First Impressions - Svilland Campaign Setting and Untold Sagas Lore Book

The heart of the Svilland setting for D&D 5e

I was tempted by Svilland when it first came out, but decided not to get it. When the publisher went to Kickstarter to raise funds for an adventure campaign book to go with a reprint of the core book, I decided to dive in.

This is a quick look at the Svilland Campaign Setting (the core book for using the setting with Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition) and the Untold Sagas Lore Book (an expansion from the kickstarter that collects together a selection of lore and ephemera to provide some deeper background). Both are lovely hardcovers with a bookmark ribbon. The core book is 225 pages long, and the lore book is 101 pages long. The layout is 5E adjacent; it's close enough to resemble the trade dress used by Wizards of the Coast to show it's designed for that line but still be its own thing.

I'm quite impressed. Overall, it intrigues me. There's a very workable Norse game here which could also be lifted and used in another setting. It's well illustrated and makes solid modifications to the 5E rules that are thematic and different. Sorcerers in this setting are especially interesting. The setting itself is interesting with plenty of spaces to explore and play in, and rivalries ready to open up. However, it didn't give me that 'run me now' feeling as I read it, more a gentle urge to explore it further. I think the choice on whether this gets to table will depend on the supplements that I have left to read.

Overall, a decent Norse game for 5E with great art, good quality proofing and clean layout. There are odd bits where the language jars (but is still workable) and the English used is better than some UK and US produced games I've played (as the design studio is Turkish, this is commendable).

Untold Sagas is the lore book for Svilland. This is a deep setting book which provides lore and history across the three ages of Svilland. It's good that they didn't put in to core book, as it would have bloated it with an extra hundred pages that it didn't need. A useful resource though for both DMs and players. 

Raised eyebrow at the recipe name.

Bizarrely, it has a collection of weird recipes throughout including the bizarrely named Whore Soup. All the recipes have bizarre names and I can't tell if it's humour or language differences. Most of them look like they could be made, but I don't think I'll be experimenting.

I think that this will be of most immediate use where it describes the origins of organisations in the third age (the default setting), but the history and legends serve as good sources of inspiration to draw upon for adventures.

Still not sure if I want to run this, but I do want to read more of the books.

I shall go Vikingr and raid the other books to see if they draw me in one way or another!

9 July 2022