Review: Pathfinder Mwangi Expanse (Ep. 204)
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Professor DungeonMaster reviews Pathfinder's Mwangi Expanse book. New lineages, lands, and cities to explore!
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I want this book. Not even to play pathfinder, but just to use the world and the art.
I'm in the same situation. I actually ordered a copy after seeing this. It was too good to pass on.
The creators at paizo are so... creative. I love their setting so much.
This really looks like something fresh and different. African mythology has long been ignored in most fantasy games and it looks like Paizo did an amazing job bringing it to life.
I don't think it's so much ignored as nobody who was writing RPGs had any experience with African mythology. I remember just how much trouble TSR had putting together Oriental Adventures in the late 80s and 90s because nobody who was writing for them really understood Asian mythology.
the Southlands sourcebook for the Midgard setting is getting released soon
@@swaghauler8334 Yeah pretty much. People complained when they didn't get non-European inspired material, but also complained when its primarily white audience and dev team aren't experts
An African RPG style book did come out for 3.5/D20 called Nyambe RPG, I have it and its a good source for this book imho, conversion should be pretty simple, but the book and its supplements are kind of rare.
Its been ignored because its a tiny niche market of a niche market
Grootslang means big snake in Afrikaans and is a South African legend
Yep and you have to pronounce that "Gr" with that good guttural Afrikaans sound.
"Everything is endangered when Deathbringer is around!" 😂🤣😂🤣
The inphographic elements on Pathfinder books are a lesson for other roleplaying games publications.
This was done in D&D 2nd Edition with the release of Birthright RPG boxset and also the Greyhawk Yellow boxset was done like this also.
That's a gorgeous book. I don't play Pathfinder but this looks like a book you could use regardless of what game system you use (the setting mainly). I'd love to see more reviews of sourcebooks from various games.
I like seeing a setting inspired by other parts of the world.
Not since oriental adventures have I seen a massive setting tome like this!
Yes I was thinking the same thing.
This seems like a great setting. Very creative!
Yes, I have a custom setting in a world with a lot of island-nations/city states and these cultures and cities would be perfect for what I have planned. I also like the races they have included especially the elves. I also intended there to be only one place to go to learn wizardry magic and this mage town is the perfect choice for this.
I am looking forward to blending a lot of this material in. It saves me a lot of time. The art will be fun to show my boys when we play.
I have the book, and agree, it’s outstanding. It’s a really fresh region of their Golarion setting full of inspiring ideas but coming from a different place to the ‘standard’ European-inspired fantasy. Paizo constently make better content that WotC imho.
I would agree with this. Golarion is the best fantasy-kitchen-sink setting you can get.
Great video professor, blessings from peru, i love this rulebook and i would love to see more representstion of other cultures in pathfinder like an incan expansion or arabic, they have a lot of things to explore so i m more than excited for the future of pathfinder 🖖
OMG a Meso-American style supplement would be AMAZING!!!!
I hear rumors that they may be making a similar book for Arcadia (the Golarion version of the Americas)
didnt dnd have that one for fantasy arabia? forgot what it was called.
@@midshipman8654 Yes it was was AL-Qadim
@@tazmokhan7614 And it was BAAAAAAD. Like, "fundamental misunderstanding of the culture to the point of stooping to racist charcture" bad.
Clearly the molotov cocktail is just made from really strong alcohol. This means it doubles as a rations supply and a medicine.
Trade cities in deserts are sometimes built around oases where they may not have a river but they have springs that provide small pools or subsurface water for wells.
Great review!
I had very similar thoughts when I first got my copy. So much good lore to use and such great artwork!
Double release this week, nice!
The Conrasu seem like Vorlons from Babylon 5....Energy beings that use an encounter suit to engage with the physical world.
Love the new stone background.
This book is absolutely breathtaking and brightly colored! I dig it! Thank you for this flip-through review, it sold me on re-thinking whether I go out and get 2nd Edition Pathfinder. I already play Starfinder, and once again, I see really good things from Paizo.
Great Review, and certainly not something I would have looked at otherwise. Also, it's really nice to see that the comments here aren't full of 'woke-rage'. I love seeing a non-European based mythology take on a fantasy settings. Your enthusiasm, as it always is, is infectious.
@@Voyvoda1903 enjoys vague posting it seems.
If you enjoy pirates, perhaps check out Skull & Shackles (PF1).
