Hello Fellow Adventurer,

I hope this review finds you in the best of spirits. If you are looking for a rulesystem for your next game that would allow you and your friends to craft unique characters and weave intricate stories then Heroes & Hardships is what you seek. This is a universal role playing system so there are lot of apsects that I could talk about. I will focus on the features that stood out to me the most.

1. Character creation is nuanced. It allows for both quick generation and complex builds built with lot of thought and care. Ancestry traits and Flaws give the player and GM a framework within which to have a conversation about that character that is not only loved by the player but fits the world and the story.
2. Injuries and Wound sustained from combat and/or social encounters create a level of grittiness to the world that is not overbearing to execute and play.
3. The use of AP to track combat after the initial round creates a lively atmosphere. It creates a framework for all players to strategize thier moves based on the action of their team mates without getting overly bogged down in minutea. This aspect of the ruleset does have a learning curve compared to other games, but if you and friends take your time to understand the mechanics during the first few encounters, it will pay dividends in later stages of the game.
4. Magic in this system is wonderful to watch in action as a player and character. Like all magic though, when things turn sour the consequences are oh so epic!
5. The production quality of the core rule book is among the best I have seen. The art work is sublime and captivating and I cant wait for the print version to come out later this year.

All of this disguises the fact that it is an independent game developer who created Heroes & Hardships for the TTRPG community. This means in addition to the core rule book you get the support from the creator Jason Duff on any and all questions you may have about Heroes & Hardships. There is an active Discord server where Jason is creating new content for the system and helping players understand the esoteric parts of the ruleset. Jason has created a ton of content on YouTube to help players and GMs create characters, run combat and build worlds. There is a fully featured character sheet on Roll20 and the community is building character sheets for other Virtual Tabletop systems.

In conclusion I hope this review was helpful to you and I hope I have been able to convey in words what this system has allowed me to experience as a player. I know there are a lot of systems to choose from today and each review and marketing campaign talks about how each system is the only system you will ever need. There is no one system to rule them all. That never works as evidenced by the unfolding of events in Middle Earth. Rather think of Heroes & Hardhsips as ruleset that you should consider adding to your quiver if you want to play, run and build a world that is a reflection of your creativity and love for the game of table top role playing.

May the force be with you so you can live long and prosper.

Lots of devotion and effort went into this.

However, I found the rule too "crunchy," to the point that combat slowed down during the game. Might be right for others (see the 5-star reviews), but I can't see these rules being of much use for me and those I game with. We'll stick to D&D.

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witchs-desire.html

Honestly, I could not pass this one up. It is a low-level adventure featuring a witch, it is quick and it is for Old-School Essentials. So yeah, I had to grab it. But how does it play? Let's look into it.

A Witch's Desire - Adventure for Old-School Essentials

PDF and PoD. 27 pages. Color covers and interior art.

The designed levels for this are 1 to 3, but I find that it works well as an "interlude" adventure, that is as the characters are moving from one major adventure to the other. Not to say that this can't be a major adventure, it can. But for me, I wanted to feel more like the characters "wandered into a dream" sort of deal.

To start with, and what helps fuel this notion of an interlude, are some rules for travel. While the PCs are moving from their last adventure to this one using these rules helps give this one it's own feel. Yes they can be used elsewhere and adapted. Adding to this is the section after the travel and before the adventure proper, and that is the influence the witch has on the lands near her. I have been using something similar for my War of the Witch Queens based on the old superstition of Hex Signs, but the rules here are more explicit in their application.

The adventure is a "straightforward" mission to get some water for the Witch of the Wilds they meet at the start of the adventure. I say "straightforward" because obviously, it isn't. They are plenty of hazards along the way and foes to fight. The adventure is scaleable so that is also quite good.

There are no stats for the witch herself, nor should there be. The PCs should not be fighting her.

This adventure is set in the Forever Winter setting. Honestly a name like screams to be used. Also, there is mention of the Ice Queen and her rivalry with the Witch of the Wilds. The Ice Queen is not mentioned much here save for a sidebar, but the potential is great. So great in fact that I have an idea of how to work the Ice Queen (also a witch in my world naturally) into my War of the Witch Queens. I'll discuss her tomorrow. It is likely that their A Wintry Death adventures could be used in conjunction with this one, but I am pretty pleased with it as is to be honest.

While the art is wonderful for this it does make you think the Witch of the Wild could be something of an evil-ish character, certainly otherworldly. While reading through this I kept asking myself, what if this witch was good and just really needed the character's help?

Suddenly all I could think of was Ginny Di's character Morelia the Wood Witch. She would need the water for her potions obviously. Changes the whole tenor of the adventure. Not that I have any problems coming up with witches. It would also change the nature of the relationship between the Witch of the Wilds and the Ice Queen. They are still rivals, but now it is different.

Note: I just noticed that Morelia's familiar Crimini is a cat with white fur and gold eyes. Much like the art for the Witch of the Wilds. Maybe Morelia polymorphs Crimini to act as the scary Witch of the Wild? She then hides in the background so that the PCs she is hiring don't know she really is about as dangerous as a bunny. A lot like Balok in the classic Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver." Instead of tranya she offers them tea of course. Yeah, I like this idea.

In either case, the Witch of this adventure would need to be a potential ally for the characters in my game. I can't actually see Morelia getting mad with them anyway. And I really want to use Morelia. I just don't think I can pull off the voice Ginny Di uses for her!

In any case a fun adventure with a lot of ideas for use in my home campaign. The PDF version comes with separate maps. The PDF also features layers so you can turn on the background image for readability. That's worth an extra star in my book to be honest.

