This is a useful quick reference notes page, that has kept me from having to flip back and forth in pdfs and books while running games.

Vagabond is a very easy game to pick up. I would rate it 3 stars normally but because of it’s potential I am rating it 4 stars and it could easily be 5 stars in the future. If you want to play a normal fantasy game I would recommend Vagabond. It’s very fun. But if you want to get weird you will have to re-flavor a lot of stuff. You can’t play a Big Ancestry as in Large size and a lot of ancestries seem basic but the creator has said he will add more expansions to this project later. This 4 stars and my hope lies in the creator. He is very passionate and wants everyone to have fun and responds very quickly to question and criticisms. If you have seen his streams you will see he is very cool.

TL;DR: if you want classic OSR fantasy play Vagabond it’s lots of fun.

If you are a more modern player or want to get weird maybe wait for more expansions but the system is solid and you could familiarize yourself with it now.

I want to see the project grow and it’s a lot of fun to play.

I've been a 5e player since 2017, but I grew increasingly tired of parsing the paragraphs of text in every character feature, and all the idiosyncratic and illogical rules. At one point I wanted to DM, but I found all the lore implications of 5e's rules to be suffocating—and it didn't help that 5e's lack of support for DMs makes running the game a chore. When the OGL crisis hit, I started looking for systems that would be more fun to run and would be more neutral to my world's lore. Once I stumbled across Indestructoboy's development livestreams, I was hooked on the premise of a lean-and-mean system that distills rules down to the bare necessities, without sacrificing interesting complexity (as I feel many "rules-light" systems do). Vagabond executes this premise fantastically. I've followed development from the beginning, I have GMed several sessions with multiple groups, and I recently joined a group as a player. Vagabond deserves high praise on several aspects:

1. Mechanical design. I'm super impressed with how the rules never get in the way of play. Everything feels natural. In particular, I love the design philosophy of GMs never needing to roll—the players' active defenses (rolling to dodge or parry) feel great as both a player and GM. I'm also a huge fan of the magic system, which is so much deeper and more flexible than the "vancian" magic of many games.
2. Visual design. The book is beautiful, owing to Taron Pounds's experience as a graphic designer and his involvement of talented artists like Maxwell Polikoff.
3. Overall design philosophy. I think it's worth noting how much effort has been put in to ensure that GMs have everything they would need in the core rulebook, and nothing extraneous. The ability to play solo is pretty cool too—even though I probably won't use it myself, the philosophy around designing for solo compatibility has clearly shaped the rest of the game in a good way, like the hexcrawl generator. While no game is perfect, Vagabond is pretty damn close for me. My only gripe with the system is how Perks are somewhat cumbersome in their current form, but I understand why they need to be organized as they are for print. Hopefully this will be addressed with some sort of web tool, if the Gamefound campaign goes well! Though I'm unfamiliar with Basic/Expert and other old-school-style games which influenced Vagabond, I feel that this system is truly innovative and ideal as my long-term go-to system to run games. Indie games like this definitely deserve more attention.

Watching the development of this TTRPG has been fun, and I honestly can't wait to play it sometime in the future.

The rules of Vagabond are kept simple for ease of reference, without making things too complicated. The classes and their features are kept short but fitting, with further character customization made possible through perks. Classes are built in a way that allows them to gain levels further beyond the "basic" 10 levels, which makes it possible to dip into epic campaign territory.

Vagabond is easy to homebrew , and it is a very easy system to GM for. The way the system is designed allows for very quick and snappy combat. Magic is very flexible, and can be flavoured almost any way to suit each players needs. It is compatible with many statblocks even from other systems.

Beyond Magic Vagabond has rules for Crafting in general, but also creating poisons and alchemical items, without overwhelming the players that want to try those options.

For NPC and monster statblocks as well as ancestries Vagabond provides some loose inspiration, without forcing some lore on players and GMs that otherwise wouldn't fit in their campaigns.

Even though I did originally not agree with every design decision that has been made in the progress of developing this TTRPG I still enjoy the way it ended up, and would definitely recommend it other players that are searching for a new experience.

I liked this title as it is concise. The character sheet isn't very "busy" like in other ttrpgs as races are 1/2 page and classes take up 1 page, a newcomer can quickly form a "game plan" from their options and the character can be as simple or as complex as the player desires similar to skyrim customisation without the overwhelming amount of decisions you need to make. The fact that the "system runs itself" leads to a very easy GM experience and I wait with bated breath for the full GM section.

Coming to this game from a background of not playing 5e for years and instead playing different games, I came in with a fresh set of expectations, and this game delivers and then some.

It is simple to pick up, fast to run, and has a lot to choose from, ranging from classes to perks. The magic system was slightly difficult to get at first, but once one understands it, it is a lot of fun being able to customize spells on the fly, instead of being bound by spell choices. Martial classes feel simple yet effective, especially with the inclusion of martial support classes and options for martials to support each other.

In the few games I have ran of this game, I have not encountered many issues (if any) that would be caused by the game itself. And with how the game is developing closing its final release, I expect the final product to only be better and more refined than what it is now.

I've been following the development of this game for over a year now. I want to commend the project on the fact that every design choice has been justified live on camera. The game also justifies itself in its writing instead of flashy gimmicks or marketing. I’ve called it excellence in 1000 cuts. It does not have one single standalone feature that drastically changes the game but it has a ton of small things that set it apart from other games.

• Crunch - The game lies in an interesting middle ground between its OSR cousins and 5e roots. It has enough character expression to play a full campaign and stand taller than quick and dirty dungeon crawlers but it also cuts most of the fat from its heavier contemporaries. It is focused on delivering the mechanics you will use instead of the mechanics you dream of using. The game wants you to role-play instead of roll-play. And when the dice get rolled, it's fast, clean and tense in those decisive moments.

