Vornheim

It's a Play-Aid, It's an Art Project, It's Both!
I have been going through a stack of favorites from a few years back when I was first becoming aware of the Old School Renaissance (OSR). I am rather late to the scene as evidenced by the number of signature products that were already popular when I first started reading OSR blogs, ordering books and delving into the richness that has had a significant impact on my experience of the hobby. Having never completely abandoned my love for, and use of, some of my oldest RPGs, White Box, RuneQuest, Tunnels & Trolls and The Fantasy Trip, I have nevertheless played many of the newer systems and regularly play the most recent versions of the most popular fantasy games.
Finding a community of like-minded enthusiasts for the old systems has given me much joy. I find the new products released as part of the OSR very engaging and are now some of my favorites. Among the new OSR finds I really like is Vornheim: The Complete City Kit by Zak S. published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Zak S., aka Zak Sabbath, aka Zak Smith is sometimes controversial, but nevertheless a genius in my estimation. His game aid Vornheim is as unique and useful a product as any I have encountered inside gaming or out. Every inch of space, including the inside of the dust jacket is covered with art and game tools in the most brilliant way conceivable. Ostensibly, this is a city guide, but to characterize it as such would be to ignore how much more there is here than just a city. The hard cover of the book is a unique dice rolling device allowing virtually any die to be replicated by dropping a d4 (or similar non-rolling object) onto the cover. It's a brilliant use of space and a very creative idea.
If you don't know already, Zak S. is an artist...I mean a real working gallery artist. So the artwork here is not so much in the book as "is the book". Like his more recent, In A Red And Pleasant Land, also published by Lamentations... the book itself is a work of art. It's more than pretty, however, there is a whole campaign setting here in the slender 64 page tome. Having viewed Zak's I Hit It With My Axe video series, I recognize much of the Vornheim material as it is used in the "Axe" campaign.
Vornheim is a great urban setting and I won't spoil it by describing specific features. I think experiencing it fresh through the book itself is worth the wait. I will say that much like Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord, there is much useful material here that a referee can carry over into any urban adventure making it useful well beyond the city's walls. Vornheim is one of those treasures that is just too good to keep to myself, as a result I have purchased several copies which I have given away just to "share the wealth"...and hear people tell me how great it is.