Gwelf: The Survival Guide (2021) is a gorgeous art book by Larry MacDougall who once upon a time did art for Palladium and Magic: The Gathering. I say it's an art book, because that's what Amazon likely calls it, but in the rpg world it could credibly be called a systemless setting book.
Gwelf is a Medieval(ish) land of anthropomorphic animals. Its author says it's like a cross between Wind in the Willows and Lord of the Rings and that's not just high concept, but pretty much literally the case. Gwelf is the last bit of civilization of the border. It's a place where Otters, Foxes, Badgers, and the sage Sparrows come together peacefully, but beyond the frontier are the Hinterlands where the Ravenfolk hold sway. They're practitioners of dark magic.
This book details the peoples and cultures of Gwelf. There's another book on the way in June, which promises to reveal more about the Hinterlands.
I've been a fan of MacDougall's since his RPG artwork heyday in the early 90s. This looks pretty cool. Just curious, are there any other "badguys" in it other than the Ravens?
ReplyDeleteLovely work there. Not as much of this kind of thing on the market as I'd like these days. Reminds of the good old days when the Terran Trade Authority series, the Barlowe's Guides and Flight of Dragons were still in stores.
ReplyDelete@blizrack - The Ravens have minions like the Rats and the Ragteeth, and they zombified other folk with a disease called the Mange. They also build constructs, I believe.
ReplyDelete@Dick - Yeah, it's definitely a thing we had more of in the past.
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