Noble Kings and Dark Lands (NKDL) succeeds in almost every aspect the Gazetteer failed. The book is crammed full of information, culture and adventure hooks. It throws buckets of red meat to hungry Game Masters. There are years worth of adventures within, and the book covers only two of the world’s continents.
The second sourcebook for the Lejendary Earth setting covers the continents of Varan and Apphir, similar in many ways, culturally and geographically, to Europe and Africa. A section of the book is dedicated to each continent. Individual entries, sorted alphabetically, begin with a thumbnail description of the province, with sidebars on military strength and composition, active societies and organizations, and heraldry. This is followed by descriptions of the major cities of the province. If that wasn’t enough, each entry has a map of the province, showing goods produced and where. Finally, a few words are spent on active rumors, intrigues, and legends of the province. The latter provides a good clue as to the cultural details of the people.
Those familiar with Gygax’s other game settings, The World of Greyhawk and The Epic of Aerth, will find NKDL familiar in style and tone. It compares most favorably with the original World of Greyhawk folio and boxed set, but wider in scope. Despite the abundance of material, the world remains quite malleable for individual campaigns. There is little hard, cold reality GMs will have to abide by. Among a field of campaign settings where the writers painstakingly detail the world, NKDL is a throwback to a simpler time. This will no doubt appeal to some and irritate others. This is not a campaign setting for the GM who expects the brunt of the work done for him.
While many personas are listed, none are given more than a line or so of detail. No stats are provided for any of them. Organizations and secret societies are dealt with in much the same way, with little more than the drop of a name and perhaps a rumor or too for the LM to work with. Some will consider this a flaw, but it is consistent with the objective of the book – to provide a framework for the GM to build upon. Such omissions are not unusual in Gygax’s previous works. The Epic of Aerth provided even less detail on major figures. The World of Greyhawk folio only listed leaders by their classes and levels. It wasn’t until the boxed set was released some years later that these leaders were given names.
The majority of the artwork is culled from clip-art collections, though prints from Larry Elmore and Les Evans make it more bearable. The constrictive margin graphic makes the text seem crowded. Formatting can also change from page to page. The cover is unremarkable. Locations on the maps can be difficult to read at times due to their miniscule size, a result of the sheer amount of detail they contain. While they do not affect the textual content of the book, these distractions detract from the work as a whole.
Perhaps the greatest oversight in the book is lack of information on the religious backgrounds of each entry. The people of the Lejendary Earth follow pantheons roughly similar to those of ancient earth (the Greek-Roman, Egyptian, Phoenician, etc.). These pantheons are given fanciful names (Olympian, Khemtic, Karcenian respectively) but in no place are these similarities listed. Instead, the reader must look for indications within the text, usually the names of specific temples or deities observed, and make his best judgement. This isn’t necessarily difficult, but the omission of a simple comparative list is a major oversight. A future sourcebook, Lejendary Pantheons, promises to solve this matter, but does little to help the casual reader.
Add to this the amount of detail given to the religious beliefs of the Zajhadi Conflux, unique to the Banir Wastes. The information here is good, and it is regrettable the same detail could not have been given for some of the other religions mentioned. Of course, this would risk violating the core tenant of the campaign setting, that being to give GMs more control over such detail.
In total, the strengths of NKDL far outweigh its weaknesses, particularly for fans of Gygax’s work. It is different enough to distinguish itself from the extensive selection of fantasy settings and sourcebooks that have grown around the d20 label. While NKDL is not a d20 product and does not utilize the OGL, the book is free of stats and is thus quite compatible with the Dungeons and Dragons FRPG, particularly for games that are utilizing material from Troll Lord Games’ Gygaxian Fantasy series. For fans of Lejendary Adventure, the book is a must have.
