I must admit I was bemused by the whole concept of this product and didn't expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised. The options here for creating (initially) unimpressive 0-level protagonists are well-written, well-thought out, and presented nicely.
As mentioned, these options can be used selectively or as a bunch. The more you use, the more of a challenge surviving even a minor threat is going to be. That said, if you do survive to level 1, there will be a sense of accomplishment from the "ordinary" person who rose above. And you will likely feel more shaped by your background.
Originally, I was thinking this would be a good way of easing new players into the game as the characters have fewer features to work with, but on reflection I don't think this a generally good idea (unless the DM really softballs the adventure or keeps it combat-free). Probably too lethal. Instead, I would be intrigued to try this with a group of veteran players as a challenging experiment. Or perhaps as a one-shot or side game where the players take the roles of beloved commoner-level NPCs. Or perhaps as a flashback to the adventurers before they were adventurers, or a magical nightmare where they are stripped of (most of) their skills.
Note that this product doesn't actually include an adventure or DM tips for creating adventures for such characters (nor does it claim too). You could of course run a level-1 adventure as a deadly challenge, or wing it. But a sister product or two featuring adventures meant for these "compleat meat" characters would be welcome.
I generally play only in organized play. But if I can gather a group of players and review these options collectively to determine buy-in, I might have them unofficially play a "prologue" using these rules the next time we look to create a new batch of characters. I expect it to be a blast! If anyone else tries playing with these rules, I would be interested to read how they worked out in a review.
Thumbs up!
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