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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 3958864" data-attributes="member: 1165">Just so you know, I'm a player, not a DM of the game. The campaign is fun, but I had some problems with the rules.Parts of it aren't rules light, for instance critical hits. We've imported a few rules ad-hoc from DnD, such as bull rushing. (This came in handy when my character repeatedly tried to shove another character off a ten foot drop. It worked the first time, too.)Much of it is rules light though, such as combat advantages. Each advantage gives a +10% to +20% bonus to attack rolls. (For instance, four opponents ganging up on one guy each get +30%, if the victim is tied up or grappled that's another +20%. Ouch.)You randomly roll starting stats, which I hate, and you have to roll them in order instead of arrange to taste, which I also hate. I got very high stats (too high; I don't want to play an Int 38 character!) but, ironically, my character's Agility is low even though he's an Outrider who is supposed to ride horses, use archery and throw nets. I got a free bow (which I've only used once) and a free net (which for some reason never misses, despite supposedly only working less than a third of the time). My Riding skill never works due to low Agility and partial chain mail.If the DM didn't houserule that we all got a free hand weapon, I would have been totally screwed despite having generally very high stats. The DM let some of us "trade" careers.Dwarves seem overpowered. I don't know what the penalty for being a dwarf is, but the +10% bonus to Melee skill (without any kind of fate point penalty) seems like overkill. (Of course, you could roll low on Melee skill, but generally it's overpowered.)If you're only using humans, I would say it's not so much unbalanced as "less fun". You can remove a lot of unbalance by using some kind of point buy and letting characters choose their first career. Rolling for at least some talents would probably still be fun.For such a harsh game, they really need decent parrying rules. They do have them, but in order to parry, you need:1) A special talent (or feat-like thing) which is hard to get. One of the elves in the party has it, and it's really good.2) A shield. This is actually hard to get early on in the game if it's not in your starting trappings. My character has a shield; it's a literal life-saver.3) An off-hand weapon.Since you don't get to pick starting talents, you may end up with something useless or something that doesn't fit. For instance, my character has Ambidexterity. He can wield a dagger in his off-hand with no penalties or use it to parry things (but not both). However, the damage system means you never use such a wimpy weapon as a dagger, and the shield gives bonuses against ranged attacks. I'll never give up the shield, which means I'll never use that talent.Yes. We have already dealt with people committing human sacrifice. (We hanged the victims, after conning one into helping us track down a demon.) My character has picked up an insanity point already (along with half the party) when we saw a glowing green rock (warp stone?), then he tried to inflict that on another NPC (who freaked out, but apparently didn't go mad). Said NPC was part of a group of corrupt guards, and we ended up beating them unconscious, stripping them, tying them up in an "embarrassing" position, then attached a severed demon's head to them "as an active participant in their actions" (if you know what I mean). Alas, they were only put into the stocks, rather than stoned to death.On that note, unarmed combat really sucks in the rules, which I know from going through two complete battles using only improvised weapons and unarmed attacks. Maybe there's some stunt to get decent at it, but at the start you don't get to pick these things.</blockquote>

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