Guide to the River Kingdoms [RPG]

In the official Pathfinder campaign setting of Golarion, the River Kingdoms is an area intentionally underdeveloped to give room for the GM and players to create or import their own fictional creations without clashing against established canonical countries.    The River Kingdoms are really a couple of dozen small, independent nations that range from small city-states to bandit fortresses; all they have in common is dependence on the River Sellen.  One of the River Kingdoms, the Stolen Lands, is the site of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, a campaign that sees PCs carving out their own state.  The Guide to the River Kingdoms provides short descriptions of 22 different areas, and although it’s certainly not comprehensive in detail, it provides enough of an introductory overview to get creative GMs on the right track.  Interestingly, each of the areas is written by a different author, and Paizo was able to get some big names (like China Mieville and Elaine Cunningham) to contribute.

The inside front cover is a map of the River Kingdoms, showing the different branches of the Sellen, notable settlements and ruins, and the wavy borders between the different kingdoms. 

The book starts with a nine-page overview that talks about life in the River Kingdoms, with a focus on the Six River Freedoms, an unwritten code that binds the people of the disparate kingdoms together.  There’s also a good discussion of how those countries that border the River Kingdoms interact with it.  The section concludes with a brief entry for two minor deities widely worshipped in the River Kingdoms: Gyronna (hag goddess of hatred, extortion and spite) and Hanspur (god of rivers and river travel).  I thought this section was really well done, and gives the River Kingdoms a unique niche in Golarion.

The entire rest of the book are entries for the River Kingdoms.  The entries are either 1 page, 2 pages, or 4 pages long for each kingdom.  Each entry includes a brief introduction, a settlement stat block (not the full version from the Game Mastery Guide, unfortunately), and then paragraphs on Government, Notable Sites, Resources, Adventurers, and (for the longer entries) Adventure Hooks.  The entries are in alphabetical order, and it’s not necessarily clear why some countries got very short entries and others got longer entries.  The kingdoms covered are:

·        * Artume (1 page): Thug-ruled kingdom—forgettable.

·         *Cordelion (1 page): Xenophobic kingdom deep in the forest with elven ancestry—also forgettable.

·         *Daggermark (4 pages): Apparently the largest of the kingdoms, despite having a well-regulated system where anyone can legally hire assassins to kill anyone else (except military personnel)!  I don’t know why anyone would live there, but the entry is interesting.  Five new poisons are introduced, but they’re pretty boring except for Shamweed (which gradually buffs the recipients Constitution for a week before turning incredibly nasty)

·         *Gralton (4 pages): An interesting country formed by refugees from the inquisitions in Galt, with nobles forced out of necessity to take up trades while dreaming of returning to their homeland.  I could imagine using Gralton in a storyline.

·         *Heibarr (1 page): A cool ghost city.

·         *Hymbria (1 page): An elven community with a dark side—not too shabby.

·         *Lambreth (4 pages):  Great backstory of a kingdom rescued from Razmiri encroachment by a savior who was too good to be true.

·         *Linerthane (1 page): Nice little story of idealist paladin with a fortress and big dreams of someday fixing Galt.

·         *Loric Fells (1 page): Monster infested.

·         *Mivon (4 pages):  Cowards who fled Brevoy while maintaining the Aldori sword-dueling ethos.  The entry includes a good codified list of rules for Mivoni duelling.

·         *Mosswater (1 page): A good adventuring locale: a town long overrun by merrow.

·         *Nystra (1 page): A concept very similar to Mosswater, but this time the culprit is yellow musk creeper and strange insect-like gargoyles.

·         *Outsea (4 pages): My personal favourite of the bunch.  Written by China Mieville, the backstory to this place is just crazy-ridiculous-cool.  I have an Undine PFS character from Outsea, aided by a regional trait in Blood of the Elements.

·         *Pitax (4 pages): Interesting, politically-divided town that is infested by thieves.  A good place to start a campaign, as it could support various themes.

·         *The Protectorate of the Black Marquis (2 pages): Pirate despot town with interesting backstory.

·         *Riverton (1 page): Theocracy with a great cult leader.

·         *Scrawning Crossing (1 page): Classic “all villagers mysteriously disappeared one night” hook.

·         *Sevenarches (4 pages): Original kingdom ruled by druids, with fey support, with no elves allowed due to mysterious disease.

·         *The Stolen Lands (4 pages): As I mentioned, this is apparently where Kingmaker takes place.  From the description here, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would *want* to make a kingdom in this sh#*hole.

·         *Touvette (2 pages): Harsh, lawful kingdom.

·         *Tymon (4 pages): Lisa Stevens’ baby, a gladiatorial kingdom with a constantly reincarnated leader who has been running the joint for 2,700 years!

·         *Uringen (4 pages): Adam Daigle’s baby, a fun concept of a town partially “unstuck” in a pocket dimension.  Great place for adventures that players haven’t seen before.

As indicated above, the quality of the entries varies, with some really great ideas and some fairly generic ones.  Although the cover art is great, the interior art is very much a mixed bag.  The bullet point on the back cover about “New feats, spells, class abilities, and poisons” is literally true but hyperbolically misleading—this is *not* a crunch book, with only a handful of player options throughout.  In one respect, however, this is good: with the launch of Pathfinder Second Edition, this book is just as valuable as it was in First Edition.

All in all, I’d say this was a solid, average Paizo book.  I wouldn’t rush out to buy it, but I certainly don’t regret owning it either.  Obviously, those running something like Kingmaker or other campaigns set in the River Kingdoms will find it indispensable.