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Kingdoms Of Kalamar
The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting created by Kenzer and Company, originally released in 1994. In 2000, shortly after Wizards of the Coast announced the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Wizards and Kenzer jointly announced that Kenzer had acquired a rights to produce the Kalamar setting as a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' official licensed product. The setting has a loyal following and has received praise for its consistency and realism. Kenzer and Company has also made the Kingdoms of Kalamar the official setting of its own role-playing fantasy game, ''HackMaster''. History 1990s The original ''The Kingdoms of Kalamar'' material was clearly intended for use with ''Dungeons & Dragons'', while carefully avoiding any direct trademark or copyright infringement. The setting appeared in two books, "''Kingdoms of Kalamar, Vol 1: Sourcebook of the Sovereign Lands''", and "''Vol 2: Mythos of the Divine and Worldly''", both in 1994. While distribu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Kenzer
David S. Kenzer is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career David Kenzer started the game company Kenzer & Company with friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, and their initial project was ''The Kingdom of Kalamar'' (1994), a systemless fantasy setting. Kenzer was a lawyer who knew how trademark law worked, and had "suitable for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' on the back cover, and included the disclaimer text "''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' is a registered trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of this trademark is NOT sanctioned by the holder." Following the publication of ''The Kingdom of Kalamar'', Kenzer had formed a casual relationship with Alderac Entertainment Group, AEG, who was then putting out ''Shadis'' magazine, edited by Jolly Blackburn. When Blackburn left AEG, Kenzer and the staff of Kenzer & Company wanted to get Blackburn to join their company, and the turning point came in November 1996 when David Kenzer and others were vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramid (magazine)
''Pyramid'' was a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issues, though it has been published on the Internet since March 1998. Print issues were bimonthly; the first online version published new articles each week; the second online version is monthly. ''Pyramid'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. It replaced Steve Jackson Games' previous magazine '' Roleplayer''. ''Pyramid'' features general gaming articles by freelance authors, as well as Designer's Notes by Steve Jackson Games product developers, industry news, cartoons, and gaming product reviews. Although articles tend to concentrate on Steve Jackson Games products such as ''GURPS'', it has published articles on other games such as '' d20 System'', ''Talisman'', ''Nobilis'', ''Hero System'', and has featured various comic strips and single-pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gregorian calendar, is a solar calendar system that originally evolved out of a lunar calendar system. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from a lunisolar calendar, whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process of intercalation. The details of when months begin vary from calendar to calendar, with some using new, full, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations. Since each lunation is approximately days, (which gives a mean synodic month as 29.53059 days or 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 3 seconds) it is common for the months of a lunar calendar to alternate between 29 and 30 days. Since the period of 12 such lunations, a lunar year, is 354 days, 8 h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Period
The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting other stars, or binary stars. For celestial objects in general, the sidereal period ( sidereal year) is referred to by the orbital period, determined by a 360° revolution of one body around its primary, e.g. Earth around the Sun, relative to the fixed stars projected in the sky. Orbital periods can be defined in several ways. The tropical period is more particularly about the position of the parent star. It is the basis for the solar year, and respectively the calendar year. The synodic period incorporates not only the orbital relation to the parent star, but also to other celestial objects, making it not a mere different approach to the orbit of an object around its parent, but a period of orbital relations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moons
A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are often colloquially referred to as ''moons'', a derivation from the Moon of Earth. In the Solar System, there are six planetary satellite systems containing 209 known natural satellites altogether. Seven objects commonly considered dwarf planets by astronomers are also known to have natural satellites: , Pluto, Haumea, , Makemake, , and Eris. , there are 442 other minor planets known to have natural satellites. A planet usually has at least around 10,000 times the mass of any natural satellites that orbit it, with a correspondingly much larger diameter. The Earth–Moon system is a unique exception in the Solar System; at 3,474 kilometres (2,158 miles) across, the Moon is 0.273 times the diameter of Earth and about of its mass. The next largest ratios are the Neptune–Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sub-tropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and south. The horse latitudes lie within this range. Subtropical climates are often characterized by hot summers and mild winters with infrequent frost. Most subtropical climates fall into two basic types: humid subtropical (Koppen climate Cfa), where rainfall is often concentrated in the warmest months, for example Southeast China and the Southeastern United States, and dry summer or Mediterranean climate (Koppen climate Csa/Csb), where seasonal rainfall is concentrated in the cooler months, such as the Mediterranean Basin or Southern California. Subtropical climates can also occur at high elevations within the tropics, such as in the southern end of the Mexican Plateau and in Da Lat of the Vietnamese Central Highlands. The six climate clas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout the year and more distinct seasonal changes compared to tropical climates, where such variations are often small and usually only have precipitation changes. In temperate climates, not only do latitudinal positions influence temperature changes, but sea currents, prevailing wind direction, continentality (how large a landmass is) and altitude also shape temperate climates. The Köppen climate classification defines a climate as "temperate" C, when the mean temperature is above but below in the coldest month to account for the persistency of frost. However, other climate classifications set the minimum at . Zones and climates The north temperate zone extends from the Tropic of Cancer (approximately 23.5° north latitude) to the Arctic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole, with 0° at the Equator. Lines of constant latitude, or ''parallels'', run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude and ''longitude'' are used together as a coordinate pair to specify a location on the surface of the Earth. On its own, the term "latitude" normally refers to the ''geodetic latitude'' as defined below. Briefly, the geodetic latitude of a point is the angle formed between the vector perpendicular (or ''normal'') to the ellipsoidal surface from the point, and the plane of the equator. Background Two levels of abstraction are employed in the definitions of latitude and longitude. In the first step the physical surface is modeled by the geoid, a surface which approximates the mean sea level over the ocean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subregions
A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south are commonly used to define a subregion. United Nations subregions The Statistics Division of the United Nations (UN) is in charge of the collection, processing, and dissemination of statistical information for the UN. In 1999, it developed a system of macro-geographical (continental) regions, subregions, and other selected economic groups to report advances towards achieving numerous millennial development goals worldwide. These statistical divisions were devised for statistical purposes and is used for carrying out statistical analysis. The division's first publication was the book ''World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics'' in 2000. According to the UN, the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven regions are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. "Most people recognize seven continents—Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, from largest to smallest—although sometimes Asia and Europe are considered a single continent, Eurasia." Variations with fewer continents may merge some of these, for example America, Eurasia, or Afro-Eurasia are sometimes treated as single continents, which can bring the total number as low as four. Zealandia, a largely submerged mass of continental crust, has also been described as a continent. Oceanic islands are frequently grouped with a nearby continent to divide all the world's land into geographical regions. Under t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Game System License
The Game System License is a license that allows third-party publishers to create products compatible with and using the intellectual property from the 4th edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It was released to the public by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) on June 17, 2008. History A System Reference Document (SRD) of the 3rd edition of ''D&D'' had been licensed under the Open Game License (OGL). The OGL is a copyright license, allowing the use of copyrighted text created by others in one's products. Also released at the same time was the d20 System Trademark License, allowing third-party publishers to indicate compatibility using a system logo, but not allowing the use of the ''D&D'' trademark. The Game System License (GSL), however, grants use of the 4th Edition System Reference Document, which lists trademarks, words, and short phrases that could be used to refer to materials in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 4th edition rules, but contains no rules itself. People wishing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roleplaying Game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal role-playing game system, system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing game, live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
