There will be a source book beyond the rule book.
I ´m pretty sure it will contain a lot of halfing history and culture.
=DPerhaps the story of the halfling (I will call them halfings as someone on the forum has suggested ) will be one of the legends that the players will learn as they travel the Forbidden Lands?The only thing is: the halflings stand out as not connected to the world in the same way as the other races (very much like the Hobbits in Tolkien). Where do they come from? Where were they during those ancient wars? It might be that these questions are not asked because no one cares, which is fine. But in this case, why is that?
For a game advertised as a retro-fantasy, I am happy to see the races still remain close to the Tolkein version which of course were knocked-off from Nordic mythos (orcs, and trolls come are very Nordic). Plus, with your heroes having a 1-in-66 chance of dying in every combat round, you may be rolling up new characters more often than you have time to create immersive role play.I just read through the short descriptions of the kins, but I have to say that not one of those excites me into playing them. Maybe I was hoping for something less generic fantasy or maybe the descriptions are just too short and too broad to get a real sense of what the difference is to the usual d&d, tolkien standard thing. Mostly the descriptions are so weird and mysterious that I have no idea what some of those things mean.
I know, it says there are more descriptions in the gamemasters guide, but as a player I am now pretty confused. Also, there is only 1 page about the setting. Not nearly enough to get me into the mood or to build a characters background story around it. Why is this in the gamemasters guide? I have the feeling that I can only do a bland, shallow character with the information I have. Any chance the description can be expanded?
I interpret that your concern more as lack of player information than concern with the races as such? The very foundation of this setting was to build it on the 1980-90 pictures containing elves, dwarves, halflings, ogres etc. I was however allowed to twist these kins and creatures any way I liked and feel fairly confident about the result. So again, the problem you percieve might be that it doesn't come through clearly to the players from start. This in part also is intentional. The inhabitants of Ravenland don't know much about their own world. They should of course be aquainted with their immediate surroundings and the GM should tell them the local version of things. Perhaps this can be made more clear.I just read through the short descriptions of the kins, but I have to say that not one of those excites me into playing them. Maybe I was hoping for something less generic fantasy or maybe the descriptions are just too short and too broad to get a real sense of what the difference is to the usual d&d, tolkien standard thing. Mostly the descriptions are so weird and mysterious that I have no idea what some of those things mean.
I know, it says there are more descriptions in the gamemasters guide, but as a player I am now pretty confused. Also, there is only 1 page about the setting. Not nearly enough to get me into the mood or to build a characters background story around it. Why is this in the gamemasters guide? I have the feeling that I can only do a bland, shallow character with the information I have. Any chance the description can be expanded?