Pathfinder Campaign Setting: "Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes" [RPG]

 I read Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes just in case my players in Curse of the Crimson Throne happened to visit the area.  They didn’t really (magic is a wonderful thing), but that’s okay—it’s a good book anyway!  As a product in Paizo’s Campaign Setting line, the book is 64 pages long, has high-quality glossy paper, and is in full colour.  As the title indicates, it covers Belkzen, rugged region east of Varisia inhabited primarily by various orc tribes.  If you have an interest in orcs or are just looking for a dangerous place to set an adventure, this could be the book for you.

I’m not a huge fan of the cover—it’s cool, but also confusing and I had to look at it multiple times before realising the orc is mounted on an armored rhinocerous-type creature.  This art is reproduced on the inside back-cover sans text.  The inside front cover is a beautiful map of Belkzen.  It’s done in a “realistic” in-game style apart from the place-name captions.  The inside of the book is divided into three sections of unequal length.  The interior artwork is strong, and the book is laid out well.

The “Belkzen Gazetteer” (24 pages) starts with a history of the region and a useful timeline.  The writers have done their homework, as it encapsulates material from previous campaign books, adventures, etc.  Each of the various areas of Belkzen are then covered in a 3-4 page spread, and it quickly becomes clear that Belkzen is a region, not a nation-state, as warring orc tribes hold their territories fiercely.  The section includes coverage of the Blood Plains (with some great Shoanti flavour), the Conquered Lands (from Giantslayer?; the hanging Peacock fortress of Sech Nevali is really cool!), Smokespur (lots of mysterious places and megafauna—now I want to do an all-orc campaign to explore it), Urgir (the “capital” of Belkzen), and Whisperfall (a borderland haunted by dragons; Freedom Town is interesting).  Perhaps most useful to GMs preparing for their PCs to visit Belkzen is a sidebar on what it takes to do so safely (a tribal token or joining an established caravan).

“Adventuring in Belkzen” (28 pages) begins with coverage of orc deities—each gets about a half-page of coverage.  Although they’re all Chaotic Evil, I found them really interesting to read about, and I imagine this is probably the only place to find so much information on them (the general books on gods in the Inner Sea tend to short-change the racial pantheons).  Next up, the numerous orc tribes in Belkzen receive a brief overview of a couple of paragraphs each.  Some real attention has been paid to established canon here, with references to Eando Kline, the oft-forgotten NPC Guide, and more.  Readers interested in how orcs do war will enjoy the pages on orc siege engines (compatible with the rules from Ultimate Combat).  Probably the bulk of the section is taken up with an overview of adventure sites (about half a page or so for each).  There are some really interesting places here—the Battle of Lost Hope (a bridge miraculously guarded by a Paladin of Iomedae), The Sleeper (the capital of the Runelord of Gluttony!), and the Flood Road (with important information on the Flood Truce, an annual event that brings the warring orc tribes together).

Last up is the Bestiary (10 pages).  It has random encounter tables for each area, provides four new animal companions for the pet lovers, and introduces some new monsters (a couple of which, the “burning child” and the “floodslain” template, are pretty neat).

Overall, this is an excellent product, and I can’t think of anything substantive to complain about.  If the topic piques your interest, it’s definitely worth the purchase.