I honestly don't know how to feel abou this product. It's not a brilliant adventure, and if I'm being honest I feel it fails to deliver on the core premises it advertises in its description.

• 1-2 hours? Unless your players are EXTREMLY slow moving and prone to distractionn it is more in line of 30 minutes to an hour of content at best.
• "explore" the cave of whispers? it is 3 scenes chained together by a loose narrative. No Map, no branches just: "Say these things. if the players do X, Procede"
• solve a "riddle" of incredible danger? A series of doors that upon opening have various events that happen. No hint's at the danger's behind the doors at all. One of the doors is an instant "Save or die" scenario for level 1 characters with no warning, I guess that counts as incredibble danger. The only Hint at the doors is "have them roll a notice check, if they succeed tell them one of the doors has worn hinges, thats the correct door to go through" No other narrative clues are given.
• Solving a mystery with several possibbble player determined outcomes is. "There are monsters at the end. You can either make a deal with them or Fight them".
• "A new WWN monster" Yes. Thats technically true...But wwn is very generic in its stat blocks so anything that is given stats is "new", and the monster in question is not "new" in the fantasy RPG world. Its kobolds.

It's not a brilliant adventure. My first thought on reading it was "wow. This is the sort of thing I would improvise if my players went in a direction I was not prepared for. But I could likely improvise it better." Followed by "if this is a sellable adventure, I should try publishing the stuff I run."

All of that being said. the seed of something good IS there, and with some work from the referee the concept could be taken and something good could come of it. I'm unfamiliar with the other work by Earl of Fife, so I can't say how this compares to other things they've done...For 2 dollars: it's fine. It's an idea that can be run to fill some time and if you find yourself lacking inspiration, its a fine idea for an adventure if you are willing to put in the lions share of work to make it worth running. I'm not angry I bought it, but at the same time I feel like this could have been a random blog post someone posted as an idea.

Some cool art and interesting ideas on how to structure a WWN adventure with a few unique mechanics, but overall I felt underwhelmed, especially at this price point.

I think if the scene recaps were cut (a one page summary for each one page entry is not needed), the typos on alomst every page cleaned up, and the price reduced to around $3, you'd have yourself a pretty solid product.

Oh, and starting off the adventure with a unavoidable trap that EVERYONE has to roll a save or take 1d6 damage is a terrible idea!

I really like this simple yet effective adventure. It can easily be dropped in any campaign as a very neat encounter. It's about 12 pages but in my opinion, very worth while.

Absolutely spectacular. Wallace is incredibly carefully and well thought out. the attention to detail and depth of forethought into the writting supports an incredibly versatile game!

This adventure really doesn't feel like it follows the old school design aesthetic. Instead of giving players agency, it's a heavily-scripted series of events on rails that would fit 5e far better than OSE. It's well-written, but it just doesn't scratch the itch that OSE adventures should.

The Cavern of Whispers is said to be haunted by malevolent, restless souls that jealously guard an artifact known as the Helm of Radiance. Many have dared to brave the cave in the hopes of riches and power, none has succeeded. Will your PCs succeed where others have failed? Find out in this six-page, 5e sidetrek/expanded encounter for 1st and 2nd level from Earl of Fife Games.

I can’t give much away without spoiling the adventure’s central twist, but it’s imaginative, fun, and gets huge kudos for playing against expectations. Also, of note, one can overcome the final challenge in a number of ways, perhaps excluding combat – a nice change of pace.

While a couple of head scratching plot points need addressing by the GM, they are easy enough to correct and don’t detract from the overall experience.

The Helm of Radiance may not suit the tastes of those who like gritty or grim gaming, but younger players in particular should enjoy the experience.

Editing and formatting are very good and the pdf sports nice full-color artwork.

Cody Leigh has delivered a rather enjoyable side trek that serves as a change of pace. It demonstrates a grasp of 5e rules, some interesting twists, and is inexpensive. Worth looking at for an hour or so of gaming.

I playtested this game through several one shots and a campaign. I can comfortably say that this is one of the more comprehensive RPGs I've ever played. The roll-keep format creates compelling results, the skills allow players to cover every potential interaction within multiple settings and combat system is fluid. Heroes and Hardships has a place at any table.

I took part in the playtest of this game and really enjoyed it (you'll see from the reviews that everyone did). It's on the grittier, more simulationist end of the scale when it comes to combat, but runs a lot faster than something like Rolemaster. I particularly liked the character creation system, which gives enough options to meaningfully shape your character but not enough to cause confusion. I'm looking forward to seeing the wider range of options in the full book.

Had the pleasure of playtesting the system multiple times. Its going to be a great toolbox for players and gm's who want to step away from the heroic and into the gritty. Mistakes will kill your pc's and victories will taste much sweeter with this system.

Spectacular. I had the pleasure of playtesting and the system is brilliant. Every fight has tension and anything is possilbe. The level of effort put into this is clear the from the moment you open the book!

The Quickstart Guide itself is immense. Nearly 100 pages and an index? And great art? As Elaine Benes would say, "Get outta here!"

I've had the chance to play H&H several times, first in a Western-themed campaign and second in a cyberpunk-esque one shot. The system handled both settings well and is easily customizeable.

Combat can be brutal, dangerous, and add real weight to your roleplay. I have it to thank for my character's rapid promotion from deputy to sheriff ;)

The full game will be something special.

Every fight you go into has a chance of death if the dice gods disfavor you. This pleases me.

With this game I can finally say someone from Colordao has done something of note.