Veins of the Earth is a monstrous monster tome and setting book by +Patrick Stuart and Scrap Princess. I recently got a copy and am still in the process of reading through it. It's a massive hardcover book (especially for something released by Lamentations of the Flame Princess) coming in at 357 pages before the thorough index and appendices. Like all LotFP books, it makes great use of space and includes useful material on both inside covers. It also has two sewn in bookmarks and the paper is a thick stock.
A majority of the book is a detailed survey of new monsters that inhabit the Veins (which btw sounds so much cooler than Underdark). I'm about half way through that section and each monster I've read has been quite entertaining and original. Patrick's prose blends perfectly with the art of Scrap Princess.
I'll talk about the book in more detail when I've finished it, but so far I'm thoroughly impressed by it.
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Sounds cool. That quality of book must mean it's not print-on-demand. Would you describe it as a campaign setting? Why is it so big/long?
ReplyDeleteIt's not POD. You can get it on the LotFP website or occasionally snag one online (I grabbed mine from Noble Knight Games). The book is expensive, but worth it in my opinion.
DeleteIt's not like any setting book I've seen before. The closest classic D&D setting to compare it too is the Underdark, but this is less Alice in Wonderland underground and more like The Descent with magic. A majority of the book is a monster manual. Patrick then presents some Veins cultures (which in a lot of ways are interesting takes on classic underdark cultures like derro and duergar). Those two sections take up nearly the first 200 pages of the book. The book then discusses the importance of light and dark in the Veins (including some interesting new initiative rules based on the brightness of light sources). Finally, Patrick includes magic and items and rules for generating cave systems (and things players must deal with in the Veins, such as hypothermia and hunger).
Instead of detailing areas of the Veins, you get most of the setting material from the monster and culture entries. There's a lot of material presented and that's a big reason for the size. Despite the page count, the book is also classic LotFP digest sized, so that could factor into the page count.
Thanks for the additional info, hoss. Didn't realize it was digest sized.
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