A Review of Qalidar
by Michael K. Eidson
Product:
Qalidar
Product Type:
Fantasy RolePlaying Game GM Campaign Setting
Author:
Christina Lea
Publisher:
Peryton Publishing
Publication Year:
2008
Review Date:
November 23, 2008
I've always had a soft spot in my roleplaying heart for world and dimension hopping campaign settings. Such settings allow players to experience a variety of imaginary cultures and environments without having to reroll brand new characters all the time. And thus it is with delight that I began to read Qalidar and quickly discovered that not only does it support world hopping, but genre hopping! This particular supplement has a medieval fantasy focus, but there are hints of technological aspects here and there.
Qalidar is a roleplaying supplement designed for use with the True20 Adventure Roleplaying system and published under the Open Gaming License. The 38-page book consists of 9 chapters detailing a place of eternal night and corrosive skies, the surrounding areas, and the inhabitants of these dark places. Here you will find details of such things as nightburn, storm walking, industrial alchemy, crystal circuitry, void perytons, and temporal echoes. Specific places to visit include those with names such as Skel City, the Slide, Storm Port, and the Outside. Of course, there's the Storm, which may pass through any location at any time.
The first chapter gives an overview of Qalidar and introduces three new character races, Silver, Pech, and Onyx. Chapters two through six give details on specific places of interest in Qalidar. Chapter five includes a discussion of various phenomena associated with The Storm, one of which is that of the Echoes—I won't give anything away here, but this is one of the coolest concepts I've seen in any commercial RPG campaign setting, and can really have the PCs scratching their heads for some time if the GM plays it right.
Chapter seven is a two-page discourse on alchemy in game terms. This is basically a set of rules for creating potions, requiring the would-be alchemist to acquire the correct ingredients and to successfully use the appropriate skills. Sample ingredients are listed, including where in the campaign setting they might be found. PCs desiring to make alchemical potions could find themselves on an adventure just to acquire appropriate ingredients.
Chapter eight introduces eight new types of creatures. One of these is the peryton (surprise), of which are presented four variants. The new creatures range from first level warrior types to 15th level incorporeal Outsiders, so there's something here to engage any level of party.
The last chapter presents a few adventure seeds. This is one page, but should be enough to keep a party busy for a while. The GM will have to fill in all of the missing details (but that's why they're called adventure seeds).
If you're a True20 GM wanting to throw your PCs into a dismal but intriguing setting, Qalidar is for you. To this reviewer, the value in this supplement is not so much in the True20-specific information, but in the setting itself, so this supplement can be of value to you, giving you some great ideas regardless of your gaming system of choice.
Thank you for reading my review of Qalidar. If you are interested in purchasing the supplement, visit Peryton Publishing. Oh, and watch out for the Dobbers.
About The Reviewer: Michael is the manager of Eposic Diversions LLC and chief editor for the Eposic web site. He has been interested in reading since before he first read Harold and the Purple Crayon, which he considers a classic. His first role playing experience was in 1976 with Tunnels and Trolls, a game of which he is still a fan to this day. He can be found on the wall in Trollhalla, where he sometimes offers his services as a web developer. Today his leisure reading interests are primarily science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His real job carries the title of Senior Software Engineer and he works for a Fortune 500 R&D IT company. He currently lives in Windermere, Florida, about five minutes from Disney World, with his wife Mary and their dog Rusty.
Legalese: The above review is the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Eposic Diversions LLC. This review is Copyright ©2008 by Michael K. Eidson. Online rights have been licensed by Eposic Diversions LLC. Please respect these rights and do not further distribute this review or any significant portion of it without permission from the rights holder. If you quote from this review, please give credit to the author. If your quote is on the web, a link back to the full review is appreciated.
Copyright © 2008 by Michael K. Eidson, except as otherwise noted.
