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BASICS
We have another product from Mystic Eye Games to take
a look at this issue. The Hunt: Rise of Evil is their world
book that details the world of Gothos. It is a 144-page
perfect bound black and white book that retails for $19.95.
Just as I noticed with ‘Nightmares and Dreams’ I and II the
artwork continues to increase in quality. The maps are
nicely drawn, but would have looked a little better if they
were black/white/gray rather than black/white/brown-ish.
All of the text is nicely laid out and easy to read as are the
charts.
BACKGROUND
The first things that caught my eye after flipping through
the book were the Table of Contents and the Index. Oh,
what a godsend. I expected The Hunt to be somewhat of
a Ravenloft wanna-be, but I ended up being wrong and it
turned out to be quite different and useful. The book
presents ten governments / homelands that make up the
central part of Gothos. Each one is has descriptions of
their rulers, major towns, population, religion, politics and
much more. The back ground info takes up anywhere
from three to six pages (about 4 being the average) and
includes a more detailed map of the region. What follows
is a condensed description of each of them.
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Dunreth – Think of medieval Scotland of our own world,
but ruled by the 17-year old son of the deceased king.
Lots of hearty fighters types are about with few wizards
and sorcerers, but plenty of druids and rangers.
Gildor – An island nation ruled by Queen Katherine IV,
Gildor is much like Spain or France of our world with a
heavy emphasis on the church. Gildor and Dunreth are
great allies, but you’ll find many more arcane magic users
in Gildor.
Ithganin – Oh, bad guys…really bad guys. Ithganin is a
very harsh place to live unless you are at the top of the
caste system, but even when you’re there you have to
look out for all those that are right under you. Ithganin is
actually ruled by a mighty demon lord and is an evil cross
of the Japanese/Middle-east of our world. As you might
expect there are no Paladins in this evil land, but Rangers
and Druids are also absent from the kingdom of the
demon lord’s empire.
Kirkland – Thick forests cover much of Kirkland, which is
much like our Germany of the middle ages. It is a
theocracy ruled by the Priest King and Kirkland has a
decent relationship with both Gildor and Dunreth.
Mirak – Mirak is a republic where the citizens are kept in
line through intimidation of the Ministry. The Ministry has
built up the population to have a hatred of Elves so don’t
betaking your pointy ears here unless you have lots of
backup. Their xenophobia also extends to the other
humanoid races, to the point of hunting down half-orcs as
monsters.
Nord – The frozen lands of Nord are made up of many
villages and are without a really organized govenerment
like the other lands. This is the land of mighty human and
dwarf barbarians.
Romanus – I found this to be my favorite land in Gothos.
It is a modified version of the ancient Roman Empire of
Earth. It is ruled by an emperor, with a senate to
represent the people. There is also a Religious Council
that guides both the emperor and the senate. Romanus is
in a constant state of war with Ithganin, but fighting has
not gone on for quite some time.
Rylonia – Rylonia is made up of nomadic clans and is
quite similar to the American Indians of our world and is
made up almost exclusively by humans with just a tiny
smattering of half-elves. Rylonia shuns the world outside
their own clans. I like this area of Gothos almost as much
as Romanus. Unless you’re running a group of PC’s that
all come from Rylonia you’ll probably have to work in a
single PC as an outcast from a clan.
Sheena – The proper name of Sheena, the Confederation
of Free Traders, is a bit of a misnomer. It is likely that the
only trade that goes on is between the four ruling families.
Each family controls an island and they take what they
need from the other local regions. One great big pirate
paradise.