I'm thinking of getting this RPG,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8793781008/?coliid=I28BPNWOIMI9GK&colid=3EIXT6DSSQI4M&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with it, and if so what are your opinions on the mechanics and the setting?

I initially thought it was a sci-fi thingie, but apparently it's fantasy, as the babylonian-esque human society that the RPG portrays is still in many ways at that tech level or slightly above, despite being in a crossroads-of-the-universe type city...

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Quote from: BronzeDragon;1118323I'm thinking of getting this RPG,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8793781008/?coliid=I28BPNWOIMI9GK&colid=3EIXT6DSSQI4M&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and was wondering if anyone here has any experience with it, and if so what are your opinions on the mechanics and the setting?

I initially thought it was a sci-fi thingie, but apparently it's fantasy, as the babylonian-esque human society that the RPG portrays is still in many ways at that tech level or slightly above, despite being in a crossroads-of-the-universe type city...

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If I recall right its akin to say the Conan books in that it is a fantasy setting. But there are aliens and extradimensional thingies here and there. Just moreso. Or perhaps more akin to Lovecrafts Kadath or Ashton Smiths stuff. Or a mix of all that?

From the few reviews (which are mostly about the kickstarter from a year ago) it seems there's quite a few Lovecraftian elements, maybe more Dreamlands than regular stuff.

One of the reasons for asking for opinions here was this strange dearth of actual reviews of the released book. There's a couple written reviews and, as far as I can see, just one unboxing of the book from like 5 months ago (nothing more recent in terms of video material).

Seems weird for such a high production value product, like most of Modiphius' stuff...

You have to be a fan of Modiphius' game mechanics, first of all, before spending any money.

Heres a review of the quickstart from over on RPGG.

QuoteBasics-.Welcome to Llyhn the eternal! In the Black Void, characters survive in a world where giant almost black holes, the Black Voids of the title, opened up around Babylon and swallowed the chunks of the world whole, dragging men and women off screaming into the darkness. After some time and much loss of life, humans found themselves in Llyhn, the eternal city, where inhuman masters rule. Will you survive in this world where you are far from home as characters scrabble in the dirt in this fantasy Middle Eastern RPG?



Base Mechanics- This game uses a d12 as its primary die. Characters add either their traits and/or abilities to the roll hoping to reach a 7, the normal success roll that can vary quite a bit depending on the complexity of the action. It's a pretty simple system that makes me think a bit of other roll to a set number games like Savage Worlds.



Stats- Your stats in this game are called traits which are Agility, Awareness, Stamina, Strength, Intellect, Manipulation, Presence, and Willpower. When you build a character, you get 24 points to buy your traits at a one for one basis. All of them start at one and none can be greater than six at character generation. When you use your traits, you take the trait minus three to determine the modifier you get for your rolls. Also, for every three points in a trait, you can buy a talent for another three points. Think of talents like feats in DnD-they give you bonuses and abilities that normally you would not have and you have to take them as you grow in power. This game is classless, so these are ways to build to something you want to be in the world. You can also spend points on background abilities like your caste, the ability to access blood magic, or to even not be completely human. All of these things act like feats as well with character buying new ranks in blood magic, different background abilities, and new abilities if you are a half-breed.



Blood Magic- Magic in this game looks more ritual based than the snappy magic of DnD. The quick start guide presents Blood Rituals where a character can sacrifice a creature to gain a bonus or a boon. These boons provide different powers and abilities that a character can use in the next 12 hours ranging from a simple reroll to gaining different talents. The skills for blood magic are gained during character generation and bought using a character's trait pool.



Skills- Your skills in this game are called abilities. You start the game with 24 ability points that you spend on a 1 for 1 basis. Your skills start at below 0, then 0, and finally you can spend points up to 3, so 3 ranks in a skill costs you 4 ability points. The modifier is -3 for no ranks, then 0 for 0, and up to +3 for 3 ranks. Unlike games like Pathfinder and DnD, some abilities are tied to multiple traits, so a character might be doing an Athletics roll, but use Stamina instead of Strength if the character was testing their endurance instead of testing their physical prowess.



Combat and Initiative-Combat runs how you would expect, with a few differences. Players roll a d12 and add their agility talent as normal for rolling for initiative. Then on a character's turn, a character chooses one action that can range from attacks, reacting to attacks, or simply moving. The standard value of 7 is used for attacks unless a character took an action to change it or react with a character adding their Strength or Agility trait and their weapon skill to the attack roll. If the attacker hits, then the attacker rolls damage with damage dice ranging from a d4 to a d12, the hit character reduces the damage by their armor value, and then the turn moves to the next character. Characters have conditions depending on their hit point total with the more banged up a character is, the character gains more penalties to their rolls.



