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Author Topic: Kobold Press's Midgard setting  (Read 7666 times)

Darrin Kelley

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Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« on: October 19, 2021, 08:35:31 AM »
I got this recently. Midgard Heroes Handbook, Midgard Worldbook, Creature Codex, Tome Of Beasts, and Tome Of Beasts 2. SO I'm invested in the setting. But I haven't seen any negatives to it at this point.

It is designed partly by Jeff Grubb. Who created the Forgotten Realms. But Midgard itself is more of a mythic earth setting. And the books are massive.

I haven't seen anything negative about Midgard at all. No politics. No SJW strangeness. The setting is what it is. Presented honestly and out there.

And frankly? I think the setting is far more gameable than the Wizards official stuff. Midgard has something that should appeal to everybody.

So what I am asking here is simple. What do you think of it? What are your experiences with Midgard? Does it get the thumbs up or the thumbs down from you? And why?

Yes, I am aware Midgard was originally conceived during the 3e era. It's had time in the oven to bake and develop. I'm also aware that there are Pathfinder 1st edition versions of it. None of this is a negative to me. It makes the setting time tested and well supported by gamers. It's not just a flash in the pan that will disappear with a shift between editions. It's here. And it's here to stay.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2021, 08:37:49 AM by Darrin Kelley »
 

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2021, 08:44:28 AM »
And just to geek out a bit.

Void Dragons are awesome! Truly something beyond cool!

I imagine PCs encountering one to be a truly epic moment. Especially if you are using Sanity and Corruption. Like I do.
 

DM_Curt

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2021, 08:47:41 AM »
I too, bought the Creature Codex and both Tomes of Beasts in hardback, and the PDF of Midgard.
The monster books are great for D&D, and the world book looks good.

But as for them being Apolitical, you might want to check the list for their stance on white, cis men and such.

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2021, 09:05:00 AM »
But as for them being Apolitical, you might want to check the list for their stance on white, cis men and such.

I will clarify. I haven't seen politics of any kind in the books themselves. Not one sign of them. Just looking at themselves, they seem to take a fairly neutral take on character races. Nothing strongly favoring or condemning any of them. Which is fine by me. I prefer a more neutral dispassionate look at the cultures they describe.

As for the company's social media? I don't read it. I don't engage with it. Social Media is not my thing. And it is not my comfort zone to deal with.

I'm still a very much old school gamer at heart. I don't live my life on the internet. I don't post up my private details for public consumption. I prefer to live a pretty low key life overall.
 

S'mon

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2021, 09:48:19 AM »
I have all the monster books and a bunch of the short adventure books, plus Streets of Zobeck. I don't have the Midgard setting book.

It feels very like Paizo's Golarion ca 2010, before they went mad. Kitchen sink but some particular emphases - Steampunk, Eastern European & Scandinavian fantasia, and desert/Egypt. Those are all in Golarion too. More Fey perhaps; Fey are a big thing. A female Goliath Fighter IMC is (very slowly) falling for a Shadowfey Guardian NPC they fled the Carrion Shrine of Qorgeth & Crypt of Green Shadows with.

Compared to WoTC fantasy, it's darker and earthier, but not hopeless/Grimdark. It's good, I like most of it, it definitely freshens up my Forgotten Realms campaign.

Steven Mitchell

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2021, 09:58:41 AM »
I have the two monster books and some of the other ones that escape me at the moment.  When I was still running 5E, I pretty much used their monsters exclusively in place of the WotC monsters, mainly because Kobold Press seems to have a better understanding of how 5E is designed than WotC does.  Some of the KP critters are rather mean to players. :D

Don't care anything about clockwork, so that part leaves me cold, but liked most of the rest.  The setting I can take or leave. Parts of it are interesting as flavor bits, but don't think I'd ever use it straight, even ignoring the recent, later political posturing.  My settings often have a heavy Norse flavor, so obvious correspondence there.

Since I'm no longer running 5E, kind of academic.  Hated to see KP make the statements they did, because I've tended to enjoy the products themselves. 

