[RPG]: Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire, reviewed by bergec (5/5)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12493.phtml

Eric Christian Berg's Summary:

An excellent investement for DMs without a lot of time to prepare a game in a detailed high fantasy urban setting. Excellent design and production value for the money.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Old Geezer]

Sounds like an interesting product.

Marketing-wise, this product seems directed at people like me - middle aged, married, professionally employed, have several social outlets other than gaming.

I'd love to design something myself, but the simple fact of the matter is I never will. I can GM Star Wars only by downloading free adventures from WOTC, and the fact that I know the setting cold. I just don't have the TIME.

That said... I find myself reticent to drop this much money. What makes this doubly ironic is that model railroad locomotives run about $85 to $150, and I have nearly a hundred.

The unstated assumption on my part, of course, is that I'll get that much fun out of those engines, but not $110 worth of fun out of this book.

People are funny.

[Theron]

Originally Posted by Old Geezer

Sounds like an interesting product.

Marketing-wise, this product seems directed at people like me - middle aged, married, professionally employed, have several social outlets other than gaming.

I'd love to design something myself, but the simple fact of the matter is I never will. I can GM Star Wars only by downloading free adventures from WOTC, and the fact that I know the setting cold. I just don't have the TIME.

That said... I find myself reticent to drop this much money. What makes this doubly ironic is that model railroad locomotives run about $85 to $150, and I have nearly a hundred.

The unstated assumption on my part, of course, is that I'll get that much fun out of those engines, but not $110 worth of fun out of this book.

People are funny.

I'll admit, I'm kind of weird in that I read gaming sourcebooks for entertainment value. I imagine I somehow got this trait from my mother, who collects cookbooks and reads them voraciously, but rarely, if ever, tries new recipes outside her tried and true comfort zone.

In my case, I have far too short of an attention span as a GM to ever get maximum value out of any RPG setting material, so I tend to latch on to the stuff I can read and enjoy. I always liked Monte's Ptolus write-ups on his website, and the whole notion of a setting informed and designed according to the D&D rules appeals to me.

And honestly, the price is about what I'd pay for three or four WoTC books with a lower cumulative page count.

[Nilus]

Is anyone else worried about how well the book will hold up to normal game wear. It just seems like a book that big getting thrown in and out of your bag every weekend is not gonna hold up well. I'd just be worried that in a year half the pages would fall out.

[Theron]

Originally Posted by Nilus

Is anyone else worried about how well the book will hold up to normal game wear. It just seems like a book that big getting thrown in and out of your bag every weekend is not gonna hold up well. I'd just be worried that in a year half the pages would fall out.

The binding looks rock-solid to me, but I'm very gentle with my books; even some that are notoriously ill-bound seem to hold up OK for me.

[Dan Davenport]

A very impressive review of what sounds like a very impressive book, Eric.

One minor point regarding technology: I seem to recall hearing somewhere that the setting includes firearms. Is that true, or am I thinking of a different setting?

[Theron]

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

A very impressive review of what sounds like a very impressive book, Eric.

One minor point regarding technology: I seem to recall hearing somewhere that the setting includes firearms. Is that true, or am I thinking of a different setting?

It does have alchemical firearms. IIRC, they're pretty rare, as are the people capable of producing and maintaining them. Ptolus has a definite vibe running through it of being in the shadow of greater times past, so there's a lot of powerful mojo left from earlier times that doesn't work (or doesn't work correctly) because the knowledge to keep it running has been lost.

[bergec]

Originally Posted by Theron

It does have alchemical firearms. IIRC, they're pretty rare, as are the people capable of producing and maintaining them. Ptolus has a definite vibe running through it of being in the shadow of greater times past, so there's a lot of powerful mojo left from earlier times that doesn't work (or doesn't work correctly) because the knowledge to keep it running has been lost.

Not sure I'd call them rare. There is a store in Ptolus that sells them. A trifle expensive, but no more so than other exotic ranged weapons (like the repeating crossbow). Certainly, plenty of the NPCs in the book are toting a dragon pistol or two. However, technology in general is on the decline but most of what has been lost are the really fantastic stuff like aelectricity and the more complicated industrial machines.

[Son of Ganaud]

Originally Posted by Theron

I'll admit, I'm kind of weird in that I read gaming sourcebooks for entertainment value. I imagine I somehow got this trait from my mother, who collects cookbooks and reads them voraciously, but rarely, if ever, tries new recipes outside her tried and true comfort zone.

Nothing weird there, mate. I have read many more books than I've actually played. They're really the best thing to read if you like to GM, better than fantasy because they're the only literature that's targeted to what we GM do. I think they make all of a GM's games better.

And plus how much fun are they? I mean, I'd love to pick up Ptolus soon becausde I have a holiday coming up and can't think of a more relaxing way to spend it than sitting on a beach in Thailand with a cool drink and an RPG book I don't have to worry about finishing anytime soon.

Question is: is anyone planning to actually PLAY IT? Opinions?

[bergec]

Originally Posted by Son of Ganaud

Question is: is anyone planning to actually PLAY IT? Opinions?

Just started my Ptolus campaign four weeks ahead of schedule because my group was so excited to get started. We've had two sessions so far and it has been my most satisfying DMing experiences in years. Everything is loving the detail and enjoying their characters and the setting. The Godsday Tournament was four days after their arrival in the city and everyone is taking part (they even talked the aasimar cleric into competing in the eating contest). I dropped half a dozen of the plot hooks given in the book and they've been taking advantage of several already. I even picked up the four Ptolus Sketchbooks and folks have really been enjoying the additional visuals.