I used
to be anti-third party when it came to DnD/Pathfinder anything. The most I ever
branched out was playing a game called XCrawl back in high school. I had this
pre-conceived notion that third party meant it was unbalanced and horribly
written. Boy was I wrong.
Pathfinder took me in after Paizo
was unable to continue Dungeon Magazine. I had really enjoyed the continuing adventures
detailed in each issue. They were well written and put together. When Golarian
came to be, I purchased the world guide, switched my friends over to the
Pathfinder system, and ran them through the entirety of The Rise of the
Runelords. This honestly was the only campaign I have managed to run all the
way through. Golarian was fun for a while, but it is still a very cookie cutter
world. Sure there is a history to the world, but it never feels dynamic enough
to suit my tastes as a game master. Players go from point A to point B and
everything is laid out for them. There are no side quests, and very rarely are
there encounters the players need to run from or plan out carefully.
After
some trouble trying to game with a trio of middle school girls, I’m sorry, I
meant middle aged men (not to man-bash, these guys actually acted like Mean
Girls), I was invited to play with a new game master that I had met during a
pseudo DnD tournament. This was the
start of my introduction to the Lost Lands which started in Bards Gate and
ended with my character getting slaughtered by a demon out in the Desolation.
I was in love.
I
started out buying Slumbering Tsar and eventually worked my way through
anything on the market for Pathfinder and buying a few of the grab boxes for
3.5 adventures. I realized I had a problem. All of these older Necromancer
games adventures detailed out areas I knew nothing
about. The world of The Lost Lands is so vast, that most if it lived inside the
heads of those old school game masters that ran their adventures there. I was
(and am) still a newbie just venturing out.
The best tool I had was the series of books
detailing The Borderlands; unfortunately I choose to start my players out near
Bards Gate. In Crommlen’s Ghosts, the NPC’s
mention the Kingdom of Helcynn and a place called the Hatha Peaks. Now this
would be a perfect place for a lead in to another adventure that takes the
players on a journey to lands distant to Bards Gate. Herein goes back to my
current problem – where the heck are these places? Sure I could make it up as I
go, but I am less of an extemporaneous GM and more of a spreadsheet-building-run-from-the-book
kind of GM (too many hobbies not enough time for them). What I wanted, was a
guide to anything and everything Lost Lands so I could, as a GM let my players
turn off the main road (as players are oft want to do), and have the tools to
pick up and run with it.
So needless to say, when Frog God
Games announced the guide to the Lost Lands, I was ecstatic. A relatively new
fan girl, I was still chomping at the bit for a world guide when Bill Webb
hinted that one would be forthcoming. This was truly a “shut up and take my
money” kind of moment. Although not
released yet, this will be my absolute favorite FGG product. Not just the book
itself, but I also plan on buying the developers notes, because I want it ALL.
I want to know every nook and cranny of the so far developed Lost Lands to
build a dynamic and challenging world for my players. I also wish to try my
hand at writing adventures. What better place to add when you don’t have to
worry about drastically changing the setting just to make things work. Unlike
Golarian with its static governments and very little historical change, the
Lost Lands history is all about change. I could create anything from Bronze Age
adventuring with the Hyperboreans to steampunk archeological adventures. I have
also started venturing out of my comfort zone and buying more and more independent
adventures that I can place in The Lost Lands. One day I will also revamp as
many of my Pathfinder adventures that I can into The Lost Lands.
Frog God Games already has literal
decades of published materials out there. I know many would be hard pressed to
choose between something like Slumbering Tsar with the rich history of the Army
of Light, and Rappan Athuk the definitive mega dungeon. I want to utilize everything I have and other products out
there that catch my interest. To do this, I need the best tool in the FGG
arsenal – The World of the Lost Lands.
