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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Some Dude" data-source="post: 7867058" data-attributes="member: 6980080">CHAPTER 13: A BITTER HARVESTZweihander's final Chapter is A Bitter Harvest, an introductory scenario. I have seen reviewers sidestep this Chapter altogether, so as to avoid spoilers. And while I understand that, ABH deserves a little more attention.At 30 pages, ABH is a full-length adventure. While many games are content to give you a six- or eight-page mini-adventure, ABH is fully realized and detailed, so much so that, like Chapter 12, it could easily be sold on its own as a worthwhile stand-alone purchase.It is also worth mentioning that ABH is specifically written to teach new players to use the various rules within the book as a whole. Chase Scenes, Combat, Social Intrigue and Wilderness Encounters all get time in the spotlight here.This is yet another example of the careful design that is evident in nearly every facet of this game. Nothing here feels slapdash. There is no sense that the introductory adventure was included as a mere obligation, in order to satisfy the expectations of gamers. ABH is a well-written, versatile module (I will never stop loving that term) that can be combat heavy, or light, according to Player actions. It can accommodate a variety of play styles, and features plenty of investigation as well as Combat. It's a story in ten parts, with as many relevant NPCs. Multiple outcomes are available, some leading to glory, and others to death.Based on the Baltic Crusades, ABH is very much a "Grim & Perilous" adventure. But be warned, its thematic adaptation of the atrocities of war may be uncomfortable for some players.Throughout ABH, there are sidebars with playtest notes, giving insight into multiple playtests, and therefore the myriad possibilities that may arise, depending on Players' actions and decisions. And these actions and decisions matter.There are also guidelines for awarding reward points and/or reputation Points.Overall. ABH is an excellent taste of what the designer intended to convey with Zweihander.After this, there are a series of Appendices (8  in all). These are GM aids, for tracking the PCs' Damage, as well as things like Chase Scenes, Taints of Chaos and Combat Actions.there is also a Character Sheet, in plain black & white lines, rather than the sepia tones I have seen on the official Character Sheet. Plain, but printer-friendly. Other than the lack of sepia/shading, the sheets are exactly the same.An index, followed by an advertisement for Main Gauche, Zweihander's Chaos Supplement, are the last things in the book.FINAL THOUGHTSI now feel about Zweihander pretty much the same way I did a couple of Chapters in. It's a great (and I can now say fun) game, and an outstanding product, the experience of which is somewhat marred by its numerous editorial issues. Let me be clear here: the good FAR outweighs the bad (in fact, I have converted one of my groups to this game and am working on the other). And again, I don't want to harp or be nit-picky. But, if I didn't point out what I so obvious and unnecessary, and what others have also noted, this would not be an objective read-through/review.I'm a big fan of the old Golden Heroes RPG. It had an interesting approach to Player/GM info. Both books featured the same subjects, in the same chapter sequence. Players read their book, while GMs were instructed to read both, first reading a chapter in the Players' Book, then reading the corresponding and more detailed section in the Script Supervisor's (GM's) Book, then moving in to the next chapter in the Players' Book and repeating until finished. That' the best approach I've ever seen. and I'm surprised that more games don't do it. A game of such imposing size as Zweihander would have benefitted greatly from such an approach. As it is, information can sometimes be hard to find in the book. It doesn't make it unplayable by any means, but it's a bit more work than it should be at times. Especially when the system itself is as elegant, intuitive and ultimately simple as this one is. Add to this the typos, and I have to give Zweihander some low marks in an otherwise glowing appraisal. If it sounds like I'm being hard on Zweihander, I am. The book is big, not cheap, and is now in its 3rd printing. I understand that it costs money to revise a book's layout. But what works here (which is everything else) is so damn good that what doesn't work is painfully glaring. You wouldn't build  Ferrari, only to let some dude paint it with a spray can and slap the medallions on haphazardly, then send it through inspection, where it gets dismissively waved through by a guy reading a paperback. That example is too extreme, but you get my point.To be fair, the author is aware of and has owned these issues (and others) in interviews I have heard. And, as I said, it doesn't interfere with play. At all. What it does do is have me reading, re-reading, flipping back and forth and consulting the game's Discord community for clarification. But, this is a first effort by an author who was new to writing and game publishing when Zweihander first burst into the public consciousness. I am hopeful that future releases will remedy these issues. And besides, if poor editing were a bar to entry, there'd be no RPG hobby, let's face it.When I started this read-through, I knew next to nothing about the game, or about WFRP. Now that I have finished, I know a lot more about Zweihander, and a little more about WFRP. I can now say that Zweihander is an excellent game, written by someone with an obvious love of roleplaying and fantasy, who went the extra mile in researching and crafting a solid and exquisitely balanced set of mechanics onto what began life as a retro-clone/fan update of WFRP 2e. And while many retro-clones/heartbreakers/whatever (I'm still not sure I understand what these terms mean) update or streamline their predecessor's mechanics, few have done it in such a complete and meaningful way. Everything about Zweihander feels deliberate and precise, like hefting a finely crafted two-handed sword (and it ain't much lighter, neither).In play, it's a fast-moving game with meaningful consequences. Easy to learn, but with a surprising tactical depth, which manages to allow for an astounding number of player options without going over its Encumbrance Capacity (I have yet to try any of the Optional Combat rules, however). Remember that "sweet spot" I mentioned in my first post? This is pretty much it.As for Zweihander's "lack of setting", it seems to me that the author has used descriptive text, TONS of illustrations (one of the most profusely illustrated games I've ever seen) and more than enough background to give me a very clear sense of the game "world", while allowing room for any GM to make it their own, or simply port the mechanics over to whatever "grimdark" setting they choose.IN SUMMATIONWhat Zweihander is:-fast and smooth in play-flexible-fun-challenging, with a meaningful tactical foundation-well-balanced-extremely well-made (physical product)-beautiful (presentation)-grim, gritty and mature (for an elfgame lol)What Zweihander isn't-well-editedOverall, I'mma have to put it solidly in the "win" column. Without question.if you are interested in Zweihander, you can check out the official website for the game here:[URL unfurl="true"]https://grimandperilous.com/[/URL]</blockquote>

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