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A Song of Ice and Fire A Game of Thrones Edition

A Song of Ice and Fire A Game of Thrones Edition

This revised version of the A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying came about due to the increased popularity of George R.R. Martins' work brought about by the TV adaptation Game of Thrones. The core ruleset is unchanged, although errata have been applied. A short introductory adventure - the one from the Quick Start - and a longer one, Peril at King's Landing (also available as a separate book), are also included to get you off to a flying start. The artwork is even better than before, and overall presentation improved as well. The Introduction explains all this, as well as having the usual 'What is a role-playing game?' information.

Chapter 1: A Westeros Primer is concerned with the setting. It opens with notes from Maester Jesiah (looking almost as if he'd written them himself, illuminated manuscript style), which give an overview of the history, current affairs and geography of Westeros. Fascinating reading, followed by a set of notes on life in Westeros - the legal situation (mostly down to the whim of the local lordling although many take their responsibilities seriously), the current state of technology, religion, ending with knighthood and the role of the maester.

Next, Chapter 2: Game Rules covers the basics of how to play the game. The core game mechanic is based around fists-full of d6s, with bonuses and modifiers as appropriate. Put simply, to attempt a task you decide which ability applies and use that to decide how many dice to roll - these are your Test Dice. If you qualify for a bonus, you get to add more dice to your roll, but then select the highest ones to the number of Test Dice you have. Modifiers are numerical additions or subtractions from the result achieved with the Test Dice. The aim is you test your abilities against a Narrator-set difficulty for the task you are trying to perform. That's the basics, and there are plenty of examples and special cases to show you how it all works. It's more straightforward than it looks at first glance, and soon becomes second nature. This chapter ends with some character archetypes - use these as exemplars or even for your own character, or just as guidelines as you move on to Chapter 3: Character Creation.

The whole business of character creation is intended to be a communal effort, as the default mode of playing the game is for the characters to be all members of (or associated with) a single noble house. So in creating the character, you are also laying a lot of the groundwork towards designing a house (although that is covered in more detail in Chapter 6: Houses and Lands). Whilst Chapter 3 takes you through the process, Chapter 4: Abilities and Specialities and Chapter 5: Destiny and Qualities provide the fine detail of the choices that you need to make, and also explain how you use everything you pick to effect with the game mechanics. Well worth a good read through before you start off making your characters, a thorough understanding will aid you in creating potent characters which complement one another. Once you have done, Chapter 7: Equipment ensures your characters have everything that they need.

The next three chapters cover Intrigue, Combat and Warfare: the main occupations of the average noble house on Westeros. Each could be reduced to a series of die rolls, but of course - especially in the case of intrigue - there is plenty more scope than that, each of these activities has scope for ample role-playing with the dice merely adding the element of chance ito an uncertain world. It is the combination of players and Narrator that will bring the game to life with role-play, interactions and planning taking precedence over the fall of the dice.

Speaking of the Narrator, Chapter 11 is devoted to a masterclass in how to run the game with a wealth of material to aid you in designing and running adventures and campaigns. Ideas are presented in the way major characters in the novels embodied them, be it Lord Eddard Stark facing dilemmas, his wife Catelyn living up to expectations, Petyr Baylish's treachery or Ser Barristan Selmy showing the influence of history on the present... and there's more, of course. There's also detailed advice about making the rules work for your story, on managing play during sessions and so on.

The rest of the book contains the two adventures, being a Journey to King's Landing and Peril in King's Landing once you get there. They serve as a good introduction to Westeros and the game of thrones in general, and are good fun as the characters get involved in a tournament and all the intrigue going on around it. These will get your campaign off to a flying start, with plenty of scope for further development.

Set just before the time of the books (and TV show), make your own mark on Westeros. Perhaps it will be one of your characters that will sit on the Iron Throne - although be warned, it's said to be very uncomfortable!

Return to A Song of Ice and Fire Game of Thrones Edition page.

Reviewed: 16 February 2016