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Role-Players are an interesting lot, I must admit. Some like it simple and easy, while others prefer to micro-manage everything in their role-playing world. You know what, though? That's the beauty of role-playing - you can customize what you do to your personal liking down to even the finest points. Or not.

This review is for those who like more in their role-playing sessions. By "more" I mean more realism, more details, you know - more! Along this line comes A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe from Expeditious Retreat Press, a d20 sourcebook.

When this beauty came across my desk, I liked what I saw after thumbing through a few pages. On the back it states:

No New Spells
No New Feats
No New Classes
100% Open

I love that. Right off the bat you are told that this book is like nothing else out there in the mass-market d20 world. "Why do more of the same?" it says to me. Gotta love that...

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe gives, in great detail, information on the actual world as it was in medieval times. I have always wanted a collection of information such as this, but never had the time nor energy to produce such a product or to research which product out there was good enough for my cash. Well, the search that really never began is over, and I have my  holy grail, as it were.

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe starts with a nice, realistic introduction on gender, communication, race, etc. Then it rolls into the "hard stuff" that is the meat. The book gives information on the social caste that made the medieval world what it was. You have those who toil, and what their lives were like, as well as those who governed them and the benefits of a high bloodline.

Continuing on through the book, we have information on generating manors. No, not manners, the things that many gamers do not possess. I'm talkin' about manors - a noble's house and lands! Information is given on starting up a manor, as well as income sources for the lord of the manor and such. There's even a worksheet included at the end of the chapter that will help you manage your manor!

Chapter 3 takes us to the city and it's importance to the populace. Again, some great information is detailed here. It's interesting that when you role-play and enter a large city, some Game Masters (GMs) or Dungeon Masters (DMs) only detail what's important, but leave out the flavor of the city. We've seen in movies where our heroes enter a large city, and while we only really experience the main parts of what the story entails, we still get the flavor of the city with the backgrounds presented. Many GMs/DMs and even adventure modules fail to offer background such as this, in my experience.

Knowing more about those backgrounds is the first step in creating them. A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe help GMs/DMs to learn what the backbone of a city society is, and how everyone is affected by everything.

More information is given on generating towns and cities, just like the Manor chapter detailed, and there are worksheets here as well!

We continue on with the book through economics, religion, and those who rule. This brings us to chapter 8: Generating Kingdoms and Aristocracy. More of the same wonderful details and information is present here, though players of pre-generated gaming worlds may not find value in this information if they prefer to stick with what's presented in their game books. If you use this information, though, more worksheets are available to make your experience a little easier.

In the appendix section, we are given a great amount of detail on demographics, generating magical resources, building systems (great information here, even for the novice Game Masters who don't want to load up too much of the information presented in the book right off the bat), and other miscellaneous information.

One thing that I was impressed with was the bibliography. This shows me how much research went into this undertaking, and makes me appreciate the efforts of the gang over at Expeditious Retreat Press even more. Also, it gives me the option of researching some of the finer details if I see fit, by checking out the books used to create the materials in A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe. Nice!

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe rings us information that blends reality with fantasy. While I like more reality in my role-playing sessions, I still feel that you need an equal amount of fantasy as well. The fine folks at Expeditious Retreat feel the same way, and have included the appropriate information here as well. (It's even in the title of the book!! A Magical Medieval Society)

Now, one issue that I had is that it's created mainly for the d20 system. The logo is right there on the cover, and the details presented in some areas are d20 specific. Why not create it as a general handbook that can be used for any system? Well, this book CAN and should be used for any system, but some work will be required. The information is still valuable if you play any fantasy-based RPG like Forge: Out of Chaos from Basement Games or Undiscovered from Eilfin Publishing. Maybe the nice folks at Expeditious Retreat Press will have some conversion information presented at their website in the future for those of us who don't d20. (Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more say no more...)

The book can be purchased as usual through gaming stores in print, or you can download the book. The print copy is 144 pages long, so if the download is as long as this, then you may want to invest in the book instead of the download. The $25 price tag is a little steep, but when thinking of how much research went into creating this gem I consider it worth it. Heck, it saved me MANY hours, no - days - wait, weeks; well, more like months of my life - that's worth $25 to me.

For those of you who don't read reviews but skip to the final synopsis, this is for you: Buy A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe if you want to get more detail on the medieval world and it's inner workings. (Forge: Out of Chaos players should get this one...) If you are a person who prefers simple, less-detailed role-playing sessions (like, Hack -n- Slash gaming sessions) then this book is definitely not for you. Oh, history majors may find the information is already known to them, so it may not be necessary if you already know everything...

Written by Gene Vogel
(Posted 09-21-2003)