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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #2: Eclipse Syndicate
by William R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/05/2015 15:17:38

The Ellipse Syndicate is an interesting idea for a team of villains as in a way they are sympathetically written while still being self-centered and criminal at the same time. My only real complaint is has more to do with their creator (who was, I assume, made up for this product) who has no connection to the established Freedom City setting - I feel that there are characters who have already been presented that could have filled that role and really tied the Eclipse Syndicate more into the overall setting.

But otherwise I'm looking forward to introducing them in my own game soon!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #2: Eclipse Syndicate
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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #11: Alchemistress
by William R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/05/2015 15:13:31

An interesting character overall, Alchemistress might perhaps have better developed connections to the overall Freedom City setting by perhaps being made part of an already established super villain group rather than being a solo villain.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #11: Alchemistress
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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #4: Purple Haze and Scarlet Mist
by William R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/05/2015 15:12:02

As usual Green Ronin has made some very interesting NPCs to be used in the Freedom City setting. With ties to a character that has long been ignored for the most part and connections to an apparent revival of a previously mentioned other character that might be released at a later date (at least that's how I read the references), Purple Haze & Scarlet Mist can be a useful pair of characters that PCs can deal with several times and never be bored given their power sets and personalities.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #4: Purple Haze and Scarlet Mist
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by Matthew D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/04/2015 22:41:33

I'm writing this review about 2 hours after completing our first game using the Fantasy AGE system. We played the starting adventure in the back of the book. The entire session lasted about 5 hours, including character creation and some heavy role-playing in the beginning to get used to the system.

Some general comments and thoughts:

-Character creation was pretty straight forward. There were four players and they took about 15-20 minutes make characters. All were experienced role-payers, but none had played Fantasy AGE prior to tonight. -Any confusion or ambiguity in the rules was easily explained with the short glossary or a quick index check -The pdf file was nice. Bookmark links worked. Index page links worked.

-Role-playing was smooth, with things like persuasion or empathy checks being completed easily -Everybody loved the Stunt mechanic. It added much fun and variety to the game.

-Combat clipped along, never felt like it was lagging. Players commented after the game that they really noticed how fast and smoothly turns progressed and the rounds flew by -We used Spellsheets for the casters that I found online that had all spells (with stats, cost, TN, etc.). None of the casters took much longer than other players. Everything was simple and straight-forward for magic-users. -Before the game, I had printed several copies of the combat/spell stunt tables and major/minor action lists for the players reference. It made things much easier for everybody.

Overall, I feel this was a fun system for a quick pick-up game, a one-shot, or short campaign. It's perfect for introducing people to table-tops for the first time. I have reservations about how efficient or easy this will remain for a longer or deeper game. It seems like it could fall apart or burn out at higher levels, but I guess we'll have to keep playing and find out. For now, we love it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #9: Pandemic
by Dominique S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/01/2015 19:43:16

Pandemic is another release in the Green Ronin Games line of Rouges Gallery character supplements. As with other releases in the series, this entry contains information on the character’s background and origin; his personality; and overview of his powers; his enemies; and a plot hook for GMs. There’s also a brief side bar with a warning for GMs on potential problems his power set could cause. Due to his rather unique powers, things could become quite ugly for PCs if they’re not careful when dealing with him.

Pandemic has got to be one of the more original characters appearing in the Emerald City campaign setting. He’s a former research scientist, searching for possible cures to various super diseases. Unfortunately for him, expose to alien DNA had some serious side effects, which resulted in him being transformed into a walking plague. He’s dangerous, very dangerous, as his abilities make him highly contagious. PCs would be well advised to take extreme care when dealing with him

I like this guy. He’s got a distinct look and feel to him, that’s rather unique. His powers, if used as written, will provide for some interesting game play, especially if one or more of the PCs, or someone close to them, becomes infected. I’m giving this one 5 out of 5.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #9: Pandemic
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by Roger (. L. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 09/26/2015 02:57:48

http://www.teilzeithelden.de/2015/09/26/rezension-fantasy-in-gruen-fantasy-age/

Nach dem großen Erfolg von Dragon Age als Tischrollenspiel bringt uns Green Ronin die zugrundeliegende Würfelengine generisch überarbeitet als Fantasy AGE, und Wil Wheaton hyped gleich heftigst mit. Oliver fühlt sich stark an seinen persönlichen Favoriten D&D5 erinnert – mit ein paar netten Zusatzelementen, die den Kampf und die Würflerei beleben.

