Review - Eldritch Role-Playing System

Recently, I was trolling for games in my FLGS and found ERPS (or Eldritch Role-Playing System), written by Dan Cross and Randall Petras, and published by Goodman Games. A soft-cover perfect bound book of a mere 96 pages, the back text promised this was a complete Role-Playing game. Since I'm always interested in new game systems (and since it was only 21 bucks canadian*), I picked it up.

The basics of the game are simple - this is a heroic fantasy RPG that promises simple rules, and a flexible system that promises you can create almost any character type imaginable.

Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver.

Character Generation is simply a matter of picking skills (as well as advantages and disadvantages) from a huge list, and picking specializations from those skills. There are no attributes in the game, and all relevant combat stats (given annoying acronyms, much like RIFTS' MDC and SDC crapola) are derived from various skills you select. Since you only have a relatively small amount of points to spend, if you want to have any of these derived stats be any good, you're forced into taking the requisite skills. So much for a flexible system, right there.

Each skill has a die code, ranging from 1d4 (free for most skills) to 1d12. ANd if you have a have specialization in that skill, you add the specialization's die code if it applies. For example, you could have an Endurance skill of 1d8 (the max at first level), and a specialization of Pain at 1d4. If you had to endure physical pain, you'd roll 1d8+1d4 against a challenge rank set by the GM.

The similarities to Savage Heroes, by now, shouold be popping out at you. Skills work in a very similar way (albeit a bit more complex in ERPS), and Chargen is very similar (but SW is much better, in my mind). The gimmick? CHallenge ranks are not flat DCs, as in most RPGs, but are the result of a GM roll.

An Easy challenge has a rank of 1d4. Moderate is 2d4. Difficult 2d6. And so on. So, if I use a skill untrained (1d4), it's really a matter of beating the GM's roll. 50/50 chance, I guess (though I couldn't find if ties go to the PC or DM, I'd guess PC).

But, against a 2d4, even a character who had a max rank at first level (1d8) wouldn't often beat the DC unless he also had a specialization. And higher challenges almost BEG the PCs to master in skills (which work just like specialization, but add another die to the mix). A great way to encourage PC versatility... only, it never works like that. Inevitably, you will have players who will take a base skill (say, Resistance), and put their specializations in something that will never come up (Magic Resistance). So, I could even have that 1d8 Resistance (and another 1d8 in resisting magic!), but if I keep getting hit by poisons, well, I've wasted a fair chunk of my build points on skills that aren't going to come up.

Really, the system encourages players to take skills they know they're going to use, and these are the big skills in every system: Scrutiny, Melee or Ranged Weapons, Healing, and Stealth.

Oh, and many combat skills, already useful, are added to defense pools. IN other words, if you don't take as many of those skills as possible, you'll be weak in defence against them. If I were to ever make a character, I'd be maxing out Agility, Endurance, Reflexes, Melee Weapons, and Resistance** as fast as possible.

And, really, you don't have too many points to choose. You get 30 build points to select race, skills, and advantages - and you can get a few more if you take disadvantages. Fairly standard stuff. The races offered, though, are pure vanilla fantasy. The same races, with much the same descriptions, as those offered in the 3.5E PHB. But look at the prices for them! If I want to be an elf, it costs 14 points. Gnomes are 7 points. Hell, even humans cost 4 points! And what do they offer you? Merely preselected skills and abilities (to be a dwarf, you must have a d6 in Endurance, a d6 in Resistance, a d6 in Feats of Strength, and a d8 in Melee. And you must buy the advantage of Night Vision... paying the 13 points is essentially purchasing these abilities, with no discount from buying the package).

Granted, this means I can easily create my own race and play him, since creating a character is really just picking skills off a list and coming up with a flavour for it. I can sort of see an Oblivion style world coming together from this game, with a few oddball races running around the campaign setting.

Of course, the downside is that I'm spending points on skills I don't really need to play a race I want. If I wanted to be a dwarven wizard, for example, I'm spending way too many points (13 out of 30) on skills I don't need, with the noted exception of Resistance.

There are also class packages that you're encouraged to take, that further restrict character options. And, while I'm not sure, they seem to be mandatory. Good in a class-based game, maybe, but in a skill-based game, do we really need character classes, unless they're packages that maybe offer discounts?

The XP system stands out in this game, and I like it's basic idea - though the implementation is a bit wonky, in typical ERPS fashion. Essentially, you need 100 Roleplaying XP to get a new level, as well as a number of victory points depending on what level you hope to achieve. If you don't have both types of XP, you can't gain your level. However, RP experience can overflow into a pool, and if you fill that pool up, you can convert RP points into Victory Points. The system at it's core is simple, but the game had to muddy things up with some exceptions, and rules on how this can convert to this, and how this then converts to this, etc... that really aren't necessary.

Spells and magic are kind of neat, with seperate fields of magic and a listing of quite a few different spells. You can be a Mystical caster (Wizards, Alchemists), Primordial (Elementalism, Shamanism, Druidism), Supernatural (Summoners), or Psychogenic*** (Psychics). Many pages of the book are dedicated to the spell-point based magic system, and it actually looks pretty easy to create your own spells. Actually, it almost seems expected.

Unfortunately, it's hard to be a summoner, as there are no monster lists! I imagine there's a monster manual coming up, but I couldn't tell you what's in it. I have no intention of buying it.

This really might be a fun game to play, if you want something that's quick around the table, but I found ERPS to be a finnicky version of Savage Worlds that really adds little. The only real "gem" in the mix is the XP system, and that's more of a diamond in the rough.

*- or 19.99 american. You have no idea how much it annoys me that, even though the canadian dollar is higher than the american dollar, I'm still stuck paying more for books. Another FLGS nearby charges american pricings on most of their books, and I'm really considering following them.
** - why are Endurance and Resistance seperate skills? Why oh why? Only a fool will take Endurance over Resistance, as Resistance will be what keeps you alive. Resistance should have been a specialization of Endurance, with specific types of resistance (poison, drinking, and magic) acting as possible masteries.
*** - I keep thinking "Psychotropic", in reference to the drugs I'm sure the designers took at one point or another.