Books Just Arrived!

[The Mad Hatter]

While I've been reading through my electronic copies for the past few months (I'm more of a physical book kind of guy), my Osta-Baile pledge arrived in the mail on Monday.

While the electronic format of the books is great, it just can't do justice to how nicely produced these books are! Everything is top notch, and having the collectors edition books with their lovely (and mysterious) looking covers just adds that extra bit of flavor to a setting already dripping with it.

I'm not sure how publicly available these books are yet and you may mot find them in your local game store (looks like book 0 and 1 are available on Amazon), but if anyone out there hasn't gotten them, I highly recommend it - you won't regret your purchase!

Here are some of my initial thoughts after reading through my copies.

One thing I am still getting my hands around is just how these books are written. The fact that so much is written from the perspective of someone living in the world, with very little in the way of rules mechanics (apart from specific sections on rules), has taken some getting used to. In the end, I think I do enjoy it more than many other published RPGs as it gives you so much more "feeling" of the world than what the number of pages may reflect. After reading through most of book 1, and a good part of book 2, I feel I have an incredibly deep sense of what the world "is" and what it "isn't". Maybe more so than if I'd read five or six books on other game worlds.

I feel better equipped to actually role play in this world than most others - for example, I have a strong feeling how a simple Innkeeper may view the world around him much better than someone in a D&D like setting. It's the simple things like that that I feel help me immerse myself into Esteren more than many other worlds, and make a simple encounter at an inn much more of an experience versus just "another night at an inn".

I think more than anything, this is what attracts me to Esteren, and will most likely keep me buying the books, even if I never end up playing the game. The other big draw for me is the combat system, which aligns itself well within the broader context of the game. Being a darker and tinged with horror type setting, having a system that caters to having a good half dozen fights in the course of an evening's adventure would just feel out of place. The sincere deadliness of the combat system makes every combat a weighed measure - is this worth the risk of dying? To me that just bolsters the setting and feeling of the universe - it's dark, gritty, and full of mystery.....

And when the blood does flow, chances are fairly good you may leave an encounter with one less PC than you started - and for that, I love it!

[Iris]

Really happy to read your feedback !

Hope your players will also like to travel in Tri-Kazel !

[Clovis]

Thank you so very much for such positive feedback! Here's hoping you will keep being thrilled by our creations!

[PatientWolf]

My books arrived a couple of weeks ago and it was very well worth the wait! The artwork is absolutely beautiful. I love the way the book is put together and written. Most game books just present the history and material in a kind of encyclopedic fashion that makes for very dry reading. With Shadows of Esteren it is interesting to read the history and details of the world in the form of letters and personal accounts. I've already read completely through Book 1 and am starting Book 2 now!

Thank you guys for doing such an awesome job!

[Nelyhann]

Thanks you very much PatientWolf for your feedback

[Iris]

Great ! Very Happy !

Don't hesitate to give us your feedback about book 2

[Clovis]

You're very welcome, PatientWolf! May your Players be as thrilled by Shadows of Esteren as you are.

If you want to share your experience and feelings about the game, feel free to do so on this here forum; feedback is always appreciated!