Health and Sanity- The game has some simple rules for character generation of hit points and sanity. Characters have health points that are determined by rolling a d12 for each Stamina Trait. This game also has some slight Lovecraft elements as characters will encounter horrors beyond time and space surviving in their new home. A character's sanity points are determined by rolling a d12 for each Willpower point their have. When a character encounters a horror they roll a d12 and add their Willpower modifier aiming for a number depending on the creature. If they fail, they lose sanity points. Sanity point loss has penalties associated with it just like health point loss as the character will gain madness conditions. Sanity can be regained through time and rest just like health points.



Character Advancement- Characters advance in a few ways. First, the normal experience points are gained. Characters spend these to advance traits and abilities according a table in the book. Characters can also advance in Wastah and Enlightenment. Enlightenment is how a character understands the Void and the cosmos as a whole, kind of like getting the rule book to the universe. As a character becomes more enlightened, they might gain new abilities, attributes, and talents. Wastah is much more simple-it's a character's social rank. As you adventure, you gain prestige that makes you more important. The caste system in this world is rigid, but if you save the leadership of the city enough times, then even the lowliest street rat might become something impressive with ranks unlocking new patrons, facilities, funding, or a whole host of other options.



Ok, that's how to play. Now what do I think!



Theme or Fluff-This is honestly the high point of the book. You feel like you're in the City of Brass with powerful elemental lords using humans as playthings. It's pre-Islam middle eastern fantasy with bits of Lovecraft thrown in. I don't see enough middle eastern themes in fantasy aside from fantasy Egypt, so this is a good welcome change! I like the work this book builds as the characters scrabble to survive in a supernatural world full of horrors post magic apocalypse on Earth. That is all good! Better, none of this feels racist. It's easy to just make some stereotypes and run with that as a game. This book feels like it's trying to make the world stand out and be much more than some simple stereotypes with new races and creatures that rule the eternal city. That makes this an even better place to play instead of just a blatant copy of folklore. 5/5



Mechanics or Crunch-This game has novel mechanics that I like, but there are a few things that catch my attention. The d12 based system is something unique that I really like. I don't see that die used too much, and it takes center stage here. The bonuses are something that catch my attention. They seem somewhat inconsistent with trait rolls being the trait minus three while ability rolls are -3 for no ranks but one rank is considered a zero in the skill and all other ranks result in continued bonuses, so four ranks is a +3. That's not horrible, it's makes sense from a numbers perspective to make the math of a d12 only system work, but the flow feels off. If you play, it's going to work. But, it's a slight barrier to entry. My other major issue is the combat action economy. One day I will learn to just stop being angry about being able to move or attack in a turn, but not today! Again, it makes sense from a system perspective, but I never feel right only being able to run up to take a hit to the face. It will emphasize the role ranged combat plays. The thing I do like is the amount of tables the game has. As you go crazy, critically hit an enemy, or simply screw up an attack, you roll on tables. Random event tables are always a great way to throw fun into a system and it takes pressure off the GM to always come up with fair, random events that the players experience when stuff goes really well or really badly. Overall, it's a good system that I personally have a few issues with, but you may absolutely enjoy. 4/5

Execution- The book is laid out well, but I have a few minor issues. Tables interrupt the text, and that is good because it reduces eye strain, but the text begins above the table in the next column, instead of the same column below the text. I don't know why, but I kept trying to read below the column and getting mixed up. This isn't always consistent and might be changed in the final book. It's not a big thing, but it threw me. I'd like the text a bit larger and maybe the gray background of the book doesn't make the black text pop as much. Minor problems, but some things I noticed. But, the book does have nice art that interrupts the text to keep me engaged, and the rules are written well enough that I can easily read what is going on and get running the game quickly. Also, as a guy who reads tables for a living, the tables are well laid out and make me not hate reading. 4.5/5

Summary-This looks like a fun game that I have a few minor reservations with. I love the setting. This is fantasy middle east, but not simply a copy/paste of some folklore. It has its own unique spin that I really want to see played out, and the world here is honestly the largest draw to this book. The system works well, but I have a few minor gripes. I want to play the d12 based system some more, and once I get past my walk-or-attack aversion, I think I will enjoy this a lot more. The book is done well, but a little more consistency in the layout and possibly a slight change in background color might help. Even with those slight issues, this book looks good. I know I'm in. Its 400+ pages of a whole new novel RPG PDF for about $12 bucks. Thanks a great value for something that is whole cloth new. Some established RPG books charge that much for 30 page supplement. And this thing is scheduled to come out in September of this year, meaning this thing is probably done already. So, I'm in! I can't wait to read this new setting with a new system from a new creator. Go give this one a look. 90%

Does it have a free PDF quickstart?