Also, it is a common misconception that Golarion is somehow stuck in the past. "Long time ago". This is not true. The events in Golarion are pretty contemporary. They even have a Soviet Russian population in the north. Alkenstar is famous for its firearms. And let's not forget the alien technology and Artificial Intelligence found in Numeria. Explorers carrying firearms and Alchemist's Fire is not unreasonable.
probably the first misconception people have is that it's medieval; rather, the general level of technology and civilization is renaissance
Numeria's an outlier, Irrisen is distinctly fairy tale Russia not Soviet, and Alkenstar invented guns as a matter of necessity since the last thing you want to do is risk wild magic in the mana wastes (wild magic rules can be found in PF Unchained, else use the crit fail deck, rod of wonder table, or other wacky magic table)
Whoa, this is really awesome! I love how different the mythology is compared to your classic European fantasy, I would certainly love more content like this
I gotta tell you, this setting actually does seem like it could be a huge breath of fresh air for fantasy roleplaying. I haven't been this mesmerized by a setting ever since I learned about Athas...
Great review! Professor if you like Nantambu they are releasing an Adventure Path set in that region's magic school this month, called Strength of Thousands. It has been a long time since my group and I have been this excited for a pre-made adventure. Definitely worth a look.
Solid review. The books definitely on my short list of pick ups. Unfortunately Kickstarter has been eating up way too much of my discretionary gaming hobby money lately. 😀
One of the things I love about this book, and the direction a lot of Pathfinder setting books have taken of late, is that the fluff is often written from the perspective of people from the land. I'm sure other products from other games have done the same, but it really stood out here, whereas the norm seems to be writing from the perspective of an outsider looking in.
Could see immediately that you would like those city splash pages :-)
I love this channel!!! It's my favorite channel on CZcams.
That is an impressive amount of art and based on the video the quality looks solid. I wonder how hard it would be to port the monsters to 5E. I have undiscovered continents on my game world and could see dropping this in.
The GM guide for Pf describes how to take out certain bonuses to play the game with "bounded accuracy", i.e. a similar system to how the math is handled in D&D. PF monsters tend to have more abilities than 5e, so stripping them down to their most iconic ability is what I would recommend. It is a bit of work but quite straight forward if you know both systems.
Just lower every value (like to hit and saves) by the level of the creature (PF2e includes level in proficiency to keep it balanced and challenging until level 20).
What is harder to port are the actions. Pathfinder 2e is build around a three action system that allows you to do whatever you want (instead of D&D's Action, Bonus Action and Movement system) and the monsters make very good use of this. But hey, whatever rows your boat I guess.
I find the PF2 Action system interesting and have dabbled with how to implement it (but this always devolves into me tinkering with the action economy, thus I've never brought it to the table).
I do think many 5E monsters make poor use of the action economy, and often give monsters possible bonus actions (remember rakes and hugs from old school felines and bears?).
Ooh good one deathbringer! Just a dash of risqué, I love it!
Bloodcove is definitely getting dropped into my home brew world! Very cool. Thanks for the great review!
Thank you for the review! I also find Conrasu to be weird as a player ancestry. I don't know how you relate to a character that is so alien and far removed from the human experience
Paizo really is leading the way in terms of RPG fantasy art in the 2020s.
They have always had the best artwork since the early 2000s.
Having played (as a Gunslinger: Musket Master) in Serpent's Skull campaign, I can tell you that Smugglers Shiv is a horrible, sucky place to be shipwrecked/marooned on, Professor.
Good review/flip through.
I like that this book has a huge amount of setting information that can be used for Golarion or just exported into a homebrew setting.
Not a lot of mechanics for those looking for this but plenty of information and flavour.
It's a really good resource.
Yo Prof DM, you still doing affiliate links? I’ve never actually pulled the trigger on buying an RPG book after watching a review (despite being tempted) but man, you have SOLD me on Mwangi! The setting is so fresh and tantalizing. Anyway if you put up a link I’d happily purchase through it; I’d imagine Paizo gets sales metrics from Amazon, if so they should see the influence you have on their sales!
Mercantile city not on a river or the ocean?
Somebody tell Professor DM about Timbuktu!
Timbuktu is 20km (12.4 miles) north of the Niger River, a major waterway. Mercantile cities don't have to have a port but do have to have access to major waterways. If you zoom in on the map of the region, the ports are south of the city with a major road leading to it. Easier to defend. So "on the river" is on the river route not directly on the river.
@@BryanCrossland Actually that is untrue, the trade and mercantile city of Palmyra from the first to third century CE was over 100 miles from the nearest waterway. It thrived until taking arms against Rome and being destroyed. It was built on a spring, so it is very possible to have a thriving mercantile city without a major waterway.
Excllent review. Thanks PDM
Great review!! Thank you PDM
Oh wow these races are amazing!!!!
Great review, thanks!
I have not got this book yet, but a comment about Kibwe: it is not uncommon for hubs of trade in desert places be formed around places that had an oasis or springs, it was very common in the trade between west Africa and north Africa that had to cross the Sahara.
I'm really excited to see you giving this book a look. If you aren't following PF2e as closely, this ties in with a few other adventures which have/will travel to the Mwangi -- namely Age of Ashes and Strength of Thousands. I think this is mostly intended to help DM's better flesh out the region around the Strength of Thousands adventure, which is going to be much more role-play focused, from what I have heard.