• Not OSR - This game is in my opinion not OSR. While it draws heavy inspiration from many old-school games and it is compatible with most old-school adventures, the luck mechanic specifically makes your characters more likely to survive than not. Death is a definite threat but especially if the GM wants to go away from OSR-style play and does some encounter balancing, you can easily get closer to a 5e style story.

• Ease of use - As the game is written to run itself, the GM can focus on choosing fun monsters and letting the game do the rest. With 10 concise character levels and lightning fast combat, this game lets busy GM’s run one-shots and short campaigns with ease without having to resort to games with very limited character options. The tools on this game to help adventure creation are best in class too.

• The Casting rules - The best spell system to date. Full control over the shape and size and effect of your spells. It can be overwhelming for new players but for experienced players you have a wide array of tools to express just how your character wants to cast. Spell effects are down to earth and encourage clever play instead of breaking the world at higher tiers. This is a high-magic low-power game.

• Classes and perks - Leveling up always gets you something fun. Every other level you get a class feature and every other a perk. Instead of the traditional subclass structure you have more freedom to choose how to build your character.

• Some Cons - The game can be a bit shallow if you are looking for heavy crunch. Classes themselves are one-trick ponies with each having their own way to approach combat. Some classes are super lightweight but the perk system lets you branch out a little to help with that. The perk list is long, which is good, but also takes time to read through. Otherwise the game is super concise. The game does not mechanically support narrative play, but you don’t really need rules to talk to npc’s anyway.

Vagabond, the Pulp Fantasy Role-Playing Game, is an interesting case. Now I am someone who had follow the game since Day 1, tuned in to multiple livestreams and the like as well talked with others. But I want to talk about the current state of the game in a pros and cons list.

[Pros]

Game Master Tools: The Hex Generator and the other tools provided by the book for Game Master is top notch and well put together, in fact I desire to see a fully done online Hex Map generator that can be downloaded and stitched together.

Solo Gameplay: Due to the way the system is built, solo play is very much possible or even Co-Op with another player and an Oracle for the Game Master, especially with how the monster have a AI built in them to determine which attacks they do during their turns.

Initiative System: Toss a coin, if heads player go first, if tails monster go first. Simple and elegant, straight to the point.

The Magic System, essentially knowing a single Essence translate to 5 or so spells compared to OSR and other Tabletop Games. You can learn the Burn essence and set people on fire, replicate the famous Fireball Spell, or use it as a cantrip similar to a Fire Bolt in 5th Edition. You can pump more mana up to a limit to further customize your spells and make it feel unique.

[Cons]

Martial and Caster are divided, repeating a similar situation and problem with 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. In OSR style game this is balanced by the fact a Warrior style character advance faster then a Magic-User, as well having better defensive armor options and more Hit Points. In Vagabond, everyone can wear armor without penalty, and your Hit Dice/Hit Points is entirely based on your Might Score (Essentially Strength and Constitution combined). Sure Martials can wield weapons but when there is the Cardistry Perk, as well Touch Based spell, there is no meaning to playing a Martial beyond the fantasy of one as Caster can do what Martials can but better and more consistently.

Infinite Level Scaling. The only class that get benefits with going beyond 10th LVL are Mages as they naturally gain more Mana per level, would been fine if they have a cap that can't be pushed through, but there isn't one. This leans further into the Martial and Caster divide, why play a Fighter that is stuck doing only 2 Attacks at Level 20 when the Mage of the Party can have around 100 Mana Points and able to target multiple targets in a turn, buff their damage and inflict a debuff.

Limiting Options. You only really get are Perks and Stat boost, there used to be subclasses to further enhance a character concept and better gameplay but those have been sadly stripped. This really leans into a Do it Yourself style where you have to flavor everything to fit a style you wish but the mechanics are limited and most perks don't scale with level as a whole.

[Conclusion]

I will give Vagabond a disappointing 2/5.

It has good GMing materials and if it was that I would say it is a MUST pick up for anyone running Old School Essential, or any OSR or even Modern Tabletop Fantasy RPG with Hex scrawling and focus on Sandbox play! However, while it looks fun to run as a Game Master, as a player it feels lacking.

Vagabond wants to be seen as a Less is More type game, but proves that sometimes, Less = Less. Leaving a desire for more customization, balance with classes and also more player options.

If I were to play this game, its to basically treat it like 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. A solid base to staple my homebrew, and if that is the style you want, I suggest picking the game up especially with how beautiful the art is which is a solid 5/5 and the same goes to the PDF Design.

Quick combat, intuitive and evocative mechanics, solo compatible. Perfect for dungeon crawling!

I've followed this project from the start and listened to many of the development livestreams. What I've seen most during that time has been Taron's sheer passion for the game and excitement about making something he's proud of. Vagabond has gone through many different iterations and shakeups throughout the development process, some better than others, but each time it has been thoroughly playtested, tweaked, and reworked to suit Taron's unique vision for the game.

Many times I was extremely skeptical about a major change that was implemented, but once I dug in and tried it myself I was convinced. Many D&D and other TTRPG hallmarks and conventions have been flipped on their head or completely scrapped in favor of a lean, mean, pulp fantasy machine, and I feel that it has been for the better.

For example, when subclasses were removed during beta, I was hesitant to accept the change and bewildered that such a large overhaul was occuring so late in the design process. But I tried it out, made a few characters, played them solo, and I was hooked. While I do enjoy the character expression that comes from subclasses, I feel that this perk-based system has far more potential for unique character concepts to explore.