Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Ptolus, Anyone?

Okay I've often wondered about +Monte Cook's Ptolus book but at $60.00 it's really hard to even consider pulling the trigger. Can anyone tell me anything about this thing? Is it worth buy at the $60 pdf price point? Or even the $110 combo price point?

Is really that good?

7 comments:

  1. I don't know if any gaming product is worth $60, but this book has a lot of content. You know the player's guide? It's for free.
    http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/11959/Ptolus-A-Players-Guide-to-Ptolus?it=1

    I was quite a fanboy of Monte back in the day, but I never could afford the physical book (with shipping to Europe...), so all I know is the PDF.
    The adventures in it compliment the setting quite nicely, and you get a lot of the vibe of this town, that's the only town build upon a (or several, actually) dungeon and it even has it's own "delver's guild". I stole quite a lot of it for my own city campaign. I would recommend reading the session recaps from Monte's group, but I can't find them anymore... :(

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    Replies
    1. I'll check out the player's guide! Thanks for letting me know about it.

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  2. I bought it new back in the day. It's a big, heavy, wonderful book. There is so much content that it's overwhelming. That content is worth having, for sure. The city is a fantastic home base/adventure locale, such that characters would almost never have to leave it. It's far and away the best, most comprehensive city ever published for RPGs. It's got its own unique flavor, which reminds me of Lankhmar, Greyhawk, and the City-State of the Invincible Overlord, but with an indefinable something all its own. It's essentially an all-in-one campaign setting, with everything from citizens and guilds to religious factions and secret societies to allies and enemies. Interesting adventure locales abound in it. I know I'm gushing, but it's amazing to me how it almost seems forgotten now; it's just about the quintessential fantasy RPG city. I don't know if you mean $60 for the pdfs or a print-on-demand physical book; I tend to balk at pdfs over $20 as it is, but if any pdf is worth it, it's Ptolus. The physical book is absolutely worth the $120 I paid for it, and I wish I had the opportunity to use it now. Bear in mind, as I mentioned, this is the original, deluxe version I have. I would say that if the $60 is for a print-on-demand version, yeah, it's worth it for the content, if any city book is worth $60.

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    Replies
    1. 60 is for the pdf. For the print-on-demand version you're looking at 110

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    2. Hoo boy. It's a tough call, then. That's a lot for a pdf, but that content is top-notch. If you're a fan of Monte's stuff, I'd say go for it, but if you're not that enamored of his work...

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  3. Pretty much agree with Jeff B about Ptolus as a setting. I bought the deluxe version back in the day and still marvel at it when I pull it out for a read. It is probably the single best campaign reference manual I've seen for any RPG, D&D or otherwise. I would never pay $60 for a PDF since I don't run games using a computer or tablet, so I won't say it's worth it in that format, but spending over $100 for the deluxe version was well well worth it to me.

    Thinking objectively, if I ran a game exclusively online or using a tablet/laptop, I would probably consider the $60 price point.

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  4. Charles! I knew someone had asked about Ptolus recently but forgot who. I meant to post that this was being featured on http://bundleofholding.com/ ... but it just ended a couple days ago!

    Sorry I missed telling you about it as it was only $20. I hope you saw it last week.

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