Borderland Provinces (S&W) by Mathew J. Finch is a role playing game supplement published by Frog God Games for use with Swords & Wizardry. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This supplement covers part of The Lost Lands setting and is also available in versions for Pathfinder and D&D 5E.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 252-page PDF for $10.80 but is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one page is the front matter, one the Table of Contents, one an ad and one the Open Game License.
The Preface explains that the aim of the The Lost Lands series is to publish the game setting for the Necromancer Games and Frog God Games adventures, and how the modules cover different types of gaming.
The Introduction has a black and white map of the area and starts by explaining what the region covered is. Unlike the Sundered Kingdoms to the east, order is being maintained, albeit tenuously. The region is also home to Rappan Athuk. A sidebar covers special Non-Player Characters; these are the NPC classes from D&D 3.x/Pathfinder in a format for Swords & Wizardry. How the book is organised and encounter tables are mentioned. Next is a history for the region, from before the Hyperborean Age to the present, with a timeline.
Peoples of the Borderland Provinces details dwarves, elves, three types of human, halflings and river giants, followed by the major languages. Technology Levels gives an overview of these, from Stone Age to the Industrial Revolution. There is a note on gender and culture, and an overview of religion. Finally, Settlement Descriptions explains how the settlements have stat boxes and what these mean; these are standard D&D 3.x/Pathfinder settlement stat blocks in a format for Swords & Wizardry.
Chapter One: Aachen Province gives an overview and general information on the province, including lands, history, people, diplomacy, government and adventures. There is a map showing the area of the overview province, then the various locations, including roads, major settlements, geographic features and sometimes adventure locations, are gone into in more detail. Encounter tables are given for roads. This province is still part of the Kingdoms of Foere.
Chapter Two: Amrin Estuary follows the same format as Chapter One. This province is also part of the Kingdoms of Foere, though is heavily influenced by Bard’s Gate.
Chapter Three: Eastreach Province continues following the format. This is another province still loyal to the Kingdoms of Foere. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of this area is that it is home to Rappan Athuk.
Chapter Four: Exeter Province is again described the same way. This is another province of the Kingdoms of Foere, though it is cut off from direct access.
Chapter Five: Gaelon River Valley continues following the same format. This region lacks a central authority of any type and is notable for being the region hosting the Lost City of Barakus.
Chapter Six: Keston Province follows the same format as the previous ones. This is no longer part of the Kingdoms of Foere, instead having sworn fealty to Suilley. It is a sparsely-populated province that suffered recent depredations due to a monster invasion.
Chapter Seven: The March of Mountains is slightly different to the preceding chapters, in that this isn’t a province or country. This chapter instead describes a number of mountain ranges, which are themselves in a number of different regions.
Chapter Eight: Duchy of the Rampart goes back to the methods of description seen in earlier chapters. This is a palatine dukedom of the Kingdoms of Foere and used to be larger. The duke is also the Battle-Duke of Foere, the traditional marshal of all the Foere armies.
Chapter Nine: Kingdom of Suilley follows the same format and covers the primary local power of the area, a comparatively new kingdom that is also overstretched.
Chapter Ten: County of Toullen again follows the same format. This is another land that has sworn fealty to Suilley and is on good terms with Keston Province.
Chapter Eleven: Unclaimed Lands are a number of independent feudal territories that are controlled by no major power, and haven’t been since the fall of the Hyperborean Empire.
Chapter Twelve: County of Vourdon describes an independent vassal state to the Kingdoms of Foere, though one that may at some point switch allegiance to Suilley.
Chapter Thirteen: Yolbiac Vale briefly covers an unusual region within the mountains.
Chapter Fourteen: Points Beyond just has a few locations briefly mentioned that are covered more fully in Bard’s Gate and Cults of the Sundered Kingdoms.
Chapter Fifteen: Rogues in Remballo is an adventure for 4-6 1st level characters set in the region. This adventure is also available separately.
Appendices starts with Appendix A: Personal Names. This has common male and female names in the provinces, divided into two main linguistic areas, both on d100 tables.
Appendix B: Place Names in the Borderland Provinces has tables for randomly generating place names.
Appendix C: Encounter Quick-Reference has details on the encounters for the various encounter tables in the supplement, including how risk levels make a difference. Some of these are just random monsters; others are more specific and there are also tables to generate such as caravans.
Appendix D: Flying Encounters has some quick rules for airborne travel and some encounter tables.
Appendix E: Night Encounters is a simple table for night encounters in all regions.
Appendix E: New Monsters has a handful of new monsters but most are taken from Tome of Horrors Complete as well as Monstrosities.
Appendix G: New Magic Items has four new, singular, magic items connected to the province.
Appendix H: Heresies covers lesser and great heresies. Lesser heresies mostly just deprive a deity of power gained from worship. Great heresies often divert that power to other beings, typically demons.
Appendix I: Alignments and Moral Tendencies covers the use of the concepts of good and evil in old school play, which just has Law, Chaos and Neutrality. It does this through the idea of personal morality, as opposed to cosmic alignment.
Appendix J: Major Deities of the Borderland Provinces gives details on the gods found in the region; their roles, domains, description and what supplement they were originally found in.
Alphabetical Index of Places and Pronunciations is what it says; instructions on how to pronounce the various proper names.
Finally, the Map Appendix has 19 pages of maps. These are various maps of locations and cities that are found throughout the supplement, but full page in size and, in most cases, coming in labelled and unlabelled, player friendly, versions.
Borderland Provinces (S&W) in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents only covers the major sections. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and, unusually for FGG supplements, appeared to be nearly free of errors. There are a number of black and white illustrations, some of which may be custom. Presentation is decent.
This supplement is designed more for a sandbox campaign than anything else, though it can also be used to add interest to some of the other campaigns set in The Lost Lands, particularly Sword of Air, which traipses through a chunk of the region. Other adventure locations have a campaign setting around them now. There are quite a lot of adventure sites in the provinces, most of them small, but these do provide places to start, then there are suggestions for adventure ideas, as well as a number of important urban settings that can also be used. No single area is described in huge detail, but all of them are described at a decent level allowing them to be used.
One interesting thing is the incorporation of some D&D 3.x/Pathfinder ideas into the setting, through the use of NPC classes and settlement – including nations – stat blocks, something not seen in older games. The appendix on moral tendencies is also related to this, though it is more of a very short essay on the situation than game rules. Borderland Provinces (S&W) gives a good base for setting a campaign in The Lost Lands, though it is better designed for sandbox campaigns where the characters roam around than more linear campaigns. It can, as mentioned, be used to add more detail and interaction to campaigns that are less sandbox in nature but are in the same setting. Borderland Provinces (S&W) is a decent gazetteer and setting book for The Lost Lands and it can be found by clicking here.
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