Here is a summary of the Kalamar world details for my group's Hackmaster games, which so far are the book worlds as-written. The purpose of this site is to reference "which country is which", to quickly orient players. I've organized a loose summary of Tellene locales by country, and left out city-by-city details. I also wanted my notes about the Kalamar gods in a single lightweight file, especially "which god is in which zealot guide".
Kingdoms of Kalamar, Hackmaster 5's out-of-the-box setting, has been developed over 30 years by dozens of authors. It is owned, published, managed, by "Kenzer & Company". The setting is skewed to place characters in challenging social situations, try cool things, express themselves, go on fantastic journeys, and make a lot of mistakes. Half of the game revolves around the consequences of the player characters' reputations. Most humans in the setting are greedy, stupid, destitute, mean, and so forth so it's not hard to be aggressive and have fun.
The sourcebooks provide hundreds of individuals and organizations with independent agendas and ambitions, and logical degrees of mutual cooperation, confusion, and violence between them. Historic conditions and actions feel well-explained instead of arbitrary. The world is balanced to be open to player character influence, even (or especially) of characters that don't fit into society at first. The hack and slash part of Hackmaster gets easier and more creative with practice, like other games.
The Kalamar geography info is from:
I probably have a few details wrong but I don't have time to fix it.
I've found a few similar sites to this one, who use various rule sets. "Lord Caladin's Court", and a lot on "obisidian portal".
Every human city or country has either a monarch, a high priest, or has some kind of oligarchy. Most countries have some form of slavery or indentured servants.
Kalamar has orcs, goblins, kobolds, and hobgoblins, who generally maraud. They typically fight within their own societies, with each other, and with other civilizations. There is one mention of "civilized orcs" who trade with Cosolen. Kalamar also has grel and grevans, who are warlike elves and elf-giants.
Hackmaster 5 has an "honor" mechanic which is there to reward players for roleplaying and also to punish timidity. It is a summary of moral consistency (more than correctness or goodness), bravery, social standing, and refusal to lose arguments. Honor can be spent on re-rolls. Being in high honor categories provides bonuses to die rolls, and affects what sort of NPCs the party attracts.
Tellene has 3 moons. (from the hm5 GMG) Veshemo (mother-above) is the largest and has a 28-day cycle. It is pale yellow. Pelselond (big-star) is much smaller, has a 34-day cycle, and is off-white. Diadolai (elf-moon) is the smallest, has an 80-day cycle, and is red-pink.
These are some locations I thought would be convenient to start a campaign in. Some are well-defined by the official materials, some are not written at all.
| KoK Nation summary table | ||
|---|---|---|
| Region Name | Summary | Why it's fun |
| Brandobia | There are three brandobian kingdoms. One is strictly extremely racist (Eldor), one is not racist at all (Cosdol), and one is medium-racist (Mendarn). Eldor is the most powerful, and lies the most about history, organizes the most indoctrination, is happiest to undertake war and has the most medieval-human morals. Cosdol is led by magic researchers and elves, and is on a frontier of the known world. Mendarn has a well-developed navy, is not xenophobic as a rule, but the state of Mendarn captures Dejy and sells them to hobgoblins. | Brandobia is set up for knights to swordfight in castles which are in various states of corruption or disrepair. There are numerous wide, mysterious forests and mountain towns where orcs and lizards live. The player characters can try various means to influence whatever they want socially. |
| Pel Brolenon | Slaver-theocracy-cities devoted to the slaver god | It is the super lair of the super slavers... go get em... try not to get enslaved... |
| Alnarma (city-state) | A Dejy port which is an ally, religious proxy, and trade partner of Pel Brolenon. | A port next to the Sliv Elenons and in close sailing distance to Svimozhia and Dowond-Brandel (Pel-Brolenon city). Escaped slaves from Pel Brolenon usually pass through here, where the Broken Chain is stronger. |
