Materials Used (Years of Gold)

Basic rulebooks

The basis of the Years of Gold setting is built on and around the core rulebooks: Player's Handbook I, Player's Handbook II, Dungeon Master's Guide I, Dungeon Master's Guide II and Monster Manual I. The information and rules discussed in these books is dissected under the various headings of the setting's main page.

Any and all material should be used under the Dungeon Master's discretion, and they should feel free to modify any aspect of these books or the Years of Gold material to improve gaming satisfaction in any way he or she can. A handy rule of thumb is that if something's working for your gaming group, use it, and if it isn't, don't.

Note that while only Monster Manual I is mentioned here, all of the books from I to V are usable; they're just not prepped for playing. It shouldn't be too hard for a Dungeon Master to leaf them through and select monsters that are a good fit for the setting.

Optional & suggested material

D&D 3.5e offers a huge variety in the official rulebooks available to players. Some, like Unearthed Arcana, can fit into every setting and are widely used by players everywhere, while others, like the Book of Erotic Fantasy, have a more focused target audience. Here are listed those sourcebooks that would fit the setting best. Note that the Dungeon Master needs to check the books and work through them to see what parts fit the setting and which don't.

  • Book of Vile Darkness: The dark atmosphere of the Years of Gold setting works wonders with the many unpleasant and dark things introduced in the BoVD. While the BoVD is notably more high-magic than this setting, many of the individual features and flavorful parts of the book can be scavenged to a Pansaerian adventure.
Dharuum, the heart of the east,
is a common city to adventure in.
  • Cityscape: Many adventures in Pansaer take place in the multitude of fleshed-out cities, and running adventures in them can be easier with the tools given to players in the Cityscape supplement. And if none of the individual material works for you, then at least the flavor of the book should be inspirational.
  • Dungeonscape: While not a dungeon delve setting per se, Years of Gold has its fair share of lairs, caverns and crypts to plunge into, especially if your Dungeon Master decides to focus on this part of the setting.
  • Fiend Folio: The Fiend Folio, and any other source book with a plethora of monsters, can be scrounged for interesting monsters to populate the setting with. Always take care to use only monsters that work in the low-magic setting - for example, caryatid column might work well in the setting, but chronotyryns not so much.
  • Frostburn: While the Years of Gold setting has few areas with an arctic feel, the Frostburn sourcebook might be helpful in running adventures in, say, the peaks of Caragos Eavorn.
  • Heroes of Horror: If your gaming group wants to take the setting into an even darker, more unpleasant direction, the Heroes of Horror might be the supplement for you. While HH is a little high-magic for the setting (just like BoVD), many parts of it are very usable, especially those parts that outline flavor for undead and evil monstrosities.
  • Magic Item Compendium: One would think Magic Item Compendium to be an ill fit for a low-magic setting with fewer magic items, but not so: the rarity of magic items makes using a larger variety of them more sensible. It's better for the two magical swords the party owns to be entirely different that just +1 flaming longswords.
  • Races of <foo>: The reduced amount of racial variety (what with the main five sentient races) means these books are ill-suited for a Years of Gold playing experience.
  • Sandstorm: The eastern deserts of Pansaer are vast, and thus this book, with its rules for traveling the scorching deserts and for thirst, is a godsend. If your group is considering adventuring in the Red Wastes or the cities of the east, this book will make your life easier, as well as possibly improve the flavor.
  • Stormwrack: The endless sea is not a first pick of Pansaerian adventures, but fighting on ships and the scarce islands that plot the sea is one way of going about the setting. For these adventures, consider Stormwrack.

Other sources

As with any setting, the things the Dungeon Master and the players can bring to the game are the most important aspect of the game. Years of Gold is a framework, one that those who use it can improve and mold to work better for that specific gaming group. If you think something will make your adventures better, feel free to incorporate it into the setting.

The custom material presented on this site, on other sites and in third-party sourcebooks are all opportunities to find new, fitting material for the setting. The setting does not assume custom material will be used, so Dungeon Masters should be careful when applying extra material from outsider source, both for flavor and balance clashes.

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