haiiro
First Post
The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A is a 36 page PDF from Mad Kaiser Games, available for $5.00 US. The first page is taken up by the table of contents and cover art, and about half of the last page is the Open Game License. This is a landscape format PDF that is designed to be very easy on your printer: it's black and white only, with very little artwork.
The art is simple but functional, and is limited to a handful of pieces depicting market goods. There are also seven maps: one illustrating the Garden-and-the-Pantry (or G&P), the large market that provides the "setting" for the smaller markets detailed in the book; the other six show the smaller specialty markets within the G&P, like Weaver Hall and Lernalage Plaza.
I did not receive Book A as a review copy. I have also not playtested it, inasmuch as that would be possible (given that it is primarily a book of lists).
Book A is the first in a series of PDFs detailing different markets that are intended to be used in any medieval fantasy setting. At the time of this review, Books B and C are also available (exotic markets and trade markets, respectively).
The bulk of this book is a series of lists of goods that you can find for sale in the market, and there is quite a lot of material here. The more "basic" markets, like the Farmer's Market and Weaver Hall (textiles and clothing), offer extensive lists of goods -- everything from 11 varieties of mushroom in the Farmer's Market to a full page of clothing items in Weaver Hall. These lists include prices that seem to be in line with those found in the PHB, and for convenience they also include items from the PHB's lists as well.
The smaller sections of the market -- places like Highwater Laundry and the Putul Natch (marionette opera) -- don't include lengthy lists. Instead, these areas feature a brief description (in italics) and some background material, along with prices for their services.
Larger areas, like Blackwater Close (an extensive fishmonger's market that includes an exotic pet fish store) and the excellent Southend Livestock Yards, are mapped and described in greater detail.
Any time a good or service comes up that isn't pretty self-explanatory, the book offers short PHB-style descriptions of the unusual items. These descriptions are often quite neat, like the section on the 30 different types of cattle available in the Bull Pens. Each breed is described in brief, and some of them include minor special rules -- like the semi-feral Hariana cattle, which are used as draft animals and have Str +2. The Bull Pens section also includes a write-up of the "base" bull/cow, which is modified by the various special traits offered by certain breeds.
Another section where this sort of detail really shines is Weaver Hall, the textile market. Alongside the mundane items, Weaver Hall also offers exotic cloth -- things like starlight cloth, which glows with brightness equal to a candle, and kalokela, an expensive cloth that can change color in accordance with the wearer's wishes. It's this type of thing which really stands out to me as the type of little touch that would really enhance a DM's description of an NPC, and it's one of the things I think Book A does best.
Since the focus of the book is primarily on the lists, and secondarily on describing the more interesting and unusual elements that come up on those lists, there are no NPC stats, encounter hooks or other additions -- as are often found in other "location-by-location" type sourcebooks. The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A isn't hurt by this omission, and it seems like those details would probably distract from the book's stated aim: "to provide hard-working GMs and their more mercantile players with an exhaustive listing of hundreds of goods and services that might be available in a town, city."
In this sense, it's somewhat similar to Gary Gygax's World Builder (from Troll Lord Games). Like The Kaiser's Bazaar, World Builder is a book of lists -- covering all sorts of topics, from weapons and equipment to types of birds and herbs. The main differences between the two are scope and presentation.
The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A presents its lists with a modular, "generic" (but often quite evocative) context already in place. This is nice, because it gives the DM the option of simply dropping a particular market into her game and describing what's available to the PCs. In scope, Book A is narrower than World Builder -- but it's also not intended as a complete work, and this focus is very much intentional.
Like World Builder, however, Book A provides a useful tool for detail-oriented DMs -- both in preparing for a game, and in describing market districts in-game. On the preparation side, there are all sorts of little details that can be worked into flavor text, background elements and other aspects of an adventure (particularly one in an urban setting). In-game, I can see Book A being useful when the PCs unexpectedly decide to look for a particular item -- as well as to provide a bit of extra flavor and description (ice wine instead of simply "wine," or giving an NPC ranger a flickerhound as an animal companion, instead of just a dog) during a session.
There are two things that I think this book could have done better, though both are fairly minor quibbles.
Foremost is the maps, which show building outlines on a square grid, with each building keyed to a legend telling you which shop it is. I don't dislike this approach, as it gets the job done -- but in a book that gets a surprising amount of flavor out of its lists, it seems like the maps could play a role in this as well. For example, I would have liked to see the buildings illustrated from a birds-eye-view, with stalls, awnings and goods -- giving a sense of the feel of each market in a way that the purely informational maps don't.
The second place that I think there's room for improvement is in the book's name: "The Kaiser's Bazaar" works just fine, but "Book A" doesn't do anything for me. It's a bit awkward, and it doesn't help me remember that Book A covers food, livestock and other essentials, while Book B includes items of wizardry, tattoos and other esoterica. Based on the list of upcoming PDFs in this series, it looks like Mad Kaiser Games is going away from this direction: the other titles all have more evocative names, like Nightmarket (for thieves and dark clerics) and Arena Cross, the warrior's market.
Neither of these complaints is major enough to keep me from giving The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A 5 out of 5 stars. Overall, this book succeeds very well at its purpose, and it provides a wealth of useful market areas, peculiar and mundane items, and other small details to enhance your campaign. If you enjoy adding this kind of depth to your game, or if your campaign has a significant urban element, this book is quite a good buy at $5.00.
