Forbidden Lands is a gritty, low-magic, fantasy game whose game design is a throw back to an older style of play. As it turns out, the product design is also a throw-back to an earlier era.
Physical Product
Forbidden Lands comes as a box set containing two stunning, stitched bound, hardback books–each of which has a book ribbon. In fact, my love of book ribbons in TTRPG books began with Forbidden Lands. The book is G5 format, 6.69 x 9.45 inches, in-between “digest” size A5 books and what many Americans consider “full-size” 8 ½ x 11 inch books. I appreciate the format, the books are easy to lug around but are large enough that the interior pages don’t feel cramped.
The two books, a Player’s Handbook and a Gamemaster’s Guide, have faux leather covers which are stamped with gold foil. A map of the default setting is printed on both interior covers, drawn in old-school line art which is stunning and sets the tone for the volumes. The book is also printed on flat paper 1, which helps with readability and makes the interior art pop.
The box itself is thick cardboard displaying a menacing piece of art which conveys both danger and wonder. The main subject seems to dare the party to continue forward, while off in the distance the hint of ruins can be seen. It’s one of the coolest covers I’ve ever seen on a TTRPG box.
The box, however, is rather light on overall content. It contains the two aforementioned hard-bound books, a beautiful color map of the Forbidden Lands, some stickers which can keep track of a party’s travels, and a 40 page booklet containing some more player and GM options. And that’s it. Since Forbidden Lands offers special dice to help speed up game play I would have liked to have a set included in the box, though the quality of the two main books may have made including dice cost-prohibitive. I do think having the nicer books is worth it.
The included full-color map may be the star of the show. It’s double-sided, so a GM could use it to track two separate campaigns with the included stickers. If I had space to hang it on my wall, it would already be framed and presented. It’s that pretty.
My only real complaint is about the included booklet. There’s no reason this information isn’t inside the core rulebooks. It feels like errata for things missed, more than planned inclusion.
Interior Design
Forbidden Land‘s body text is a classic serif-font which is easy to read. Headings utilize the same font, enlarged according to their level in all capital letters. It’s simple, clean, and gets the job done. While there are three heading levels in teh design language, only the top two are separated from the main text. The third appears in-line–written in all capital letters and separated from the body text by a colon. It saves some space in the book, but is also a nice call back to a style found in older TTRPG books.
Interior decorations are beautiful. Chapter title pages display the chapter title inside a stunning hand-drawn border which conveys the game world’s danger, and the first paragraph utilizes a drop cap adorned with an inked drawing of a Raven—a reference to the included setting, “Raven Land.” Headers “only” display a stylized thick artwork border. Page number are found in the footer, centered on the page, inside an inked skull. The chapter number is presented in the footer on the left page and the chapter title on the right. Each is underneath the skull bordered a hand-drawn line above and below.
Tables and call outs are surrounded by a ripped-parchment border, and call outs get an additional hand-drawn border at the top. Tables utilize alternating row colors and the column titles are displayed in bold text. Each of these elements use a sans-serif font which further differentiates them from the body text.
The artwork is stark and beautiful. It’s all lined ink which conveys both menace and danger. It is a perfect compliment for the game’s aesthetic. One of my favorite pieces is the sea serpent on page 116 of the Gamemaster’s Guide, but all the images depicting magic capture how dangerous it is to wield that power.
The design language feels like a love letter to old school games, which I appreciate.
Conclusion
The trade-off of getting high quality books but giving up an included set of dice is worth it. The physical product is well-constructed and the books are stunning inside and out. The errata booklet is the only part of the product which feels like it’s not positioned right, as the material should just be in the two core books, but it’s still easy enough to use. The included full color map is gorgeous, though, and is a worthy inclusion. If you like an old school feeling game, but enjoy modern mechanics and layout, Forbidden lands is a product worth checking out.
If you’d like to pick up Forbidden Lands for yourself you can pick up the core box set through Free League’s website for $59.93 as of this writing.
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It’s just better. ↩