I agree with the encounter tables though. These haven't really seemed to be the direction most of the Lost Omen's books have been going, since the product line is mostly in service of building out the lore around the Adventure Path locations. If they did provide something a bit more gameable--like tables or the one shots 5e has been including with their source books, I think it would go a long way.
I would love to see this material backported to 1st Edition. It was always an interesting part of the Setting, but there weren't a lot of modules set in it.
It should be pretty easy to convert this book to PF1 since these mechanics in PF2 are pretty generic ( almost like the generic rules in 4th D&D) to replace, especially the beastiary.
I loved the book they did for this setting for 1st edition. May come to live this one more.
Love the book, but I hate the mechanics, it's ok though since the mechanics are so generic I can just apply the PF1 rules very easily, I love that they did this book finally!!
has really nice art!
Great stuff friend 👏
Setting looks super cool!
Lots of material.
I'd love more videos on PF2e, for instance if you could review the upcoming secrets of magic book
Yes! Please do more Pathfiner stuff 😁
I second this!
Looks great!
That's a pretty book!
It really is. Looks terrific.
Love it and bought it
it's considerably more thorough than the PF1 book for the region, Heart of the Jungle. Still have no idea what they're thinking with the conrasu; are they supposed to be a reimagining of the astomoi or something?
I dunno. I think people will love them or hate them.
Genuinely, the conrasu read to us as metaphor for certain trans groups. Having to sculpt a body of your own using what you have and all that.
Great review, I’m getting this book asap, can’t wait to put my players in a ship and send them there
The Grootslang was the evil entity (Satan-equivalent) of the Loxodon race in my game!
A great looking sword and sorcery genre setting. I can imagine rampaging through the lands of the expanse measuring wealth with a fist full of coins and a smattering of gems. The Conrasu are reminiscent of Babylon 5's Vorlons.
… Yes.
Artwork looks fantastic
Awesome!
Oh well. Looks like the Potion Of Youth wore off. :-P
Excellent review, thanks
Wow, the art is amazing. I have never bought any Pathfinder products but that looks like it will change. I love the cultures shown and illustrated.
Edit: you should put up an affiliate link or something for these reviews so you can get a cut of the sales. I just bought a copy with a game store in WI (to avoid giving Bezos anymore money) but I would be happy to use an affiliate link to help your channel anytime.
*I got the book .*
*An i love it .*
Whatever happened to folded poster-sized maps?
It looks like a great book. A fantasy Africa has never been done well. I only have two problems with it:
1. Pirates. Pirates are overdone. Everyone does pirates. And it's always the same ones, the Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard, Spanish Main, late 1600s-early 1700s types. Piracy has been around for a long time and in all regions. Where are the Middle Eastern-style pirates, the East Asian pirates, the Norse-like pirates, etc?
2. Too many new ancestries. It's turning into D&D 5E with all the new character ancestries. The more common ancestries (humans, elves, dwarves) will soon become the rarities because everyone wants to be something unusual to try to be different. Parties will end up like the ones in streaming games, just a bunch of tortles, grung, goliaths, aarakocra, and tabaxis. Ugh.
Anyone ever play Savage Tide? That was fun!
Looks good!
410
Shardmind. They are shardmind.
Bring back the rat king:king of rats!
Nice shirts
That book looks very pretty. I'm surprised you didn't mention the wasted space on the end papers though. I think if this were a WOTC product you would have mentioned it, at least you usually mention it in the reviews of those books I've seen.
True, true. I think I mentioned it in the Patreon version. I vaguely remembering cutting this video very ruthlessly. Reviews generate fewer views so I have to keep them lean.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I did see a cut between the cover and the art that you did mention. I'd believe it. I think reviews are some of my favorite content because I'm cheap and don't want to buy things unless they're very compelling
A very crude analogy for the Conrasu- Kosh from Babylon Five?
This working with world of the lost by lotfp could be cool.
Cool
Paizo does some awesome work. Loved them before they went Pathfinder.
One Deathbringer is one like
holdin out on us Prof! no warning on FB lol
Conrasu = constructs
They aren't constructs (Construct is actually an ancestry that will be released soon in a future Lost Omens book, I think the the book about Absalom).
Conrasu are shards of cosmic energy with a shell of living wood surrounding them. The wood being alive is why they have so many arms, those just keep on growing and harden over their lifespan turning immobile (they only have two working arms).
Wow! That looks awesome! 😁😎
Very nice. I always laugh cause the number one thing that is always mentioned is the lack of use of space on the inside of the cover. I myself run an Adventures in Middle-Earth game and every single book that they published had maps on the inside of the front and back cover. If it wasn't a region map it was a town map or combat maps.
