Through Sunken Lands: Sword and Sorcery Beyond the Wall (OSR DnD Review)

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[@QuestingBeast]

Check out A Folklore Bestiary, from the creators of Knock! Magazine: bit.ly/FolkloreBestiary Get Through Sunken Lands in PDF or Print: bit.ly/SunkenLandsDTRPG Get the Bronze Edition (Europe): bit.ly/SunkenLandsBronzeEU Get the Bronze Edition (USA): bit.ly/SunkenLandsBronzeUSA

[@alejotm000]

Publisher here, thanks for the video! Just a quick note: the Bronze Appendix contains unreleased material that cannot be found in the standard PoD/PDF version.

[@kreegan]

Is there a plan to release that at some point? I already paid for the PoD version and don't want to repurchase the game to get that content.

[@alejotm000]

@@kreegan I'm just the publisher of this deluxe limited edition so I can't say with certainty. I think that was the plan, but it's been a while so Flatland Games might have changed their mind. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

[@ebertwix5860]

Tiered content releases for the same product is a bit elitist, sad to see it become more frequent

[@alejotm000]

@@ebertwix5860 it's not a matter or limiting things for the sake of it; this is purely a personal labor of love for me; I love their game, I was sad to see it only available as a PoD, so I contacted the authors and they agreed to allow me to release a limited amount of copies. As I mentioned, the extra content in this edition is supposed to become available on DTRPG sooner or later.

[@alamos52]

@@alejotm000 it's beautiful. Any plan on doing a second print run?

[@Zotob1975]

BtW is my all time favourite RPG and it's a shame it doesn't have the fame it deserves.

[@thecthuloser876]

If it's anything like Beyond the Wall, I imagine the reason why they don't have rules on dungeon crawling is because it's not actually a thing in the games. Not that you couldn't, but there's a lot more focus on role-playing and narrative baked into the ruleset than there normally is OSR games

[@johnlong3570]

This is probably my favorite B/X derivative. A lot of OSR games build themselves as sword and sorcery, but through sunken lands hits the tone better than anyone I think

[@18ps3anos]

Does it beat crypts & things or hyperborea tho

[@solaris_cc4353]

What are other popular B/X derivatives? Aside from the retroclones like OSE I can only think of LotFP and Worlds Without Number.

[@18ps3anos]

@@solaris_cc4353 labyrinth lord and basic fantasy. White hack is not a BX retroclone but it's really good. Nor is Worlds Without Numbers as far as I am aware. It's a DnD like game but not exactly a BX retroclone.

[@solaris_cc4353]

@@18ps3anos thanks :) I actually have Basic Fantasy, I should give it a read!

[@LimDul]

Ordered the Bronze Edition after seeing and liking what was presented here. I really appreciate that this ruleset comes with an integrated setting and has a different flavor compared to many recently published OSR titles. I'm absolutely spoiled for choice when I want to run a classic dungeon crawl; so many excellent systems to be found and hacked - not so much when it comes to OD&D-compatible Sword & Sorcery rulesets. I think this could be a great OSR-gateway title for players more used to heroic fantasy stuff a la 5e.

[@eltamar4220]

Isn,t it out of stock?

[@LimDul]

@@eltamar4220 By now yes. Was out of stock the day after the video was posted.

[@eltamar4220]

@@LimDul If you find any place selling tell me. i,m searching for one too

[@LimDul]

@@eltamar4220 Unfortunately there's little chance for that. Your only option will most likely be finding a used copy. This was a limited run of 200 copies and they are numbered by hand too. Mine is 147/200. Unless there's a reprint (which is also unlikely due to the whole "limited edition" concept) your best option is ordering the normal edition. Maybe at least the Bronze Edition PDFs will be made available somewhere so you can see the extra content.

[@twi3031]

as a huge fan of Earthsea and Conan, this really speaks to me on a personal level.

[@lfosr]

Through Sunken Lands taps into a certain special setting style that truly begs to be explored - so happy to see it highlighted here! As a small note, this special Bronze edition contains previously unreleased content, and this special edition won't be produced again. Get it while you can, travelers!

[@amatostano3936]

Happy to see the sponsor, just backed it this morning !

[@ivanrichmond3524]

I love the magic system. I’ve never been satisfied with the Vamcian magic system of D&D. Sounds like a very sword and sorcery tweak

[@labbmuzykowsky4346]

Oh nice, so this is like a cross between OSE and Barbarians of Lemuria? I'm sold.

[@vesperschake6241]

Seems pretty cool. Great presentation as always

[@RichardRohlin]

This looks really cool! I'm a big fan of Beyond the Wall/Farther Afield, but I didn't know they had released another game.

[@K_E_Robin]

I'm always happy to see more Sword & Sorcery rpgs and I hope to see even more in the future! :)

[@goodlookingcorpse]

I actually majored in Jundarr Studies.

