One of the earliest third-party products for D&D 5th Edition, this features a selection of then-new character races and backgrounds, lightly flavored to work with Kobold Press's Southlands setting. The product also very much bears the mark of Pathfinder products that came before it, as most of the new races come with swappable alternate race and class features - very common in Pathfinder by that time, but an unknown mechanic in 5E at that point (and not common in official products even after it did appear). Another unusual aspect of the book is how it seems to promote 5E's new mechanics at times, yet also criticizes specific official design decisions, such as 5E's treatment of gnolls or animal companions - a surprising injection of personal opinion into an otherwise mass-market professional-grade work.

Races:

• Aasimar: The Southlands aasimar have a bit more of an Old Testament feel than the core aasimar, as reflected in their variant racial traits. What they don't provide, however, is a baseline aasimar - instead, you're apparently expected to modify the version from the Dungeon Master's Guide (Volo's Guide to Monsters was a year off). For some reason they don't say this directly - one assumes for legal reasons - but that surely confused some readers, and should have been addressed somehow.
• Gnoll: Their core features are Bully and Live to Fight Another Day, and they get two subraces, Civilized and Savage. Nothing too fancy - no alternate traits, and their unique features are largely just skill bumps.
• Lizardfolk: Predating the Volo's version, this hews pretty close to the Monster Manual take. The alternate traits are the best element here, with a wide variety of features based on real-life reptiles: regeneration, camouflage, poison, and even the ability to spray blood from your eyes. They also provide a variant Assassin Rogue, the Ambush Predator.
• Minotaur: Predating the official version by several years, these are pretty close to the Monster Manual version, except for their Medium size. No alternate traits, but solid enough as is.
• Tosculi: Wasp-people, unique to the Southlands setting. Unfortunately, they don't provide much lore, presumably expecting you to seek out other Southlands products. Their traits are about what you'd expect from bug-folk - tough skin, limited flight, claws, etc. One alternate trait gives you something like Spider-Man's web-shooters, without the swinging. They also provide three class variants - two druids (Circle of the Hive, Circle of the Swarm) and one ranger (Hivemaster).
• Werelion: Just what it says on the tin, another Southlands exclusive. They provide more lore than for the tosculi, but there are still major gaps: for example, prides are very important, but they tend to ditch them on adulthood? They provide an option for lycanthropic resistance to non-silver weapons, with a warning about balance issues. Their section ends with a complete new subclass, the Lycanthropic Sorcerer, which basically makes you a werebeast with extras.

Backgrounds:

• Child of the Divine: Acolyte background on steroids. You're basically descended from a worshiped creature and get extra attention because of it.
• Temple Slave: You're an ex-slave, and get along well with servants and the like. There are elements in this that might get negative attention now, though conceptually it's a valid background.
• Siwali Traveler: Unique to the Southlands, this ties you to desert travelers.
• Three alternate Soldier backgrounds: Quartermaster, which makes it easier to acquire supplies; Groom/Squire, heavy on the Groom, giving you optimal mounts and pets; and Healer, who can more easily replenish healing supplies. These are all more mechanical than most background traits.
• Desert Runner: Outlander background, but specialized for desert survival. Your main traits involve being adapted to the desert. Again, more mechanical than core backgrounds.

All in all, the above make for a nice selection of options, but the race options outrank the backgrounds. The race options sometimes seem a little weak - and some have since been surpassed by official options - but they are highly customizable. By contrast, while the backgrounds are packed with flavor, their features are a little strong overall. The only remaining downside to note is the cover price - in both print and PDF, this is a bit expensive for the amount of material you get, even considering the high production values. This is a worthwhile purchase for 5th Edition fans, but probably best bought at a discount. (Originally posted on Goodreads)

This review is a summarised version. For the full version, head over to Swords & Stationery.

When it comes to creating new things, ideas are a dime a dozen. Everyone has an opinion. Yet, it is easier said than done to create something that's logically coherent. Furthermore, the well of ideas tends to run dry too after a while. This is where the KOBOLD Guide to Worldbuilding comes in. While not exactly "meaty", it has plenty of advice covering a wide range of topics. Each topic takes up about 5 pages of information, but it's concise and to the point. If I had to nitpick though, it's that not all the topics are equally well-written, but that's to be expected from having so many contributors. Art in the book is also a little sparse. It would have benefited from having more accompanying visuals.

I cannot wait to read more bestiaries by KP. This one was my first and it rocked.

