Quality work, but pricey for what it is.

Punjar: The Tarnished Jewel carries the same production quality as most Goodman Games offerings: good artwork, smart layout, and superior design. The only problem with this gazetteer for the swords & sorcery fantasy city of Punjar is that one is essentially paying $5 US for sixteen pages of text overview.

The book is a very general introduction to a fantasy setting. Certainly, it's well-writtem, but there's not a lot to "take away" from this product if you're not planning to use Punjar. Author Harley Stroh does a stellar job of demonstrating how to write an intriguing overview, but that's about all there is here, in the final analysis.

I guess the most damning criticism is the one which the product levels at itself: it's clearly marked at several points in the PDF that Punjar: The Tarnished Jewel started its life as a free give-away intended for Free RPG Day.

To find ourselves now charged five dollars for the same freebie material is ... mildly insulting to say the least. As a free product, Punjar: The Tarnished Jewel is more than one could hope to find for free; however, as a sixteen-page, five -dollar product, it's short and it's shallow, despite the obvious quality.

Final verdict? A dead split -- 2.5 out of 5 (rounded up for the RPGNow system). As above, the quality is undeniable, but paying five bucks for a short, former freebie giveaway just feels ... insulting.