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Lands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide

CanonOfficial lore from the booksSSGp. 1-3, 46SoVp. 1, 4, 6DoTp. 9, 15

The Lands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide is the introductory guide to the Lands of Exile setting, published by Bad Badger Games. It sets out the world of Teneris and especially the Lands of Exile of northern Caligran, told mostly from the point of view of The Empire, where the publisher's adventures take place.1

Cover painting of a robed figure raising a staff above a crowd of followers before glowing ziggurats
The cover of the Starter Setting GuideArt by Muhammet Feyyaz. Lands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide (Bad Badger Games, 2024), p. 1.

Contents

The guide moves from the general to the particular: from the laws of the universe to the structure of the Empire and finally to the city of Vansreik.1

ChapterPage
Welcome to the Realm2
Time in the Realm (Clora Fastis)5
A Brief History (Ages of Teneris)10
Magic in the Realm18
Religion in the Realm21
Gods of the Realm (Exiled Pantheon)25
The Empire33
Imperial Provinces36
Factions and Institutions39
Other Races and Cultures42
Addendum46

The addendum gathers tables of the realm's ales, wines, dishes, games and in-world books, which the authors offer as small details to bring the world to life.2

Themes

The opening chapter names the ideas the authors want campaigns to carry:

  • The most powerful god is a villain. The Dark One, creator of all reality, wants the silence of being alone in the void again, and the gods people worship are his creations who sided with mortals.
  • The world is grim and realistic. Poverty, racism, injustice, class and greed are part of it, and people are shades of grey.
  • Magic is rare and terrifying, feared even by its masters.
  • There is black powder: cannons, pistols and flintlock rifles exist, though they are rare.
  • Perspective is everything. Beliefs and histories differ with who tells them, and the book's own account follows the Empire's view.1

Publication

The same setting text forms Chapter II of Shadow Over Vansreik, the "Lands of Exile Setting Guide", which Bad Badger Games published in 2024.456 The standalone guide carries no credits page or date of its own. Its cover reuses the Desolation of Time painting of the Defiler before the ziggurats, credited to Muhammet Feyyaz.7 Desolation of Time describes the guide as freely available and asks Game Masters to read it.8

Notes

  1. ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 3
  2. ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 46
  3. ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 10
  4. ↑BookShadow Over Vansreik, p. 1
  5. ↑BookShadow Over Vansreik, p. 4
  6. ↑BookShadow Over Vansreik, p. 6
  7. ↑BookDesolation of Time, p. 9
  8. ↑BookDesolation of Time, p. 15

Sources

This article draws on:

  • SSGLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide(Bad Badger Games, 2024), pp. 1-3, 10, 46
  • SoVShadow Over Vansreik(Bad Badger Games, 2024), pp. 1, 4, 6
  • DoTDesolation of Time(Bad Badger Games, 2024), pp. 9, 15

Images in this article

  • Cover painting: a robed figure raises a staff on a platform above a crowd of followers, before glowing ziggurats under a stormy sky.Art by Muhammet Feyyaz. Lands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide (Bad Badger Games, 2024), p. 1.

Related articles

SourceBook of DeadA 2024 sourcebook from Bad Badger Games for the Lands of Exile setting, gathering new lineages and player options, dark rituals, a corruption system, a resurrection ruleset, curses and magic items.SourceDesolation of TimeA 2024 campaign book from Bad Badger Games and sequel to Shadow Over Vansreik, with two linked adventures in the druid forests and the desert of time, a one-shot, wilderness encounters and a bestiary.SourceMercenary CompendiumA 2024 sourcebook from Bad Badger Games presenting one hundred named mercenaries of the Lands of Exile and the ten guilds they serve, with systems for contracts, battle scars, weapons, and boons and burdens.SourceShadow Over VansreikA 2024 sourcebook and adventure module from Bad Badger Games, combining player options, the Lands of Exile Setting Guide, an adventure set in the crater city of Vansreik, city events and a bestiary.