Customer Reviews

Elric! Dark Fantasy Roleplaying in the Young Kingdoms

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This RPG has proved brilliant and entertaining for both novice role-player and experienced, for both those familiar with Moorecock's work and those who are not. I'll be the first to admit that the release of 3rd edition D&D has distracted me from this ingenious work of dark fantasy but before 3rd edition came out this system was the only one out of the many I have played in my 12 years of gaming to hold my attention (there are plenty of new rules that cropped up in 3rd edition that look familiar to ones in this book). The system of incresing abilities and skills is much better than the much acclaimed 3rd edition D&D. This game is also a much more "realistic" RPG than anything that TSR or Palladium ever put out. The fact that characters do not gain levels but instead increase their various skill and ablities by practicing them is a BIG step towards working realism in RPGs. There are none of the class restrictions found in other RPGs in this game. You can do what you learn how to do. And for those of us tired of explaining why our worlds are not controlled by the blatantly more powerful elven and dwarven races, this games' human-only content is quite refreshing. There is of course the non-human race known as the Melniboneans but they are little more (functionally speaking) than an eldritch and sorcerous race of decadent humans. My only complaints are that the book is paperback and that more people don't realize it's brilliance. Combat is extremely well laid out with an unsurpassed balance of realism, utility, and entertainment. Even if you do not plan to run the campaign this book is FULL of great ideas applicable to any RPG from personal character quirk lists to a great and novel system of allegiance to the forces of law and chaos. Just beware of those brutal critical hit tables! oof! Feel free to e-mail for general correspondence concerning elric!.