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100 Fantasy Biomes $1.00
Average Rating:3.0 / 5
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100 Fantasy Biomes
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100 Fantasy Biomes
Publisher: Fishwife Games
by Chris J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/29/2021 18:07:15

There's only so much you can say about a product like this. It's essentially just a list of 100 location names with a little bit of elaborating detail suitable for a fantasy or sword and sorcery setting. The names are a good mix of semi-random gobbledigook (Ghenuhi, Spukara) and compounds of English words (Gatesteed, Marshflint) and all are pronounceable although some are easier than others. The location details are all thematically appropriate to the location name, so you get mines in mountains instead of shipwrecks, which tells me these lists are curated rather than just completely randomly generated. The overall feel of the locations is very old-school sword and sorcery. There are several ways to use these tables, either in play or during adventure design. If you're starting with a completely blank slate, doing worldbuilding or adventure design with no existing setting in place, you can use them straight. Where has the evil Liche-King taken the kidnapped Prince? Why to the (roll) old abandoned Dwarven Vault in the Gatesteed Cliffs, of course. If you're trying to flesh out an existing map or setting, where not every result on the table will be appropriate, you can deconstruct the location result and use bits as you need them. If you're looking to name a river, it becomes the Gatesteed River, a hill becomes Gatesteed Hill (or Gatesteed Rise, or Gatesteed Tor etc etc). Conversely you can just use the detail bit to inspire adventures in existing locations. What's special about the Ironwood hills? Why it's (roll) an abode of an exiled vampire count. Finally you can use the table result as a jumping off point for a free association naming. For example if I'm looking to name a river and get "5 Bleeding Forest of Valknad (abode of an exiled vampire count)" and none of those elements feel suitable, I can pick out a couple of key words, swap them for synonyms, mangle them around and end up with something like Redcastle Brook.
Like any random table product, this is best used as inspiration for a GM's creativity rather than a hard and fast roll=result approach. The names and details in this product are nice and evocative and lend themself to this sort of inspirational trickery. The Alien Biomes series has become an invaluable part of my Sci-Fi/space opera GM toolkit and the Fantasy Biomes series has the potential to do the same for my D&D game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you so much for the kind and lengthy review! I totally agree with and support the changing of details (notably the geographic feature/biome) as needed. As you noted, the names are a combination of different styles. Some folks prefer truly exotic sounding names while others prefer the compound types (aka Tavernlight, Gatesteed, Miserhaven, etc.). I've also decided to do a combination of naming elements to where most are name first and geographic type second (aka Bluefire Mountains) while others have the geographic feature first and then of named area (aka Valley of Drenmyre). Some of these I've also included a descriptive to the name (aka "Most Dreaded Valley of Drenmyre"- no, this isn't a place... yet). I also made it a point to make various types of points of interest throughout the list... some are brief and/or an indicator of a local resource (aka sapphire deposits) while others may be a sub location or encounter (aka city of Drunhan, lost stronghold of a lich king, wandering centaurs, etc.). I must admit that I've been surprised over the response I've received towards this series so far since yesterday afternoon. This first product was off to a slow start but I'm steadily getting orders for it and the second of the series. While I doubt that there will be as many as the Alien Biomes (the sci-fi older sister to this) I can say that there will likely be more than I originally anticipated for Fantasy Biomes. (and there might eventually be a snot nosed little brother product line that focuses on Mutant Wasteland map locations) PS- I love the fact that you are making good use of the Alien Biomes series. Please let me know if there are other areas of sci-fi/space opera type gaming that I need to be exploring. I never, ever intended to make as many of those as I did but they just keep selling (and honestly, as a publisher, that tells me to keep making them)... hopefully the same will continue with this series.
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