Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, and The Companions of Arthur for Pendragon, Sagas of the North is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Iceland the other lands that the Vikings travelled to. It enables creators to sell their own original content for use with Age of Vikings. This can be original scenarios, background material, alternate Icelandic settings, and more, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Vikings Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Age of Vikings campaigns.
—oOo—
It is a full colour, twelve page, 14.42 MB PDF.
The layout is tidy, but it does need an edit in places.
Where is the Saga set?
Family Sagas really begins at home, but ultimately it will take the Player Characters anywhere as they travel and undertake quests together.
Who should be the subject of this Saga?
Any type of Player Character can take part in this saga. It is intended for use with all types of Player Character because it is designed to bring them together and designed to be used with Player Characters.
What does the Saga require?
Family Sagas only requires the Age of Vikings core rulebook.
Where will the Vikings go in this Saga?
Part of the creation process in Age of Vikings is to create a family and family history for the character, and in the process, set up relations and relationships, tensions, and potential story and roleplaying possibilities. What though if the ties are not between each Player Character and a group of NPCs, but between the Player Characters? In other words, what if the Player Characters are all directly related and from the same family? This is the idea behind Family Sagas, a supplement for Age of Vikings which expands the character creation process for the roleplaying, but more tightly focuses its subject matter. It does this by adding several new steps in the character creation process.
Unlike the standard process, Family Sagas begins with ‘Step 0: Talk About Your Family’ in which the Game Master and her players discuss who and what they want to play, how they want their Player Characters to be related, and also what family-related scenes, stories, and reactions do they want to see in the saga? Of course, this is going to be challenging, since family relationships can be difficult, there are going to be tensions, and what Family Sagas does is bring those tensions closer and make them more intimate than found in a standard Player Character and family set-up in Age of Vikings. Essentially, it is introducing a definite ‘Session Zero’ for Age of Vikings as part of the preparation and the supplement suggests several themes and topics that the players might want to explore (or avoid).
As part of the set-up it also suggests possible configurations based on the number of family members and cleverly, it allows players to still create separate family histories for their characters. This is because each player can still choose his character’s favourite grandparent and parent and these can be different or same, depending upon if they are related by blood or by marriage. Either way, it means that whilst family histories are rolled for separately, ideally, they should be created together to make connections and interactions, and ultimately what the process is does is, collectively, add depth and detail to the Player Characters’ shared family, even if—and especially when—it clashes.
Alternatively, Family Sagas suggests a simpler set-up if a Player Character is the child of another. Here the player of the parents suggests three Passions to represent things he wants to teach the child. The player of the child is free to accept these or not, but if not, that sets up tensions between their characters. The supplement also addresses the issue of age with regard to playing parents, suggests possible commonalities between family members—such as similar characteristic values and skills in common, similar spirit animals, and even distinctive features.
What will the Skalds sing of this Saga?
Family Sagas explores an alternative campaign set-up which will make the players think more about the relationships and potential interactions between their characters ahead of play. The resulting suggestions are obvious when you think about it, but they are here in one place and the result has roleplaying potential aplenty.
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