Are you ready to go beyond the Sunrise Sea?

Goodman Games has announced the release date of Points of Light II: The Sunrise Sea here. It will be released in May.

The four lands presented in this edition of Points of Light are

• The Golden Shores: A land in the midst of being colonized, where adventurers can encounter unknown cultures, old enemies, and battle a darkness that has haunted the land for millennia.
• Amacui: A frontier land with only a single trading post representing the civilized world, but there are many ruins to explore and new civilizations to discover.
• The Misty Isle: The greatest threat to exploration is not the natives or ‘things man is not meant to know,’ but enemies from the old world. Here in the Misty Isles, enemies from different realms and factions fight amid the jungles and islands.
  
• Mazatl, the Realm of the Bat God: Rising from the vast Jungles of Zaracar is a massive shield volcano. Here the blood god, Azartac, lives in the city of Mazatl in the volcano’s caldera.
  

The theme of Points of Light I was about saving or expanding civilization. The theme of Points of Light II is exploration beyond the frontier of your campaign. I plundered history and myth to come up with four lands that are meant to be explored. This is not a rehash of Forgotten Realm's Maztica or an historical recreation. For example the culture of the natives of the Golden Shore are more like Mycanae Greek (Bronze Age) than Native Americans. The empire of Amacui is inspired by Ancient Assyria. Fans of pulp Swords & Sorcery will like the Misty Isles a lot. I think you find the volcano setting of Mazatl unique.

For those who followed the backstory of the first Points of Light, the Sunrise Sea gives you more information about the Grand Kingdom period. You will find out what happened to the Sarrath Faction from Borderland and Wildland and be introduced to a new human kingdom. Mazatl gives more details on blood god, Azeel, introduced in Wildland. Unlike the first Points of Light the four lands are set in the same "time" but are more diverse in their geography.

Again the background is an option, designed to allow people to combine the lands into a grand campaign if that their wish. The focus is still on writing lands that can just "drop" into your existing campaign.

The map sizes are slightly larger and have 27 columns and instead of 25. All the maps are full size unlike PoL I where Acheron was a half map. There are twice as many mini-maps. The monster stat block have been changed; instead of 5 HD it is now 5th Level, striker. With striker being the role/personality of the monster. This was done to broaden the appeal of the series to all editions of world's most popular RPG not just the older ones. The design, the writing, and feel of the lands are the same as PoL I.