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Much like some of the other reviewers, I backed this product as a Kickstarter. The idea and presentation of a rules-lite RPG product is interesting and what lured me into the Kickstarter. The PDF was quickly available upon completion of the campaign and the book followed short time later. The book is short, as mentioned in the other reviews, but it was been given care and work to give you a quick and concise RPG. Personally I would have liked to see more depth in the material, but prehaps that was the point of a rules-lite RPG.
The game is an good idea with a small delivery on its style and type of play. I am excited to have seen this processs from its Kickstarer into a printed book in the hands of the reader. I would like to see more material to accompany this game in future releases, but I havn't seen anything from Purple Aether Games about any expansions or additional material
In closing the author has good idea and worked to share the style and game with others and was met with success. I would like to have seen more in the product; setting material, more examples, and a deeper play through. The price is high for the PDF and what the products delivers.
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Journey Away is a very light rules sytem embedded in a pretty feel-good setting. The mechanics exist as a means to inject random chance when the players want uncertainty. This might appeal to you if you like Meguey Baker's "1,001 Nights" or Epidiah Ravachol's "Vast & Starlit." However, unlike those two, there is no structure, nor guiding questions, that might shape play or drive play towards anything. It is very loose and will depend on having players who are happy to just riff on each other and find their own fun.
On the quality side, there are a few issues. There are some small typos (skewing more towards the back half of the book). The illustrations are great, but there are few of them, so it was weird to see one of them reused at the end of the book.
If you are a fan of freewheeling, free-form games that rely on group creativity, give Journey Away a shot.
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Full disclosure: I backed this game on Kickstarter, with the full intent of reviewing it for the website Sticky Bunton. The full review can be found here.
In short, Journey Away is a narrative roleplaying game that has the feeling of a whimsical JRPG. From its artwork down to writing style, the game carries that lighthearted feeling from start to finish.
Sadly, that's about all the game has going for it.
When I backed this on Kickstarter, I didn't know how long the book would be as it wasn't noted in the campaign. I was a bit surprised when I received a 25 page PDF, 21 of which was the actual game content. I didn't quite feel that it was worth the $10 I paid via Kickstarter, and seeing it for $15 knocks it down even further.
The game itself also doesn't quite feel like a "game." The role of GM is mostly window-dressing, as nearly every decision regarding the session (successes and failures, for example) are actually determined by the players at the table. Did you roll poorly when navigating through the woods? Well, the person next to you will determine what went wrong. It's a fun idea, but now it's just more of a shared storytelling that doesn't need a GM.
The game as a whole also feels a but unfinished. Character creation doesn't exactly feel fully fleshed out or balanced, the examples given for roll results aren't always intuitive, and for being a "non-challenge RPG," I felt it rather odd to see both contested rolls and a potential conflict presented within the game, without having actual conflict resolution mapped out.
Overall, I felt that Journey Away comes off as more of a tool than an actual game. It'd make a nice chapter in a narrative-focused game, but I feel that it's an overpriced, incomplete RPG.
I'd personally rather put that same money into a game that is a bit more fleshed out with more depth and versatility, but if the book is ever on sale ($5 or less) and you want a game that is easy to teach, fast to learn, and be an introduction to shared storytelling, it's not a bad choice. Even if you do want those things, I'm just not certain that Journey Away delivers enough to warrant the pricetag.
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While the writing is competent (save the occasional typo) and the core mechanic is an interesting idea, Journey Away is plain and simply lacking much substance. The full document is a mere 25 pages long, and the numerous illustrations (though well-made) and large font size imply a difficulty filling even that space. I understand why so little is elaborated on; the game is designed to be directed mainly by the players and their actions, rather than by rules and the world. Most of the content is supposed to be provided by the players. But selling such a game for $15 is taking no small amount of piss. This game is plain and simply not worth the price of admission, and I could tell you everything you need to know about it in one paragraph.
Here, let me show you: the main USP of Journey Away is its character customization system. When you create a character, you get four types of personality traits: Persona, how others percieve you; Tendencies, how you act; Experiences, what you have done; and Quirks, things that make you unique. Create at least two traits in each category that can serve as pros or cons in certin situations, then assign each trait a die between a d4 and a d12, based on how integral they are to your character. For instance, your character might be exceptionally attractive, so you might give them Ethereal Beauty and assign it a d12. Whenever you want to use your Ethereal Beuty to your advantage, roll 1d12 as a Boon die; whenever the GM thinks it might be a detriment, they can roll it as a Complication. Whenever appropriate, one player and the GM roll Boons vs. Complications (the GM gets an extra 2d8 Complication dice) and pair off the dice; any time a Boon is higher than a Complication, the player to the left of the player who rolls describes something good. Any time a Complication is higher, conversely, the player to the right of the roller describes a Complication.