I love Kobold Quarterly. I wish it was in print today. I miss print magazines. Most everything is pdf these days. They are okay, but a print magazine in my opinion is far superior. I have purchased other issues of Kobold in print as well. Unfortunately issue 1 and 2 are only available in pdf. So I did get those. And I am happy with them. So I do recommend these to anyone.

Another quality product cranked out by the kobolds. Midgard was it's own breath of fresh air into the stale Eurobased fantasy setting and Southlands a full gust of wind that sets up a whole new vibe for adventuring. Each region has enough info to spark plenty of DM ideas and the art alone should get your brain going. There are also, despite rando claims to the contrary, plenty of map resources to found for even the halfway functional purchaser.

Starting a campaign in Per-Bastet this weekend.

No map outside of the book.

I'll leave a review about the content once this is addressed.

Top product - Abundant background knowledge about the world , gods, magic of Midgard.

Detailed description of all mentioned / relevant places.

Unfortunately, the maps are not to be found individually in the appendix or even available free of charge as a package. Kobold Press could improve this.

The presentation of some information is unfortunately still in the style of the 4 Edition - not further disturbing but provides a brief smile.

All over - 5 out of 5

I’m reviewing this compilation of essays overall without delving too deep into each individual essay, since I think you would have to make up your own mind about those and see how useful it is. Some of them can be a bit situational.

Overall, this is an excellent book for getting advice on your general storytelling abilities as a GM. The writing is down-to-earth and always clear to understand. The different essays teach you a number of different tools that you can make up your own mind about; you’d have to figure out which ones apply to you and which ones are most useful to you. Plus, the short little improv adventure at the end is appreciated!

I also like how it has a positive tone towards tabletop RPGS and being the game master, where some tools aren’t treated derisively or judged upon just because the essay writer doesn’t use them. It’s a good message to get across - after all, what works for you may not work for another, but that doesn’t mean you should write it off.

However, the quality of the essays tend to swing a bit. Sometimes it’s hard to find a cohesive point through the essays, as they’re jumping between different points with no logical order. Some of the advice is very, and I mean VERY superficial to the point where you’re like “wow, no shit, didn’t think of that!”. Some of the advice is inconsistent at times too, justified with some bad examples that confuse instead of illustrate.

But overall, it’s still a good read through. It helps you think a bit and reflect upon your own Game Master capabilities. I’d recommend reading it all the same.

A very well put-together list of spells and magical items, all very well-explained.

This should be an Admantine best seller! Amazing supplement! Well worth your money!

This is a really great world text on part with anything from an unofficial or offical 5e product. Lots to explore and steal from for your own campaign. The book covers a range of cultures and different setting styles. Food for the brain.

As advertised, these were easy to pick up and play out of the box. I haven't tried to do any of the level-modifications to make things easier or more difficult, but I suspect that will be easy as well based on how well written the rest of it is.

This book is great. It is one of the most unique settings I've ever seen and has one of the most fascinating new rules I've ever come across. Basically your Social Status becomes part of your character and will be increased or decreased based on your interactions with NPCs. The module is completely story driven, while ensuring lots of combat for hack and slashers. I can't praise this module highly enough.

Some fantastic articles in the book. I was really enjoying it when I got to an article about basing your world on real world cultures that just felt awful. The author argues that your audience wants a world based on European mythologies because that's what they know, and that you can make your setting more exotic by adding Asian tropes and stereotypes. Considering how I got this book to hopefully get some good advice on building a world based on a real-world non-european civilization, I found this advice very insulting and problematic. I checked the author of the article to avoid any other articles by him and found that literally 1/3 of the book was written by the same person. I had been enjoying the book up to that point (hence the 2 stars rather than 1) but that article really took all the excitement of the rest of the book away from me.

If you like the Pathfinder rules, and want new worlds to conquer, this book is for you. This version of the Midgard: Campaign Setting is Pathfinder compatible, and gives a good overview of a world designed around the world concept from Norse myth. That said, it is not a "viking game", as it includes great plains, vast deserts, and any other geographic area you might think of (many of these areas are covered in greater detail in other books). It also covers the history of the world and it's people, new races, and more.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of this setting is that there are no boundaries depicted on the maps. Nations are described, but exact borders are absent as the setting operates on the idea that these boundaries are in constant flux. This makes it a great world for groups who want to carve out their own nation, or rise in an existing one (for some nations it gives options for obtaining and rising in noble standing).