Now in its seventeenth year, Free RPG Day for 2024 took place on Saturday, June 22nd. As per usual, Free RPG Day consisted of an array of new and interesting little releases, which are traditionally tasters for forthcoming games to be released at GenCon the following August, but others are support for existing RPGs or pieces of gaming ephemera or a quick-start. This included dice, miniatures, vouchers, and more. Thanks to the generosity of Waylands Forge in Birmingham, Reviews from R’lyeh was able to get hold of many of the titles released for Free RPG Day.
Quick-starts are means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps too. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.
Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game for the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she can still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide introduces Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game, an adaptation of the RuneScape MMORPG, sat in the medieval fantasy world of Gielinor.
It includes the rules to play and a scenario, ‘Trance of Ellar’.
It can be played with up to six Player Characters. They are not included in the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide, but can be downloaded here.
It is a thirty-six page, full colour book.
The quick-start is decently illustrated with a decent map of Gielinor.
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide is published by Steamforged Games.
How long will it take to play?
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide can be played through in a single session, or two sessions at most.
What else do you need to play?
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide requires multiple six-sided dice.
Where is it set?
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide is set in the city of Varrock.
Who do you play?
There are six ready-to-play Player Characters available to play with the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide. They consist of a Ranger/Explorer, Farmer/Soldier, Forester/Druid, Miner/Wanderer, Cutpurse/Raider, and Apprentice Wizard/Travelling Healer.
How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character in the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide and thus Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game has three attributes—Strength, Agility, and Intellect—and points in a range of up to twenty-one skills. Values for both the attributes and the skills typically range between one and five for the pre-generated Player Characters, but can go much higher. All six pre-generated Player Characters are human.
How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart Guide and thus Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game, is based around rolls of three six-sided dice. The target number which the player has to roll equal to or under is equal to the total of the appropriate attribute and skill for the action that the player wants his character to undertake. If a triple value is roll and it is under the target number, the Player Character will gain an extra benefit, including doubling damage in combat. If the roll is a triple value and above the target number, the Player Character suffers a consequence. If the circumstances of a situation favour the Player Character, then the roll is made with Advantage, an extra die is rolled, and the three lowest results kept. Conversely, if the circumstances are not favourable, the role is made at Disadvantage and an extra die is rolled and the highest three results kept.
All rolls are player-facing. This means that the players always roll the dice whilst the Game Master never does.
The explanation of the rules also cover crafting and gaining resources.
How does combat work?
Conflict in the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart uses the same core mechanics. The rules for conflict cover both ranged and close combat. The Player Characters always act first—except when the Player Characters are ambushed—and both Player Characters and enemies can take two actions per round. This includes Move, Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Cast a Spell, Use a Skill, and more. Neither Player Character nor enemy is constricted in what actions they can take, so that a Player Character could take a Melee Attack twice in a round!
If an attack is successful, it inflicts the base damage for the weapon, but if the roll for the attack is one or more under the Target Number, the attack inflicts the special ability of the weapon. This might be to inflict a Bleed effect which causes ongoing damage, a Puncture attack which ignores the Soak effect of armour, and Swift, which allows a second attack at Advantage. If the attack is successful and two or more under the Target Number, then it deals the special effect of the weapon wielded and extra damage equal to the difference between the Target Number and number rolled.
Armour soaks damage on a one-for-one basis. In addition, it is possible to actively defend against an attack. This is treated as a standard skill roll and if successful soaks damage equal to the equal to the difference between the Target Number and number rolled. This is in addition to the standard amount soaked by the armour.
Damage is deducted from Player Character’s Life Points, which roughly equal to forty-five points for the six pre-generated Player Characters. However, much like in an MMORPG, death is not necessarily the end of a Player Character. If a Player Character does die, Death will claim his prize, typically some equipment, a weapon or a piece of armour, or some money, and be resurrected, typically at the end of a battle. Death will also deliver a ticking off for the carelessness of the Player Character in getting himself killed.
How does magic work?
Magic in Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game uses Runes. The spellcaster expends the correct number of Runes to cast a spell and the player makes a skill check using the character’s Magic skill. If the result of the skill test is equal to the Target Number, the spell is successfully cast. If the spell inflicts damage, it takes effect. However, all spells have an effect which is triggered if the result of the skill test is lower than the Target Number. This can be an effect similar to those inflicted in combat or it can be particular to the spell. For example, Fire Bolt does nine damage if the spell is simply cast, but if the skill test result is lower than the Target Number, it also inflicts Incendiary, meaning that the target takes ongoing damage. However, this only applies to spells which inflict damage. If a spell does not do damage, then its effect is triggered if the roll is equal to the Target Number or less.
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart lists five spells and the pre-generated Player Character spellcaster starts play with numerous Runes which he can use to cast them.
What do you play?
The scenario in the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart is ‘Trance of Ellar’, which takes up half of the quick-start. It is designed to be played by one to five Player Characters in one or two sessions. One of the Player Characters should be a spellcaster. It takes place in Varrock, the capital city of the kingdom of Misthalin, which has recently been beset by an outbreak of criminal activities. Businesses have been ransacked, churches broken into, and the city walls vandalised. The Player Characters are first hired by an aggrieved business owner and then the king to investigate the criminal activities. The investigation is quite straightforward and following an encounter with an unexpected victim, the Player Characters receive a summons from the King and put on the trail of the person responsible for the crimes, leading to a final battle with a demon!
The core rules presented in the Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart are easy to prepare and understand, and the scenario itself is quite straightforward. Overall, it requires very little in the way of preparation.
Yes. The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart is a serviceable introduction to both its setting and its rules. Both are easy to grasp, and anyone familiar with the RuneScape MMORPG will have issue adapting to the tabletop version.
The Runescape Kingdoms: The Roleplaying Game – Quickstart is available to download here.
No comments:
Post a Comment