Eoris is a two book set contained in a sturdy slipcase. Currently it is only available in print format and just through the company's website or at conventions they attend. The books are split into the setting and the rules. The reason for the split as explained by the writers at GenCon to me was that the high quality paper used could not be bound well into a single book. Hence the split. This review, however, covers just the setting book.
Just picking up this book you can tell that Eoris was a labor of love. The actual physical books themselves are beautiful and it's almost worth it to have these books on your shelf for that alone. The layout is in landscape allowing for very expansive and gorgeous artwork. The artwork is amazing another indicator I think to the effort and care put into this product. Onto the actual content itself!
Technically the setting book is split into two sub-books: Book One (Dream) and Book Two (Memory). Dream provides a broad but comprehensive looks at the world of Eoris. This is prefaced with an initial introduction which is fairly typical as introductions go. You have the standard what is roleplaying section and then some notes on the tones of the book. It also explains that Dream is written as the recollections and thoughts of limited narrator referred to as the Wanderer. The one thing that is it sorely lacking is a glossary of terms.
This lack is not initially apparent until moving into the next chapter: The Beautiful Universe. We're thrown straight into the Eoris cosmology which is detailed and complex. The challenge being keeping track of it. As it was I spent a fair amount of time either lost or paging back to try and keep things straight. The chapter gives a run-down on everything from an overall layout of the universe, to magic, to the universal currency, to the major races and their sub-speices. The variety of races here should provide a wealth of choices for even the pickiest of players. I found several that I want to play.
The next chapter "Beliefs" covers just thought, the major religion of Eoris called the Cerian Tree of Thought. It's broken into "Emblems" which are essentially like minded people who interpret the greater religion similarly. I was initially off-put by the thought of one monolithic religion for the world but I like how the Emblems act almost as separate branches of a church. It felt a little contrived to me as if the authors wanted to have it both ways.
Following that chapters is "Memories". This gives an overview of the history of Eoris covering all the major events. This helped fill in a lot of areas that made no sense from earlier chapters such as what the "Black Howling" is. It also provides a pair of secret societies to give an idea of what such organizations look like in Eoris.
Then we get to one of the larger chapters, "Paleogeography" which not only breaks down the geography of Eoris but also the breakdown of the major cultures living on it; the "Ethnias". There are many amazing maps at the start of the chapter which provided a thorough overview of the entire planet and it's many layers. The chapter then proceeds to cover these locations. Almost immediately I wished the maps had been broken out to go along with their sections of the chapter as I would be constantly paging back and forth to get a better idea of what was being described. I found the descriptions to be rather vague but this is a bit of personal taste. I enjoy a well detailed map and accompanying description. (Hence my love for 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms and Exalted!) The benefit to not having much detail laid out is that there is a lot of room for players to tell their own stories. The Ethnias are quite interesting and for the most part are fairly distinct. Their histories felt a little repetitive to me by the time I was finishing them but it was hard to put my finger down on exactly what was repeating. It may have been the broad stroke overview of their histories making several sound like the same story with different actors. Interestingly there is one that has no real information provided about.
Then we are on to Book Two Memory which provides a lot of art and a very long poem and a concise summary of the what you've been reading. I found this to do a better job explaining some setting elements then the proceeding chapters simply because it was not written in the 1st person. I came away with a better understanding of the setting and I am thankful for it.
Overall thoughts. I'm not a fan of the setting being described through the narrative of the Wanderer. I prefer a more upfront corebook so I have a solid idea of the world I am in. I found it both confusing and at times repetitive (alas not in a way that helped me to lessen the confusing part). Book Two certainly did a better job in my view. In both the editing was superb, I don't remember any typos at all. If only all game books were edited this carefully! The art is amazing but there are times where it doesn't seem to relate much to what is going on around it in the text. I would have loved for more pictures of everyday life in the villages of Eoris. Still I can't wait to play in the world of Eoris! I'll kick of my inaugural review with a 7 out of 10.
Next up, A Penny For My Thoughts