The art is simple but functional, and is limited to a handful of pieces depicting market goods. There are also seven maps: one illustrating the Garden-and-the-Pantry (or G&P), the large market that provides the "setting" for the smaller markets detailed in the book; the other six show the smaller specialty markets within the G&P, like Weaver Hall and Lernalage Plaza.
I did not receive Book A as a review copy. I have also not playtested it, inasmuch as that would be possible (given that it is primarily a book of lists).
Book A is the first in a series of PDFs detailing different markets that are intended to be used in any medieval fantasy setting. At the time of this review, Books B and C are also available (exotic markets and trade markets, respectively).
The bulk of this book is a series of lists of goods that you can find for sale in the market, and there is quite a lot of material here. The more "basic" markets, like the Farmer's Market and Weaver Hall (textiles and clothing), offer extensive lists of goods -- everything from 11 varieties of mushroom in the Farmer's Market to a full page of clothing items in Weaver Hall. These lists include prices that seem to be in line with those found in the PHB, and for convenience they also include items from the PHB's lists as well.
The smaller sections of the market -- places like Highwater Laundry and the Putul Natch (marionette opera) -- don't include lengthy lists. Instead, these areas feature a brief description (in italics) and some background material, along with prices for their services.
Larger areas, like Blackwater Close (an extensive fishmonger's market that includes an exotic pet fish store) and the excellent Southend Livestock Yards, are mapped and described in greater detail.
Any time a good or service comes up that isn't pretty self-explanatory, the book offers short PHB-style descriptions of the unusual items. These descriptions are often quite neat, like the section on the 30 different types of cattle available in the Bull Pens. Each breed is described in brief, and some of them include minor special rules -- like the semi-feral Hariana cattle, which are used as draft animals and have Str +2. The Bull Pens section also includes a write-up of the "base" bull/cow, which is modified by the various special traits offered by certain breeds.
Another section where this sort of detail really shines is Weaver Hall, the textile market. Alongside the mundane items, Weaver Hall also offers exotic cloth -- things like starlight cloth, which glows with brightness equal to a candle, and kalokela, an expensive cloth that can change color in accordance with the wearer's wishes. It's this type of thing which really stands out to me as the type of little touch that would really enhance a DM's description of an NPC, and it's one of the things I think Book A does best.
Since the focus of the book is primarily on the lists, and secondarily on describing the more interesting and unusual elements that come up on those lists, there are no NPC stats, encounter hooks or other additions -- as are often found in other "location-by-location" type sourcebooks. The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A isn't hurt by this omission, and it seems like those details would probably distract from the book's stated aim: "to provide hard-working GMs and their more mercantile players with an exhaustive listing of hundreds of goods and services that might be available in a town, city."
In this sense, it's somewhat similar to Gary Gygax's World Builder (from Troll Lord Games). Like The Kaiser's Bazaar, World Builder is a book of lists -- covering all sorts of topics, from weapons and equipment to types of birds and herbs. The main differences between the two are scope and presentation.
The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A presents its lists with a modular, "generic" (but often quite evocative) context already in place. This is nice, because it gives the DM the option of simply dropping a particular market into her game and describing what's available to the PCs. In scope, Book A is narrower than World Builder -- but it's also not intended as a complete work, and this focus is very much intentional.
Like World Builder, however, Book A provides a useful tool for detail-oriented DMs -- both in preparing for a game, and in describing market districts in-game. On the preparation side, there are all sorts of little details that can be worked into flavor text, background elements and other aspects of an adventure (particularly one in an urban setting). In-game, I can see Book A being useful when the PCs unexpectedly decide to look for a particular item -- as well as to provide a bit of extra flavor and description (ice wine instead of simply "wine," or giving an NPC ranger a flickerhound as an animal companion, instead of just a dog) during a session.
There are two things that I think this book could have done better, though both are fairly minor quibbles.
Foremost is the maps, which show building outlines on a square grid, with each building keyed to a legend telling you which shop it is. I don't dislike this approach, as it gets the job done -- but in a book that gets a surprising amount of flavor out of its lists, it seems like the maps could play a role in this as well. For example, I would have liked to see the buildings illustrated from a birds-eye-view, with stalls, awnings and goods -- giving a sense of the feel of each market in a way that the purely informational maps don't.
The second place that I think there's room for improvement is in the book's name: "The Kaiser's Bazaar" works just fine, but "Book A" doesn't do anything for me. It's a bit awkward, and it doesn't help me remember that Book A covers food, livestock and other essentials, while Book B includes items of wizardry, tattoos and other esoterica. Based on the list of upcoming PDFs in this series, it looks like Mad Kaiser Games is going away from this direction: the other titles all have more evocative names, like Nightmarket (for thieves and dark clerics) and Arena Cross, the warrior's market.
Neither of these complaints is major enough to keep me from giving The Kaiser's Bazaar - Book A 5 out of 5 stars. Overall, this book succeeds very well at its purpose, and it provides a wealth of useful market areas, peculiar and mundane items, and other small details to enhance your campaign. If you enjoy adding this kind of depth to your game, or if your campaign has a significant urban element, this book is quite a good buy at $5.00.
