It give very little as most 5th edition books do in information, it assumes most people into role playing games are dumb, and like most afraid to really get into mythology it makes it up, while just talking down to you as woke has turned all things to shit....the same goes for tabletop rpgs, and this one is no different, and during the 3.5 years Olympus by sword and sorcery did it better.

The design and the illustrations are all wonderfuls, that is fact. Sadly, the book promises much, but give less; basically, this is a highly simplified version of the ancient greek world's feeling. No new backgrounds. The Gods & Titans are dull mirages of the "real" greek gods&titans. (summa 13 page, inculding the settings chapter) The world map is a rough-and-ready sketch: there is only 6 cities, 3 terrain feature and some coarse line of two other landmass. The is only 4 example ships & 3 weapons, but zero instuction how can you use this in a ship-to-ship combat. I backed this project on Kickstarter, but honestly, im deeply disappointed. I can find much more content some free or much cheaper from homebrew author's book. I recommend this work for anybody, who have interest in the ancient, bronze age adventures, but dont like read history or fictional novels/watch movies from the ancient greek era and still want play "something like that".

UPDATE from 2021: dont spend a single dime for this stuff, btw the official MYTHIC ODYSSEYS OF THEROS setting book is only 29usd (in digital form) and that is hundred times better in every possible way. No hard feelings for the authors, but I have learnt the lesson. Peace & out!

Wonderful artwork worthy of the WOTC publications. Nice character classes and races. The only thing that stopped me giving it a 5 was that the gods and goddesses and cities have different names. Not sure why they didn't stick with the original pantheon and city states. It really put my players off.

My opinion of "Ethnic Fantasy D&D Settings" is, for the most part, very similar to Ed Greenwood's - I don't normally like them, because they tend to push for a Historical/Low Fantasy approach to D&D that doesn't really mesh with what I want out of D&D. Arkadia, however, was a very pleasant surprise, because it doesn't do that at all - in fact, it completely rejects the "TSR manual" for a setting of its ilk and instead works very hard to keep that Heroic Fantasy feel whilst still remaining true to the Greco-Romans myths and legends that inspired it. In fact, I can't overstate how impressed I am with the way it manages to blend D&D basic elements into Classical Mythology depictions, taking iconic D&D races but making them feel like they belong in this world clearly based on Greco-Roman myths. It's interesting to compare it to Odyssey of the Dragonlords, although I find both have their strengths and weaknesses. The one thing most bothers me about this book is the feeling that it's far too short, especially for its price tag; it feels like it could have had so much more to say about its world, but instead it almost artificially constrains itself, sharing with us the bare minimum of what it has to offer. It's still a good book, but it plays too conservatively with itself, and I just wish it had been longer.

As others have mentioned, the art is great, the content not so much. Unlike a lot of folks who have left reviews, I'm not on the 5e bandwagon, nore was I invested in the kickstarter. I got this purely for the setting information to potentially adapt with a DIY/OSR style, & I was definetly disappointed. Browsing thru the rules material, I also didn't come across anything I wanted to grab as a cool option for my players. There is nothing we all haven't seen time & time again before.

To be blunt, it's a fairly uninspired take of D&D in ancient Greece. It's not bad, but the thing is there are plenty of other products that work from the same motif, but either have a more interesting twist, are cheaper, or both. When it comes down to it, Arkadia is a classic by-the-numbers approach of taking the standard D&D races & classes, plopping them in the setting du-jour, and tossing some additional character options, magic items, feats & monsters on top. Instead of the incredibly rich selection of fantasy races present in Greek myth, we get anachronistic orcs & elves... with all of the actual Greek demi-human options being lumped under the Phaedran option as sub-races... which is canonically defined as a half-breed of human and whatever mythic race you ACTUALLY wanted to play as. Classes are the same deal, they just take the standard set (including the setting inappropriate ones like paladin, druid, & monk) and giving each one a new subclass option. They give you zilch for magic options... you're going to be using whatevers in the 5E-PH.

GM content they give you nothing... you get big blurb of text descriptions of the city states, classes of monster, and the gods/titans (side note on the titans: they lack the standard deity rules blurb). You get a world map. And that's it. No random generation tables, no guidance or advice on how to create content for the setting, no information on the culture & history of real world ancient Greece and how to use that to adapt other content into your campaign. Admittedly, I'm coming from reading thru OSR material so my standards are a bit high... but there's nothing here to empower the GM to save their time or efficently produce cool adventures; so it gets no points.

To emphasize: there's nothing really WRONG with Arkadia, it's just lackluster. But it's lackluster at a $20 to $40 price tag and it isn't worth that, or the 2020 Ennie nomination for Best Setting that inspired a WTF rection in me to write this review. Simply put, if you're looking for a core setting book for ancient Greece/Bronze Age inspired role-playing, you're simply better off looking elsewhere.

I loved this idea & was not dissapointed when I received the hardcover. The artwork is great! The races & gods are fleshed out perfectly! The world is just enough to get me started; while leaving plenty of room to do my own thing. I especially like the message that it is "based" on a time and/or place, but not beholding to it. That's a great reminder, & opens this up to more possibilities. It's worth the money.

