The Grand Duchy of Karameikos Review

 

My first Basic Dungeons and Dragons product review.  The Grand Duchy of Karameikos is the first in a series of Gazetteers done for the Known World, the campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons (BECMI).  It's also called Mystara, but that came later. Anyhow, is the product worth it to buy?  Lets find out.  This product was written by Aaron Allston for TSR.  Cover artist was Clyde Caldwell.  I got a hard copy from Lightning Source and also a pdf copy as well.  Note, if you buy the hard copy, you will find that the cover has a lot of red (magenta) in it.  The hard copy is paperback instead of hard back.

The Grand Duchy of Karameikos is a small book, and comes in three sections.  The Introduction: where Aaron talks about the book.  The Gazetteer Section and finally the Adventures section.  Which is for the Dungeon Master.

Introduction.

Here, Aaron says he is pleased with the book.  He mentions that fantasy worlds often grow in leaps and bounds.  The world started with a map and a few lines of text in D&D Expert.  But that has grown into the Known World through published adventures that TSR, inc. had put out.  A lot of these adventures are available on Drivethru.   He gives thanks and shout out for a few adventures that he referenced to put together the Grand Duchy. 

Part One: the Gazetteer Section

Here is where the most of the detail about the book was written.  You get into the Grand Duchy's history, some of which is for the players to read.  And you also get into region's customs, cultures (there are two human cultures: one is the Traladara culture and the other is the Thyatis culture), and also talk about the demi-humans of the Grand Duchy.  The history of the region is recounted.  How the Traladarans had a golden age, but that came to an end.  How Thyatis conquered the region, and how a duke traded favors for the land.  You also get into detail about the economy of the Grand Duchy.  A calendar was made, and a list of NPCs for the land.  A lot of information was packed into sixty-four pages.  Which was an astounding feat for writers for TSR.

The Adventures Section

 This is for the Dungeon Master or DM.  It lists some adventures you can run for your players.  They are all short form, allowing the DM to use his creativity to flesh out and present to his or her players.  At the end of the section are the maps detailing the Grand Duchy, castles, cities, and other items. 

Hits

TSR at this time, relied on a full color cover.  Inside, they use a fortified tower to add visual interest.  The book is laid out in three columns.  The type is ten points small, and the art is awesome, even though it's black and white art.

Misses 

The (new) hard copy's cover has a lot of red tones.  Which takes away from the original.  The maps are printed in 81/2" by 11" inches, and it can be a little confusing at first when you see these maps.  Otherwise, if you like Mystara content, I would start with this Gazetteer.

The Future

Again the future is uncertain.  Although I will tell you that I'm buying the trademarks and copyrights to ten (10) D&D worlds.  One of these worlds is Mystara.  So I can say with confidence that the first project we are working on is the Grand Duchy of Karameikos.