Absolutely wonderful game. Exactly the right combination of attributes, races, and skills with a relatively lightweight combat system I've always been looking for, And of the many Sword & Sorcery games I've seen, this is one of the few that actually has rules that constantly encourage players to really play like Sword & Sorcery heroes instead of just being a generic RPG without nonhuman characters and evil magic and calling it a day. This game shows very well how even very traditional Sword & Sorcery can have great nonhuman characters, they are just rather different from dwarves, elves, and orcs.

Atlantis: The Second Age is the be all and end of all of Sword and Sorcery RPGs.

It has a great balance between setting and rules, both being flavoursome and detailed, whilst not being overbearing or cumbersome. The presentation is absolutely superb portraying the vibe of the RPG with clarity and focus.

PCs created with the system through the life path system feel a part of the setting with their own stories filled with hooks for the GM to write compelling stories for with ease. The magic and religion is flexible yet intriguing; powerful yet dangerous.

I had encountered this setting before- or so I thought- in the form of the previous editions. I'd given them a look, intrigued by the ideas behind the setting, but been less than impressed. It was nothing more than a mass of D&D cliches that utterly the great potential of the setting.

Khepera have changed all that. Giving both the rules mechanics and the background a major overhaul, they've left both recognisable compared to earlier editions, but made it a vastly superior game. The setting is now the pulp fantasy Swords & Sorcery epic that I'd always wanted from this world, and the rules now support this style of play at every level.

Character creation is based around making heroes from the start, not lowly neophytes who might become heroes one day. The lifepath system creates a very inspiring background for each player character, and the dramatic rules make combat and other adventurous pursuits feel suitably cinematic. Not only does the game have a Drama Point mechanic, but in order to refresh their Drama Points PCs have to engage in various activities, from making offerings to the gods to wenching and carousing in taverns. Magic is always dark and dangerous in some way, with practioners becoming more bizarre and otherworldly as their power grows.

The game also manages to improve on the Glory system seen in Pendragon, adding extra elements to make the characters feel like heroes of legend. In addition to the basic Renown score for glorious deeds, characters achieve Great Works (rescue the princess, avenge your brother, overthrow the tyrant) and Fate Points (the dark fate awaiting the hero). Many heroes of legend come to tragic ends, and the Fate Points show how close this is coming- players must keep their Glorious Deeds tally higher to escape this ignoble fate.

Finally, the action is driven by the PCs. Players decide on the goals, both their great destiny (Become King of Atlantis and the like are possible) and the short term ones (find the treasure of the lost city, drive the pirate queen from the seas). The GM then arranges the stories around these. There are many games with similar themes, but these are rules-lite indie rules, wheras Atlantis: The Second Age is most certainly a full RPG with stats, weapons lists and the like. Having some of the good points from drama-oriented indie games transplanted into a more traditional RPG ruleset is a very good combination for me.

This game is well worth a look. As far as I'm concerned, the only flaws are the lack of a printer-friendly version and the price tag given that a print version should be out soon. Have a look, and you won't be disappointed!

I am really enjoying this game. Your character's start out more competent than is usual for a RPG, but the game is still balanced and a challenge for players. I have mainly used the beta version which does have some grammar errors, but a very fun product.

Pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting some of the changes to the Atlantean material but was very impressed with them. I love the flow of the book and the reference to pages making it easier to navigate for content. I look forward to updating my campaign and for the new challenges my gamers will experience.

I have been a long time fan of the setting if not the rules system itself and have picked up each edition I could find. Previous updates seemed really just a repackaging of the original material but this version goes further with deeper changes to the rules system and expansion of the setting. It seems the authors may have taken a good look at the evolution of D20 and Fuzion and applied some of the lessons learned there without getting too rules heavy. The lifepath and religion sections in particular remind me of Artesia- Adventures in the Known World (not a bad thing) while being much more accessible to those lacking a masters degree in comparative religion and mythology :p The font and layout are at times reminiscent of Mongoose's Conan RPG (again, not a bad thing) which combined with the art really gives the 'proper' S&S feel, even fey in this setting are more reminiscent of Poul Andersen's Broken Sword than Tolkien. The art itself preserves many of the best B&W pieces from earlier editions while there are a wealth of new colour pieces which are internally consistent and evoke the setting well. The world maps in this edition are much cleaner and more comprehensible than older versions, they also have that 'Mongoose Conan' look. What makes this particular S&S setting nice is that magic, swordplay and roguery are nicely balanced with none getting more 'screen time' than others, so you could play a game anywhere on the spectrum from Conan to Elric to Gray Mouser as suits your tastes. In short, if you are a fan of the genre, even if you won't use the rules, at this price the setting is well worth picking up.

I bought this on a Lark, having played the original versions "back in the Day". I was not expecting much, and honestly with some of the simple grammar and spelling errors my hopes went lower. Then I read the intro fiction, can't say its the best ever but it definitely did a great job getting me interested in reading more, learning more about this world. The colors and artwork in the beta were great and examples of character creation were great. Honestly making a character looks like a lot of fun. It's lengthy but really helps set the flavor for playing a person in this world. Overall a very pleasant surprise and I definitely look forward to seeing the non beta product. Great Job everyone, a real gem.

mike

Jerry D Grayson's version of Atlantis: the Second Age takes the Morrigan Press version and brings it more in line with recent additions and innovations to the omini system. The art is great, and the addition of randomized life path generation to character creation, as well as a clear cut process for choosing race, culture and profession, stand out strongly. I do have a couple of qualms, keeping in mind though that this is a beta version: one, there's no martial artist profession, even though the setting can encompass antideluvian "Far East"; two, brief descriptions of the cultures need to be given in the area of the book designated for choosing cultures; and finally, and this is just my preference, some of the terminology used is definitely relic of the d20 era. But, this is pretty good for a beta. I too am anticipating the final version.

Just got this on a whim (the low price and realization I used to own the original Bard Games edition helped).

Only had time to read through it once but so far its been great. Clean system, nice setting that feels Hyborean and/or Moorcockian without the emphasis on swords over spells that many similar books have. Definitely worth picking up for the flavor suggestions alone. Simple things like magic corrupting the user at higher skill levels is the sort of thing I've been sticking in my games for years now.

Go buy.

I can't say because I only took a quick view, but so far I like it so much, have good design, well planned, I can't wait to see the final version.