REALLY well put together book. Love everything from the race options (Nyssian elves, and the phaedran are my favorite), to the class options (especially the gladiator monk, amazon ranger, philosopher wizard, and ZUES-LIKE PALADIN!!), to the feats/racial feats, and the magic items (love the funeral mask and lover's blades). Not to mention all of the lore/setting info. Definitely enough content and lore to run a very well rounded greek-themed campagin. Can't wait to show my players!!!

There was a lot of potential for a great product here. But the execution fell short of that greatness. The art is wonderful. The concepts are great. But this is a supplement that doesn’t save the DM work. As a matter of fact, the DM looking to start a Greek setting will find lots of work still left to do if they want to do it in Arkadia.

Read more: https://www.nonzerosumgames.com/arkadia-the-greek-setting-for-5e-by-arcana-games/

I backed Arcadia on Kickstarter and got the order fulfilled thru Drive Thru RPG.

I am really enjoying Arkadia! It is a very comprehensive greek dnd setting with lots of well balanced classes and items to flesh out your adventures. The art is very good and blends beautifully throughout the book.

This was a great purchase!

I backed this on Kickstarter.

It was on the smaller scale of a successful RPG on KS so the expectation of this being a "AAA" product in term of size, options and quality is of course tempered by this.

However, the final product is... lacking. Backers were promised a 150 page book and what was delivered was a sub-100 page book. The response being that this is due to a smaller typeface. However the layout and typeface is not smaller than other RPG books out there so...

It's very broad in what it covers but not very deep in its detail. There's 1 page on sea travel and sea encounter/battle mechanics. There's no campaign material. There's no decent map and what's provided is low resolution and low on detail - places to visit, points of interest, capital cities/states etc.

The creator's response to this is that the parts that are low on detail, examples above, are due to being a "token of appreciation" rather than full fledged expanded rules. What this means is that a player as a little bit of something to read but not enough to create.

Others might point to this as an example of "freedom" in that the GM and players are less bound by mechanics and fluff when playing in the world of Arkadia - but what this really means is that there is little to "guide" a player or a GM.

The quality of the print, at least the KS version, is also average at best. Colours appear washed out, i.e. not vibrant. This might be due to the POD process or a choice of aesthetics but either way, it's a little... bland. There are a few great pictures but they're a bright spot in a sea of brown, tan and washed out other colours.

Personally - I've been looking forward to a new Greek themed RPG and was hoping this would be it. Unfortunately I am still searching for a suitable alternative.

I backed the book on Kickstarter and received fulfillment through DriveThruRPG. The book did not deliver what was promised in the Kickstarter. It was promised to be over 150 pages, and came in at 100. The description and stretch goals suggest there should have been a lot more content that just wasn't there. The most recent Kickstarter update says they are going to be adding a lot of the content that should have been there into the intro adventure for characters levels 1-5, but this seems like a cop out since it should have been in the original book. I would not recommend this product. You would be better off creating your own Greek setting, and looking at free materials online, or OSR bestiaries for monsters and ideas for rules on weapons.

this book is incredibly poor, it is like a repumping of the V5. We trade iron with bronze but it is the only true innovation. There are tons of documents about antiquity and we end up with a totally hollow supplement that does not capture the spirit of the time as it can be found in the iliad. A contario if your vision of antiquity is that of Hollywood productions then this product is for you. There is also very little informations to develop a campaign at least in a style different from the classical Medfan. There is also a lack of information on the involvement of the Gods and especially the demi-gods who are an essential component of this era.

Arcana Games delivers a whallop of a punch of new content in just 101 pages. That is right - you get a setting, new races, new classes, new feats, new gear, and new spells all in 101 pages - something that the big kids sometimes need four or five books to fit everything into. The new race variations - Volcano Dwarf being my top pick - and new classes - Barbarian Path of the Hero - are stellar, and do so much to add to even a regular Faerunian set 5e game.

Arkadia could easily be a different plane where players go when they die, or perhaps a lost continent on the other side of Toril. All I am saying is that this book is absolutely worth every penny, and to close, my friend Wiatt was most psyched about their Triton feat which, in his words: "You can actually fight with a trident now and not have it suck."

Comics, Clerics, & Controllers d20 Roll: Nat 20

I joined the Kickstarter as we were making preparations for a Mediterranean adventure. I got the setting and I loved it! I came back for more and was not dissapointed. The music tracks are awesome, I'm loving the flavour they've done with still leaving some parts open for my own inventions. I'm going to delve into the Classes next but I presume it'll be okay. The only thing I've had some trouble with are the feats that I found way to powerful in more than once instance. But that has been worked around with some homebrew adjustments and in two weeks... We'll delve into this theme!

The framework is very solid but I'm left underwhelmed by the amound of material that is absent and necessary for this to be considered a fully fleshed out and stand alone campaign world. If you buy this, prepare to heavily supliment with your own maps, NPCs, plotlines, and story arcs. This resource offers very little in the way of actually preparing you as a DM to deliver the content. Perhaps an adventure in this universe is being planned for future release? It's needed.

It's a wonderful start for anyone who is a Greek Mythology enthusiast AND who wants to get their hands dirty in detailing encounters, adventures, etc. The class and race archetypes are very well written.