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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
 
$16.00
Average Rating:4.7 / 5
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Larry W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/01/2022 19:13:22

Quite frankly this book is amazing. I have recently read half-a-dozen or so books on everyday life in Europe during the middle ages and I don't think that I have learned anything that isn't already written in this book. Even if you're just a history buff that doesn't play RPGs you could get a ton of value out of this book. The amount of research that has gone into this work is phenomenal. If you want to run a campaign with a strong foundation in historical accuracy there is nothing written that comes even remotely close to being as helpful as this. There are newer editions available but I purchased the first edition several years ago and conitunue to use it so I am placing my review here for that reason.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by A customer [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/28/2016 12:08:12

Classic, has some useful information but is otherwise overrated.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Benoit B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/03/2006 00:00:00

Nothing more should be said on this excellent product. It is a must-have for any serious DM running "verisimilitude" medieval campaigns.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: There is as much deeply descriptive text as there are tables and practical rules to implement the background information. City layout, economic simulation, estate production yields and financial benefits, can be neatly and easily computed using the methods provided in the book.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The influence point system to define the influence centers in a city is not so well explained and does not seem completely self-consistent. However you can easily work yourself around this flaw.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Jacob S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/24/2006 00:00:00

A Magical Medieval Society has been thoroughly reviewed, so I'll just add some comments that I think are not covered as much. The writing is quite good (easy to read and understand) and the editing is pretty good (some misspelled words and rough subsection placement), and the ideas it contains are well-reasoned. This puts a lot of knowledge about how medieval society functioned at your fingertips without you having to do nearly as much research. It's geared specifically towards integrating medieval societies more completely (and realistically) into the game, which I think provides a much better roleplaying experience. It also has instructions for generating aspects of medieval society that are often too complex for a DM to handle. What more could you ask for?

For one thing, better inclusion of magic. The discussion about how magic affects society are good, but as one of the focal points of the book they could be much better. Most information about how magic affects society is presented as ideas without enough incorporation into the instructions on how to generate manors, towns, etc. Also, the information is based strictly on the presentation of magic in the core rulebooks, which are geared towards adventurers, not society at large. It should be obvious that arcane spellcasters who are not adventurers would have a very different spell selection, geared toward accomplishing the hardest and most common tasks. These spells could easily be specialized in a way that makes them more powerful than the utility spells listed in the core rulebooks, although they'd mostly be useless to adventurers. For example, it is mentioned that the spell Mage Hand can help someone sow seeds twice as fast. However, one would expect that a spell caster would eventually develop a spell specialized for sowing (or harvesting) crops which could accomplish much more than Mage Hand, so the effect on society is larger than what comes from spells in the core rulebooks. In fact, it's possible and even likely that a spellcaster who does not go on adventures has a spell repertoire that is almost completely different from a PC wizard, other than ubiquitous spells such as Read Magic.

The problem the authors faced with assuming lots of spells that aren't in the core rulebooks is anticipating their effect on society. Actually, that's not too hard. Spells are most likely developed to accomplish the most labor intensive and unpleasant tasks. Which ones are those? Other than a few mentioned anecdotally (e.g. cleaning and harvesting), this information is not in the book. I don't think it would have been too difficult to research, especially given the depth of research which the rest of the book displays. One hint is the list of professions and their incidence rate. The fact that porter is one of the most common professions indicates that carrying things requires lots of labor -- there's probably spell casters in large cities that have spells specialized to help carry things. How does that affect society?

That said, the quality of this book is generally excellent and sufficient to allow any DM to simulate a realistically-feeling medieval society.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Great material, reasoning, and presentation.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Could have had better integration of magic into society.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Craig M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/08/2005 00:00:00

Absolutely one of the best products (pdf or otherwise) that I have purchased in the last few years. If you are looking for an informative, consistent medieval take on a fantasy world, then this is the product for you.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Everything<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Cire H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/03/2005 00:00:00

This is excellent. It helps a GM understand how a magical medieval society might work. Unlike a medieval society, a magical medieval society has... well, magic. And that can really change things. The book is a wealth of inspiration.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Well formatted, excellent resource. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Dave M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

This is an outstanding supplement that no GM should be without.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by James S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/07/2005 00:00:00

If you haven't bought this yet, get off your kiester and do so! This is one of the best products ever written!

I mean that.

Buy it.

Now.

This is a wonderful look at the whole "realism" thing and will most likely change the way you look at things in your campaign for a long time to come. It is chock full of forms and worksheets that are easily printed out or cut and pasted so that you can use it to model your own campaign.

Now get to it!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Aaron S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/17/2005 00:00:00

This was an excellent purchace, and I'm very glad I made it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Russel H.
Date Added: 06/02/2005 00:00:00

I have never found a book so useful. I would list this book as a #1 must have for any DM who runs games anywhere outside of a dungeon.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Cover to Cover useful information<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The building design system isn't exceptionally original, but that fact doesn't take anything away from how useful this book is.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Game M. B. G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/16/2005 00:00:00

If you want to bring your fantasy gaming world to life, THIS IS THE BOOK. Every GM of ANY fantasy system has to have this. It's the detail that you crave, without having to spend 2 years researching(and still never finding all the goodies in MMS:WE). EXCELLENT PRODUCT - Don't hesitate, buy it. This is the best resource of its kind!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: EVERYTHING.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by John P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/04/2005 00:00:00

This is probably one of the best purchases I've made in quite a long time.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Just about everything.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: One minor detail in Chapter 5 - this works for BUYING - what about SELLING? Also, what about bulk purchases (i.e. simulating caravans, merchants, traders, etc.)?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by John B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/29/2005 00:00:00

This is a must have text for any game master running a medieval flavor long term game.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Scott S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/09/2005 00:00:00

This is just a terrific piece of work! The information on how and why Medieval holdings work and who makes them work is invaluable, whether PC's acquire a keep and lands of their own or are interacting with someone else's.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I really loved the detailing of the various professions and pursuits it takes to keep a holding going. You could create years of campaigns around the information in this document.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nada.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
by Chris J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/27/2005 00:00:00

This product is a "must have" for any serious fantasy roleplaying gamer.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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