Rezension: Fantasy in Grün – Fantasy AGE

Seitdem Wil Wheaton seine Titansgrave-Kampagne angefangen hat, findet man das zugrundeliegende Regelwerk Fantasy AGE jeden Tag auf den vorderen Verkaufsrängen bei RPGNow. Einen besseren Start hätte sich die generische Variante des Dragon Age-Tischrollenspiels kaum wünschen können. Was also hat dieses schlanke und dennoch relativ vollständige Regelwerk zu bieten? Die Spielwelt

Fantasy AGE ist die Veröffentlichung der AGE-Regelengine ohne ein großes beigefügtes Setting. Es soll sich für 08/15-Fantasy eignen und bringt darum auch nur die typischen EDO-Rassen mit. Wer ein AGE-angepasstes Setting will, sollte zu Dragon Age, Midgard, Blue Rose oder Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana greifen.

Die Regeln

Die Probe in Fantasy AGE ist einfacher Wurf gegen einen dem SL bekannten Zielwert. Hierbei werden 3W6 geworfen und zwei weitere Modifikatoren hinzuaddiert: das Attribut und der Focus.

Attribute rangieren zu Beginn von -2 bis zu +5. Sie werden direkt auf die passenden Würfe aufgeschlagen und drücken die generellen Fähigkeiten einer Spielfigur in neun Bereichen aus: Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, Communication, Perception, Willpower, Fighting und Accuracy.

Foci stellen das Fertigkeitensystem dar. Bis einschließlich Stufe 10 darf man einen Focus nur einmal erwerben, er verleiht in dem betreffenden Skill einen Bonus von +2. Erwirbt man ihn ab Stufe 11 ein zweites Mal, so gibt es einen fixen Bonus von +3.

Typische Proben in Fantasy AGE wären zum Beispiel Tests auf Constitution (Stamina) oder Dexterity (Acrobatics). Das bedeutet, dass man das entsprechende Attribut zum Wurf hinzuaddiert. Den genannten Focus auch – aber nur wenn die Spielfigur diesen auch erworben hat.

Zielwerte rangieren von 7 bis 21. Da ein Wurf von 3W6 statistisch gesehen Ergebnisse im Bereich von 9 bis 12 beim Wurf am wahrscheinlichsten macht, kann man auch ungefähr davon ausgehen, dass man eine Schwierigkeit von 11 + Attribut + Focus sehr gut schaffen kann. Anders als beim W20-Wurf sind extreme Ergebnisse unwahrscheinlich bis sehr unwahrscheinlich.

Beim Kampf ist der zu übertreffende Zielwert hingegen 10 + Dexterity + Schild. Da der Schildbonus nur von +1 bis +3 variiert, kommt es hauptsächlich auf die Geschicklichkeit des Ziels an, wie leicht es zu treffen ist. Haben der Angreifer und der Verteidiger ähnlich hohe Werte in relevanten Attributen, ist der Treffer ein sehr wahrscheinliches Ereignis.

Die Basis-Regeln (ohne Charaktergenerierung) für Kampf und Proben passen auf elf Seiten. Der Systemkern selbst ist schlank und gut verständlich.

Ein echtes Umdenken ist hier meiner Meinung nach für D&D-Spieler nicht nötig. Die Unterschiede in der Basis-Engine von Fantasy AGE zu gängigen D&D-Varianten und -Derivaten sind marginal. Das muss nicht schlecht sein. Die Einarbeitung ist sicherlich für Spieler dieser Systeme gering – ein attraktiver Markt für einen Verlag, und Green Ronin hat sich ja auch in der d20-Ecke reichlich herumgetrieben. Umgekehrt macht Fantasy AGE auch im Detail vieles anders, und wenn es denn auch nicht der große, neue Systementwurf sein mag, so ist es doch eine reine Geschmacksfrage, welchem System man letztlich den Vorzug gibt. Stunts

Stunts sind bei bestimmten Wurfergebnissen möglich und sind ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal der AGE-Engine. Alle Proben werden mit 3W6 absolviert, wobei einer der Würfel als „Stunt Die“ erkennbar sein muss – also durch anderes Design oder andere Farbe. Der Stunt Die bestimmt nicht nur den Erfolgsgrad einer Probe (je höher desto besser, später auch modifiziert): Zeigen zwei der Würfel in der Probe die gleiche Augenzahl, so generiert die Probe auch so viele Stunt-Punkte wie die Augenzahl des Stunt Die.