| Kalamar | Home country of an empire that uses serfs and press gangs, occupies other lands, executes its own towns and executes families of its own citizens. Petty lords, military, and police practice banditry. Every person is taxed heavily to fuel war. | There are huge cities and various hinterlands with long histories and diverse cultures and personalities with their own agendas. |
| Pekal | A kingdom that separated from Kalamar 100 years ago, aided by meddling elfs. It's very multicultural and is where the extremely expensive College of Magic is. | There are loads of wizards there and there is mutual espionage with Tokis. |
| O'par | A country surrounded by 5 warring countries which enforces itself as a "neutral ground", where the grand duke sells information from each neighbor to each neighbor. Other than Bet Bireli it mostly runs on sheep farms. | You can help competing factions and no one can get mad at you (until someone does). O'par is mostly busy rural places. |
| Tokis | A country with incessant food shortage, its Kalamar-appointed leader "the House of Soriba" is forced by Kalamar to war against Pekal, Parubor, Cilorea, and Tharggy. Many efforts to improve life or secure victory fail repeatedly and the king smooths it over by just lying. | Tokis grows maize and has cool horses. There is an "underground railroad" of hobbits, dwarfs, and gnomes. |
| Tarisato | Kalamar's border with the Obakesek jungle. Hobgoblins are given citizenship if they run a press gang or join the military themselves. | It's a place to shelter in if you want to explore Obakesek a lot. Humanoids are not racisted against. |
| Doulathanorian | Gray Elf city with a lot of schools. They trade with nearby halflings. | The elves are wise and peaceful. The surroundings are a wild magic forest where people flee tyranny. |
| Young Kingdoms | ||
| Ek-Gakel | A country where rich merchants appoint a chancellor to represent the best interests of the commoners. Most of the land is populated by Dejy. The Gakites claim rulership of the natives. A mutual feud is ongoing, between each native Dejy tribe, invading orcs, and the major cities of Ek-Gakel. Ek-Gakel's relations with Bapar and Korak are starting to sour. | There is an escalating conflict with high and permanent stakes for most of the participants. The orcs are killing people sort of easily and for fun. The Gakite cities are transit centers between Bapar and Shytana. |
| Ek-Kasel | A country warring with Norga-Krangel hobgoblins. It is closely allied with both the militocracy of Korak and the empire of Kalamar. It is typical for women in Ek-Kasel to become physicians and alchemists. The people are militant by necessity and are friendly with elves and halflings. | You can poke the hobgoblin bear nearby. The towns have a lot of alchemists. There is no major thieves' guild. |
| Korak | A militocracy that receives troops from Bapar and sends officers to Bapar to train them. Persecutes half-hobgoblins and half-orcs. Wars with Norga-Krangel. There is a school in Korem specifically for learning literacy, history, and mathematics. | The cities manufacture high-quality weapons. Korak is near lizardfolk mountains that are full of gold. |
| Norga-Krangel | The hobgoblins' hobgoblin military-theocracy. Home of the hobgoblins. | The country is dangerous, has monsters besides hobgoblins, and has hobgoblins. There are many places kept secret even from the hobgoblins. |
| Bapar | The first city to rebel against Kalamar and survive to this day. Bapar is in a pass through the Legasa peaks, between the Young Kingdoms and Cosolen. Makes money from shepherding and mining. Mercenaries are common. The city supports numerous frontier towns and castles. | There is a good library and hippogriffs and extreme mountains that have loads of creatures and caves. |
| Dijishy (city-state) | A slave-free city with a big library and mines. It exports salt, natron, fine robes, and books. | There are a lot of varied monsters nearby to hunt. There are mountains close by and ruins from varying amounts of centuries ago. Dijishy has the oldest library. |
