Introduction
My god, I have never been so excited to read through a rulebook as much as I have been with Romance of the Perilous Land. Being British myself, British Folklore has always been something I've been fascinated by. As soon as I read the subheading saying it was a roleplaying game based on British folklore, I've never clicked the add to cart button so bloody fast!
Ruleset
The rules are a perfect balance of simplistic and interesting. It's simple enough for me to sit down and play a campaign with my mum yet interesting enough to keep me and my friends hooked. If you have had experience with pretty much any tabletop ruleset, you will be able to DM without much hassle.
Classes
I'm really pleased with the classes, they're not too extravagant so that they wouldn't fit the lore but they're also unique enough where you would be interested in playing each one. I still think there is room for more classes but it isn't something that is needed imminently, they would just be more material to work with. Each class fits a certain players playstyle:
There's a Knight class for the chivalrous warrior type player
There's a Ranger class for the ranged preferred scouting type player
There's the Thief class for the cunning, devious, backstabbing type player
There's the Cunning Folk class for the magic wielding type player
There's the Barbarian class for the heavy hitting, high damage type player
And there's the Bard class for the charismatic and charming charmer type player
Each class gains the ability to increase attributes over their levels which means each character feels evenly powerful at higher levels. The Class Features are also diverse and interesting.
Character Backgrounds
I would prefer for there to be a better mix of backgrounds, currently, there are 5. I feel like there aren't enough backgrounds for certain characters, It would be much better to have a background like 'Commoner' or 'Farmer' put into the mix for players wanting a different storyline or wanting their character to be normal.
Weapons, Armour and Items
Even though there aren't as many weapons and items as, say, D&D. I think that because of the setting, it fits more. The limited amount of weapons fits because of the setting and time era. Personally, Only small adjustments needed to be made in this department, other than that, its good.
Playing the Game
The actual gameplay is quite delightful. The combat is simple and easy to learn. Attribute tests are simple and generally all the rules fit into the 'easy to play' feel.
Magic
Romance of the Perilous Land aims to give magic an extra special feel. Magic is supposed to be this rare and extraordinary thing that the common man could only dream of doing. Magic works on a point system, each spell requires a certain amount of points, very simple. The thing I like in particular is that the character can try to cast a spell above their level but with the risk of consequences, this feels really exciting to me because it means any cunning folk could attempt to pull off an amazing spell, if they have the points for it.
Bestiary
All the beats featured in Romance of the Perilous Land come straight from British Folklore, as the title suggests. It's quite satisfying to see the creatures we read be translated into playable forms. I also like the way creatures are more scarce in the game, a whole campaign could be focused around finding one monster.
Conclusion
I highly recommend this title to any fan of British Folklore, the Arthurian legend, or even the BBC series Merlin.
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