Hierfür kann man Stunts kaufen. Im Kampf sind das Manöver, die mehr Schaden oder andere Effekte bewirken. Bei Proben außerhalb des Kampfes kann man sich gemäß einer Optionalregel auch Zusatzeffekte aus einer Tabelle kaufen. Durch Talente kann man die Stunt-Punkt-Kosten bestimmter Manöver senken oder weitere mögliche Stunts über die Standardauswahl hinaus erwerben. Vor allem der Kampf gewinnt dadurch an Spannung. Außerdem ist dieses System besser für 3W6 geeignet als zum Beispiel die Extremwerte 3 oder 18 als Auslöser für besonders gelungene Aktionen zu verwenden, die statistisch eh nur einmal alle 216 Würfe vorkommen.

Stunts eignen sich auch, um Monsterpowers abzubilden:

Eine Medusa kann Stunt-Punkte dazu einsetzen, Gegner ihrem versteinernden Blick auszusetzen. Dies kostet 2 SP pro Gegner. Es kommt zu einem vergleichenden Wurf zwischen der Kreatur und dem Charakter. Versagt der Spieler, erhält die Spielfigur 4W6 Schaden und Abzüge von -2 auf alle Aktionen bis zur nächsten Rast. Fällt man durch diesen Schaden auf 0 Trefferpunkte wird die Spielfigur versteinert.

Hier zeigt sich auch gleich, wie ähnlich sich Fantasy AGE und D&D5 in vielen Designaspekten sind. Der vergleichende Wurf ersetzt den D&D-typischen Rettungswurf. Auch viele Monster aus dem D&D5 Monster Manual bewirken sofortigen Tod oder andere extreme Effekte nur dann, wenn sie die Spielfigur auf 0 Trefferpunkte drücken.

Magie Fantasy AGE unterscheidet nicht zwischen Klerikern und Magiern, sondern bietet nur eine Klasse Zauberwirker an – den Mage. Nur diese Basisklasse darf magische Talente erwerben, die wiederum den Zugang zu den Zaubersprüchen darstellen.

Gezaubert wird hierbei ganz einfach – man muss einen Intelligenzwurf ausführen. Hat man den Focus einer bestimmten Magieschule erworben, kommt der mit +2 auch noch drauf. Übertrifft man die Zielzahl des Zaubers, so gelingt er. Zum Spruchwirken muss man Magiepunkte ausgeben, die man mit der Zeit wieder regeneriert. Diese sind auch perdu, wenn man den Zauberwurf versiebt. Dafür kann man beim erfolgreichen Wirken eventuell die Kosten durch Stunt-Punkte drücken.

Die Spruchauswahl ist stark beschränkt. Alle Sprüche sind fix durch die Magieschule festgelegt, man hat also nur die Wahl, welche Schule man durch ein Talent erwirbt und zu welchem Grad. Es gibt drei Grade. Auf dem ersten erhält man zwei Sprüche und für die beiden anderen Grade je einen. Man beginnt das Spiel mit zwei Anfängertalenten und somit insgesamt vier Sprüchen. Je nachdem, wie man steigert, können das bis Stufe 5 maximal acht (leichtgewichtige) Sprüche werden. Steigert man eine Schule gezielt auf den höchsten Grad, kann man einen Hammerspruch wirken, dafür kennt man aber insgesamt nur sechs Sprüche. 9 Seiten reichen hiermit auch, die gesamte Spruchauswahl im Grundbuch abzudecken.

