Sensational system. For all the reasons others have said. For me its the PERFECT balance between rules lite yet still mechanically sound. There a few rules/terms that could probably use a little clarification, but these have been addressed by the author on his Discord and will hopefully make there way into the corebook at some stage. Until then there is an FAQ document that can be found on his Discord which clarifies all these minor queries.

This game is amazing!! I real work of passion focussing on fun and storytelling with enough "engine" to still be meaningful.

Chivalry & Sorcery is a game I have heard about most of my RPG'ing life, but had just never got around to picking up. Well, I wish I had done so earlier is all I can say! I mean, I have no idea what previous editions were like, so I can't comment on them, but what I do know after reading through 5th edition I am very impressed!

1. The writers know and are very passionate about their setting.
2. They understand how to make their system fit, work and enhance that setting. By this I mean, the rules are built around playing an authentic medievil game with as much or as little "fantasy" as you'd like.
3. The core rules are actually simple despite the size of the tome, and a lot of the hard work is done on the front end during character creation. The good side of this is you end up with nicely fleshed out characters, the bad, if it can be called that, is that it takes time.....a fair bit of time. This isn't an issue for the people I game with but it might be for some.
4. Combat is detailed and brutal, just the way I feel it should be for this kind of setting. Additionally, I like Action Point systems, so I may be biased.
5. I was very surprised by the robustness and variety the beastiary chapter contained, I love Trolls and it has 7 of them! Plus Undead, Giants, Faeries, Demons amongst others.
6. The advice in the "Campaign World" chapter is very informative, especially for those who may not have trodden down the grittier medievil path before. It also includes a detailed example Fief to get new GM's acclimated.

Its a real shame this game doesn't get more love. It really is a work of pure quality.

TLDR: It is fantastic, but it is also a little complex at times. I think the complexity adds to its depth, but not everyone will feel that way.

I got interested in this product after watching a YouTube page through by Mr Mean Speaks. Anyway, I liked the look of the art and layout, so did a little more research. The idea of Cyberpunk (and Sorcery) system/setting that allowed quick character generation (but still had a lot of depth) was very appealing, and the setting gives you just enough "spark" to inspire but enough room to make it your own.

The rules are clear and fantastic, the art is great, the tone of the writing is just right and there is simply just a lot to love about this game! I am very happy with my purchase and it has already seen table time, which is the biggest praise I can give it really.

The only negative I think I can really say is, I think the layout of the cyberpunk enhancements and modifications is a little confusing, but it's nothing that you don't get used to after a few look ups.

Fantastic system and content, well worth the money!

I usually end up getting frustrated by small rules which aren't logical or cumbersome for no real benefit, not so in Talisman and I love that about it!

There are a few minor errata issues and the odd clarity of rules issue, but on a whole for a document of this size and content, it's stella.

Some minor things I think could have been improved on are:

• A basic table providing a "suggested" number of from X to Y for The Realm map, just...something to make the wonderful map more immediately useable to new GM's.
• Maybe include a battlemap for the documented battle scene in the Graveyard instead of an area (outside the Ancient Tomb) which will likely never be used.
• The way armour works (which is very cool!) is described in a less than ideal fashion, I think that's the only part of the book I had to re-read over and over until I got it...and I'm still not sure I do. I think an example here would do wonders as it's quite a unique system.
• It made me sad that no Gnome Follower was listed (though there are a lot listed as well as fantatsic rules to create them) when a listed background choice includes one. :(

As you can see for a 300 page pdf, the is very little to complain about, not an easy task for a game designer.

Anyway, I highly recommend people check it out, especially those, who like me, maybe though it was going to be a gimmiky system cashing in on the Talisman brand.

I bought Best Left Buried on a bit of a whim if I'm honest. I love grim, gritty and dark fantasy rpg's, but have found many of them to be rather rules heavy. So when I saw this I bought it.

Let me just say that I am very happy I did! The system is simple yet flexible (2d6 + stat vs a TN 9, then some dials that mix this up) and the archetypes evocative (Cabbalist, Cut-throat, Veteran etc). The system allows for some very varied characters in a very simple framework, and one that comes with the tools and guidelines to build your own. The same goes for for fantasy races should you wish to use them. As you would expect in a dark, grim system, magic is there, but you won't be doing Elminster type shenanigans.

