D&D BECMI - Gaz 11 - The Republic of Darokin

Gazetteer 11 - The Republic of Darokin

D&D BECMI Rules

Product Description - Gaz 11 - The Republic of Darokin

“He who has the gold makes the rules.” –An old Darokinian saying.

In Darokin, wealth is power. There is no place in this land for the unthinking brute who solves every problem with force. Darokin has survived by cleverness, by negotiation, and by guile, despite being surrounded by mighty barbarous nations.

In fact, the Darokinians have thrived over the years, establishing themselves as the undisputed masters of overland commerce. And since dead neighbors make poor trading partners, they’ve become equally adept at diplomacy.

The Republic of Darokin, the latest Gazetteer for the Dungeons & Dragons game system, gives you’re an in-depth look at this prosperous land, including:

Compatible with the AD&D and 2nd Edition AD&D game systems, and includes adventures.

Product History

GAZ11: “The Republic of Darokin” (1989), by Scott Haring and William W. Connors, is the eleventh book in the “GAZ” series of Gazetteers for the Known World. It was published in March 1989.

Continuing the “GAZ” Sourcebooks. By 1989, the “GAZ” series had settled well into their long-term style. Each supplement described a locale, providing crunchy character classes and other rules for players, and offering lots of setting information for the GM. There were some inconsistencies in the supplements, like which new rules were used and what material went in which book, but for the most part the series was solid, and “The Republic of Darokin” was a continuation of that.

Adventure Tropes. “The Republic of Darokin” includes an extensive list of adventure seeds that was organized by rank (e.g. basic, expert, companion, master). This was surprisingly unusual, though of course Basic D&D ordered all of its adventures in this format.

Expanding Basic D&D. Though “The Republic of Darokin” expands the Basic D&D rules, it does so in a way that was very typical for the Gazetteers. That starts with new rules for making characters and Darokin-related skills. The new character class in this book is the merchant, who comes with a new set of spells and plenty of rules for land-based mercantile trade. It’s all a nice complement to GAZ9: “The Minrothad Guilds” (1988), which featured a merchant-prince class and sea-based trade.

Expanding the Known World. This supplement fully details the eponymous Republic of Darokin, a merchant-controlled plutocracy that is most clearly based on Italy between the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The country had previously appeared in X10: “Red Arrow, Black Shield” (1985) and CM9: “Legacy of Blood” (1987), but this was of course the most attention ever paid to the country.

The Republic is also carefully interlinked with the rest of the Known World setting. Thus it was settled by Nithian colonist after they landed in Karameikos, and the country has some uncomfortable relations with the elves of Alfheim.

Whoops! The main map reverses the locations of the villages of Mar and Hinmeet. As is apparent from the text, Hinmeet is the one that should be next to the Malpheggi Swamps.

Future History. Darokin is used as the setting of Capcom’s Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1993), a side-scrolling video game for the CPSII (and later the Sega Saturn).

About the Creators. Haring’s first big project for TSR was FR3: “Empire of the Sands” (1988). “The Republic of Darokin” was his second, as part of his short-lived work with TSR. (He’s better known for multiple stints with Steve Jackson Games.) Connors isn’t credited on the cover, though he gets full design credit inside. Around this same time he also worked on 7 of the first 11 Monstrous Compendiums for AD&D 2e.

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons – a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

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