I saw a review on the Dark Lore blog talking about Dark Sagas. The author of the post took pains to explain why he liked the game. Through several paragraphs he lovingly described the system, except I was left wondering how exactly it was supposed to be played. Since it was only $4, I figured that was a small price to sate my curiosity.

And it's interesting. The game is extremely rules light, but it is not OSR. In fact, it avoids some of the tropes of D&D. You're not automatically good at combat just by having a high Strength (Physique, in this game) or a master Archer for having a high Dexterity. Fighting and Marksmanship are stats, and you can pour as many (as few) points as you want into them. Armor blocks damage, and your Defense acts as a target number that other opponents have to hit in order to hit you.

For the most part, the system works well, just adding the stat to a 2d6 roll to hit a target number. Skills are not what you'd expect. Rank I usually gives you advantage on a roll, but Rank II might give you access to a thieves guild, for example. It's oddball but it's also refreshing. They have a fairly extensive skill list, but not so much that it's overwhelming. That's become more and more common these days.

Armor and weapons are broken down into categories: light, medium, and heavy. There's a short paragraph explaining what kinds of weapons or armor are included in that category, and a table giving you ranges for armor points and damage.

And there's a bestiary featuring 100 monsters. That's enough to get you started. They also include stats for human beings, so if it's a simple bandit threatening you, you don't have to figure out what that means. The game also features threat levels for the monsters, so you can figure out roughly how tough a monster might be (very useful for Game Masters or solo roleplayers).

Magic is roll-to-cast and magic points. I feel the author should have chosen one or the other, but it's a minor quibble. If you roll well, the spell goes off without a hitch. If you don't roll well, then terrible things could happen.

There's even a default setting, an appendix explaining the odds of rolling this number or that one, and a table featuring example difficulty numbers for different things. And there are combat maneuvers that almost remind me of GURPS, and they add a welcome tactical dimension to the game.

Now for the bad:

They include a curious mechanic for Defense, adding 8 to your Dexterity. That number is higher than your starting stats can be. I understand why it was chosen, but they should have figured stats into the mix. The default numbers gave me such a high Defense, nothing could hit me. After some deliberation I finally changed it to 4 + Fighting.

You see, Dexterity does too much. There's no reason as a warrior I should be able to open locks, have superior balance and manual coordination, hide objects on my person, etc. Part of learning how to fight is learning how to defend yourself, how to block and parry blows, or even avoid them entirely. So I house-ruled it.

Other than that, there are curious omissions. It talks about regaining Hit Points under a healer's care, but doesn't tell you how much that costs. The Roc is not included in the Bestiary despite having a bookmark for it. And despite proofreading, there's an error that pops up early in the rules. It's "decent" not "descent."

But for all that, the game is playable. And but for defense, everything works. The author has whipped up an entirely enjoyable game system, for a really good price. If you're in the market for a game that's not D&D, and you have four bucks burning a hole in your pocket, then get this game.

Blood of Pangea is a rules-lite sword and sorcery RPG. This by itself is not notable.

What IS notable is there aren't endless lists of spells, skills, weapons, or items. Yet you can have any item you wish, cast any spell, or select any skill, provided it fits the character. BoP bills itself as "a narrative system." Usually that means player-centric. I've read promises like that before, but the designers put their money where their mouth is. From the text: "Everything about this game is designed to ensure that the character's concept and, indeed, success, depends more upon the choices of the player and less upon special powers and abilities."

And that quote tells you everything. They put a lot of thought into this game. They specifically wrote Blood of Pangea to emulate the sword and sorcery genre. And if you don't like something, permission is given to change it. Hats off to the designers for not making another D&D clone, and for not trying to make that venerable game do something it wasn't designed to do.

Experienced players and judges will really be at home here, being able to fill in the blanks better than a novice. There's a bestiary of sorts, although split among different sections. The advice on creating monsters is solid. Task resolution is simple yet robust. Everything from combat to skill rolls is decided by 2d6, and those rolls can be modified by drawing from a fund of points called Might.

While I'm not crazy about the typewriter font, it does the job and fits the feel. Also the Hugh Rankin pieces in the book are a nice touch. For those who don't know, Robert E. Howard once stated that Rankin was his personal favorite of all the artists who illustrated his stories in Weird Tales.

I can't recommend this enough. This is a hidden gem, given it's been out for 8 years and I've never heard of it before. If you're looking for sword and sorcery action, look no further than Blood of Pangea.

The title is somewhat of a misnomer. It's not errata. Errata, strictly speaking, is a list of errors and their corrections. A long, dry list -- an excellent cure for insomnia.

This includes a nice thank you (for playing his game), skills, clarifications, and instructions on how to create your own Archetypes. A step beyond the original rules, this should have been called "a Companion," or "Expansion," or "Supplement." But it's a minor quibble. And it's free (as of this writing)!

I think thanks are in order to Mr. Freels. He's created a rules-lite game and given us a supplement (and other adventures) for free. He's created something that burnt-out grognards and their children can enjoy, and for that, hats off are in order!

A lighthearted old-school style adventure, quite well-written and formatted, easy to understand how one scene led to the next. There's also a scripted event where one of the player characters, well, let's just say they get to play something other than themselves. :P

The puzzles are easily solved, and rather obvious clues to them are provided. "Gone to the Dogs" provides a bit of extra tension if the other characters want their buddy back!

The only problem I had was with the lead-in. While in many tournament and old-school adventures there was a scene in the beginning where it was narrated why you'd be out of money and taking this job, I found it a bit thin. My players would be (A) not interested in taking a rather mundane-seeming job and (B) would object to being told what their characters were doing before the adventure began.

I rewrote the beginning a bit, to provide more of a hook, but YMMV.

Other than that, this adventure is solid, and should provide an evening or two of fun. And that's really what it's all about, right?

An interesting little romp through BeanWorld. It's easy to play through, and humorous at times. A little short, but otherwise a pleasant diversion. I don't think Ken St. Andre has ever written anything I didn't like. :)