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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
 

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Average Rating:3.9 / 5
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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
Publisher: Bards and Sages
by Jason G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/11/2008 14:49:14

Neiyar is not your normal game setting. The typical male gamer will have to completely rethink his attitude, because it is a matriarchal world (at least, the human civilization, anyway). The gender role reversal isn’t along the lines of the evil-drow-sacrifice-unwanted-males-to-lloth variety, but it is readily apparent and permeates the world. Nor is it the femi-nazi sort of GYRLL POWER thing you would expect. The social structure isn’t portrayed as good or evil, it just is what it is.

There is a sort of cold war going on in the setting. The enemies of the Neiyar culture, the Krakodons, are almost the polar opposites of the human culture. The Krakodons are a draconic sort of race that is highly patriarchal. The Krakodons control most of the southern half of the island, and while there is trade between the two groups and the war is officially over, both sides wage a subversive war to keep the other in check. Also thrown in the mix are the Mahaultae, a race of cat people, who more often than not side with the Neiyar, but sympathize with the Krakodons. The Amphikin are a frog race of con artists and opportunists that play both sides against each other. Auronnes are a swan race that are mostly loyal to the Neiyar, but try to stay out of the political fray.

There is a lot going on with the setting. Of course, you have your prerequisite assortment of ruins and abandoned cities to explore. There are also a lot of special organizations, secret societies, and sects waging political wars with each other. Joining an organization has distinct advantages in game play. Many of the churches are on the verge of fragmenting due to internal squabbles over dogma, and players can get caught in the middle. Add to the whole mix the fact that prophesy claims that the Demon God Nephar will rise and launch another Demon War soon and you can need a scorecard to keep track of who is on whose side.

Some of the prestige classes resemble similar stuff that has been produced elsewhere. There are a few really cool spells and feats, but nothing earth shattering. There is a spattering of new magic items as well. The Hearth Magic system, however, totally rocks. It’s simple and makes perfect sense considering the flavor of the setting. The monsters section includes some sweet critters to throw at players. A swarm of fleshcutter ants (carnivorous ants that are the size of a dog) will definitely strike fear in the hearts of adventurers. The Sleeper Bat can serve as a familiar, and there are special rules that allow it to learn and cast spells independently of its master.

The real strength of the book is the flavor of the setting itself. The island isn’t just an exotic jungle. There is a distinct Ravenloft vibe (I actually used the setting as a domain in a Ravenloft game I was running). See, elves, dwarves, and such are not native to the island, but sometimes end up there due to shipwrecks or magical backlashes. And once you end up on the island, it’s almost impossible to leave. Teleportation magic doesn’t work. Scrying often fails. And there is a big, nasty, immortal sea monster called the Green Death ready to crush any boat foolish enough to try to leave.

I like the look of the revised format over the old edition. The new design makes it easy to read onscreen, and easier to find information quickly. There is some nice new art added, though I wish there was more of it. The maps are the same ones from the old edition, though. They are OK, but not stellar.

A disclaimer. I bought a copy of the old version of this book from a now defunct vendor two or three years ago. When I saw the publisher’s press release about the new version being available at RPGNOW and that RPGNOW customers could get the new version free, I contacted them because I wanted my freebie, too. After some back and forth, I found my old confirmation e-mail to confirm my original purchase, and the publisher sent me a coupon to download a free copy of the revised edition. After thanking her and giving her my thoughts on the new version, she asked if I’d think about leaving a review. So I thought about it, and I did. Since she went to the trouble to help me get a new copy, the least I could do was write a review.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
Publisher: Bards and Sages
by damon r. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/17/2007 10:36:35

Very interesting flavor to the setting. The format and art are a little bland, but I don't think I really care too much about art in a PDF. Not a politically-correct setting by any means. The races of the setting are very cool and work with the jungle world they live in. Hearth Magic is an idea that seems to me long overdue. Hearth Magic is a skill that lets you "buy" certain hearth rituals with skill points. The rituals are powerful, but its balanced out by the fact that you have to spend skill points to get them and actually find someone willing to train you. The section on flaws has some pretty amusing listings that will make for interesting roleplaying opportunities. And just when you thought there weren't any new original spells: EXPLODING COCONUTS! God, I can't wait to use that!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
I'd like to take a moment to address the layout/art issue. Neiyar was first written for 3.0 several years ago, and was our first full-length RPG product. Frankly, I'm not satisfied with the layout either. While we did update the system for 3.5 and tweek some of the issues with the original edition, it still isn't where I want it to be visually. We have sat on doing a complete new revision, however, until we know what is going on with 4th edition. There is little point in making cosmetic changes if we are going to have to completely revisit the product again in 6-8 months. For now, we are focusing on moving forward and developing support materials for the setting. When we do revise Neiyar, you'll be notified that the new download is available through the revision system here at the site.
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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
Publisher: Bards and Sages
by Russell M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/10/2007 10:42:49