Charaktererschaffung

Die Charaktererschaffung setzt sich aus den folgenden Schritten zusammen: Man erwürfelt die neun Attribute. Ein simples Kaufsystem ist optional. Man wählt eine Rasse. Man darf dann aus zwei Foci wählen, ein Attribut um 1 erhöhen, außerdem gibt es rassenspezifische Spezialfähigkeiten wie Dunkelsicht. Zusätzlich darf man noch zweimal auf einer ebenfalls rassenspezifischen Tabelle weitere Boni erwürfeln. Zwei Würfe bestimmen die soziale Klasse und die Ausbildung des Charakters, zusammen bilden diese den Hintergrund der Spielfigur. Jeder Hintergrund hat zwei Foci zur Auswahl. Danach wählt man eine der drei Klassen: Mage, Rogue oder Warrior. Diese legen bis zur 20. Stufe fest, welche weiteren Fähigkeiten und Talente man pro Aufstieg erwerben darf. Auf Stufe 1 erwirbt man die Standardfähigkeiten der Klasse wie Zaubern oder die Fähigkeit, Rüstung ohne Abzüge zu tragen.

Damit sind die eigentlichen, für die Attribute wichtigen Schritte auch schon vollzogen. Warum man sich bei der all der Würflerei vorher schon sein Charakterkonzept überlegen soll, ist mir schleierhaft. Da man nach Standard eh keine Auswahl beim Hintergrund hat, ist das etwas hanebüchen, aber naja. Es liest sich gut.

Interessant wird das Ganze beim Stufenanstieg. Die Klasse legt nicht nur spezifische Aufstiegspfade, sondern auch vier primäre und fünf sekundäre Attribute fest. Auf jeder Stufe darf man einen neuen Focus wählen und ein Attribut erhöhen – wobei das bei sehr hohen Werten teurer wird. Hierbei darf man auf geraden Stufen aus den primären Attributen und ihren Foci wählen und bei ungeraden aus den sekundären. So rundet sich der Charakter mit vielfältigen Attributen und Fertigkeiten ab und so wird auch das Powergaming begrenzt. Zusätzlich gibt’s noch mehr Treffer- und Magiepunkte.

Auf den Stufen 4, 6 und 8 darf man eine erste Spezialisierung wählen und sie auf den höchsten Grad steigern, auf den Stufen 12, 14 und 16 eine zweite. Beispiele für Spezialisierungen sind Attentäter, Wunderwirker oder Scharfschütze – sie kommen den Prestigeklassen aus D&D3 oder den Heldenklassen aus Dungeonslayers nahe. Es gibt also reichlich am Charakter zu entwickeln und zu individualisieren.

Spielbarkeit aus Spielleitersicht

Der SL-Teil des Buchs ist mit 39 Seiten sehr dick, insbesondere gemessen an der Gesamtzahl von 145 Seiten. Meiner Meinung schon eher zu dick, zumal es deswegen im Anschluss nur für 14 Monster und vier Seiten magischer Gegenstände reicht. Bei einem D&D-ähnlichen Spiel ist das ein Totalversäumnis, und es steht zu hoffen, dass Settingbände oder eine Monstersammlung diesen Missstand ausgleichen.

Insgesamt ist die dargereichte Information sehr gut aufbereitet und sollte SL-Novizen einiges an Handreiche bieten, um gute Spiele zu leiten. Bei den zwei Seiten zum Thema Gefahren und Fallen hat man sich dann jedoch nicht mit Ruhm bekleckert. Regeltechnisch reicht dies völlig aus, nur bleibt es einem dann selbst überlassen, Fallen und Gefahren auszugestalten. Drei Beispiele mit je einem Absatz sind doch eher wenig.

Am Ende enthält das Buch ein Minisetting und Abenteuer mit einem Dutzend Seiten Umfang.

Die Regelengine hingegen leitet sich mit vielleicht zwei Blatt Papier zum Spicken (Stuntlisten) ohne Probleme. Was will man mehr?

Spielbarkeit aus Spielersicht

Das größte Problem für Spieler dürfte der unzureichende Charakterbogen sein. Es wird wohl den Fans überlassen sein, einen besseren zu entwickeln, auf dem all die Spezialisierungen, Talente und Foci übersichtlich und mit ihren Graden Platz haben. Der im Buch enthaltene taugt jedenfalls nichts.

Ansonsten gilt das selbe wie für den SL: Eine knackige Engine, leicht einzuüben.

Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis

Knapp über zehn USD pro 100 Seiten – das Buch liegt meiner Meinung nach gerade noch im grünen Bereich, was die Bepreisung angeht. Das hochwertige PDF mit Bookmarks wird dem Anspruch an ein solches Produkt jedenfalls gerecht.