Zalman

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2021, 10:10:05 AM »
As for the company's social media? I don't read it. I don't engage with it. Social Media is not my thing. And it is not my comfort zone to deal with.

I'm still a very much old school gamer at heart. I don't live my life on the internet. I don't post up my private details for public consumption. I prefer to live a pretty low key life overall.

Amen, that's why Occule's List is so great. Just because I don't like engaging with the garbage that is social media doesn't mean I want to live with my head in the sand as to how content producers feel about me as a consumer. I get to put my money in the right place and live that yummy "low key" life.
Old School? Back in my day we just called it "School."

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2021, 10:11:07 AM »
Hated to see KP make the statements they did, because I've tended to enjoy the products themselves.

I haven't seen those comments. Never knew they existed before this thread. And I still don't know what they are.
 

Manic Modron

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2021, 12:57:13 PM »
Midgard has often been tempting, but these days I'm pretty burnt out on how D&D 3+ manages things.

Might get the Pathfinder version and put it in a Savage Worlds blender sometime though.

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2021, 01:11:58 PM »
The beef toward Kobold Press seems to be from one specific book. A book that can be ignored completely. Which I plan to do.
 

DM_Curt

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2021, 01:22:58 PM »
The beef toward Kobold Press seems to be from one specific book. A book that can be ignored completely. Which I plan to do.
That's entirely up to you, and if that's your choice, I have no beef with you.  I just saw you state that they were apparently apolitical and I figured I'd let you know that some feel otherwise about them:
Quote from: The_List
Kobold Press Chapter 2 of “Guide to Gamemastering” has a whole section telling the reader to "check your privilege" and the whole thing kind of reads like a gender studies course or something. Actively disparages cis white males. Also known to charge writers for the chance to write for them, and then prides themselves on paying them a penny per word.

Either way, Game On, Good Sir!

Jam The MF

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #11 on: October 19, 2021, 01:49:10 PM »
I own the 1st Tome of Beasts; and there is a massive amount of good lore in that book, alone.  Great Artwork, great lore, great variety.  Too much to sum up in just a paragraph; and that's just the 1st monster book.  Midgard must be quite good, as a game setting.
Let the Dice, Decide the Outcome.  Accept the Results.

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2021, 02:42:11 PM »
The three monster books are epic. There is just so much goodness in all of them. That goodness inspired me to get the Midgard Heroes Handbook and the Midgard Worldbook. None of them disappoint.

My curiosity toward the character and magic options is what drew me to get books with the character options in them. I was fascinated by the new forms of magic. And the different class options that they made available. I thought they would really add something special to any game I ran.

I intend to combine elements from all of this with the books I ordered from the Iron Kingdoms Requiem Kickstarter. I'm a huge Iron Kingdoms fan. And see all of this new material just adding more goodness to the mix. I also recently supported the Iron Kingdoms Borderlands & Beyond Kickstarter. Which will just add more goodness.

As I mix this stew of sources together. I plan to share it, Because I know that more people than just myself will enjoy the results. Abd I'm only doing this to make for happy gaming for people who like all of this material.
 

Darrin Kelley

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2021, 02:51:07 PM »
Creature Codex was originally going to be labeled as Creature Codex: Tome Of Beasts II. Then they put out Tome Of Beasts II as a separate book. Which was kind of odd.

So the Tome Of Beasts II we got honestly should have been labeled as Tome Of Beasts III. Just for the sake of preventing customer confusion.

All three of the books work so well together. That I can't imagine them apart at this point. There is just so much good overlap in all three of the books.They are massive. Glorious. And there is just so much pure fun to be had from them. I honestly couldn't recommend them higher.

If you are going to buy these, Buy all three! You won't regret it for a second.
 

BoxCrayonTales

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Re: Kobold Press's Midgard setting
« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2021, 05:34:04 PM »
I think their take on the elemental plane is interesting. It actually interpenetrates the mortal plane and causes the weather and other natural phenomena... as opposed to the standard D&D platonic realm of unplayable annoyance.

I'm a weirdo who fixates on tiny things like that.