Paizo, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-64078-141-2
Fantasy, 2019

Druma, Profit and Prophecy is a shockingly old-school Pathfinder Campaign Setting entry. It’s an apt final splatbook in the first edition series, but given how little of it is drenched in nonsensical real time Portland-ish social justice hogwash, I can only wonder whether this is something old that was dragged out of the “maybe one day” drawer to fill up a publication slot.

That explains why these people forgot to include the names of all the illustrated NPCs in this book. Maybe they forgot, or maybe it’s by design? Who knows, but yeah, the NPC illustrations are all without their name.

Druma is fascinating. A Kalistocracy – a made-up word to show how this nation is actually ruled by a group of folks who call themselves the Prophets of Kalistrade, or Kalistocrats for short. These folks all wear white, are touchy about coming in physical contact with dirt and commoners, and practice a strictly regimented lifestyle riddled with taboos related to diet and more. Of course, most of them have creative interpretations of their rules and taboos, especially when it comes to sex, and it seems like everything that is taboo is actually okay if it involved gold, lots of gold. They won’t be filthy rich buggers if they didn’t do this.

Oh yes, these people are all masters in amassing great wealth. Wealth is their main objective in life, so they cheerfully betray and sabotage even as they consort with anyone that can contribute to their plans. Yes, this is a nation of Shylocks in Golarion, although the Kalistocrats follow a secular philosophy rather than a religious one, and the Kalistocrats are comprised of humans and dwarves mostly instead of a single race.

There is a reason why these people are obsessed with wealth, one that only the most devoted adherents to the philosophy will discover: all the wealth they amass will become a part of a ritual that will allow them to bypass Pharasma’s judgment once they die. Their wealth will be melted down to be used in a self-mummification ritual that anchors their soul to this plane, only this time the soul creates its own version of paradise in a mindscape, to frolic in for as long as the body remains undisturbed in a well-hidden tomb. The wealthier you are at the time of your death, the more luxurious will be the paradise you can create for yourself and anyone else you choose to bring along with you.

Hence, the very old and dying Kalistocrats are the ones to truly fear, as they have nothing to lose. They will do everything and anything to amass as much wealth as possible, and it is worth nothing that the bulk of the Kalistocrats are neutral-aligned. Hence, they are just as likely to sell you out as they are to be your business partner.

Interestingly, the daemonic harbinger Braismois has recently learned of this ritual, and with the assistance of his worshipers, he is determined to locate each and every tomb of the dead Kalistrocrats in the neighborhood, consume their souls to upgrade his powers and take on Charon.

Of all the mostly generic theme park elements off Golarion, most of which composed of tired tropes of fantasy lands, Druma is certainly unique and, hence, a memorable trip into a genuinely interesting setting. The gazetteer of the land isn’t very interesting, honestly, although the presence of a top secret market full of merchants from other planets is so ridiculous that it ends up making perfect sense; it’s the culture and the rituals of the Khlistocrats that command the bulk of the interest here. The history of the land is also pretty intriguing, although the prophecy aspect of Kalistrade’s teaching is bewilderingly played down here for the other aspects of the philosophy. Then again, given how prophecy is basically dead after Aroden got dusted, maybe that’s for the best.

As for the downsides, there is a notable lack of crunch here. They could have at least rehash or update the stats of the Prophet of Kalistrade prestige class, or maybe come up with some unique variations of the Prophets or the Mercenary League classes, but no.

Instead, they waste space on mostly generic and unnecessary entries in the bestiary section, as if there weren’t already so many animals and things to kill in this setting. Oh, and they also include the stats and a pic for Braismois, which is nice except that he’s another one of the redundant deity types in the niche already crowded with the likes of Asmodeus, Abadar, and Mephistopheles. Why bother? Who’s going to kill that thing and for what purpose? Why not include information that more players can actually make use of?

Also, do we need another deity of contracts? Why not make him into a deity of… I don’t know, usury and financial corruption, perhaps, and have him view the Prophecies of Kalistrade as an affront to his own personal desire to devour the souls of all misers, swindlers, and financial tyrants everywhere. Sometimes it feels like these people at Paizo work in threepeats. Oh, a deity of soy lattes! Let’s do one each for the neutral, good, and evil factions! And while we’re at it, let’s spawn some more for each faction, so that we have neutral, lawful, and chaotic aspects of the faction all covered!

Sorry, that’s a rant that hits my sore spot because I’m still bitter that there are so many wannabes who claim to be all about drowning and waters when we all know Hanspur is the one true, real, supreme deity of the fun things you can do to your enemies and other vermin in water.

Back to this one, like all Paizo books, good luck in finding the information you want quick, as the arrangement of content in this book is all over the place. I personally recommend just getting the PDF so that you can quickly search for things or make annotations. I have the physical copy as well as the digital (yes, I’m a subscriber to their campaign book line… whatever it is called now), and already the PDF is getting more use than the physical copy. It’s for the best, as the binding of my physical copy is already showing sign of coming apart after only a few reads—a common issue with Paizo’s books where I am concerned.

All things considered, Druma, Profit and Prophecy is one of the rare stand-out unique books in the Pathfinder setting, so it’s worth a look for that reason alone. The lack of eye-rolling gender pronouns is only cherry on top. This is certainly a nice way to round up the first edition output, although a part of me will always lament that we never have a book that focuses on Razmiran, that intriguing nation of false worship.