Spielbericht Ohne Testspiel.

Erscheinungsbild

Das Layout ist schlicht, übersichtlich und augenfreundlich. Informationen und Tabellen wurden übersichtlich gestaltet und dargestellt, die Textmenge pro Seite geht auch vollkommen in Ordnung. Stimmungsvolle Illustrationen sind vorhanden, wenn auch nicht auf jeder Seite. Index, klickbares Inhaltsverzeichnis, Bookmarks – das ist weitestgehend Stand der Technik im PDF.

Bonus/Downloadcontent

Die Homepage von Green Ronin behandelt das neue Produkt sehr stiefmütterlich. Also fast gar nicht.

Fazit

Fantasy AGE erinnert mich sehr stark an D&D5. Es hat eine schlanke, leicht einzuprägende Engine. Ich finde es sogar so ähnlich, und auch in so hoher Qualität ausgeführt, dass ich ihm die selbe Note logischerweise nicht vorenthalten kann – der klare Daumen nach oben. Es ist meiner Auffassung nach letztendlich Jacke wie Hose, ob man D&D5 oder Fantasy AGE spielt. Unterschiede existieren nur im Detail und beide wollen wohl die genau gleiche Zielgruppe ansprechen.

Daher bleibt es wohl den Settings überlassen, welchem System man den Vorzug gibt. D&D5 eignet sich halt hervorragend zum Bespielen der 40 Jahre Altlasten. Die AGE-Engine muss sich mit Dragon Age und anderen oben genannten Settings aber auch vor niemand verstecken.

Das Gesamtprodukt wirkt jedenfalls rund und man kriegt Regel- und SL-Teil in einem Produkt. Es müssen halt nicht immer 300+ Seiten sein! Sowohl Einsteiger als auch alte Haudegen werden mit Fantasy AGE Spaß haben – auch wegen den Stunts, denn die verleihen einer bewährten Formel ganz neue Würze.



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[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #2: Eclipse Syndicate
by Dominique S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/22/2015 09:36:48

The Eclipse Syndicate is the only group entry, so far, in Green Ronin Games line of Rouges Gallery supplements. Like other entries in the series it consists of several standard subsections dealing with the group’s history, motivations/goals, their tactics, and resources available to the team, before delving into descriptions of individual team members.

As far as content goes, the Eclipse Syndicate consists of four members, all female, each being a clone, but with a distinctly different power set. With the exception of one member, they’re all PL10 characters, who can easily be dropped into any ongoing campaign. The group makes its living acting as super powered muscle for hire, and fill out that role nicely.

My one complaint, and it’s no fault of the writer, is that I feel that this should have been a slightly larger product, with some additional info on the members of the team. Coming in at 5 pages, with only 3 pages devoted to actual content, it feels a bit “cramped”. I’d have gladly paid extra for the additional content. Don’t get me wrong, I like the supplement I just wanted a bit “more” from it.

Overall, I’m giving this one four out of five stars.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #2: Eclipse Syndicate
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Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #8: Arctic Fox
by Dominique S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/21/2015 23:59:16

I'll start this one off by stating that I have soft spot for super soldier themed characters, but with that said, I love the concept for this guy. Like the other entries in Green Ronin's Rouges Gallery line of releases, Arctic Fox is laid out in standardized format, consisting of the character's backstory, info on his personality, a brief overview of his powers/abilities, as well as a few notes on potential allies and any enemies he may face. All followed up with a few plot hooks to kick start the GMs creative juices. There's also a bit of fiction tossed in, in the form an email from an AEGIS special agent concerning Arctic Fox's run in with military personnel.