I really like this setting. There is plenty of fluff here for those who really want to immerse themselves in the world, while also plenty of new crunchy bits that can be used in other games. If anything the setting has a very "organic" feel. Like if one took a regular jungle island, opened the gates to magic, and just let it develop on its own. The new races have a purpose other than just giving players a laundry list of cool powers (though my favorite, the Krakadons, is very cool). Some of the spells and feats may be a bit overpowered for a typical game, but the setting seems designed for a slightly more powerful type of play. The jungles are lethal, with not only demons, cultists, and mutated monsters running around, but oversized bugs, diseases, quicksand, dangerous plants, and tons of other things ready to kill you. Some of the artwork is just OK, but the meat of the book is solid. There are a few instances where the book appears to reference 3.0 instead of 3.5, but otherwise the rules are solid.

The interesting twist is, like Oathbound or Ravenloft, it's a setting you can throw on your party without telling them. It's a stand-alone world, but it's possible to plant the island in the middle of an ocean on any setting and just have the party stumble on it. One minute your party is setting sail on a mission from the king, the next a insanely powerful sea monster (The Green Death...the divine pet of one of the goddesses) smashes the ship and the party gets stranded on the island. Oh, teleporting off the island doesn't work. But that's not just a contrived bit of trivia, there is a reason for it that makes the setting that much more interesting. Now there are portals that go to different places...but these things aren't really known about, are difficult to get to, and are guarded by nasty demonic guardians.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
Publisher: Bards and Sages
by Chris C. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 10/03/2005 00:00:00

Neiyar is an interesting setting, with enough new races, classes, and gods to keep a player or GM occupied for some time. It does have some serious flaws that need to be addressed.

The primary location, the island of Neiyar, is a matriarchy where outsiders are a way of life. This alone makes it pretty unique as a game setting, as not many games actively make guys, the majority of the gaming crowd, the power minority. The book is crammed full of setting background, religions, races, classes, cities and maps, and everything necessary to run a campaign. Story hooks are included in the location settings for ease of use. It very much takes the appearance of someone?s homegrown setting, a place that was nurtured from infancy over a long period of time.

That appearance is both its blessing and its curse. The setting has a very plain and poor layout. The editing is good, but nothing stands out. At just under 200 pages, I began to look for any splash of color like a man in the desert thirsting for an oasis. The art is varied; the vast majority being (bad) clip art and low quality drawings. It was a surprise, then, that the pages would occasionally hold an illustration of some quality. The divergence was somewhat confusing and I wonder if they ran out of money for art.

There are extensive sections on cults and organizations and new monsters. The first appendices start on page 138 of 192, and cover a broad variety of subjects. It includes everything from a glossary of terms and sample myths to a starting adventure. The actual text of the book, after the index (which is nice, by the way), ends at page 185. The rest of the book is a character sheet and some ad space.

Overall, the layout and presentation of Neiyar was confusing and frustrating. With all of that in mind, though, there are some valuable and worthwhile things in the setting if you have the time and inclination to look.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The setting, in general. The level of detail and thoroughness of the locations, the people, and the organizations of the land.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The format and layout are bad, as is the art (for the most part). Some bookmarks would have been very helpful, especially for a book that nears 200 pages. It works better as a printed doc and, if you have the money to print out 192 pages, it is in a good format (no color) to do it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for your thoughtful review. I appreciate your concern about the lack of color, but Neiyar was originally designed as a strictly print work, and color would have doubled the price. And I couldn't justify doubling the price just to add color! One of the things we strive to do is keep printing costs down so that the books are affordable (I have a personal problem with $40 campaign books, myself). Color maps are available for free download on our website at www.bardsandsages.com/neiyar for those who want them. The art issue was more a lack of any one artist being able to dedicate enough time to all of the pieces needed than anything else, though many folks who have purchased the print version have told me they liked a lot of the art. And thank you for pointing out the index. It's always been one of those things that drove me nuts about RPG books, and there were many lost hours of sleep making sure it was as complete as possible ;)
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