Thursday, January 16, 2025

Review & Commentary On 101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit

 "The Polish ruling class has several mythologies of their origins. These myths have created a subculture of their own that serves to distinguish the internal culture, codes of honor, and perception of the duties of the Szlachta. This mythology would come to be called “Sarmatism.”"



"Sarmatism, in short, is the theory that the aristocracy of Poland was descended not just from the western Slavs but also from a fearsome Iranian race of warrior-horsemen known as the “Sarmatians.”

Sarmatians gained a reputation in ancient times as very powerful warriors and horsemen, their epicenter was located around the Black Sea, but they expanded in waves of tribal invasions to many areas of Eastern and Central Europe."


101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit  is a great supplement for any OSR rpg or old school fantasy rpg. However, this book is fantastic for the Baptism By Fire Rpg as a sourcebook. I confess that the Baptism By Fire rpg is new to me. 

101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons and more By Rpg Pundit details each of the major & some minor Polish royal houses. Each noble house has a set of detailed NPC's with adventure hooks built in. All of this is concentrated within a 100 pages with a fresh and solid layout, easy to read font, & it has everything you need to begin to add in these noble houses to your OSR campaign.Equally  there's a solid mythic &  legenday background with the Polish royal houses with the additional adventure element; "Sarmatism, in short, is the theory that the aristocracy of Poland was descended not just from the western Slavs but also from a fearsome Iranian race of warrior-horsemen known as the “Sarmatians." This adds a mythological and historic element to your OSR campaign. 

Take for example House Ciolek, "Ciolek This house is based in the area around Sandomierz, with some holdings of family branches in Greater Poland. Its symbol is a red bull. The members of this house have a reputation for violence and godlessness. The founder of this House was said to have been a German mercenary-knight named Henricus of Wizenburg, who married into a Polish family"

The NPC's are well drawn out & have actual personality about them. The NPC's seem like real & living peoplefor example; "8. Kasimierz Ciolek (Fighter Lv2): A second cousin of the current Magnate, Kasimierz is in his early 30s. He was a second son, and rather than live under the shadow of his brother on his lands, he chose to seek his fortune with the Crown. He quickly ingratiated himself into the Piast court, where his family’s reputation for warfare got him a position in the Piast army under Boleslaw. Still, he didn’t prove to be a particularly skilled warrior (he performed acceptably, but got no great honors). However, he was quickly known as a master carouser, a genius at debauchery, and generally a great guy to have at a party. His social skills quickly gained him the admiration of Mieszko II, who made him one of his own attendants, and also granted him a position of honor when Mieszko II ascended to the throne. However, as time went by and Mieszko sought to be seen as more serious, his old party-friend has become more and more of a liability for him. What no one knows is that Kasimierz has been contacted by agents of Conrad II (Holy Roman Emperor) with the offer to act as a spy."
These NPC's are exactly the folks that you want to have on a Silk Road campaign! And this is exactly what 
101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons has been written for. 

The Polish noble houses would be excellent as patrons for a Sword & Caravan campaign adventuring party. 
There's plenty of opportunities for adventurers to make thier marks on the Silk  Road as traders, merchant princes, etc. 
This means that this supplement is going to get a work out. These Medieval authentic adventures work on many levels. For OSR play and at the table top level these are excellent pieces to use for OSR or old school gaming. 

These books by RPG Pundit are ones that I immediately buy. And this includes 101 Sarmatians For Dungeons & Dragons  becase these books are actually usable and highly functional for old school and OSR play. Note that Rpg Pundit didn't send me this book to review but that I bought it on my own. 

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