Shadow of the Demon Lord

Shadow of the Demon Lord by Robert J Schwaib http://schwalbentertainment.com/

This game was a Kickstarter project I backed and I am very please I did so :)

Unusually for a Kickstarter the main rulebook came out on time and is very nicely presented. As is suggested by the title SotDL is a fantasy horror setting, but as with many things about this game, the amount of horror can be dialed up, down and sideways according to the group's preferences.

The rules are a mixture of Dragon Age, D&D (in all its editions) simplified, with many unique elements added in. As it stands, the basic rules use a d20 to resolve challenges and combats, If I was to run or play this game I would ditch the d20 and replace it with 3d6, which I much prefer and would require only the barest minimum change to the system. For example, on occasion, scoring 20+ on the d20 roll plus modifiers gives you an enhanced result, and scoring 0- can have a detrimental effect. Changing this to 18+ and 2- when using 3d6 is such a simple solution. That being said, SotDL does not really have "Critical" or "Botch" results in most cases only in a few in special circumstances.

Dice rolls are modified by the controlling attribute and by boons and banes. Boons are positive modifiers and Banes are negative modifiers. Boons add 1d6 to a roll and Banes Subtract 1d6 from a roll but also cancel each other out, so, for example, if a roll has 3 boons and 2 banes you end up with 1 boon added to your base roll. Also if you have 3 boons on a roll, you would roll an extra 3d6 but only add the highest rolled to your base roll.

Character creation is very nicely done. There are six Ancestries (races) to choose from; Human (of course), Changeling, Clockwork, Dwarf, Goblin and Orc. Each Ancestory has its basic attributes, which you can make limited modifications to. Each character also has some basic story elements which you can pick from, or roll for or devise your own or mix and match as you like. These elements comprise Background, Personality, Religion, Age, Build and Appearance. Some Ancestries also have extra background details. Added to this each character has at least two professions which you can pick or roll for to give your character a idea of what he is good at.

All in all it provides a very comprehensive "background" for a starting character, without the usual angst that can be found in other systems.

All characters start at Level 0, after your first adventure the group advances to level 1. At level 1 you get to pick a Novice path (Magician, Priest, Rogue or Warrior) very similar to how Dragon Age works. Each path gives you basic attribute bumps etc.. which you have choices to make. At level 2 you advance in your Novice Path.

At level 3 you pick an Expert Path, there are 16 in total. Each Novice Path has 4 Expert Paths but you don't have to choose a path related to your Novice Path, you can choose any Expert Path you like!

At Level 4 you get Benefits from your Ancestory.

At Level 5 you have the choice of taking a Master Path (64 choices) or taking another Expert Path.

At Level 6 you improve your Expert Path

At Level 7 you improve your Master Path

At Level 8 you improve your Novice Path

At Level 9 you improve your Expert Path

At level 10 you improve your Master Path

There are a few variations on this but, basically, this is how your character advances by levels. And as you can see, there are plenty of options you can take along the way. This should suit players who like to plan their characters advancement to the last detail and those who take what comes, when it comes.

Further on advancing levels, unlike most RPGs, these are no experience points awarded and no individual levels in fact. Your group has a level and the groups level increases when it passes a major milestone. This means if your character dies, or maybe you just want to change it, your new character starts the Groups level.

For those that like magic, there are lots and lots of spells and traditions to choose from. What first looked like, to me, the typical D&D memorizing spell table limit, turned out to be a much neater arrangement. Depending on your Power (a Stat) the table tells you how many times you can cast each spells you know, between rests. For example, your Power is 2, means you cast each level 0 you know a maximum of 3 times, each level 1 spell 2 time and each level 3 spell once, before you have to rest. Also after resting all you have to do is meditate for 1 minute to refresh all your spells.

Well that is about it from me, if you have any questions just ask :)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16505.phtml
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