Sans doute le monde le plus intéressant publié par un éditeur non officiel pour la 4ème édition de D&D. Un monde médiéval proche du nôtre, plus gritty ; cette introduction au monde offre tout pour commencer, le livre est plein de petits systèmes pour faire coller D&D4 à ce monde si particulier, et on trouve les dieux et un atlas global (qui ne rentre pas dans les détails malheureusement) ; le livre est très beau, très professionnel niveau mise en page. On en a pour son argent, dommage qu'il n'y ai pas d'option de PoD à l'heure où j'écris ces lignes !

I have always enjoyed this original campaign setting. The two authors have spent a lot of time and effort to not only make it a 'fun game' but to also incorporate a lot of historical material. Yes, it is still a fantasy game; but I think anyone who enjoys history, especially of the medieval era will enjoy this setting.

I have been eagerly awaiting the Adventurer's Guide to Cthonia since I picked up the stand-alone Noble Multiclass last fall, and does it ever deliver! Both of the new Multiclass-Only classes are wonderful additions. The Noble is all about enforcing your authority over your enemy, while the Possessed's Daily Metamorphosis powers are unsettling and way cool. And that's before the Paragon Paths, Epic Destinies, Professions (which work like regional backgrounds) of every conceivable kind, and Feats. Oh, the feats. My favorite of the new feats are the Fatigue feats, which let you expend some of your energy to perform spectacular, well, feats. The Equipment chapter is hit or miss for me, but there's enough other things in here that it simply doesn't matter. Oh, and the simple system for how long it takes to find a buyer for magic items is a great addition.

One of my biggest complaints with the Adventurer's Guide is with Chapter Eight, the Commands. There are simply not enough of them, I must have more! They're one of the best innovations in the book, in my opinion, and while there are enough for proof of concept, there's just not enough of them to illustrate the potential depth of the mechanics. Similarly, Chapter Four, Feudal Obligations, provides an appealing first bite but then leaves me hanging, hungry for a fuller exploration of the idea that's just not provided in this product. Here's hoping that Alea Publishing Group gets the chance to revisit these great ideas in future products.

Wow...where to start? First off let me say DO NOT be disuaded by the price....there is a LOT of material here and if you just want the capsule review here it is. Buy it- 4 out of 5 stars- some really well done crunch and fluff with just some minor nagging execution issues. Now for those who are staying along for the ride, please keep reading.

The Guide to Cthonia features art that enhances the feeling of the setting which I'm going to label Birthright meets Points of Light. This is pseudo-medieval western european done well -with suspicious peasants who trust the 'miracles' of divinie magic but persecute the 'godless warlocks' who practice arcane magicks.

There are sections on incorporating the various classes and races into this rich world. Among these is the new noble class which I found IMMENSELY entertaining. There are new paragon paths and epic destinies which show a decent command of 4th edition structure. There are some minor balance/technical issues with these sections but that seems to be par for the course for 3rd party publishers and I don't count it too heavily against the Alea group.

There is a highly useful character background section and those who have been lamenting the lack of role-playing fodder in 4th edition will gobble this chapter up.

There are feats, an almanac, a new pantheon, and more! Like I said, I don't want to reveal all the tricks APG has up their sleeves but this is a very solid product and I for one WILL be buying the next in the series.