I'm in the middle of writing another book, so I've been really preoccupied. However, I'm stopping everything for a quick moment to write a review for a role-playing game. Yep – that’s right: a role-playing game.
It’s called Low-fantasy Gaming (LFG). I'm not a game designer; I don't know all the eccentricities and math that goes into making a game. What I do know is if it's fun to play, which is completely subjective, at best. For the super pros out there: it’s a standard D20 and very similar to an OSR system.
Some things to keep in mind:
1. There might be
some rambling involved.
2. I’m not
proofreading this.
3. I like
low-fantasy.
4. I don't want
to flip through a mountain of books or be a role-playing constitutional lawyer
in order to play.
5. I like freedom
in my game.
6. The game and its
modules don't force me to choose between buying them and feeding my family.
I should also
disclose that I emailed the game designer, Stephen J. Grodzicki, telling him I
enjoyed his game and that it was apparent he put a great amount effort and passion into it. He asked if I would
write a review, if I had time. I
understand this all too well. Indie
artists have a lot of trouble with exposure.
There is so much stuff out
there, be it books, games, blogs, and on and on that a small gem can get lost
in a pile of dirt clogs. It happens all
the time. This is why I'm forcing myself
to stop what I'm doing, let this cup of coffee get cold, and write this review.
Why low-fantasy?
I don't mind high
fantasy, but it can get somewhat ridiculous at times. I know a good game master can make any
setting a fun environment - no need to post that comment. To me, a long high fantasy campaign can
sometimes feel like this:
- Every 1000 acres there's a castle or liar with an evil necromancer set on enslaving the world.
- Every other village is suffering from werewolf attacks, cultists, a troll, or a bandit king.
- Taverns are full of elves, orcs, dwarves, humans, gnomes, halfings, half-orcs, half-elves, half-gnomes, and my personal favorite: half-halfings. Now, the other half of these halves can be elves, orcs, dwarves, humans, gnomes, or halflings. Then, there's the half-halves. I don’t even want to get into it.
- Every barkeep has rats in their cellar.
- Elves are pretentious, know-it-alls jerks.
- Dwarves are shrunken, hot-tempered Vikings.
- Humans are all orphans that probably are somehow of royal blood and destined to do great things. You are the chosen one!
- Orcs are either horribly bad OR just misunderstood.
I could go on,
but you get the idea. I know the above
is WAY to the extreme, but sometimes that's how I see it.
In low-fantasy,
when a village is being assaulted nightly by a hungry troll, the players don't
have to ask which village. It's
generally known, just like the Grendel's attacks were legendary across the
kingdom. Some thought it was just a
story, until Beowulf killed it. Dun,
Dun, Duuunnn! Conversely, when there are
25 different necromancers in 25 different counties trying to take over the
world, suddenly your quest doesn't seem so special.
"Hey guys, where are you and your small warband
heading?"
"We're off to stop a necromancer from dominating the world
and unleashing a horde of demons."
"Hmmm, the necromancer in Alamance county, down from Haven
Crest village?"
"What? No, the
necromancer just past the village in Raven Valley."
"Oh, Gotcha. I
see. Good luck to you. We're off to the stop the necromancer in
Onslow county.”
“Wait a sec, hold on, be careful if you stop in Rhuneshire
village. There's a werewolf ... and what
else ... oh, oh, cultists. There's
cultists."
This is why
low-fantasy is so appealing to me, if done correctly. LFG doesn't have a specific world, but it
does have rules that rein in the world enough to keep it low-fantasy. The predominate race is human and the author
suggests sticking with humans. However,
he does give stats for dwarves and elves with the caveat that, if you play one
of these races, the player should keep in mind that they are very rare and that
most humans have probably never seen one.
The classes are
barbarian, bard, fighter, and magic-user.
What? A magic class in a low-fantasy setting? How does this make sense if there's tons of
magic-users running around? LFG gives a penalty
every time a player uses any type of magic.
In the system, magic is inherently bad.
I like this approach. Magic has
the same context in my novels. It’s not
meant to be used and all magic springs forth from evil forces. So, if you want to be a magic-user in LFG,
you will be rolling on what Stephen Grodzicki has labeled the Dark &
Dangerous Magic Table - nothing good comes that table.
The Game Book
The entire game
is in one book. You can download the PDF
for free here or buy a printed version, which is very cheap. I bought the print version for under $10
(including shipping). The book is setup
nicely and has an old-school feel to it.
There’s the standard What is a Role-playing
Game section and one that explains dice.
There is a monster section that covers most everything you will need in
any adventure (yes, even trolls and necromancers).
The best part of
the book are the tables that he has put together. There are encounter tables for every setting,
treasure tables, magic item tables (which should be rare), and dungeon
generating tables. The cool part is that
he doesn’t just write in plain text the encounter or square footage of the dungeon
rooms. Instead, he describes them like a
game master would. I really think these
tables would make this system a great candidate for solo game playing with the
Mythic GM Emulator, SoloRPG.com, or any other system of your choice.
Freedom
One of the
criticisms I’ve read online is the new ability granted at 3rd, 6th,
9th, and 12th level.
Basically, you get to create the ability yourself, so long as it’s not
game-breaking. I guess this seems like
too much work for some people and I totally get that. For me, I don’t mind because this gives me
the freedom to hone the character exactly like I want him to be. If you have trouble thinking of something,
the book even suggests to check out other systems you might already have and
borrow an ability from it. Odds are, if
you have one game system, you probably have another. This rule works for me because I love the
freedom of it. Again, I understand how
some game masters might hate it because they have to keep track of all these
new abilities (or the player can just remind them, but whatever).
Price
Like I mention
above, you can’t beat the price. If you
find another game system cheaper than FREE,
good for you. Stephen Grodzicki has even
made some adventure modules, which I believe are around $1.00. C’mon … $1.00!
So there it
is! My take on the Low-fantasy Gaming
system. It’s really worth a look, even
if you’re a super pro that chucks dice better than a bad guy in a Jim Croce
song.
Ok, back to
writing …
