kingpaul
First Post
(received as a review copy)
This is a 437 page hardcover book. The MSRP is $34.95 US. The mechanics in this book, at least to this reviewer, are new, and may take some time getting used to the setup. Fantasy Imperium is listed as an “Interactive Storytelling Game,” where the emphasis is on telling a story.
Chapter 1: Characters (p. 3)
This chapter deals with initial character creation. Characters have 10 attributes, each having a d100 score. Characters then get 100 + d100 skill points to spend on skills. A character can choose to be a Professional Mage, a Diletante [sic] or have no magical abilities. There are several secondary attributes that are derived from the primary attributes. The character also rolls to determine which social class they belong to. Social class makes gaining certain professions (see below) easier…among other things.
Chapter 2: Skills & Professions (p. 8)
There are 89 professions from which the character can choose. Each profession has a social class listing. If the social class of the profession (a Lord has one of 5) is higher than the character’s social class, they must spend 10-skill points/level difference to take that profession. Each profession includes the “class skills” for that profession and how many skill points it would take to max out each skill in the profession. So a common soldier would need 45 skill points to max out all their skills while a prostitute would need 70. If the character wants more than one profession, they need to pay 5 skill points for each additional one. There are 104 basic skills to choose from. Each weapon is also a skill. If a character wants to raise the skill level after creation, they spend experience points for a chance to raise it. The character spends the experience, and then most roll above their current score (on a d100) to be able to increase.
Chapter 3: Combat (p. 19)
Combat is broken down into two-second rounds. Each combat round has 19 steps to complete, starting with rolling initiative and ending when the combat is over. Initiative is rolled at the beginning of each round. Dexterity, armor, weapon speed and prior actions all influence the initiative roll. During combat, each weapon has a “break percentage”, and that needs to be rolled to determine if the weapon breaks during combat.
Chapter 4: Movement & Fatigue (p. 26)
The first part of this chapter pertains to the various moving speeds a character can have while walking or riding a horse. It also goes into some rules on horse handling. Fatigue is one of the secondary attributes, and a character can become fatigued by doing anything. Each second a character rests, they recover one fatigue point.
Chapter 5: Injuries & Death (p. 31)
During combat, if a character hits someone, they need to determine where they hit, how hard they hit, if the person goes into shock or is stunned, and how much blood loss they endure. There are also sections concerning damage from falling, fire, ice, hypothermia, lightning and drowning.
Chapter 6: Morale & Healing (p. 38)
Morale is another secondary attribute. If a character fails their morale check, the character runs away in fear. To heal a character requires 3d6 rounds to examine the wound, and then progressing on with the proper treatment.
Chapter 7: Fighting Styles & Tactics (p. 41)
There are eight different fighting styles. Each character starts out with one for free. They can use experience points to buy additional styles. There are numerous actions that can be employed during combat.
Chapter 8: Spiritual Warfare (p. 53)
This chapter deals with a character’s piety and ways the character can pray and/or sin that will affect how the character deals with spiritual attacks.
Chapter 9: Fate & Magic (p. 61)
Characters begin with 1d6 fate points, and the storyteller secretly rolls on the fate chart to determine what the character’s fates are. The last one is death. the remainder of this chapter details how spellcasting works in this system. To access the forbidden skills, a character must spend 10 skill points to access one of the four schools. To practice magic, a character must research, learn and then cast.
Chapter 10: Ceremonial Magic (p. 68)
This chapter is primarily the spell descriptions covering the 4 disciplines of ceremonial magic: alchymy, conjuration, ritualism and spiritualism.
Chapter 11: Natural Magic (p. 105)
Like chapter 10, except covering the four disciplines of natural magic: deceivers, elementalism, enchantment and sorcery.```
Chapter 12: Extrasensory Magic (p. 137)
Like chapter 10, except covering the four disciplines of extrasensory magic: mysticism, psychics, seer and talismanic.
Chapter 13: Black Magic (p. 168)
Like chapter 10, except covering black magic.
Chapter 14: Time & Money (p. 178)
The first section of this chapter deals with the various coinage used in the “known world”. The default is the British pound, shilling and penny. The other coins mentioned are given their equivalents in pounds (or a fraction thereof). There are charts on what each profession should make a yar and how much a starting character in that profession would have saved up. Living expenses from the various social classes is included. The rest of the chapter is charts devoted to purchasable items.
