World of Kos is a role playing game supplement published by Skirmisher Publishing. This is a generic supplement and the sixth book for the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting.
This is a 77 page PDF that is available from RPGNow for $6.99 but which was purchased at the greatly reduced price of $0.01 as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, two pages are the front matter, one page is the Table of Contents and one page is an ad for other supplements.
The Introduction, which is the first five pages of content, explains the setting and its origins as a playtest setting and shared world. Except for the opening paragraph, which is specific to this supplement, this introduction is identical to that from Kos City and others in this series.
Next is a two page map of the Island of Kos, with places of interest marked. This is identical from the map from Kos Island. This is followed by a two page colour map of the Aegean Region, with some areas of interest marked as well as various states. The next map is another two page map, this time of the entire Mediterranean Region, again with points of interest and states marked.
The two page Foreword is essentially a piece of fiction that gives some details of the Kos setting and the Great Cataclysm, written here as being the Titanomachy between the Gods and Titans.
The Great Cataclysm explains how, a century prior to the setting’s time, the island of Kalliste, the political and cultural centre of the Minoan League (now called Thera), erupted in a massive volcanic eruption. The League used the volcano’s energy as a power source but, when they lost control, the eruption was what followed. The eruption devastated the region and in the present day no-one knows how it occurred, with the Titanomachy being the most widely believed explanation.
Environment briefly states that the Great Cataclysm caused many persistent changes.
Weather covers the immediate climatic changes after the cataclysm and the current ones that are still ongoing. These changes make harvests still rather uncertain and worship of the Greek agricultural goddess, Demeter, and her daughter, Persephone, have increased since the disaster.
Volcanism explains that the cataclysm increased volcanism around the world, and the effects this has had on local climates and the increase in related activity and phenomena.
Plants covers how, prior to the cataclysm, the Minoan League’s fleet, both water and air, brought plants from all over the world. With the complete destruction of many areas, in some cases non-native plant species have moved in afterwards.
The Minoan League briefly covers this pre-cataclysm power. A merchant power, but one with a great technological advantage, it dominated the region and effectively protected the Greeks and their area of influence from Roman and Persian imperialism. The Minoans kept much of the knowledge and manufactories related to their advanced technology on the island later known as Thera, so much of this knowledge and technology was destroyed.
Deities & Religion is the predominately Greek religion of the region. It starts with the major Olympian Gods, followed by the Demigods. The Titans are the primary foes of the Olympians and are worshipped by Giants, Orcs and Goblinoids, as well as some Humans. Major Titans covers some of these, but not in the same depth as the Olympian gods. Gods of Giantkind are those deities worshipped by the Giant races, although some are worshipped by other species too. These Titans see a deviation from the Greek theme to the covered religions, with deities such as Dagon and Surtr classed as Titans. Worship briefly covers how the gods are worshipped and Holidays describes three major ones. Finally, Holy Sites lists a number of places, both former and current, important to the gods, and which gods they are important to.
Secret Societies & Conspiracy Theories lists a number of not-so-secret societies – there may be others that are completely unknown, but unknown societies are not exactly useful for in-game play – and a conspiracy theory, with a statement regarding conspiracy theories that Ockham’s Razor is not accepted in the real world and in a fantasy setting with multiple races and magic, even more theories can be created.
Races has details on seventeen intelligent races and some sub races. Most of these are familiar, such as humans and standard demihuman and humanoid races, but there are some more unusual ones, such as Antaeans, Arachnaea, Bull Centaurs, Cynophalians and Myrmidons.
Monsters has various monsters suitable for the setting. These are largely mythical in nature and the vast majority are therefore familiar for most fantasy settings. These are descriptions of the types of monsters, rather than actual game stats.
Languages has the various languages spoken in the Kos setting, primarily in the Mediterranean region. This include details of what races use them and what alphabets they are written in.
Clothing has details on Greek, Roman and Persian clothing from the period.
Entertainment has the various types of entertainment used by the people of the setting.
Wealth & Money describes the coinage, which is pretty standard for a D&D-style game.
Military Organisations details uniforms, mounted infantry and weapons and armour used.
Adventurer Culture is supposedly the culture of adventurers and how they behave and talk. This is actually more how player characters, and their players, behave.
Finally, World of Kos Timeline is a timeline of various important events both before and after the cataclysm, some of which are mythical in nature in the real world.
World of Kos in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked, with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is not as thorough, but is also hyperlinked. Navigation is good.
The supplement maintains a two column format and appeared almost free of errors. There are a variety of illustrations, both colour and black and white. Some would appear to be colour; others, to be public domain images related to the period. Presentation is decent.
There are a number of references to Lands Beyond Kos, which is perhaps the sort of supplement this one might appear to be from the title. World of Kos doesn’t really describe the lands in the setting. There are maps of the setting, but the countries and regions on them aren’t covered in this supplement. Instead, this concentrates more on what would perhaps be called the “softer” details of the setting; culture, races, creatures, languages. As long as that distinction is realised, this is a decent book.
Although Swords of Kos is a generic setting, it was originally devised for various Dungeons & Dragons and derived games, and the influence of these can be seen in such as races and, perhaps, monster choices, although D&D monsters started off being heavily influenced by the mythical ones of the region. This book continues describing and adding depth to the Swords of Kos Fantasy Setting, but it perhaps doesn’t work as well by itself as some of the other supplements. Instead, it fleshes out the setting more. World of Kos can be found by clicking here.
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