As far as Artic Fox goes, he's a grizzled old Cold Warrior. A former Soviet super soldier now in semi-retirement, who mainly takes on contracts to support his family. But don't let his age fool you, this guy is tough. As in Taskmaster or Deathstroke: the Terminator tough. In addition to superhuman levels attributes, he's got a small arsenal of advanced weaponry to call on. I could easily see him being used by a GM for a recurring character in a campaign.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I really like this guy, and highly recommend you check him out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Mutants & Masterminds Rogues Gallery #8: Arctic Fox
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by Philip T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/04/2015 16:08:08

Fantasy AGE provides a simple rules system with a lot of flexibility and just enough crunch for those who want to get stuck into it. Character creation takes 10 minutes or so, with the familiar staples of earlier Fantasy games and reminiscent of D&D 3/3.5; even for folks new to tabletop, it will all be smooth and easy. Using D6s makes entry into the game easy, since everyone has some lying around. Although three base classes seems stingy, it's the variables for Background, Focuses and other character traits that makes a PC stand out from the herd. Add the Stunt system to the mix and you have a unique character that feels like they can make their mark on a campaign. The GM section lays out the basics in simple format. Fantasy AGE is generic, so a great deal of the GM section is dedicated to creating a campaign world, and provides some good, solid advice and a range of perspectives. A small Bestiary rounds it out with most of the Fantasy stereotypes, from Goblins to Dragons, and the humanoid monsters can easily be converted into base player races with only a little effort. What lets it down some is the order of things. For someone who has spent time with established, refined systems and source materials, the greatest improvement to be made for Fantasy AGE would be in the provision of Appendices for all these easy-look-up tables. Even as a seasoned player and GM, there was a lot of flicking back and forth between Chapters, and several important tables or references are tricky to find. The order of components isn't as fluid or refined as other products. The PDF compounds the issue slightly with fairly haphazard bookmarks.

Pros: Simple system. Flexiblity. Stunts. Supporting Community on GR Forums and Google+. Cons: Poor flow. Bad Bookmarking.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
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Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana
by Edward K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/31/2015 09:13:00

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana System- AGE System Producer- Green Ronin Price- $13.99 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153950/Titansgrave-The-Ashes-of-Valkana?src=hottest_filtered TL; DR- I only wish this had more. 88%

Basics-Cyberpunk, fantasy, and Wheaton-oh my! Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana is the much hyped book using the AGE System and a setting designed by several RPG powerhouses and Wil Wheaton himself. On the Tabletop YouTube page, Wheaton played several adventures of this game with his celebrity friends, and now you can play this game at home with your friends. What will happen when you disturbed the ashes of a long dead war?

Mechanics or Crunch-Titansgrave demonstrates some amazing uses for the AGE system, but doesn't quite hit the mark I was expected. The book has some phenomenal new additions to the system like a completely new chart to spend stunt points for one creature type in combat. Those kind of add-ons to a system show how robust and buildable the AGE system can be. The book doesn’t quite keep up that new energy throughout however. The basic Fantasy Age book introduces the system quite well, but Titansgrave doesn’t do enough to expand the system for this universe. I wanted several new additions, spells, and mechanics, however, I really only got a new race, some new items, and a few character options in the first chapter. They all work well, but it doesn’t do enough to really drastically enhance the system. AGE is great itself, but I want more to really make the AGE system Titansgrave own thing. 4/5

Theme or Fluff- Titansgrave tells an interesting story, but sadly one you’ve kind of “heard” before. The Titansgrave story is the fun romp from TableTop. Which if you saw TableTop is awesome. But, if you saw TableTop, then you have a general idea of what’s going to happen. I was hoping for a bit more original stuff like added adventures, side quests, and a continuing adventure in the world, but there is some things here to keep your players guessing. Also, the story is a bit linear. You can’t go too far off rails on this as the story is written ahead of time. 4.75/5

Execution-If you like the layout from Fantasy AGE, you will do fine here. This book is basically a giant version of the adventure at the back of the Fantasy AGE book with some serious additions. I’d like a bit more here as the art is good, but I need a few more maps to throw to my players and some more breaks in the text to help me better read the story. Overall, its well done and something that you can get through with general ease. 4.5/5

Summary-Titansgrave is the first big launch of the AGE system after it got its own push post-Dragon Age. This book isn’t my favorite RPG book of all time, but I think it does a good job of introducing the system and setting in a big way. The book provides a completely new world to play in. I’d like a bit more mechanics specific to the world, but what’s here is well done. The story is good, but depending on how much your players watch Titansgrave, they may have seen some of the high points. The book is well executed, and overall a fun read. After reading this book, I’m hungry for more in the Titansgrave setting. 88%



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by Joey M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/27/2015 23:46:04

Very good generic fantasy system. same system used in the titans grave web series on geek and sundries. Although slightly modified it is also the core system in the Dragon Age roleplaying game.