If so, those are a great way to judge a game.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1118360Does it have a free PDF quickstart?

If so, those are a great way to judge a game.

Apparently they removed it. I tried to find it but nada. The link from the KS is DOA.

Addendum. After jumping through alot of hoops was able to find a version of the quickstart. Pretty comprehensive really at first glance

Ok, Had time to read through more.

This is a "roll under" d12 system. No classes. Its totally freeform.
Start off with 24 points to distribute between 8 attributes and you have to put at least 1 point in each so technically you have 16 points. 5 max at chargen. Agility, Stamina, Strength, Intellect, Persuasion, Presence and Willpower. 1 point per level. Baseline seems to be 3.
Then 24 more for Talents, Backgrounds, Attributes, Powers and Skills. Attributes can only be boosted by talents here if you have at least 3 points in that attribute.
Talents range from things like Amberdexterity, to High pain threshold to Quick thinker. Each has an attribute it is connected to.
Backgrounds covers the PCs caste level, None to skilled laborer, contacts, owning their own home, etc.
Attributes, more like heritage, are open for purchase only to PCs with the Halfblood background, hybrids. Granting things like claws, horns, wings, etc.
Powers, only the blood ones in the QS are things like divination through sacrifice. Buffing through sacrifice, etc.
Skills are normal ones or combat related.

After that determine the following.
Sanity: Int score x5 +1d12
Health: Sta score x5 +1d12
Starting wealth is determined by caste level.
Then go buy equipment.

The system is difficulty level based. 7 is average. Trying a skill unskilled imposes a -3 penalty on your roll for example.
Combat is much the same except that the targets defense and any modifiers is the difficulty number. The base unarmored defense is again 7 before any stat mods. A character is dead of their health goes negative equal 1/2 their health score.
Characters go insane if their sanity score drops too low.

No monsters in the QS, but a few aliens are presented.

The setting is interesting as presented in the QS. Vortexes opend up all around the world and sucked up countless people and material Some were deposited on a distant nexus and now humanity is pretty much at the bottom of civilization. The setting has a rather middle east theme to it and feels a bit like a reverse of Tekumel. In this setting humanity is very NOT at the top and has a long hard road ahead.

Quote from: Omega;1118463Its totally freeform.

* Then proceeds to describe an rpg that clearly IS NOT "freeform". *

.... Since when is an rpg without Classes "freeform"?

Quote from: Catelf;1118468* Then proceeds to describe an rpg that clearly IS NOT "freeform". *

.... Since when is an rpg without Classes "freeform"?

Freeform chargen in that there are no classes and your character is defined by their stats skills and such. BESM and Gurps are other examples of freeform classless systems. (though both at points introduced some templates and archetypes.)

Quote from: Omega;1118472Freeform chargen in that there are no classes and your character is defined by their stats skills and such.

'Freeform', to me, implies no rules at all... just make up whatever you like. Cowboys & Indians on a sandpile is 'freeform'... maybe.

Quote from: Simlasa;1118492'Freeform', to me, implies no rules at all... just make up whatever you like. Cowboys & Indians on a sandpile is 'freeform'... maybe.

Thats storytelling.

I've seen "freeform" consist of making your own descriptive traits (sometimes with numerical values attached) rather than picking skills from a set list and using a defined set of attributes.

Quote from: Omega;1118472Freeform chargen in that there are no classes and your character is defined by their stats skills and such. BESM and Gurps are other examples of freeform classless systems. (though both at points introduced some templates and archetypes.)

That is simply "Classless", not "Freeform".
And no, Cowboys & Indians is Freeform Roleplaying, at its most basic form ... but it is not, technically, a roleplaying Game.
A freeform roleplaying game is if you .... well, take the aforementioned C&I and add a GM that rolls dice or let fights get resolved through Stone/Scissor/Paper.
That thing MIGHT go heavily into storytelling if the GM forgets that it is the actions of the characters that are important and not their story, though.

The clear advantage is that it is possible to cook up ANYTHING, when me and a few others played, we mixed things from Final Fantasy 8 & 9, Marvel Comics, Transformers, and even Urotsukidoji .... and Hellsing.
The drawback?
The result is a "you had to be there"-mess.
^_^

Keep struggling.