Marmoreal Tomb: Not a Review
The Marmoreal Tomb by E. Gygax and B. Poire
Uh...
Sept 2, 2015. Very nearly 7 years ago I backed this project on Kickstarter. Yesterday it arrived in the mail.
This will not be long because I have barely cracked the thing to gaze into its dizzying depths. I have no real idea of its actual quality, other than the obvious visual polish that Stephen Chenault and Troll Lord Games obviously applied.
Like many, I asked some hard questions on the Kickstarter board about whether this would ever see light of day. But, I'm glad that, unlike many, I never asked for a refund. Sure I could be dead by now. Seven years is a long time. But Kickstarter tells you up front that you aren't buying a product. You are funding an idea and it MIGHT never come to fruition.
I know there were a lot of angry people when this project fell into the abyss. But the picture above just goes to show that sometimes things get rescued even after you believe they've crossed the event horizon.
I mean, look at that sprawl! My game table seats 3 on the long sides and 2 on the short. This thing DOES NOT FIT on top of it. I had to stand on a freaking ladder to take a picture of it.
Risking life and limb
As I said, I have no idea if the contents meet my high bar for quality and playability...though I did subscribe to Gygax Magazine (damn shame. I have all the issues and wish there'd been many more). And I did run the Marmoreal Tomb from issue #2. I found it to my liking.
But even if, as I delve into this, and it's not 100%, this is without doubt a mighty accomplishment. This thing is beautiful. This thing is monumental. And I hope you can get your hands on it for posterity sake. I have no idea if Troll Lord plans to make the full set widely available. All I know at this point is this was clearly a labor of love. It was more work than two people could bite off for obvious reasons. It made my jaw drop.
So once again, I'd recommend to "our community" that sometimes it's better to wait and see before casting judgement. Because we sure need more of this kind of thing. Or at least this kind of passion and dedication.
Peace,
And happy gaming.