That's it. That's all you need to know. There's a few other rules, but nothing super game-changing; there's a little worldbuilding, but it's ultimately completely inconsequential. There's nothing to unite the characters, like in Traveller; they all start in the same town, and that's about as far as that goes. There's nothing to help them grow, like in D&D; you can gain additional traits if the situation warrants, but this is ultimately dictated by the whims of the players, and not provided by the book itself except to put forth the option.
Ultimately, if you want a hands-free rpg (and I mean, almost entirely hands-free; you almost might as well just be talking about it and disregard the game entirely), this might be for you. But I simply cannot recommend the game at the price it's currently going for. $15 for 25 pages is highway robbery, no matter how good the game, and this game is not that good anyway.
Final tally (starting at 3, add and subtract with pros and cons):
+Player Freedom
+Interesting core mechanic
-Poor Worldbuilding
-Devoid of substance
-Outrageously overpriced
=2/5
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I rather enjoyed reading through this rulebook, it feels like a joyously LITE adventure style that is more suited to a group of friends around a "campfire" swapping stories and less about digging out the calculators and crunching some hard numbers to make a combat scenario.
I enjoyed the art work and barely noticed any typos, the ones that exist are easy to gloss over unless you are actively looking for them.
Overall I give it 5 out of 5 because it really is a great LITE concept on an adventure style, is well formatted and put together in a nice package.
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Creator Reply: |
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! |
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Hands down, the most fun and truely group-centered story-telling experience I've played to date.
This isn't really the constructive-informative review for the author, so much as a head's up to people who are interested in this system. For sake of not disinsentivising people from purchasing this amazing game, I won't go into detail of Journey Away's mechanics here; this incredibly light-weight system doesn't have too many moving parts, so it wouldn't take much to get plagerized.
So, without spilling the beans too much:
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There are typos and some iffy wording, but none of those minor mistakes hindered any understanding I had of the system.
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This is not a game for people who like crunching numbers and beating up monsters. This is a game truly focused on creating a flexible structure for a bunch of friends to improv/story-tell around.
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I would highly suggest this game to anyone who has some background in game design and/or creative writing. By virtue of how light-weight this system is, it doesn't have the structure that would lend itself to actively helping the Players/GM create assets for your desired narrative. There are no charts to roll off of to figure out how a spell goes wrong, no quantified HP of arbitrary objects, no big stat sheets for monster boss fights; every ounce of what you decide to make important to the story becomes the mechanical focus of your game, because of how the system intends you to allocate dice to things.
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If you've always wanted to play a sort of Who's Line Is It Anyways but with more plot, I can almost gurantee this game is for you.
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While this system is designed for the setting within Journey Away, I can see this having amazing applications across a lot of other settings, as well!
- The spirit of the game is pleasant and kind... Something that I think is missing from a lot of tabletop rpg games these days.
Thank you, Purple Aether Games! 10/10 would buy again!
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Creator Reply: |
I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you! |
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Journey Away will not appeal to all gamers, but it fills a niche that my group really wanted. The game has no GM prep, character creation focuses on character-focused traits like your persona (how others perceive you) and experiences (traits from your previous history/experiences) instead of skills, and storytelling is collaborative. The game eliminates the idea that the GM is in charge; instead, the GM and players work together to create the story. The GM frames the scene, but then the players fill in a lot of the details. Instead of skill-based rolls, you use dice to introduce narrative twists. Players use their traits to roll dice to earn "boons" or positive events, and the GM uses world traits to roll complication dice. The book provides a setting to spark ideas. It provides is enough detail to jumpstart adventures ideas and complications, but like any good creative prompt, leaves a lot of open space to add your own story.
I frequently play with a group of all experienced GMs, so we really like low-prep and shared narrative responsibility. This game is perfect for us. With this creative but straightforward system, I could also see playing it with younger kids like my nieces. However, gamers who want a crunchy or strategic system will probably dislike this game.
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Creator Reply: |
Glad I could fill that niche for you; that's what I was going for! Thanks for playing! |
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This is a refreshingly different and interesting system! The developer clearly spent a lot of time thinking about what makes a good RPG, and refining the best parts into this game. I can't wait to get a group together and try this out! There's a lot here that I want to see in action.
The art adds a lot to the presentation, and the writing is clear and direct. Definitely worth your time!
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