It's a good basic system. the real charm of the system is the stunt system. on a roll of doubles you get between 1 and 6 stunt points to spend on a menu of special maneuvers.



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[5 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
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Chronicle of Sorcery
by Shawn A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/15/2015 08:50:47

I really loved ASOIF and Night's watch. Both had really well designed, and that made for great gamebooks and a solid system.

Chronicle of Sorcery doesn't. Weighing in at a meager 47 pages, Chronicle of Sorcery hedges out the barest of the bare bones for a system. It gives a handful of "example lores," with no functional magic attached, three common lores, some rules for casting magic, and finally, five holdings. Furthermore, there's almost nothing to explain how to build balanced magic, leading to a situation where the Storyteller/GM has to make a judgement call on what works.

That's it. The common lores appear to be mostly written, but appear appear to have been designed with a book containing the rest of the example lores.

It lacks substance and anything that could be used to justify a five dollar pricetag. For what I got, I'd expect to pay .99 cents.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Chronicle of Sorcery
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by Stephen Y. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/11/2015 03:41:08

Out of 144 pages, 143 are the content (including pc sheet, index, and contents page).

Appears fairly easy to 'get into', using 3d6, 9 abilities. Abilities: roll 3d6 and consult the abilities chart (abilities ranging from -2 to 4).

After spending a few days going through the PDF; it appears 'incomplete'. The bestiary for one was disappointing. Converting DA monsters to FAGE takes a little time. It appears 80%-90% similar with DA, with some changes here and there (magic) The usual typos, errors, etc.

Green ronin need to update this PDF (hopefully soon), and make it worth it's price. After spending a few decades playing & GM-ing RPGs, it's always good to see new ones appearing (hopefully playable ones). This one shows promise (it's fairly good, but not great).

It's good to see people making it work with new ideas, house rules, etc (Google+, Roninarmy forum, etc).



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
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Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook
by A customer [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/09/2015 19:31:38

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Fantasy AGE Basic Rulebook System- Adventure Game Engine Producer- Green Ronin Publishing Price- $16 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153066/Fantasy-AGE-Basic-Rulebook TL; DR-A strong successor to Dragon AGE. 92%

Basics-The Dragon AGE has ended, but that doesn’t mean all the stories you wanted to tell in the AGE system have. Fantasy AGE is the basic rule book for the previous Adventure Gaming System(AGE) system that came out with Dragon Age RPG providing all the basics any generic Fantasy RPG could need. Let’s break this down piece by piece and see what I think of them individually.

Mechanics or Crunch- Game Basics- Fantasy AGE uses the same basic mechanics that Dragon AGE did; each player will roll 3d6 for an action, find the sum of the dice with some modifiers, and that will determine the outcome. Contested rolls work exactly the same with the higher sum winning the roll. This is a quick and easy way to have numeric diversity and an average in your dice rolls.

Stunts-One of the more interesting things with this system is stunts. WHen you roll your dice, two of the dice are one color and the third is a different color. If two of the dice have the same result, you get stunt points equal to the result on the differently colored die. These stunts have point values and will allow you to add extra flare and effects beyond hit a guy, cast the spell, or bluff the guard. Each type of action has it’s own stunt point chart that you can select icons to spend your points on with the more points spent, the stronger the effects. When I first read about this system, I was a bit put off, but then my math geek showed through. It’s easy to think that you won’t roll doubles often, but out of three six-sided dice, you roll doubles a little less than half of the time! Again, this is a fun addition to the standard "roll dice, hit guy, next person in initiative" we’re all used to.

Character Generation-Fantasy age characters make a few important choices and have to let some dice fall. When you make a character, you get to choose your race, background, class, and then you let the dice fall where they may! Lots of this system involves you randomly rolling for effects on your character. This results in your average character of a race having some average abilities and likely traits, but overall, I don’t like that part of character generation. While I’ve played older RPG editions, I prefer to let choice occur when you build your person. This system does downplay the negative aspects of low ability rolls, but I still prefer point buy. It’s an option, but most of the book tends to focus on rolling for your character.

