Based on a read and watching Actual plays, the Forbidden Lands is an AMAZING game! This quickstart does not hold back anything EXCEPT character creation but it does come with pre-gen characters. So, my take on this quickstart for an introduction is that it is a bit overwhelming as it contains 90% of the rules BUT an incredible value because it's free! In short, if you have any interest in running or playing Forbidden Lands, pick this up but don't be surprised that it is nearly 200+ pages! Don't worry though, there isn't any additional complexity hiding in the full game.

In short, I nearly dropped it 1 star because it is a bit overwhelming if you just wanted a taste of what this game would be like BUT as the content is so much of the full game AND it's free, you can't go wrong picking this up!

Using this quick start, I've ran three sessions of the sample adventure. I was interested in trying out the dice system and played with a group experienced players. I like a lot of the rules presented but had some frustration with the sample scenario which seems to be missing a few rules. I liked what I saw enough to buy the core book.

System: I like the ability to 'push' rolls. It allows players to try something out before risking injury. Willpower did not prove to be a big deal for my group. We played on roll20 and their was good integration for the three dice pools. Combat proved to be brutal (characters and enemies taken down in a single attack) but Critical Damage table is surprisingly forgiving with few entries that kill a player outright. There did seem to be edge cases that the rules did not cleanly address, like how recovery works (normally in hours) with Journeys (in quarter days).

The Journey system was a standout. All of us were impressed with how it made overland travel interesting, especially with variable resource decay. I'd recommend that anyone interested in such systems take a look. It did feel like the Quick Start did not include rules for crossing rivers, which is odd because they were prominently marked on the map.

Setting: Lacking outside research, the setting is a bit confusing. How people feel about Rust Brothers or Raven Sisters isn't mentioned despite being parts of the pre-gen back stories. It’s not a big deal, but it would be nice if we had a quick description of the proper names.

Layout: Layout isn’t great, especially for the first play through. In combat, I was flipping between five or six different pages checking on what actions could be done, what equipment did and what special rules existed for the monsters.

Scenario: Once outside of the Journey system, the scenario was challenging to run. There were good ideas, but the descriptions left ambiguity. The location is described in general areas, but the connections between all of them were unclear. For example, one of the first questions my players asked was how hard it would be to scale the cliff between locations #2 and #10 and no guidance is provided. Location #7 was also problematic as it was unclear how to deal with the obstacle. This is made more difficult as there is no guidance on how to deal with rolls outside of the 16 skills. My players wanted to scavenge for materials at Location #7, and neither the descriptions nor rules gave a clear answer. It also would be nice to have an idea of how the other adventuring party planned to progress.

Our three sessions were:

• Setup and travel to the base of Weatherstone
• Weatherstone up to location #7 where the party encounter Esgar’s party trying to overcome the obstacle. Our heroes ambushed them solely to kill the Rust Brother, they succeed and Esgar's party is scattered.
• Weatherstone to #9 where the heroes encountered a monster, took two causalities and ran away. We’re planning to play follow up sessions.

The perfect guide to get started with Forbidden Lands. A fantastic RPG, this PDF gives players nearly everything they need to know about the system. A great first look into this amazing game. After you get the quick start guide, be sure to buy the full player's guide and the game master's guide. Worth it!

152 page "quick" start!

It explains the system, the skills, combat rules and even the whole Journeys system (that's a must read by itself). It leaves out the talents (including the magic talents, professions and equipment) but add pregens (all rules for them are included) and some of the stuff from the GM book (theres only a few encounters presented) so that you have all you need to run a FREE session.

This is an excellent move from Fria Ligan. Gives a FREE entry point to those who want to discover this wonderful game.

You have no excuse not to, it's a superb game!

This might just be the greatest RPG of all-time. That's saying a lot from me, as I'm a huge fan of dozens of RPG's and have been GMing a diverse array of systems and settings since the 90's. Forbidden Lands is just that damn good. It pays tribute to traditional, old-school fantasy RPG’s and breaks new ground with stunning innovations and simplifications at the same time. It will sweep the Ennies and Golden Geek - MARK MY WORDS!

The production and value of the Core Boxed Set is unmatched in RPG history. For $45, you get two pho-leather, hardcover, gilded rule books with attached ribbons for bookmarking your pages: The Player's Handbook and the Gamemaster's Guide. You also get a third softcover book, a gigantic color hex-map of the Forbidden Lands, and a sticker set to place on the map as your players explore. And this is all contained in the boxed set, which is nice and sturdy with beautiful art on the cover.

The game uses the award-winning and simple "Year Zero" engine from Fria Ligan's other RPG's, which includes Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis, and Tales from the Loop. I love the mechanics, because it's not just a binary succeed or fail system. There is meaningful decision-making involved in almost every step of the game for the players to mitigate their chance of failure in a fun way (opposed to just rolling a d20 and hoping for the best, at the complete mercy of the dice). Additionally, there are degrees of both failure and success presented in a very straight-forward way that doesn't add unnecessary complexity. If your combat encounters take longer than 20 minutes, you're doing something wrong. As a boardgamer who likes controlling my chance of success with easy to understand strategy and tactics without unnecessary complication, this is the RPG I've been waiting for.

If there was one thing "wrong" with the Forbidden Lands Core set, its that there was a not a quickstart or taster product. That has been solved with this PDF release.

A massive 152 pages long, this free sampler gives you a tase of every aspect of the game to show you the designers intent and gibe you and your friends a great few hours of fun.

The introductory chapter tells you about: the principles behind the game; the world of the Forbidden Lands; and the tools of the game, both what your need, and what is nice to have. There are effectively two chapters on your character that, while they doesn't enable you to make one of your own, explain everything you need to know about the pregens.

The rules are explained over three chapters covering skill rolls, combat and journeys (the hex crawl being an important aspect of the game). There is even a stripped down version of the random encounter system, to show how it can create narrative, not just "n creatures" to fight.

The adventure itself is a complete one from the books, which, I will warn you, does not go easy on a careless party. the pregens are fun and somewhat customisable. The only ommission is the rules on magic, which makes the spells that one character has a lot less damgerous to use thatnthey are in the actual game.