Sunday, September 11, 2022

Lost Omens: Travel Guide

I did not like this book, making me pause my Pathfinder 2e rulebook collection. I don't want to pay for books where 95% of the book is fluff, and 5% is actually helpful in character building. The book is shelf-filler at best and not terribly helpful at helping you feel like you are in the world.

And it is a waste of ink, paper, and my money, and it feels like filler content. About a dozen pages of rules out of a 120-page book.

I also paused Starfinder, but I am keeping my maps and accessory subscriptions going. I do not have enough time for either of those games, and at this point, I do not think I will be playing them anytime soon. I get 90% of my fantasy gaming fun from Castles & Crusades with a set of rules that is way easier to play and do the record-keeping for, plus the theme and tone are what I want it to be instead of this almost "pop culture" feeling of fantasy I get from the current books.

And everything in the Travel Guide is way too modern and cosmopolitan for a fantasy world.

Parts of the culture described here feels like the Victorian and Industrial Revolution or even early 19th-century technology. And it makes the world's ruins and lost civilizations feel like abandoned tourist destinations. The world is at peace, I guess. It is like a "happy idealized Earth."

Who is this book for?

It is too optimistic and peaceful, and the whole book feels like this "life experience bucket list" adventure trend is replacing traditional swords & sorcery. The book is short, too, with a lot of (while some is good) repetitive art. Some of it feels cut-and-paste like thrown-in stock art assets and put on a page just to fill space.

I still like the Pathfinder 2e tactical game, but I do not have the money to spend on fluff which feels primarily useless to me. Even if I started playing anytime soon, I would have very little use for this book.

Really disappointing and a release that made me step away for a while.

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