The Kingdoms of Kalamar

The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting published by Kenzer & Company in 1994 that is compatible with the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons published by TSR. Several other editions of the game were subsequently released as new editions of Dungeons & Dragons were published.

The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fictional fantasy role-playing game setting that describes the Kingdoms of Kalamar on the planet Tellene, providing details of its inhabitants, flora and fauna, geography, religions, and nations.

David Kenzer and his friends Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson, who played AD&D, decided to start the game company Kenzer & Company in 1994 to produce material for the 2nd edition of AD&D. Their first project was The Kingdoms of Kalamar, an unlicensed fantasy world created without permission of TSR. Kalamar specifically did not mention AD&D, and was advertised as a generic setting that could be adapted to any role-playing game system but was designed to be compatible with the second edition of AD&D. A note on the back cover clarified that the setting was "suitable for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" with a disclaimer "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of this trademark is NOT sanctioned by the holder."

The Kingdoms of Kalamar was packaged in a ziplock bag (and later as a box set) and included:

Kenzer & Company produced two more expansions for The Kingdoms of Kalamar in 1997, then went into hiatus for two years. When the company returned to business, it produced what game historian Shannon Appelcline called "a set of cheap and small Kalamar Quest adventures (1999–2000)."

In Issue 16 of Shadis (November 1994), Scott Johnson liked the quality of the maps, writing, "The maps are beautiful and rival those of any other company on the market, including TSR. You will also appreciate the fact that they are printed on a heavy, durable stock which should survive all the abuses that gamemasters and players will likely subject them to over the years." Johnson was "pleasantly surprised" by the book about religion, commenting, "While the book does detail information about the many gods of the world, it does much more, detailing the religions and how they affect the political and social structure of the world as well as detailing the priests of each religion. I came away from the read with hundreds of ideas for adventures." Johnson concluded, "If you are a game master looking for a good world setting to run your game in or a world builder with your own campaign already going, The Kingdoms of Kalimar offers you a refreshingly generic view and more than your money's worth. I highly recommend it."

In the December 1996 edition of Dragon (Issue #236), Rick Swan especially liked the religion section, and called the color maps "lush". Swan concluded with a recommendation to buy, saying, "the mountain of campaign fodder should be enough to keep your players busy until they're ready for the rest home."

In the 2014 Designers & Dragons: The '90s, game historian Shannon Appelcline noted that "Though small press, [Kalamar] was lauded for its colorful maps and its attention to details — making it in some ways like a more fantasy-oriented version of Columbia Games' classic Hârn."