| Shytanadobyo (city-state) | A Dejy town on the far side of Brindonwood on the Shadesh Bay devoted to wine. The Order of the Passionate One is the only religion allowed public practice. Local vintners pay to have their competition sabotaged or killed. | A slightly shady "port" with no known major sea-trade partners. Shadesh Bay is full of icebergs. Shytana is in a huge forest with growing orc and giant spider problems. |
| Prompeldia (city-state) | A city run by a worldwide thieves' guild lead by Gremply Slivers. Has a slave market, gambling, guild-protected warehouses, and a fortified harbor. Protects Norga-Krangel on the south end and its military is supplemented by hobgoblins. | Thief city. |
| Shrogga-pravaaz (city-state) | A town of giants, giant-kin, and kobolds. They dick around, go pirating, and mine through nearby mysterious limestone caves for no real reason. | Monster town |
| Miclenon (city-state) | Half-Dejy half-Brandobian city, willing colony of Eldor (racist brandobian kingdom). | City with its own culture being taxed by a powerful but remote protector-exploiter |
| Ehzhimahn (city-state) | A now-independent Meznam colony. Trades pearls, coral, octopus ink. Fights pirates and desert monsters. Has scimitar guys and punch dagger guys. Various priests and mages are common. | The city features a lot of really high towers. |
| Cilorealon | Elf-only town in Brindonwood that likes to meddle in human politics. The druid grove is in the middle of elf city traffic. | Tree city of treants and tree freaks |
| The Wild Lands | ||
| Drhokker | An alliance of riverside cities and small semi-nomadic villages. Fhokki and horseman-Dejy live together and breed horses. They hate wizards. | Denizens live right off of the land. They hunt and honor animals. Planar outsiders chill out around Trarr. |
| Paru'Bor | Originally a series of strongholds for repelling giants and barbarians. The people get along with barbarians now. The population is a variety of humans with some gnomes and dwarves. They benefit from trade between the Young Kingdoms and Wild Lands. There is an inflexible, immutable and immobile class structure that every person is part of. | Ruins reappropriated from ancient barbarian wars being reoccupied and reappropriated, other old archaeology sites. Every neighboring military wants to annex Paketa, which only produces rye. |
| Shynabyth | Dejy ranchers warring with Slen and warring somewhat with Paru'Bor. Close allies with the dwarves of Draska. Starvation and drought are a problem. Clerics, religion, and divine magic are all prohibited. The capital Rynoshok is impovershed. | It sucks here |
| Skarrna | A Reanaarian and Fhokki fishing land. With gnome friends. Pirates and rare wizards lair here. The island nearby is a gigantic hemp farm. | You can fish and whale here and hang out with gnomes. A sage in Ardarr-Norr has a way into the Astral Plane. |
| Slen | A theocracy devoted to the torture god. The slenizens love pain and killing. Slen's religous death squads try to kill every wizard they learn about. | Slen owns a bunch of gold from its mines and victims. Monsters romp around the region. |
| Tharggy | A country where most men died in a war with Kalamar 40 years ago so women took over running the state. They have men again but don't want to go back to patriarchy. Tharggy is still at war with Dodera. They make famous clothes. | You can be a furrier or fashion designer in Tharggy. The surroundings have trolls, centaurs, and fairies. |
| Thybaj | A mixed society of humans and demihumans ruled by a chief who appoints the next chief from outside their family. Thybaj's shepherds attract hostile giants frequently. | Nearby mountains have a bunch of lairs of giants and all their treasure etc |
| Torakk | Allied families organized into cooperative hunting organizations of up to 1000 people. Most homes are collapsible kota. There are innocuous mining cities that pump water from aquifers with windmills, and a few large independent ports. | Mines intersect Dejy burial sites. Crooks and aquatic monsters lair around here. |
| Draska | Dwarven undercity monarchy where they hate elves and slen. | There are crystal caves and some vampires here |
| Reanaaria | ||
| Aasaer | A lawless city of cutthroats and whores. They also farm pigs. | You can do what you want! |
| Baethel | A human-and-gnome city led by a gnome monarchy. It is famous for its abundance of locksmiths and wizards. | Gnome port! |
