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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2009717" data-attributes="member: 9860">This is not a playtest review.All For One And One For All (AFOAOFA) is a sourcebook based on historical 17th century France and the novels of Alexandre Dumas (e.g. The Three Musketeers) by Avalanche Press.AFOAOFA is a 64-page softcover book coming in at $16.95. The format is reasonably standard Avalanche stuff with wonky sidebars and a bit too much space around tables, but font and margins are pretty good. The internal mono art is also standard Avalanche, with period sketches and touched-up photos - all pretty banale. The front cover is somewhat less inappropriate than normal - the main figure is a musketeer with sword in hand, whilst the busty redhead on the side (no pun intended) is fairly representative of some of the scenes of bawdy romance from film adaptations of Dumas' novels. The quality of the writing is good, whilst the editing is average.Part 1: France In The 1600'sThis chapter begins with an historical overview of France, running from the beginning of the reign of Louis XIII in 1610 through to the end of the reign of Louis XIV in 1715. The text incorporates information on the infamous Cardinal Richelieu and the Thirty Years War between Catholics and Protestants. The chapter then moves on to more general aspects such as the influence of religion and philosophy, the class structure, the daily lives and troubles of the different classes (from commoner to king), law and justice, and disease. There are several sidebars covering aspects such as dress, cuisine, pastimes, and medicine.Part 2: Character ClassesThere are three main character classes - Noble, Priest, and Soldier (the standard core classes from D&D are obviously not available in this setting). Each class seems balanced against another and will shine in different circumstances. The noble benefits from social influence and resources, the priest from some spell-like abilities such as bless, bane, and aura of fear, whilst soldiers gain bonus feats much like a fighter but also gain in rank (and therefore power). There are also five 10-level prestige classes available:* Cardinal - more powerful version of a priest with a dedicated guard and the power to excommunicate.* Cardinal's Guard - the cardinal's dedicated guard who gain ranks more quickly than soldiers but slower feat progression. They also gain a masterwork weapon, free Grace feat (see below), and the ability to bless others at higher levels.* Intendent - a spy/assassin who works for a cardinal, skilled in the use of poison, and with some divine inspiration.* King's Musketeer - a sort of cross between the soldier and the noble in terms of class features, with bonus feats and social influence. These are the heroic musketeers of film and novel, an elite cadre of the Royal Army.* Physician - has basic medicinal training (mainly in amputation) with spell-like ability to cure wounds and treat disease.Part 3: Outfitting The CharacterTen new feats are given, most of which integrate with the Panache system first introduced in Avalanche's Black Flags sourcebook (the Panache system is detailed again later in AFOAOFA). These include such combat feats as the Caracole (firing two muskets at once from a wheeling horse) and Trick Shot (shooting down a chandelier, a ricochet shot, etc.) whilst general feats include Amputate and Grace ("a +2 Racial Bonus to all Charisma checks"). There is also a fairly lengthy sidebar explaining why alignment is not used as a factor in this campaign setting. Five new skills are given - Brewing, Bribe, Etiquette, Gossip, and Seduction. The author gives his reasons for not using existing skills to cover these areas in some cases but certainly I would have liked to have seen Craft (Brewing) or Profession (Brewer), and Knowledge (Etiquette), whilst I don't entirely agree with the reasoning behind the remaining skills being new. A list of new equipment for the setting is given with prices in the appropriate monetary values for the setting only, and there is a sidebar listing equipment not available from the standard equipment pricelist in Core Rulebook I.Part 4: Style And SubstanceAfter a brief discussion on what period within the given time frame would best suit your idea of the campaign you want to run, the book re-introduces the Panache system first revealed in Avalanche's 'Black Flags' sourcebook on pirates in the Caribbean. The system seems more suited to this setting than the Black Flags one. Essentially, the system allows characters to add unnecessary flair to various actions. The system allows the character to build up a pool of Panache Points from performing swashbuckling actions (giving a penalty to that action, but looking impressive). Panache Points can later be spent to gain a bonus to a Charisma check, Reflex save, an ally's attack roll or skill check, or temporarily gain a Panache feat (which includes some standard feats such as Dodge and Far Shot, as well as the new ones offered in Part 3). Panache Points are dependent on the number of witnesses to the display, the level of the opponent in combat, and the character's own level. Each of these factors can influence the number of Panache Points gained or lost by the display. I'm not a great fan of expanding the ruleset with this sort of complexity - I would have preferred a simpler feat-based reflection of swashbuckling actions, but this system will appeal to some. I did feel its use enhanced the politically-oriented mood of the setting. The chapter contains further rules for grievous bodily harm (to reflect damage from firearms, which may be fatal above and beyond the base damage they do), gangrene, firearms, cannon, and disease. The rules for firearms and cannon include discussions on accuracy, misfires, and loading. Diseases covered are scarlet fever, smallpox, pneumonia, tubercolosis, and influenza. The rules for the diseases can be pretty deadly - its not much fun or heroic for a PC to die of a disease, however realistic. The rules for firearms and the related grievous bodily harm rules are overly complex for my liking, but I'm sure will appeal to others.Part 5: Adventuring In 17th Century FranceThe chapter begins with a description of some of the most important locations in the Chateau de Versailles, Louis XIV's palace. The chapter ends with eight fairly well-developed adventure ideas, including advice on which character types are best suited to the adventure.Appendix 1: Characters From The NovelsThis appendix gives stats and descriptions for Cardinal Richelieu, D'Artagnan Of Gascony, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Each character gets two sets of stats - one for play in line with their ages in 'The Three Musketeers' period, the other for use in 'The Man In The Iron Mask' period.Appendix 2: The Life Of Alexandre Dumas, gives a one-page biography of the novelist who influenced AFOAOFA.Conclusion:AFOAOFA is to my mind the best sourcebook Avalanche have produced so far. There are still a few rules that could be better clarified (or to my mind simplified) but it does not suffer from the gross mistakes of some of their other sourcebooks and makes some interesting uses of the d20 ruleset for this historical setting. The classes and prestige classes seem interesting to play and there are some good adventure ideas and historical information on which a GM can build a campaign set in 17th century France and the world of the Three Musketeers.Even the rules which I found overly complex in Black Flags seem to work better in AFOAOFA because politics, reputation and social interaction are at the heart of this setting and the use of aspects such as rules for cannon should be less important in game play.</blockquote>

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