Chapter 15: Weapons (p. 195)
This chapter is comprised entirely of charts of weapon stats. There are 568 weapons (number found from Appendix B). Remember from chapter 2 that each weapon is its own skill.
Chapter 16: Armor & Shields (p. 214)
Like chapter 15, this is primarily charts of various pieces of armor and types of shields. There is also magical enhancements that can be placed on armor.
Chapter 17: Mythical Races (p. 234)
This chapter lists six humanoid races, and how to adjust making characters using them. The races are: centaurs, elves, dwarves, half-elves, halflings and gnomes.
Appendix A: Spell Lists (p. 243)
Alphabetized spell charts from the major spell “schools”. They include the spell name, the discipline, the power and the page it can be found on.
Appendix B: Weapons (p. 257)
This numbers all the weapons in the book, and then has a picture of the weapon.
Appendix C: Armor (p. 325)
Like the previous appendix, this has pictures of the various armor styles (leather, plate, scale, etc.) and pieces.
Appendix D: Suits of Armor (p. 239)
This shows over thirty suits of armor. It lists how much the entire suit weights, how much it would cost, how it protects the various body parts and how it affects initiative.
Appendix E: The World in 1121 A.D. (p. 375)
The inside front cover is a two page map of the known world of Europe and the Mediterranean at 1121 A.D. This appendix is a gazetteer of the various localities and who is ruling them.
Appendix F: The World in 1348 A.D. (p. 384)
The inside back cover is a two page map, like the inside front, except its from 1348 A.D. This appendix deals with the world at that time.
Appendix G: Reference Charts (p. 393)
This appendix is a godsend, as it collects all the necessary charts to run the game in one location.
The good
The historical background found in Appendices E and F are a nice backdrop to set the game in. If nothing else, the pictures of the weapons and armor can be used in other game systems. The charts for the weapons and armor could also be converted over; as can the equipment. The artwork, which was scattered throughout the book in good doses, was at least of average quality. All the artwork was black & white drawings, and most of at least good.
The bad
This is a complex game to get started. Unless a gaming group likes the detail and minutiae that this system has, I don’t see this system being used much.
The ugly
For a system that purports itself, on page 1, to be story driven, this is an incredibly complex, rules-heavy, game system. It took me several reads to grasp the rules, and I’m not even sure I fully understand them.
This is a 437 page hardcover book. The MSRP is $34.95 US. The mechanics in this book, at least to this reviewer, are new, and may take some time getting used to the setup. Fantasy Imperium is listed as an “Interactive Storytelling Game,” where the emphasis is on telling a story.
Chapter 1: Characters (p. 3)
This chapter deals with initial character creation. Characters have 10 attributes, each having a d100 score. Characters then get 100 + d100 skill points to spend on skills. A character can choose to be a Professional Mage, a Diletante [sic] or have no magical abilities. There are several secondary attributes that are derived from the primary attributes. The character also rolls to determine which social class they belong to. Social class makes gaining certain professions (see below) easier…among other things.
Chapter 2: Skills & Professions (p. 8)
There are 89 professions from which the character can choose. Each profession has a social class listing. If the social class of the profession (a Lord has one of 5) is higher than the character’s social class, they must spend 10-skill points/level difference to take that profession. Each profession includes the “class skills” for that profession and how many skill points it would take to max out each skill in the profession. So a common soldier would need 45 skill points to max out all their skills while a prostitute would need 70. If the character wants more than one profession, they need to pay 5 skill points for each additional one. There are 104 basic skills to choose from. Each weapon is also a skill. If a character wants to raise the skill level after creation, they spend experience points for a chance to raise it. The character spends the experience, and then most roll above their current score (on a d100) to be able to increase.
Chapter 3: Combat (p. 19)
Combat is broken down into two-second rounds. Each combat round has 19 steps to complete, starting with rolling initiative and ending when the combat is over. Initiative is rolled at the beginning of each round. Dexterity, armor, weapon speed and prior actions all influence the initiative roll. During combat, each weapon has a “break percentage”, and that needs to be rolled to determine if the weapon breaks during combat.
Chapter 4: Movement & Fatigue (p. 26)
The first part of this chapter pertains to the various moving speeds a character can have while walking or riding a horse. It also goes into some rules on horse handling. Fatigue is one of the secondary attributes, and a character can become fatigued by doing anything. Each second a character rests, they recover one fatigue point.