| Dynaj | Their economy runs on gold and beer. They are influenced greatly by the evil desert of death nearby. A derelict necromancer town. | It's next to the necromancy desert, and an ocean, and the monstrous hills of the gnomes and kobolds. |
| Geanavue | A town with a big castle that trades with stone giants and does fancy masonry. They do their sea trade through the nearby port Loona. | Big stone buildings, giants. Life is stable and peaceful as long as Kalamar doesn't expand to here. |
| Giilia | City owned by a vampire who bans it from trading. There is a vast underground zone of ghouls and ghasts. | Dracula city. |
| Saaniema | A city that is trying to shrimp but they get mostly blocked by sea monsters. | Many ruins nearby of a very brief anti-pirate society. |
| Thygasha | A thriving Dejy city near the evil dream death desert. Silver Sand is harvested in Thygasha. Multiple feuding temples are open here. Wizards in Thygasha research sleep and dream magic. Loads of abandoned homes and farms are nearby. | Dream & intrigue city. Rare wizard town. |
| Xaarum | A city and 50-mile piece of wilderness led by a Duke and a council of 5 resentful and competing barons. They export truffles. Home of many musicians. | The butterfly islands are claimed by Xaarum and there are coconuts and talking birds there. |
| Zoa | A large port run by a council of 12 elected elders. Most of the world's commodities can be traded here including live animals and luxuries. There is a recent surplus of quality metalwork from dwarven refugees. Guilds control the trades. | A bustling shady city with competing thieves, fencers, and pirates. There are several nearby islands and towns, of varying swampiness and shadiness. |
| Svimozh | ||
| Ahznomahn | Government run by a parliament of anyone owning over 75,000 gold "Avnims". The parliament's main purpose is to run price gouging and manufactured-shortage schemes. | The jungle is full of trolls, lizards, and mysteries. You can boat around. There's a black market and a university in Zha-nehzmish. |
| Meznamish | A monarchy, and former pan-Svimozh empire. Whalers and seal hunters. Home to many friendly demihumans. Permits temples to every god. Has a caste system (which includes lifelong slaves). | Huge city with immediate aquatic, mountainous, and swampy wildernesses. Expecting several endless wars soon. |
| Ozhvinmish | Allies with both Meznam and Elos desert towns. In the process of banning evil faiths but there is resistance. Elves are hated in the west but liked in the east. Has two (eastern and western) "capitals" led by a king and a steward. The cities are mostly self-sufficient and the Golden Alliance meddles with them. | A sage in Zomo-wim specializes in pocket dimensions. Each city has a particular huge monster problem. |
| Zazahni | A kingdom with no current ruler split between 27 families of distinct north, central, south, and western cultures. They are assaulted constantly by feral humans, humanoids, and trolls. They have little mineral resources. Worship of the Bear is most common. | You can stay fed in Emosvom between jungle forays. None of these cities like each other. Each city has their own "thing" but they're all weak individually. |
| Bronish | A free city founded by Mendarn and Brolenese refugees who cooperated with native Meznam. They produce ropes and baskets and elect a congress of 7 people who serve for 7 years, 1 being replaced every year. They trade with Meznam, Eldor, and Vrandol. | Bronish citizens want to be honest, good, and at peace. |
| Ul-karg | Three-city Hobgoblin kingdom which has learned sea travel. Trades with pirates, Brandobia, and Pel Brolenon. Exports teak, pepper, vanilla. | The sea-travelling hobgoblins are out to conquer the world. |
| Vrandol | A colony for dealing slaves to Ul-karg. Founded by Pel Brolenon but conquered by Mendarn (the brandobian country). Most nobles are from Mendarn, most of the working class are Svimohz. | A slaver colony, being preyed on economically by brandobians and hobgoblins, and literally by lizards and sea monsters. |
Most people acknowledge multiple gods, though clerics can only be anointed by one. The gods will grant spells at semi-random to their clerics, and they provide paladins with priest-like powers. The gods do not otherwise meddle with the known world.
