Quote:
Originally Posted by JTS
I don't have the book, but I can understand this complaint. I think, though, that it is possible that the campaign is left that way since that's largely the way that Solomon Kane had his adventures in the stories. It's been a while since I read the storied, but I can only think of one recurring character (besides Kane of course) right offhand. Generally, the stories were rapid moving yarns that weren't in media res, but they sure didn't take long to get there.
Also, just as devil's advocate, it may be that the left the gazetteer vague to reflect the mystery of both the stories and the general mindset of the time. The Dark Continent of Africa really was uncharted territory.
JTS
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The problem is that some set-ups are really very interesting points of departure for a more involved plotline, but the way the adventures are written out are so simplistic and ultralinear that they might as well just have given the basic idea, the stats for the opponents and let the GM do all the heavy lifting.
I really like the Plot Point Campaign approach - it turns a setting book into an (almost?) ready to run campaign supplement, and hence is perfect for jumping in with both feet for a gaming group. The material here is actually very much suited to a swashbuckly Masks Of Nyarlathotep-campaign (with PCs not dying in droves but slaying all types of otherworldy Chtulhuesque evils, with some traditional folklore-type monsters thrown in for good measure). Now, it's more like a trip through a monster manual, with encounters designed just to show off the many types of creatures in the rulebook. And several of the adventures have quite similar monstrosities to boot. In other words, for this book, the GM is going to have to do a lot of work to build a memorable campaign, whereas the whole point of the Plot Point method is to free the GM from this obligation (barring the usual changes dependent on personal preference and PC group specifics, of course).
The same thing goes for the gazetteer, which really doesn't add much to the locations Kane visits in his stories. Which leaves huge gaps in the geography, and more importantly doesn't offer enough hooks or inspiring tidbits to spark the GMs imagination or bring the period to vivid life. I'm not saying there isn't anything, there is, but it could (and I feel should) have been more. The approach ICE took to Middle-Earth (flesh out the source material) could have worked very well here.