Ya know, in full disclosure, I backed this as a joke. Really, I thought I'd get the pdf, show it to my usual group, we'd laugh about yet another easy cash in on a popular thing using the D&D system and that'd be that.
Here my group is finishing up our campaign of Ponyfinder and legitimately feeling it's one of our favorite third party campaign settings.
I think most any veteran gamer has had experiences with fan games. It's great that fans are so into a thing they want to pay homage to it, but really let's be honest, most are not good. Clunky shoehorning of a world that doesn't fit into the system, poorly written rules and guides, a focus on 'hey you like this character YOU CAN PLAY WITH THIS CHARACTER OMG' rather than anything else. It's not a good time either as a fan or as a gamer. Now I see this game, a 25 dollar campaign setting clearly inspired by the big MLP craze and I was bracing for yet another cringeworthy book.
What a treat it is, then, when it can take me from one of the most hostile audiences possible to a big fan.
The fact is this is a rare fan inspired campaign setting that takes time and care to respect both the setting and the system, and the product is an excellent blending. The world and races, while obviously based on the popular MLP foundation (including some nods to older generations, which is nice), is handled in a distinct way to make it feel like a product that can stand on it's own two legs. The inclusion of non-pony races makes the world feel more alive, and the world is broken up in such a why that, while it still has the 'cartoony' geography of things like 'this is the bad dark scary kingdom' and 'here's the not-Arabian desert style area', the places themselves feel organic and functional within the realm of D&D high fantasy.
There's thought given to how the assorted classes 'work' in this kind of setting, it doesn't take much work to go for the typical 'unicorns are magic-inclined' type stuff but they provide a reasonable explanation for all all the core Pathfinder classes came to be and function within this setting. There is the rather awkward bit of 'the horse cavalier rides a horse' but to be honest that can be side stepped well enough that it's hardly a determent, just kinda something to chuckle at the mental image of.
There's lots of breadcrumbs in this book to spark campaigns, not just within the pony filled setting, but in games that take place beyond the lands of Everglow, including settlements and the like within its borders where ponies and other such creatures are in the minority as the 'outside world' pushes in.
The best part is the game itself takes a very open tone. By that I mean, with very little rejiggering, this campaign setting can be light and and cheery for a younger crowd, or you can take a few different dangling hooks and add some more dark elements. Best of all it does this without the always just plain boring and awkward shoving in of 'grim dark' in a setting based on a kid's show. Oh yes how original what if all these happy characters actually were sad and died, brilliant. Thankfully this setting avoids that, and even at its darkest there's elements of whimsy and light behind it. It's a setting for all ages that neither coddles or panders to, and that's a rarity in this hobby. Our only real complaints in the campaign were issues we had with Pathfinder as a whole (not our favorite system) but really it feels unfair to blame the setting for those. Ponyfinder did nothing to make those existing problems WORSE, so I can't really knock points off for them not taking it upon themselves to 'fix' the core system.
In my group we're all grown people, but after a couple sessions a friend of mine with a little girl bought herself a copy and ran a few little one-shots for her and her friends who like MLP. She was happy to say that the kids loved what she ran, and hoped that in the future if they become interested in RPGs they'll be able to remember that experience to avoid the feeling of it not being 'for girls' and such. I think a setting that can both entertain adults and give a fun time to kids should be praised in this hobby, and that, at its core, is what this is.
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