Statistics:This game doesn’t have a ton of bonuses to your basic dice roll and that is great thing. Each person has a number of statistics being: accuracy ( weapon accuracy), communication (talking to people), constitution (body toughness), dexterity (agility and coordination), fighting (heavy weapon accuracy), intelligence (what you know), perception (situational awareness), strength (physical ability), willpower (mental resolve). You can generate these via point buy or just rolling 3d6 and hoping for the best, so your number will be between 3 and 18 white the modifier for your dice rolls roughly equal the modifiers most role players have from D&D. You can further focus in these abilities by getting ability focuses like Accuracy(Blades) where you add 2 to your dice results for all blades attacks. Thus, you will really only add two numbers to the three six-sided dice rolls. I do love any system that squashes power gaming at the start and builds in a mean and standard deviation for its die results!

Classes and Advancement-Much like the Dragon AGE RPG, there are only three core classes: mage, rogue, and warrior. These classes are much like you would expect. Mages cast spells, rogues are nimble and skillful, and warriors are heavy people-at-arms. Each level a character will get new options such as ability focus, talents (abilities in sequence like feat trees in DnD/Pathfinder), or class specific bonuses. The talents provide the bulk of the customization in the game. Every warrior has the same basic class abilities, but the warrior focusing on close combat and social interaction will be like that because of the talents he or she choose. You don’t get that many choices, but you do get a method to differentiate yourself from the press of other individuals out there.

Magic-Magic in this system is a point based system where players have a mana pool that is spent to cast a spell. Spells themselves come from the talents that players choose with each level of the talent providing more spells. It’s a simple system that reminds me of Final Fantasy and the Dragon Age video games. Not bad company to be in, but since you don’t get tons of different talents, you won’t have the abundance of spells you’re used to in different RPGs like Pathfinder.

Combat and Damage-Just like this games D20 cousens, combat flows in a turn based manner following every player rolling initiative. On your turn, you can do either two minor actions like moving or a minor and a major like attacking. Players and monsters have a defence rating that you attack just like any other skill in this game. If your attack roll equals the defense, you hit the enemy. Damage is done in this game based on the type of weapon you're wielding with armor reduces the damage that a character takes instead of providing a bonus to your chance to dodge the attack. This doesn't reinvent wheel, but why fix what isn't broken?

Summary-You can see the Dragon AGE in the Fantasy AGE. That’s not a bad thing as I liked the Dragon AGE RPG and the Dragon Age video games for speed and elegance of the systems. However, my major problem is that the character and players don’t have many options. Sure, it’s fun, but I’d like a bit more crunch to my characters. That said, it is a good, quick, and simple system that you can easily use in any fantasy setting. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff- It’s always hard to judge generic RPGs for their fluff content. By their nature, there can’t be a significant amount of fluff in this book since any fantasy setting should be able to be played with in this system. But, the book does have nice art, good general fantasy additions, and all the standard fantasy pieces you will need for your toy box. Just don’t go in here expecting Tolkien as this book can’t have that level of detail and still be general enough for everybody. 4.5/5

Execution-This book reads relatively quickly and has a decent layout. I can quickly get through the book, find what I need and make a character in under 10 minutes. I’d like more pictures, and some extra tables to make scanning the book easier like in the talents section. I prefer to see something similar to how Pathfinder does summaries of feats before the full descriptions. The book even has a small bestiary with some monsters to throw at your players. It’s not large, but for the $15 I paid for the book, I’m pretty happy to see a complete system, game mastering guide, and monsters in one book. This book even comes with a small adventure, so you can jump into playing after you buy only this book. Overall, good book with a few minor problems keeping it from perfect. 4.75/5

Summary-Fantasy AGE is going to be an awesome RPG if Green Ronin can bring more out for it. Titengrave is coming out, and that will provide an awesome series of adventures and a setting for this game. That is what this book really misses-the fluff. The crunch is good. It might not be my all time favorite gaming system, but it’s well-designed, thought-out, and easy to use-all the things a quality RPG needs to be viable long term. I’d like more options, but that’s my old D&D 3.5 gamer heritage showing through. As for the book itself, it might not be my favorite layout, but it is a great way to present a games information. If you joined the Fantasy AGE for Titan Grave, you will not be disappointed! 92%



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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AGE Bestiary: Beastmen
by Max B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/05/2015 05:01:34

Great addition. Gives access to 6 new playable races of varying beatsmen.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
AGE Bestiary: Beastmen
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