[@hahahalevy]

Regarding your comment about city gazetteers not providing enough gameable material: I whole-heartedly recommend Gabor Lux's "Beyond Fomalhaut" fanzine. Specifically, the Island of Erillion (spanning several issues) has many cities complete with hooks and descriptions of the major locales, many hooks and quests, memorable NPC and giant dungeons underneath (sometimes nearing 100 rooms). Gabor was the guy who coined the term "Jaquaying", so his dungeons are truly a thing of beauty. The island also comes with populated hex maps full of adventure seeds and memorable encounters. My favorites are issues 6 and 7, detailing the MAR Barker-esque "City of Vultures", full of assassins, doppelgangers, crazy cults, illusions, gem-toothed skulls, petty gods, conspiracies, corrupt nobles and tiger-warriors. It comes with 2 mega-dungeons (so far) which are truly complex and evocative - from temples of rat-priests forever locked behind iron bars, through underground theaters and noble family tombs to vast lost technological marvels of fallen empires. It is accompanied by "The Nocturnal Table", a booklet of pulpy faux-Arabian encounters written specifically to round out the City of Vultures.

[@cybergoths]

Love this game - ran one of the City adventures at Furnace in the UK last year and we had hoot! Great fun.

[@goblinjunkyard]

really dug both beyond the wall and sunken lands, really wish they would come out with a box set for them.

[@ancientvaults]

I found that adding some elements from the classless Black Sword Hack by Kobayashi really give my Beyond the Wall/Through Sunken Lands game a little extra spice and seasoning. Thank you for the video, I had held out on the special edition and now I'll seek it out for my public game.

[@jesse8068]

Interesting. Which elements?

[@ancientvaults]

@@jesse8068 as the two games are aiming for the same target subject-wise I found that adding the backgrounds, gifts, pacts and demons from Black Sword Hack added depth to an already detailed game. The two games complement each other well.

[@jesse8068]

@@ancientvaults Great idea! I'll have to look into doing that, as well.

[@dansantospirito5310]

Sold out in US & Europe! Didn"t take long.

[@mausklick1635]

This is relevant to my interests.

[@alexdoerofthings]

I’m interested in developing my own setting in a zine style format. Are there any game texts you would recommend that I take a look at?

[@iantaran2843]

Questing Beast ! I gotta ask. can you review or get ahold of a copy of The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg?

[@Evilawn]

Whenever I watch a Questing Beast video I have to turn the volume way up to cover up the sound of my screaming wallet.

[@LaBibliotecaEterna]

FINALLY!!!, a TTRPG true to the sword and sorcery stories!!, my quest has ended!

[@ianshaliczer]

I think they missed a golden opportunity to call it ‘T’hrough ‘S’unken ‘R’ealms.

[@oberondargos5465]

I could have sworn I had seen this video before. I have a copy and don't even know when or why I got it since I get my OSR info from here...

[@jimboroni6520]

13:41 I’m a bit confused by what is meant by ‘illusionism’ in role playing sessions. Does that mean limiting player agency/ dm fiat?

[@QuestingBeast]

It means giving players the illusion of having a choice, while actually controlling the outcomes.

[@humanoidesassociados]

2:14 Is that a Brazil reference?

[@Ironballs69]

I love the Beyond the Wall playbooks but you can roll some wonky characters out of them, like an int 21 character was possible. Do these playbooks look a little better balanced?

[@einhuhn3852]

No, a starting character with int 21 is not possible in BtW. Page 38 in the rules states that you stop at 19 and any points over that limit are simply "wasted". ;) The designers apparently wanted to make sure that every character gets a good starting value in their lead attributes (as is more or less stated in the chapter "Making playbooks" in Heroes Young and Old). The possibility to actually role up a series of events in the playbooks that would lead to a character having a theoretical value of over 19 is quite low, too.

[@sethpeterson8261]

Was excited to see "Sword & Sorcery" in the title and was thinking I was about to discover a new, original S&S system ala On Mighty Thews, Barbarians of Lemuria or Sorcerer & Sword... but sounds like it's basically just generic D&D. Bummer.

[@MrPURPL3HAZ3]

Can i get an update on how knave 2nd edition is coming along? Thanks

[@OrdinaryTrevor]

Ben- What's the best "battle" system you've persoanlly seen or used for a DnD-style rpg game? Many classical and pulp 20th c. fantasy stories (Narnia, LotR, Elric, GoT, etc.) include major battles as a climax, but how do you personally run that with a system like B/X or S&W or 5e? Jump into Age of Sigmar for a session? MCDM's Kingdoms and Warfare? Dust of the TSR Chainmail rules? Small heroic vignettes (like this book suggests)? Just curious if you had done something or seen something you like.

[@QuestingBeast]

I haven't actually tried to run a large-scale battle in an RPG before. This system looks fun and pretty easy to use so I would probably use it. But I've seen other people jump over to a war game like chainmail for example, which can be surprisingly fast.

[@mistergoats4380]

Anyone looking for a group? I'd like to play this so hard.

[@ilyaalexakhin8745]

I'm always down for some🗡&🗞

[@martinl2410]

I really liked Beyond the Wall, and the level of attention and care put into molding rules to a particular genre. I was really looking forward to a new game from the same creator. When I read "Through Sunken Lands", I was surprised and very disappointed to find out that it was pretty much a reskin of Betond the Wall. I understand reusing the stuff that works, but this is pretty much a word for word copy, rules-wise, down to the magic system. Literally a copy/paste job, sold at premium price. I still recommend buying BtW or TSL. But certainly not both.

[@misomiso8228]

You havn't read beyond the wall yet?!

[@iantaran2843]

oooooooooo pretty 😍