Some wonderful innovations to a well known/loved system. I especially loved that it's classless, with paths to take your character that creates unique individuals as you level up.

This reads as one of the most inclusive ttrpgs on my shelf. I was super impressed with the thought taken to represent characters of all types and the discussion of how to include differently abled players and characters.

The parentage system allowing you to build a character from any two distinct fantastical parents, coupled with the "steps system" which allows a classless "shadow of the demon lord" style advancement, this kind of cashes out to endless player options without ever needing another supplement or endless complexity.

It's also otherwise designed to be able to slot into the existing 5e ecosystem. Despite being very much its own take.

https://tech.lgbt/@trashheap/110001428795307820

I have been looking for an alternative to 5E D&D and this caught my eye immediately. I think its a very well thought out alternative that has some very interesting ideas but also has a few things that didn't quite grab me.

PROS The character creation system is excellent. The mixed heritages are a great idea and allow for countless options and variations. I really like how the system removes standard classes, giving a character's background a stronger emphasis and using steps to truely customize the direction they go on their adventuring career. I also how the steps expand out to give you more paths along the way but they go back to simpler choices after you gain an ability increase so you can chart a different path. I also am a fan of the heirloom items. I've often incorporated the idea that heroes should have signature pieces of gear that grow with them or help make them unique and the heirlooms do just that. I also appreciate that everything you need to play is in the book, including a full bestiary and some additional optional rules such as curses. There are some very detailed rules on crafting that I also liked, giving it the feel of something like video games where you must gather the proper materials before you can create something.

CONS One thing I was disappointed by was that combat is still the standard war of attrition that is typical of D&D and games like it. Aside from making players roll defense checks instead of monsters rolling attacks, its pretty much standard D&D combat and the monsters included are mostly straight out of the Monster Manual except for a few new creatures. With all the great innovations for character creation I would like to have seen some new options for combat. The Combat Order that is noted in the book's description sounded interesting but its just using different ability modifiers for initiative instead of Dex and seems like a wasted opportunity. There are also some rules that aren't really clarified well or don't seem finished. For example you use Health Dice (i.e. Hit Dice) to heal during a short rest, but I can't find where it explicitily clarifies that you need to track the health dice you gain so they can be spent on healing. There are also rules for playing through the curses of vampirism and lycanthropy and while they seem like an interesting idea, some of the entries in a system to add disadvantages to customize your curse list a variable cost with no explanation of the values. I'm also not fond of the term "drops" to describe hit points but that is a personal gripe.

Despite some of the quibbles above, overall this is an great product that is well-written, has great art, and the fantastic character creation system is worth a purchase on its own.