A quick review of "A Red & Pleasant Land" (Zak S., 2014)

 (Reposted from Goodreads. Originally posted on Aug. 19, 2023.)

A Red & Pleasant Land is a strange, beautiful piece of art. Its illustrations are raw and evocative, utilizing rough linework and vivid colors to really impress upon the reader the symbolism of the characters and world they represent; the language, though simple, never fails to bring about a solid mental image that is infinitely fascinating and a true wellspring of ideas from which to create interesting tabletop - or even literary - material.

The reason I refrain from giving this book five stars is more of a practical one than a technical one; it is not a good gaming supplement, full stop. Yes, the ideas herein are great inspiration for writing and worldbuilding, but as a supplement designed to be a toolkit for running adventures and campaigns in, it is messy and faulty. It comes with a few good random tables, and some seeds of ideas to integrate into a world, but otherwise lacks... everything. Variety, direction, example adventures, and a solid framework onto which one can build the sinuous and tense surreal vampiric politics the book describes.

As a piece of fiction, I've found that A Red & Pleasant Land is very enjoyable. As a piece of game design, it could do better.

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