| God Name | Alignment | Domain | Priest Title | Church Name | HM5 Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Knight of the Gods | LG | Chivalry & Valor | Servant of the Swift Sword | Halls of the Valiant | ZG6 |
| The Holy Mother | LG | Home, industriousness, marriage | Brother / Sister of Industry | The Home Foundation | ZG2 |
| The Speaker of the Word | LG | Honor, oaths, ethics | Keeper of the Word | The Hall of Oaths | ZG7 |
| The True | LG | Justice, truth | Truthseeker | The Courts of Justice | PHB |
| The Eternal Lantern | LG | Day, light, dawn, sun | Priest of Light | Cathedral of Light | PHB |
| The Raiser | NG | Fertility, agriculture, harvest, life | Friend of the Fields | The Church of Life's Fire | ZG9 |
| The Peacemaker | NG | Peace, comfort | Peacemaker | House of Solace | ZG1 |
| The Pure One | NG | Love, harmony | Child of love | Parish of Love | ZG5 |
| The Lord of Silver Linings | NG | Mercy, hope, healing | Merciful fate | Church of Everlasting Hope | PHB |
| The Traveller | NG | Travel, stars | Journeyman | Temple of the Stars | PHB |
| The Guardian | CG | Happiness, liberty, freedom | Messenger of Liberty | Face of the Free | PHB |
| The Raconteur | CG | Art, poetry, music, humor | Merry Muse | Theater of the Arts | ZG3 |
| The Shimmering One | CG | Beauty, moon | Moonknight | Church of Night's Beauty | ZG4 |
| The Great Huntress | CG | Archery, hunting, patience | Golden Arrow | Temple of the Patient Arrow | PHB |
| The Coddler | CG | Sleep, dreams, aspirations | Dream Weaver | Church of the Silver Mist | ZG8 |
| The Founder | LN | Law, order, cities | Builder of Law | The Founder's Creation | ZG6 |
| The Mule | LN | Math, science, invention, knowledge | Brother / Sister in Logic | The Fraternal Order of Aptitude | ZG7 |
| The Powermaster | LN | Medicine, strength | Seeker of Three Strengths | The Temple of Three Strengths | ZG2 |
| The Old Man | LN | War, power, strategy | Priest of the Pike | Temple of Armed Conflict | ZG7 |
| The Eye Opener | LN | Wisdom | Seeker of Sagacity | The Order of Thought | PHB |
| The Mother of the Elements | N | Elements | Keeper of the Four Corners | Assembly of the Four Corners | |
| The Riftmaster | N | Magic | Keyholder | Temple of Enchantment | ZG5 |
| The Bear | N | Nature | Brother / Sister of the Bear | Conventicle of the Great Tree | PHB |
| The Landlord | N | Money, business, greed | Profiteer | Parish of the Prolific Coin | ZG1 |
| The Fate Scribe | N | Time, fate, prophecy | Prophet | The Inevitable Order of Time | ZG9 |
| The Battle Rager | CN | Battle, chaos, berserking, courage | Brother / Sister in Blood | The Way of the Berserk | ZG4 |
| The Watcher | CN | Wanderers, loneliness | Watcher | (No formal church) | ZG8 |
| The Storm Lord | CN | Storms, thunder, lightning | Tempestion | The Thunderer's Temple | ZG8 |
| Risk | CN | Thievery, gambling, luck | Challenger of Fate | The Church of Chance | PHB |
| The Laugher | CN | Passion, wine | Passionate Priest | Prder of the Passionate One | ZG3 |
| The Corrupter | LE | Envy, injustice, jealousy | Covetous One | The Courts of Inequity | ZG2 |
| The Overlord | LE | Oppression, slavery | Bringer of the New Order | The House of Shackles | PHB |
| The Dark One | LE | Darkness, dusk, night | Knight of the Black Pit | Church of Endless Night | ZG6 |
| The Flaymaster | LE | Pain, torture, cold | Minister of Misery | Order of Agony | PHB |
| The Harvester of Souls | NE | Death, hell | Harvester | The Congregation of the Dead | ZG1 |
| The Locust Lord | NE | Famine, starvation | The Gaunt | The House of Hunger | ZG9 |
| The Emperor of Scorn | NE | Bigotry, hate | Purger | The House of Scorn | ZG5 |
| The Seller of Souls | NE | Murder, revenge | Veiled Priest | The House of Knives | PHB |
| The Rotlord | CE | Disease, vermin | Pestilent One | The Conventicle of Affliction | PHB |
| The Confuser of Ways | CE | Lies, deceit, mischief | Imposter | (No Formal Church) | |
| The Prince of Terror | CE | Nightmares, fear | Fellow of Terror | The Temple of Sleepless Nights | ZG4 |
| The Creator of Strife | CE | Discord, misfortune, foul weather | Minion of Misfortune | The Temple of Strife | PHB |
| The Vicelord | CE | Vice, sloth | Insulter | The House of Vice (No formal church) | ZG3 |