Mythic Vistas: The Black Company Campaign Setting (Hardcover)

~ Robert J. Schwalb (Author), Owen K. C. Stephens (Author, Artist), Scott Gearin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Since 1984, readers the world over have followed the exploits of Glen Cook's black Company. Croaker, Lady, Murgen, One-Eye, Goblin, and a cast of thousands have lived and died as the fierce mercenaries of the Black Compnay have fought, tricked, and - when necessary, fled from - vast armies, powerful wizards, and twisted creatures from other worlds. The Black Company have toppled nations and dynasties, battled the horrific Dominator and his Ten Who Were Taken, faced the insidious Shadowmasters, and more. all this as they traversed the world, searching inexorably for their point of origin: Khatovar, the mysterious birthplace of all the Free Companies. Now, for the first time, the world of the Black Company is yours to explore. The Black Company Campaign Setting provides everything you need to walk in the Black Company's footsteps, detailing the world, characters, threats, and all the d20 game mechanics needed to bring it to life! Inside this massive time you'll find: A complete overview of the novels, detailing the Black Company's history under the leadership of the Captain, Lieutenant, Croaker, Lady, Murgen, Sleepy and Suvrin. A geographical overview, highlighting and detailing vital setting information. All new rules for defining character backgrounds from priests to harlots. New classes like the Academician, Scout, and Zealot, with adapted classes from the d20 system like the berserker, thief, and wizard, modified to take advantage of the special rules presented in this book and fully supporting the epic level rules. Brand new Skills like Command, Magic Use, and Research. Dozens of new Feats, such as Bushwhack, Vicious, and the Ritual of Taking. Complete combat systems for fights at the characters scale, mass combat between units, and quick resolution army-scale combat. An all-new freeform magic system to recreate the world-shaking spells used by the Ten Who Were Taken or the more modest arcane efforts of the Black Company wizards. New Prestige Classes, like the Oracle, Topkick and Great General. Variant rules for building and maintaining your own mercenary companies, sanity, and magic. Tons of campaign models and campaign sparks to build your own Black Company stories. a complete bestiary of the monsters from the books, including the awe-inspiring windwhales, the horrific shadows from the Plain of Glittering Stone, and the guardian dragon sleeping before the Barrowlands. Game stats for all of you favorite characters, covering everyone from Wheezer and Pawnbroker to Soulcatcher and the Dominator! A complete index of the Black Company members mentioned in the books. Whether you're a fan of the novels or a gamer hungry for a real taste of blood and guts in your d20 games, The Black Company Campaign Setting gives you everything you need to kick start a unique and exciting saga - one unlike anything you've experienced before. You better get ready, 'cause the Black Compnay's recruiting - and they're looking for YOU! Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product utilizes updated material from the v. 3.5 revision.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932442383
• ISBN-13: 978-1932442380
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #776,568 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Black Company Campaign Setting is well written, and well researched, but has some editing problems, July 20, 2005

By	Clinton N. Fell - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Clearly a lot of time and effort went into this product, however it could have used one more pass through a independent proofreader. The backgrounds, classes, prestige classes, new combat mechanics, mass land combat system, new magic system, and new masterwork item system are all well thought out and fairly well balanced internally. The power scale of the characters compared to base classes are slightly higher, but this will probably be offset by the lack of significant magic items. Some of the feats and class features will prove problematic, but are significanly in the exception and can easily be house ruled back to balance. After the editing my biggest complaint with this setting book is that it overdoes the epic thing. Many of the characters in the books were clearly epic, but 30 and 50 levels of epic seems wrong to me.

Overall it is a pretty good product that most gaming fans of the Black Company would enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Biased Opinion, July 21, 2005

By	Caster Jack "not him, the other guy" (the East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

I would have bought this book even if I weren't a D&D geek, because I am a rabid fan of the Black Company books. I read it cover to cover with the compulsive, sweaty-palmed fervor of a devotee, but I can see some problems for most normal people:
The rules make some radical departures from standard 3.5 games, totally eliminating some staples of D&D (clerics, for instance). This has an effect of many other aspects of the game (no clerics? no quick healing...no quick healing, much higher body count). I would not recommend this for the average Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms player. Personally, that's what attracted me to the books in the first place: no elves, no unpronounceable names, and a sword in the guts will kill even the most beloved characters.
The editing is ugly in places but that's a quibble.
Recommeded for Black Company fans and / or very open-minded d20 players in search of some gritty and grim action.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So I admit I'm a fanatic., January 22, 2007

By	HopFrog (Hendrix College) - See all my reviews

Having hated the regular D&D magic system since I first learned about it, this book offers a wonderful alternative. Wizards don't just forget their spells when they use them once, and none of the magic relies on the basic assumption that your mythology is correct.
Better yet - noone can abuse the system to have a completely broken character before even taking their class levels, and dragons aren't color coded for your convienence. No elves, no orcs, no dragonkin, no easily available flaming swords.
It even contains a feat to break that spiked chain strategy.
Sadly, as everyone else has mentioned, the editing could definately have been improved. However, that can be overlooked since it really does capture the low-magic grit of the setting in the series.
Gotta love it.