Raaawr I’m a t-Rex
4:12 - This sounds like Eberron's Quori and the Inspired that host them, as well as Eberron's Daelkyr, which create abomination servants for hosting their psyches... Daelkyr also has symbiotes that the faithful can graft to their bodies to gain additional powers.
Deathbringer is a walking ecological disaster! :)
Wait, is this 2 DC vids in one week?!
This looks great.
I am not big on supplements but this would be a great addition for me to introduce rpgs to underserved communities.
hey, did anybody else notice the screen tearing in the video?
Love pirates, but with all these cultures why does everyone have European type ships?
Love to hear professor butcher Afrikaans pronunciation.
shut up and take Zoidbergs money, why not
Algorithm
Hey! Aren’t you on vacation? I thougth the rat king is your stand-in? Get some well earned rest, Professor!
OK... So seeing the art of Mwangi for their Galorion setting..., What era is it set in again? Late Medieval? Or the 18th century?
The art is almost entirely 18th century Caribbean pirates. It is the medieval stuff that looks out of place in this book!
IMHO this is symptomatic of the ever increasing lack of setting coherence we are increasingly seeing from WOTC and Paizuo with their respective D&D, and D&D's clone game lines...
It's set in the timeline of whatever the country is themed by. There's a diesel-punk tech fantasy country because an alien space ship crash landed in a region, there's a kung-fu feudal country, a medieval fantasy region, etc.
It's important to remember that our literal world did not have synchronized technology till the 20th century, so it's hardly surprising to play in fantasy worlds where technology and military advancements differ region to region, especially in a world where 4 people can halt invading countries and natural disasters.
@@note4note804 "It's set in the timeline of whatever the country is themed by...." So in other words Galorion is a theme park "fantasy" setting... Got it.
@@jaeger4540 I guess? Isn't every setting in every tabletop game a theme park because you're suppose to be planning activities in it to engage the players? I don't actually know what a non-"theme park fantasy" setting is.
@@note4note804 Verisimilitude is obviously not a thing for you. Its ok, Lots of people like gonzo gaming.
@@jaeger4540 Umm, unless you're playing a game that doesn't have magic, dragons, gods and mythical realms, why would anyone expect verisimilitude from fantasy? If what you actually mean is that we have different abilities to suspend disbelief, then sure.
That being said, most campaigns don't go trans continental, so it's not like you'd go to Mwangi and suddenly a samurai, an orc with a laser cannon and Gandalf appear in one setting. So once again, maybe you could actually clarify what you mean instead of being vaguely disparaging?
Good art does not make up for a bad system. PF2 is a weak system with a lot of unnecessary bloat. It’s math is so bad that I actually felt bad for the PC’s and that says something
OMG, no. Watched to support you, PDM.
Mwangi commit 55% of the ...never mind
How do you think the module handles issues of colonialism?
He didn't look for that. If that is important to you, find a reviewer that also thinks it's important.
But as bad as you think it is, it's probably worse.
@@imperator_productions Actually it looks like they may have treated the setting with an “insiders” perspective rather than one from the “outside”. The book is still pretty new so not many reviews and I trust the Professor.
Knowing Paizo (and having read the book)? It is handled appropriately and the way it should be.
What a huge and complex question! Definitely not something that can be answered in a "sound bite" sized answer.
Isn't it great that we're able and allowed to ask such questions nowadays, though?
Seems to me it's more about personal awareness, responsibility and interpretation than what's included in the publication, which is essentially a delightfully presented mix of locations, styles and fantasy tropes - stuff to kill, and stuff to elicit tourist style "oohs and aahs", and more stuff to kill.
Looking at the illustrations alone, I'm not really sure this book is politically aware enough (beyond the extremely basic corporate responses of sensitive equal and positive representation) for such a question to be sensible; e.g. the pirates (as cool as they are) wear a delicious jumble of 18th century clothing styles as a clear "Pirates of the Carribbean" representational shorthand for pirate, which-as we're all doubtlessly aware-only comes about because of the sugar/tobacco/cotton (etc…) and slavery economics of colonial European expansion into the Americas. Africa had (and still has) distinct pirate cultures of its own and I doubt they speak with a Cornish accent!
What this book appears to do really well is beautiful, light-fantasy naïvité of style over cultural realism… and, as PDM says, it looks wonderful with some interesting ideas. I think, if you want something more aware of colonialism in Africa there are definitely other great games out there. And they might just be a bit less "killy" that PF2.
You'd have to be waaaaay more specific on that question. Are you asking if the setting denounces imperialism and conquest ethically? Are you asking if the region was historically colonized? Are you simply asking if there's appropriation of real world cultures and mashing together different influences to give the region an "exotic flavor"?
Either way, it's a setting and system made by mostly white people, so there's going to be a certain level of...let's be nice and say "good intentions" when it comes to trying to diversify their world.
Gross, you got some Mathfinder on you.