I enjoyed the Corebook for Soverign Stone greatly. At first glance I thought it was just another standard Fantasy world. Gladly, I was wrong. The world is called Loerem. The various races view on magic was refreshing, as was the various races themselves..for example, in most fantasy settings the Elves are the undisputed masters of magic, and it is a part of them, of their daily life. Not so much in Lorem. Here, for the Elves, the wizards (known ads Wyred) are social outcasts, viewed as disgraced by other elves and possessing no honor. Orks in Loerem aren't the dullard brutes that they are in other settings. Nay...here, in Lorem, they are master sailors, and are the "First Race" (or, at least they believe themselves to be the first race). They are also very skilled inventors, and very devout, if not superstitious. The dwarves, hiding in their mountain fortresses, toiling away looking for gold? I think not. Here, in Loerem, the Clan Dwarves are consumate horsemen, raiders, moving from area to area gathering and hunting the herds of wild beast that they call prey. Everyone rides, including the children, who are taught the ways of the horse before they can walk. There are those Clanless Dwarves..those that are infirm, injured, or have been punished...they are the Unhorsed. They have no clan, and gather in cities, making items for trade, knowing that they can never return to the Clan. They are skilled metalsmiths, makers of swords and other instruments of war, and their items are highly prized. There ar a number of human ethnicities as well, each with their own nuances, well detailed.
The land and history is also very well detailed, as is to be expected of something that Weis and Hickman would put out. In addition, the art is fantastic (rightly so, it is Larry Elmore). Each race is scaled out to SWADE standards. Most are +2, some +3 (Pecwar, for example). A list of new languages, hindrances, and edges (background, combat, professional, racial, and legendary) plus new Arcane Backgrounds and archetypes help fill out character creation and let players get into playing quickly. A great section on wealth and money, shopping and purchases, and different types of melee and ranged weapons and new gear help kit out the fledgling character. There are some unique rules for casting of Elemental magic (which most magic in Lorem follows: Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Void). Finally, a greatly detailed history of the land, bestiary, and an adventure for 4-6 Novice characters that can be used to kick off a Sovereign Stone campaign. Finally, there is an index to help a GM find information fast when they need it quickly.
There is a backstory about betrayal, a dark, unstoppable army approaching the civilized lands, etc. While the tropes are pretty common in fantasy, they are really well explained and done, and at least caught my interest.
One thing that I did note was some repeated text int the book. You'll see information repeated from the overview in the front in the Character creation section. Certainly not enough to detract, but it is noticible. I would absolutely love to see this in a Print on Demand or in a published book by Applied Vectors. Of all the fantasy settings I've looked at, this one has certainly grabbed me the most, inspired me to want to run a campaign set in the world of Lorem. It's not a Oerth clone, a Toril clone, or any other of the half million (seemingly) settings in existence.
I certainly can forsee myself running a game (or campaign) set in Loerem. I'm hoping that Applied Vectors continue to put supplements out for this setting. I know there are a number of Pathfinder supplements that could be converted if need be, and certainly could be mined for inspiration as well.
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