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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 31, 2023 18:52:19 GMT -5
Continuing on with my thoughts on the latest version of The Dark Eye. The Dark Eye: Aventuria Almanac is a 263 page softcover book. This digest-sized volume is full color throughout and priced at only $19.99 like the CORE RULES. I opted for the three digest-sized softcover books rather than purchasing the single hardcover core rulebook due to how close in price they are in comparison. The Aventuria Almanac has the following contents. Preface Chapter 1: The Continent of Aventuria Chapter 2: Races Chapter 3: Land and People Chapter 4: Culture and Science Chapter 5: Trade and Commerce Chapter 6: Flora and Fauna Chapter 7: Gods and Demons Chapter 8: Magic and Sorcery Chapter 9: Fame and Infamy Chapter 10: Myth and History Chapter 11: Mystery and Arcana Index The posts to follow in this thread will go into detail on the contents of the individual chapters.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Mar 31, 2023 20:13:43 GMT -5
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 1, 2023 18:07:39 GMT -5
The one-page Preface is a short bit of background and general information about the entries in this volume. Chapter 1: The Continent of Aventuria is 15 pages in length. Obviously, the information in this chapter is about the different areas that make up the continent of Aventuria shown in this map below.  The rest of this chapter includes information about wind and weather, travel (on land, over water, jungles, realm roads, etc.), and magical journeys. |
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Post by simrion on Apr 2, 2023 6:12:56 GMT -5
This is great! Thought I had an earlier translation among my horde but no such luck. I may have sold it lol.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 2, 2023 9:03:10 GMT -5
This is great! Thought I had an earlier translation among my horde but no such luck. I may have sold it lol. Thank you! Oh no!!!!! |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 2, 2023 10:35:14 GMT -5
Races is a 5-page chapter. The races covered in Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Goblins, and Other Races such as trolls, lizardmen (achaz in this setting), mar, leviathan, and grolm among more. The information typically covered is how influential and powerful nations are, the realms they typically gather in, and relationships among the various races.
Land and People is a 63-page chapter. Various locations and settlements are discussed in this chapter with details such as borders, landscape, important cities, trade goods, politics, religion, and the real-world influences behind them. There is also a section detailing information about many cities of Aventuria and a short section about the world beyond Aventuria.
Culture and Science is a 29-page chapter. Topics include languages/dialects, superstitions, calendar, holidays, cosmology, class and feudal system, forms of address, battles and armies, food and drink, sport and games, craftsmanship and technology, music and art, libraries, diseases, and alchemy.
*From my understanding, Aventuria has had over 30 years of development and has been used with The Dark Eye exclusively rather than several different campaign worlds like D&D.
More to come...
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Post by simrion on Apr 2, 2023 10:54:19 GMT -5
This is great! Thought I had an earlier translation among my horde but no such luck. I may have sold it lol. Thank you! Oh no!!!!! I have so many games and so little time to enjoy them. My guess is I liquidated it when it was going for some $$$ on Ebay. I'm sure the money went to a "good cause" such as more games LOL. Or I paid some bills. |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 2, 2023 10:59:16 GMT -5
I have so many games and so little time to enjoy them. My guess is I liquidated it when it was going for some $$$ on Ebay. I'm sure the money went to a "good cause" such as more games LOL. Or I paid some bills. Oh, I hear you! I've liquidated parts of my collection over the years as well and for the very same reasons!  |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 9, 2023 18:30:10 GMT -5
Trade and Commerce is an 11-page chapter about, believe it or not, all things related to trade and commerce in The Dark Eye. Although it covers the typical subjects covered in most fantasy games, it goes well beyond that. The currencies used aren't just "gold pieces, silver pieces, etc." but use labels such as "ducats, silverthalers, and halers" among others. In addition, different nations may accept coin from another realm but they use their own. Other details covered in this chapter include minting rights, promissory notes, trade fairs, markets, weights, measurements, laws, courts, taxes, and levies.
Flora and Fauna is a 22-page chapter covering "what grows and lives in Aventuria" followed by 25 pages worth of and Aventurian Bestiary. Some of the familiar monsters included in this section includes Goblin, Ogre, Orc, and Troll while some of the new monsters include the Cave Spider, Crypt Louse, and Tatzelwurm. In total, there are 13 monsters statted out in this section. A 3-page Herbalism section closes out this chapter with information on different healing herbs and supernatural plants with details about recognizing them, finding them, and their effects.
Gods and Demons is a 15-page chapter covering just that subject. Like every other subject in this book, there's much more than a few passing remarks about divine powers but a pantheon known as the Twelvegods. Each of these gods is illustrated and have entries with aspects, symbols, holy animals, and further details. The Adversary is covered after the Twelvegods. He is the enemy of the Twelvegods and was responsible for bringing demons into the world. There are also 12 archdemons named with a little bit of information about each one. A section on other immortals follows this section. The final bit of information in this chapter covers churches and cults.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Apr 9, 2023 19:32:14 GMT -5
Magic and Sorcery is an 11-page chapter with details on the origins of magic, magic traditions, the mages guild, witches, druids, demon worshipers, magical artifacts, magical beings, and magic in daily life.
Fame and Infamy is another 11-page chapter covering 18 figures in the world of The Dark Eye.
Myth and History is a 15-page chapter about Aventurian history, prehistory, mythology, the first human kingdom, the dark ages, the New Realm, the war of the wizards, decline of the new realm, and recent history among others.
Mystery and Arcana is a 26-page chapter with GM-only information such as mysteries, NPC Secrets, heroic journeys, some common encounters (burgher, guard, bandit, and cultist), and living history for the GM.
The world of Aventuria is not generic fantasy in nature at all. From my understanding, the world has been in development since the original edition (or close to the original) and information about cultures, monsters, legends, etc. has been added for over 30 years. I'm sure some will consider this a barrier to entry into the game world but I'm blown away by all of the information contained in this book. I'm interested in hearing more about it.
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