask myself whether it's really worth the money, or whether it would be better just to go spend some time in the library and look things up. I think Nyambe is worth the money.
And if I do want to hit the library, there's a bibliography in the back.
5/5 for Substance. There's nothing missing here. 4/5 for Style. Some of the art could be better, but a solid job overall.
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