I recently bought Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying Game (ASOIAF RPG) on a whim. I am a BIG fan of Robert J. Schwalb, since Shadow of the Demon Lord* is one of my favorite games, but didn't write a review so far.
I did write a review of ASOIAF RPG... but I thought there was no point in publishing it here since the game is a bit old and out of print.
HOWEVER, now I noticed that this is the best seller in DTRPG today:
This book is Sword Chronicle - Feudal Fantasy Roleplaying *. More about it here:
What Kind of Chronicle System?
We’ve also fielded questions about what iteration of the Chronicle System Sword Chronicle represents. The answer is straightforward: The game uses what is substantially the same as the system seen in the original A Song of Ice and Fire roleplaying game, minus the setting of Westeros, as our license for that intellectual property has concluded. Beyond our ability to swiftly make the game happen, one of the attractions of this is the fact that virtually every setting-neutral Chronicle System supplement remains compatible with Sword Chronicle, so the game automatically drops with additional support. And if you’re still playing Chronicle games using earlier books, you can use Sword Chronicle as an alternative core with few adjustments required. The major differences are:
- In response to long time feedback from Chronicle players, armor no longer penalizes Combat Defense. Some slight changes to other rules support this shift.
- Rules for fantasy ancestries are integrated into character creation.
- Intrigue has been revised both for clarity and to bring some of the systems into line with more rigorous player safety standards.
- Sorcery is part of the core rules. These rules are a streamlined version of the rules originally introduced in Chronicle of Sorcery.
- Our new setting is the Shattered Era, though the rules themselves are largely setting neutral.
So.... that old review might be a bit useful after all.
BTW, I am probably NOT writing a review of Sword Chronicle in the near future. I liked ASOIF RPG a bit, but not enough to use it over other games, and it seems the revision was not extensive enough for my tastes (I think the game has a few things to improve; see below). I've read some comments online from people that are more experienced with to system saying there are other mistakes that haven't been fixed, but I cannot say for sure. But it looks like a decent d6 system, however, if you are into this kind of game, and I'm glad it got updated.
Anyway, here it goes.
I recently bought A Song of Ice and Fire RPG: A Game of Thrones Edition (ASOIAF RPG) on a whim. I am a big fan of Robert J. Schwalb since reading Shadow of the Demon Lord*.
I'm a fan of the ASOIF book, but I still didn't know RPG very well. I finished reading it quickly, but I haven't played it yet.
Notice that this is a d6 game by Green Ronin, NOT the d20 version ("A Game of Thrones") by White Wolf.
The art of the game is very good, as you can see below. On the other hand, it didn't really appeal to me - maybe because of the "realistic" looks that make things a bit less exciting, even if they are very fitting to the setting. I LOVE the pregenerated characters pictured below, however - great for introducing new players, for showing what kind of PCs you can make, and even for NPCs since they are not much different to PCs in this game.
The book provides a brief description of the setting - focused on the continent of Westeros, with little information about the rest of the planet - before talking about the system. It is a superficial description but serves as an introduction for those who haven't read the original books.
The story takes place a few years before the first book in the series, and the original RPG was released in 2009, so there is much that this book does not cover (which is not really a problem). The system is cool, mixing simplicity in character creation with more details in situations that are important to the setting, such as combat, war, and intrigue.
Instead of the traditional "attribute + skill" format, characters are defined by some 20 skills (agility, cunning, athletics, knowledge, healing ...) that can have specializations (acrobatics, balance, memory, etc.). In addition, they have benefits to further customize the character - something similar to D&D feats. The characters have several traits that are important in the setting: status, age, family, etc., so that the creation of characters fits well with what you would expect from books.
The strong points of the books are precisely the chapters that focus on the particularities of the series. There are rules to create not only your character, but entire families - which go on even after the characters die (something that happens frequently in the series). There are mechanics for managing land and building castles. There are specific ways to create various types of intrigue, with lies, arguments, bribes, etc. There are rules for tournaments, mass combat, and so on.
Combat is also very detailed, with several weapons with specific characteristics and quality distinctions. There are more or less lasting injuries, fatigue, and so on. This is one step or two more detailed and complexity that 5e D&D. Since I LIKE detailed melee combat, that didn't bother me - even though this is not what the series is about.
The book has little to say about magic, since it is extremely unusual in Westeros at that time. There are no spells, magic weapons, etc. The bestiary of the book is also very short. Although there is a dragon on the back cover, the book does not contain statistics on dragons, only one of three rare monsters (ghouls, giants and The Others). Most opponents are humans or ordinary animals.
The book also has some weaknesses. It only uses d6s, which is not a problem. However, in some cases the book seems to ignore how statistics work, so there is a table that indicates that when creating a home you would have a MINIMUM chance of having a boar or wolf in your coat of arms, while the chance of having a dragon is 100 or 1000 times higher, which does not appear to be on purpose.
There are other strange bits. For example, the book seems to suggest that you have better chances to find someone (a perception test) when you are NOT looking for them.
In short, it seems like some details are glossed over and the system seems to be lacking more play-testing and streamlining. But these are small defects that do not ruin the game.
Other than that, the system seems to work well enough. Of course, it assumes that you WANT to play in this world more focused on intrigue and management of lands and castles, conflicts between families rather than a group of adventurers, etc. For that, it is very interesting.
If you want something simpler or more heroic, however, there are better options. ASOIF RPG has an average level of complexity; maybe a bit less than D&D 5e but still very detailed, especially in these chapters on intrigues, lands, etc. Honestly, it might be too much detail with not enough payback in some places (the detailed rules for intrigue are a bit convoluted), while it sounds interesting in other places (land management comes to mind). Overall, it fells a bit fiddlier than it needs to be, but that might just be personal preference.
Anyway, if you are looking for this RPG, you are probably interested in the setting of ASOIAF. If that is the case, I can recommend checking this book out. Likewise, take a look if you're looking for low magic, high intrigue games.
---
* By purchasing stuff through affiliate links you're helping to support this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment