[The Hero's Journey] A first look

[merias]

I just downloaded and skimmed through this (PWYW at rpgnow: http://www.rpgnow.com/product/177622/Th ... --Wizardry), and I have to say, I'm impressed. It's based on S&W White Box but adds just enough to be complete but not unwieldy. The game has a heroic feel to it with armor granting damage reduction, weapon specialization, and self-enchanting weapons that gain bonuses and powers when used in heroic combat (they gain myth points). It's not perfect IMO - I think Druids are too limited by restricting them to cleric spells (a pet peeve of mine, I like playing Druids), for example. There may be more when I get a chance to read it in full. Anyone else look at this yet?

[Maliki]

I bought the download, based in part on the authors white box work (which I think was really well done). As a whole I was slightly disappointed, there are a lot of parts I liked and parts I did not care for. I liked the dice pools, based on race, for generating ability scores. It gives each race a distinct feel as far as abilities are concerned. Not sure how I feel about letting the demi-humans choose different classes. (I really like how ACKS handles this with each race having its own classes to choose from). I don't like only rolling for hit points through level 3 (some classes don't even get 3 HD, rolling at levels 1 and 3 only), before starting to get a fixed amount of hit points per level. Most of the additional classes are fine, and while I am not a fan of Druids, I do think if they are included they should have a spell list of their own, distinct from the cleric's. I liked the Professions, giving the characters some depth and varying starting wealth and equipment. I liked how races are handled, giving each race certain weapon they are able to use regardless of their class is nice.

[merias]

When I first saw the low HP progressions, I thought there was no way that could work in play. But the damage reduction of armor will really mitigate a lot of damage, especially since I did not see any rules regarding armor wear & tear - it makes you harder to hit and lessens damage (even spell damage), forever. And it can become enchanted after you play enough. Weapon specialization increases to-hit and damage rolls, along with strength. So a fighter in plate armor, specializing in the battle axe (2d6 base damage) is a force to be reckoned with. I haven't played it yet, of course, so we'll see. It reminds me of Scarlet Heroes - meant to be heroic in nature.

[Mike]

My only concern is that I can't use this as a stand alone game since it lacks any reference to the hexcrawl which is a fundamental element of my play. This is also a complaint I could level at White Box of course but WB doesn't claim to be a complete game.

The cover depicts a very nice Lord of the Rings-style wilderness image but the game itself doesn't concern itself with overland travel.

I would have thought that the designers would and could have aimed higher for this project. In all other ways it's excellent.

[merias]

My only concern is that I can't use this as a stand alone game since it lacks any reference to the hexcrawl which is a fundamental element of my play.

Good observation, I did not notice the omission on first reading. It's easy enough to use any number of hexcrawl frameworks from other games, but it makes me wonder what kind of play testing was done, and, as you say, it is supposed to be a complete game.