Chapter 5: Injuries & Death (p. 31)
During combat, if a character hits someone, they need to determine where they hit, how hard they hit, if the person goes into shock or is stunned, and how much blood loss they endure. There are also sections concerning damage from falling, fire, ice, hypothermia, lightning and drowning.
Chapter 6: Morale & Healing (p. 38)
Morale is another secondary attribute. If a character fails their morale check, the character runs away in fear. To heal a character requires 3d6 rounds to examine the wound, and then progressing on with the proper treatment.
Chapter 7: Fighting Styles & Tactics (p. 41)
There are eight different fighting styles. Each character starts out with one for free. They can use experience points to buy additional styles. There are numerous actions that can be employed during combat.
Chapter 8: Spiritual Warfare (p. 53)
This chapter deals with a character’s piety and ways the character can pray and/or sin that will affect how the character deals with spiritual attacks.
Chapter 9: Fate & Magic (p. 61)
Characters begin with 1d6 fate points, and the storyteller secretly rolls on the fate chart to determine what the character’s fates are. The last one is death. the remainder of this chapter details how spellcasting works in this system. To access the forbidden skills, a character must spend 10 skill points to access one of the four schools. To practice magic, a character must research, learn and then cast.
Chapter 10: Ceremonial Magic (p. 68)
This chapter is primarily the spell descriptions covering the 4 disciplines of ceremonial magic: alchymy, conjuration, ritualism and spiritualism.
Chapter 11: Natural Magic (p. 105)
Like chapter 10, except covering the four disciplines of natural magic: deceivers, elementalism, enchantment and sorcery.```
Chapter 12: Extrasensory Magic (p. 137)
Like chapter 10, except covering the four disciplines of extrasensory magic: mysticism, psychics, seer and talismanic.
Chapter 13: Black Magic (p. 168)
Like chapter 10, except covering black magic.
Chapter 14: Time & Money (p. 178)
The first section of this chapter deals with the various coinage used in the “known world”. The default is the British pound, shilling and penny. The other coins mentioned are given their equivalents in pounds (or a fraction thereof). There are charts on what each profession should make a yar and how much a starting character in that profession would have saved up. Living expenses from the various social classes is included. The rest of the chapter is charts devoted to purchasable items.
Chapter 15: Weapons (p. 195)
This chapter is comprised entirely of charts of weapon stats. There are 568 weapons (number found from Appendix B). Remember from chapter 2 that each weapon is its own skill.
Chapter 16: Armor & Shields (p. 214)
Like chapter 15, this is primarily charts of various pieces of armor and types of shields. There is also magical enhancements that can be placed on armor.
Chapter 17: Mythical Races (p. 234)
This chapter lists six humanoid races, and how to adjust making characters using them. The races are: centaurs, elves, dwarves, half-elves, halflings and gnomes.
Appendix A: Spell Lists (p. 243)
Alphabetized spell charts from the major spell “schools”. They include the spell name, the discipline, the power and the page it can be found on.
Appendix B: Weapons (p. 257)
This numbers all the weapons in the book, and then has a picture of the weapon.
Appendix C: Armor (p. 325)
Like the previous appendix, this has pictures of the various armor styles (leather, plate, scale, etc.) and pieces.
Appendix D: Suits of Armor (p. 239)
This shows over thirty suits of armor. It lists how much the entire suit weights, how much it would cost, how it protects the various body parts and how it affects initiative.
Appendix E: The World in 1121 A.D. (p. 375)
The inside front cover is a two page map of the known world of Europe and the Mediterranean at 1121 A.D. This appendix is a gazetteer of the various localities and who is ruling them.
Appendix F: The World in 1348 A.D. (p. 384)
The inside back cover is a two page map, like the inside front, except its from 1348 A.D. This appendix deals with the world at that time.
Appendix G: Reference Charts (p. 393)
This appendix is a godsend, as it collects all the necessary charts to run the game in one location.
The good
The historical background found in Appendices E and F are a nice backdrop to set the game in. If nothing else, the pictures of the weapons and armor can be used in other game systems. The charts for the weapons and armor could also be converted over; as can the equipment. The artwork, which was scattered throughout the book in good doses, was at least of average quality. All the artwork was black & white drawings, and most of at least good.
The bad
This is a complex game to get started. Unless a gaming group likes the detail and minutiae that this system has, I don’t see this system being used much.
The ugly
For a system that purports itself, on page 1, to be story driven, this is an incredibly complex, rules-heavy, game system. It took me several reads to grasp the rules, and I’m not even sure I fully understand them.