Although the game does not come with a bestiary as such, it gives you a fantastic monster builder, which to date I haven't found a monster concept I couldn't replicate. Did I mention this is also very simple to do?

Where's the grim dark I hear you say? Well that comes with the Grip (Sanity, Stress etc from other games) mechanic which is used to fuel abilities, re-rolls, resisting fearsome monsters etc. When this runs out, and it will, you can take afflictions or injuries to regain it. So before long, if your little crypt digger isn't careful, he or she will be sporting a variety of either physical or mental complications. It's all very elegant, and again, simple to use.

The game comes with a ready made scenario which is also well written and enjoyable, and if it isn't your cup of tea, well just buy one of the many Zini adventures that are now available!

If I were to make one criticism, it's that at times the rules aren't always 100% clear, I think this stems from the DIY nature of the game, which is also it's charm I guess. Luckily, as the rules, well the framework they are written on, is very transparent, it's not too hard to fill in these gaps yourself with a little common sense and reflection on other parts of the system. Additionally, although there is/were some errata needed, the author has thus far been very proactive about addressing these and so far I'm happy with the response time of resolving these concerns.

So far I have run 3 sessions (with more to come) with the system and it's been very enjoyable, for both myself as a Doomsayer (GM) and my players, unless they are all lying of course!

Oh the art, I forgot to mention the art. I personally love it, it's hand drawn work which I think evokes the right atmosphere, but if you're in to highly polished triple A productions you may be disappointed.

In summary, a great game that's easy to run, plus it has lots of support coming out for Doomsayers pretty much every other week! What's to not like!

Over and out.

This game is a bloody gem!

Honestly I can see people getting so much play time out of this very tight ruleset/setting. It's laid out very cleanly and the rules (based on Into The Odd) are concise and to the point! Did I mention the art is very cool?!

The only reason it doesn't have 5 stars is that I think some of the repeated info in the GM pamphlet should have been replaced by a list of kick-ass Relics for players to discover!

Either way, if you don't spend 2 bucks on this, then may the Glowing Maw swallow you whole!

I've given this 4 stars mainly because it omits a few key little details that I feel are important, if these little things were corrected or clarified I'd be upping my rating to 5 stars.

They are:

1. Leveling- The class abilities refer to level, however the game never actually states how to "level up".
2. The monsters (and free adventures) feature this sentence a lot "an attacked enemy must make a "insert stat here" roll or be immobilized/weakened etc" but never states if this is addition to regular 1 hit damage or replaces it. It also never clarifies if "attacked" means if "hit" or just the target of an attack.

I know i'm being nit picky, and it's a pocket book rpg, and it is an amazing one at that, however I think these small items could have been addressed in the "Dungeon Master" section, as there is no real need for a character sheet for a game of this size to take up a whole page.

Sincerely,

Wayne.

If you liked Woodland Warriors, well you'll enjoy this just the same.

The 2 new Kinds (Otters & Hares) and 2 new classes (Talespinner & Wayfarer) are great! The campaign setting is a little darker than that featured in Woodland Warriors, which for me was a good thing. Though there are notes about how to run it in a more light hearted fashion for those who want to.

The art is great, and the adventure seeds very flavorful.

Cheers.

Great little game! the system is genius!

I really love the way Simon has turned the S&W system into a seamless d6 OD&D game. The races are very evocative and the classes very well done. It's the kind of game you could read once and start playing immediately, but detailed enough that you won't get bored of it anytime soon.

I bought this game quite a while ago, but only recently got to play it a few times, hence this review (my first ever even though i buy something from rpgnow pretty much every week), as i felt it deserved some attention. Our 3 sessions to date have been great fun and i'm genuinely hoping that Mr Washburn sticks with this core system for a bunch of other things!

The end.

Ps - The artwork is great too! Oh and Grubman's adventure is very well written indeed!

I can see where Tim is heading with this, it really has a great feel to it, but it suffers from the same thing as the core rules. That being that although Tim obviously knows what he is talking about, as a reader sometimes i was left going....huh?...what?

Then again, for the price can anyone really complain?

Very enjoyable read, the rules have a LOT of potential!

The rules, although simple, could definitely use a few more examples for folks who may not be used to narrative games.

I think Loom could be a great system, it just needs some more time to develop.