Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

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5 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

The author Henry Lopez has created an absolutely incredible world with rich cultures based loosely on real world civilizations. Arcanis has been described as a 'world of greys', in which there is very little true good or evil. The writing is absolutely fantastic, and even after running for more than a decade, there are still lots of mysteries yet to be explored by the players. Arcanis has been running since 3rd Edition D&D. When 4th Edition was released, the company decided to create their own game system. The rules are easy to learn, difficult to master. Character creation permits very complex, unique characters...no cookie-cutter builds. There is also a very active, supportive online player base on the forums at http://forums.paradigmconcepts.com.

5 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

The Arcanis Roleplaying Game is a continuation of Paradigm Concepts, Inc's previous Arcanis Campaign using the 3.5 D&D OGL system. The new system is one of the most adaptable systems I have yet used, with a massive amount of character customization available in just the Core Rule book! While not as deep as 3.5 in terms of "anything you can think of to do, there is a rule for it somewhere", it still provides far more options than I have seen in other D&D formats, as well as other systems like FFRPG, Shadowrun, etc. The universe is also extremely deep, bordering on Tolkein or Martin in terms of development. There is a Living Campaign (Legends of Arcanis) available with dozens of pre-made adventures covering one complete and one in-progress story arc, allowing for a solid start for anyone wishing to use the universe. The only real downside to the work is the number of edits which were missed. The game was released first as a Playtest/Quickstart, but a number of issues either were not fully resolved or have only been brought up from additional play. Future PCI products are improving on this, but there are a number of Errata on this product that can be found at the PCI website. Eventually the book will have to go to a 2nd Edition to truly fix these issues, but at present the system is at least as developed as almost any other 'new' system that you will find out there.

5 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

Many players may be familiar with the old "Living Arcanis" D&D campaign that won several Origins Awards and was heavily followed by players at major Cons such as Origins and GenCon. Now the game world has been reborn under its own (Origins Award winning) rules set...which is tailored to more closely map the vision of Henry Lopez than a strict adaptation of D&D would allow. While the game has enough similar touch point to make it accessible to the normal D&D player; changes in how the game handles initiative/combat order and magic give it a distinct feel that has more to do with "Sword and Sorcery" than a more standard "High Fantasy." For example all combat actions have a cost in "TICKS". Standard attack with a dagger? 3 Ticks. With a Greatsword? 6 Ticks. The GM controls the master clock. So if you go on a count of 2 and strike with a dagger you go again 3 ticks later on the count of 5 (8, 11 etc). The greatsword wielder starting on a count of 2 goes again on 8. These basic attacks get modified by different "tricks" or "techniques" that one learns with specific weapons or as part of specific martial training. Mighty Sweeping strike with a Greatsword? 8 Ticks, but you hit 2 people and do extra damage. Daggers, side swords and even war picks all get their unique tricks. FINALLY we get a game system that rewards choices beyond picking up the heaviest most damaging weapon you can wield in 1 (or 2) hand(s)! Spell casting abandons D&D's "Vancian" baseline of cast and forget. Instead casters have a more limited repertoire with a strain system that balances well against weapon attacks. And of course, as it has storie set against the backdrop of a declining Coryani (Romanish) Empire and the successor states that are rising around its borders. While the campaign world features a few genuine "Black Hats," like the Silence and its agents the Voiceless Ones (more or less mind flayers on steroids) which seek to "turn off" the universe ... most times who is a "Good Guy" is a subjective judgment that varies based on factions and nationality. Moral dilemmas and interactions with complex "agenda driven" NPCs are as important to resolving a traditional Arcanis adventure as swing your sword and casting spells. As long as that remains true I'll keep following Henry and PCI whatever they produce.

5 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

The Arcanis RPG is a system where you have all the flexibility you need to create your concept without being directionless. You never lose the flavor of your concept. The Arcanis world is rich and full of detail. The system promotes good roleplaying but provides enough rules crunch for players who want or need a lot of structure. I strongly recommend giving it a try at your local gaming convention if you get the chance. If you can't, head over to the Paradigm concepts web site, download the free Fast Play PDF and some pre-generated characters and give it a try. (It's free! You've got nothing to lose.) My only criticism of this system is that character creation can take a while. You have so many options open to you that it can bog you down some times. (I guess that's the price you pay for the freedom and flexibility.) Thankfully, you don't generate new PCs every game session. It's a solid system and a robust world. Give it a try. (As a quick aside, there's nothing stopping you from using the rules outside of the Arcanis world, but it would take some Game Master intervention.)

3 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

Arcanis under 3.0/3.5 presented a world where NOTHING could be taken at face value, everything had an ulterior motive and even seemingly concrete facts were presented from a biased perspective meaning that they could not always be taken as the actual truth. It led to an interesting pseudo-roman centric world that had a steep learning curve but which rewarded players for peeling back the onion like layers of complexity with more layers. Fascinating for those that like a little depth to their world. With the advent of 4th edition they released their own system. The book suffers for a lack of a map but is otherwise pretty to look at however rules are tucked away all over the place that make referencing it time consuming. The basic rules rely on a variable die type (bigger is better) that can 'explode' on a maximum along with a flat skill bonus and 2d10 control dice. It sounds fine in principle however additional dice can be added from talents etc and keeping track of them isn't as simple as DnD. As you progress you are free to assign your increases wherever you like so long as you choose them from a set list and the system assumes that you make some decisions as standard but doesn't automatically increase them for you so if you don't you miss your chance to improve them and you'll forever be behind on the power curve. Given the chances of success this can be crippling. The magic 'strain' and combat maneuver 'recovery' system can be interesting and let you develop your own advanced techniques however it can give you 3 separate timers to track when you include initiative which counts round like a clock and potentially more if you have a pet or poison ability. It adds too much tracking potentially although you can keep a simpler character that doesn't need to worry about such things. Magic is rarely spectacular and you find that as the spells can each be modified (so burning hands, fire ball and scorching ray are essentially all the same spell now) means that some spells are much better than others due to most of them being very situational or underwhelming. Bad guys come in two flavours, mobs of minions and characters. If you can't do area effect the minions are dangerous however otherwise die in round 1 or 2 leaving you to gang up on the main bad guy. If you go unconscious that's ok, you can get quickly healed and back into the fight as it's only the rare wound damage that can actually kill you however this can lead to yo-yo fights as bad guys heal each other and stand back up to knock down the pcs who heal each other to stand back up to knock down the bad guys who heal each other etc. The initiative system and little difference in the weapon damages means that going faster is usually the best option and unless it is all riding on there being a single decisive blow...a speed 3 weapon (dagger) out damages a slower great sword very quickly against a single standard opponent especially if moving around the battle field is needed as well it feels like.The setting is lush and complicated but the system supporting it feels like it was rushed out. It has some interesting mechanics and feels full of promise however actually using it feels lacklustre with lots of rough edges. For an epic like setting with magic everywhere there is absence of actual magic users (being hunted for using magic if spotted) and magic items are rare and unimpressive. On the plus side there is a small but dedicated band of supporters and the ability to get direct feedback from the designers and developers at their paradigm concepts forum.

4 out of 5 rating for Arcanis: The Roleplaying Game

Having played Arcanis when it began, I was eager to dive back in when I heard it had been updated. I wasn't sure what to expect of a brand new system, but I love it! Certain aspects took a bit of getting used to, but it's quickly becoming my favourite system. I had to dock one star for typos and minor errors, and would have given 4.5 if I could. Errata and such is available on their website, however, so I am entirely thrilled with the system. Come play with us!