Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Phoenix Dawn Command Review

I picked up Phoenix Dawn Command roleplaying game this fall from the website  There was a Kickstarter a few years back but unlike many one-and-done kickstarters, you can still buy copies. It is written by Keith Baker (of Eberron fame) and Dan Garrison. The imprint is Twogether Studios, a small shop with only three titles on its website. However. it seems to be distributed by the same people who produce Cards Against Humanity. At $59 it is not the cheapest of games, but since it contains almost 300 cards it can be forgiven (you can get a .pdf of the manual from Drivethrurpg for $10, but you'll still need the cards to play). Sample art below.

Players guide.png


Screen Shot 2017-06-16 at 10.01.20 AM.png

AlictionWebgallery.jpg




It has many of the features of classic roleplaying with a couple of interesting twists. First actions including combat are resolved with a custom set of cards. Secondly one levels up by dying first.

The main mechanic for resolving things is a comparison of the total of up to three cards from a hand of five against a target number. There are three suits Strenght, Grace, and Intellect, each players deck will only have two suits Grace and either Strenght or Intellect dependant on their character class. A starting deck consists of two each of cards valued 2, 3, and 4 from each of their suits, and five special cards from their character class (nominally valued 1, but usually adding +5 when its special conditions are met). Since success normally requires a total value of 10 or better, succeeding with only three cards often requires meeting special conditions. The players have a number of other tricks (including adding their life force, known as sparks) to up their score. Another interesting feature is that cards are only redrawn at the start of the next round, so making a strong attack can leave you with only low-value cards to defend against enemy attacks. Conversely, a strong defense may make mounting a successful attack not possible. For the most part, I think the card mechanic will work well although calculating the odds of success is tricky.

There are six character classes, three strength based ones (Bitter, Durant, Forceful) and three intellect based ones (Devoted, Elemental, and Shrouded). Each party (referred to in the game as a wing) can have only one member from a specific character class. There are only enough cards for four players two from the strength group and two from the intellect group.

Now for the leveling up by dying. The conceit of this game is the players are guardian spirits rather than mortals, having died prior to the start of the game and found themselves awakened in an Aerie of the Phoenix Dawn Command, an organization dedicated to the protection of humanity. After they die during the game they will resurrect again in the Aerie with more sparks, heath levels and get to add a new school card and one value 5 card. Every odd level you can remove one low-value card from your deck. However after seven levels when you die you are dead for good. 

As well as the core mechanics the book contains a monster guide and seven scenarios. the monsters (about 12 of them) are presented first but really make more sense within the context of the scenarios. Many are unkillable via physical combat (ssh, don't tell your players that just yet). The seven scenarios are marvelous and in many ways the best part of the book. Most of them cannot be successfully navigated by brute force alone (enhancing a sense of horror absent from most conventional roleplaying) and will probably require the sacrificial death of one or more of the party to obtain the optimum outcome. I'll not spoil the surprise by discussing the scenarios any further.

Overall I found the game an enjoyable read.  I didn't like that the starting deck description is hidden in the "Tools for the Marshall" chapter rather than the "How to Play" chapter. There is no index which would have been helpful, even though there is a good table of content. I look forward to trying to lure four players into a one-off campaign through the provided scenarios. Unfortunately, I think the rules presented are a little too complex and foreign for me to feel comfortable writing my own material for this system (although Ken does provide some good tips for additional adventures in the monster and scenario section). I do not see the potential for a long-running campaign with this rules set given the level cap of seven, and the limited selection of character classes. Perhaps I am in a rut, but for D&D I can put together three fights and a trap for an evenings entertainment with only an hour or two of prep time, doing something in this system would take me far longer. I am hopeful Ken will keep tinkering with this and provide some more scenarios of the same quality these first ones. Expansions to the broaden the play would also be welcome (already extra intellect and strength cards are available through Drivethrurpg allowing for a fifth and sixth player).

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Kickstarter status 2017ish

Just finished my yearly review of the status of kickstarters I backed. I am excited that finally some of the long-standing late ones have finally arrived, including "13th age in Glorantha", Kurt Hills Altas, and Five Moons. I was also excited about the ones that both started and completed in 2017 (Folio #16 and #17 springs to mind).Unfortunately, I seem to keep signing up for new ones.

Done in 2017(or at least before March 2018)
Operation Unfathomable
Barrow maze 5e
Trudvang
Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying
The domes of Ishaq-Zahur
Widower’s Wood
Death & Taxes
Storypath Cards
Kurt Hills Fantasy Atlas
The Blight
13th Age in Glorantha
Whats O.L.D is N.E.W
Five Moons
Robert Howards Conan
The Folio #16 & #17 Double 1E & 5E Adventure Set
The Midderlands - An OSR Mini-Setting & Bestiary
Spire RPG
Symbaroum: Karvosti - The Witch Hammer
Underworld Races & Classes for 5th Edition & Pathfinder RPG
The Complete Cities of Sorcery
Symbaroum Thistle Hold
Lost Hall of Tyr: A 5e Adventure (Dungeon Grappling support)
Breath of Gorr: Complete Tabletop D&D 5E and Pathfinder Module!

Chugging away (not done but not overdue either)
The Midderlands Expanded
John Carter of Mars - The Roleplaying Game
                The Folio #18 & #19, 1E & 5E Adventures
Tome of Horrors: Reborn for Fifth Edition
Capharnaum - The Roleplaying Game
SYMBAROUM - Monster Codex
CAVALIERS OF MARS, a tabletop roleplaying game
 Forbidden Lands - Retro Open-World Survival Fantasy RPG
Artifices of Quartztoil Tower - 5E Adventure
Getting there
Holy Crap (Printed Book supposed to ship this week)
Rhune (a couple more story arc adventures to go)
Talislanta: The Savage Land (Waiting for 5E version)

Neverending Story
Ryuutama (basically done but pledge contains permanent electronic updates)

A bit late
Midgard Campaign Setting: Dark Roads & Deep Magic Estimated delivery Aug 2017
Luminous Echo: The Forgotten King extended campaign Estimated delivery Dec 2017
Salt in the Wounds Estimated May 2017
Slumbering Ursine Dunes (“What Ho Frog Demons”  Announced at being edited in Fall 2016 last mentioned in the author's blog post in March 2017)
Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection Estimated delivery Sep 2017

Long time coming
Marmoreal Tomb (Estimated delivery: Mar 2016)

Please come home, I still love you baby(way past due, I still want the item).
50 sHAdes of VORpal (Draft is done maybe that’s enough)

Throne of Night (Two out of a promised six scenarios have been delivered. Both were very good as was his previous series. However, it has been years since we have heard a peep from this one).

P.S. Somehow my busy retirement social life seems to interfere with posting on even on my anemic once a month schedule. However, I will keep posting when I have something to say. The recently finished kickstarters are in need of a posted review.

***Update***
Here's a link to an ad for "What Ho Frog Demon" that turned up Monday so perhaps it is not quite dead yet.

http://sorcerersskull.tumblr.com/post/171559817016/ad-for-the-forthcoming-what-ho-frog-demons-that-i





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...