Midgard Worldbook

by Wolfgang Baur, Richard Green

Adventure in a dark world of deep magic!

It is an age of war. Civilization slowly gives way to encroaching wilderness, and once-mighty empires now lie beneath the waves. Only magic and the warmth of hope keeps lights aglow when dread things prowl, and priestly wardings are bent by demonic rage.

The omens are dire. The roads to the shadow realm are open again, and the fey have returned to claim their ancient tribute. In the north the giants prepare for Ragnarok, while the goblins in the west grow restless. In the Crossroads, the shadow of the vampire princes falls across the land. The World Serpent is stirring—and not even all-knowing Baba Yaga can say what will happen next.

Now more than ever, Midgard needs heroes to stand against the dark, driving it back with spell, steel, and cunning!

The Midgard Worldbook is compatible with 5th Edition, and also compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Separate appendixes provide the needed GM-specific material for the game, and the Pantheon chapter addresses casters in each system separately.

Genres: Fantasy, Role Playing Games

464 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive world/campaign setting. Normally when it comes to RPGs, I'm not a "high magic fantasy" guy but I have to admit that Kobold Press really makes it work. It's clear that the authors have an extensive knowledge of history and politics which they use to give their world a feel that is not only (dare I say it) realistic but also fascinating. Much of the inspiration appears to come from Central and Eastern Europe with nations inspired by Scandinavia, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, the Greek City States, Renaissance Italy, the Swiss Cantons, the Ottoman Empire, Romania, the Holy Roman Empire, Cyprus, the Barbary Coast, and more. Mix this in with a decayed Elven empire, TWO kingdoms of the Undead, Lovecraftian monsters, an empire ruled by dragons, Satanic gnomes, and you've got something special, with a vast range of adventure settings that still feels like a "real" history. And that's before this book even gets into Shadow Realm. The Kobold Press interpretation of gods also goes a good job of keeping them mysterious and awe-inspiring rather than just extra super-powered characters. NOTE: This book only has a fairly brief description of the Southlands (inspired by north and equatorial Africa, India, and the Middle East) - for that I recommend the Southlands Worldbook. Warning: things are often not black and white in this world. While there are some utterly blackhearted villains, many of the "good guys" may be intolerant, sexist or racist to one degree or another- or simply may have had to make some tough (read 'morally grey') decisions in order to survive. Strong 4 stars.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely massive. The Midgard Campaign setting is amazing. Just packed and brimming with content. So many ideas and concepts you can use for any fantasy role playing game because 98% of the book has no stats. In my humble personal opinion this is the modern gold standard for campaign settings.

[Julian Meynell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a world book for the Midgard setting by Kobold Press. I play D&D and bought this book for my campaign. I have my own homebrew world, so my purpose was to raid this book for ideas. The obvious comparison for the D&D player is The Sword Coast Adventure's Guide. To get the same scope you would also need the Midgard Hero's Book as this book does not have player options. Having said that this is clearly superior material. The Forgotten Realms are very generic. This of course is on purpose, but Midgard has a distinctive feel to it, while still being flexible enough to set prepublished adventures there with ease. The book is very clever and draws in an intelligent way from both real world history and mythology. Overall, the book is excellent value for money. It is huge containing a wealth of material and there are hundreds if not thousands of adventure ideas and locations.

[Michael Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midgard is a wonderful setting and this book is the "go to" source for information about it. Even better, it is setting neutral so you can use this for any fantasy TTRPG.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the world, the presentation in the book itself was very well done. Lots of information and good hooks for adventures or stories.