An excellent homage to the old MERP with sufficient flexibility for the GM to determine the nature and identity of the ultimate adversary I.e. the Darkmaster of the title. It’s a big volume (there is a separate player guide which contains the player facing material.

Open Ended Games are to be commended on this product.

Ho letto e riletto l'intero manuale e sono convinto che sia uno dei regolamento migliori di sempre. Appena riuscirò a provarlo con il mio gruppo saprò se quello che penso corrisponde a verità. D100 RULEZ !!!!

Against the Darkmaster is my first foray into percentile based systems. It's a bit of a leap for me personally from d20 or dice pool systems (i.e. World of Darkness), and at first it was pretty daunting. Once I got to actually play after giving it a read through, it was actually pretty easy to manage. There's some devils in the details, but that's true of any system and nothing I ran into really threw a wrench into the works during play. There's a lot to go through and at first getting some of the terminology down was a little tough, but again, being new to percentile systems and ones with tables was more to blame than any flaws with the rules or layout itself. Plus, the devs are quite a friendly and active bunch, and the Discord community in my experience is really welcoming and eager to help out. There's easy access to a rules questions thread on the Discord where the devs pop in to answer questions it seems like every day. I don't have a physical copy, but I've heard this is a big tome (not sure if it can stop a bullet, but I like to joke it can!). The digital copy is easy to navigate and comes with good book marks. The art is gorgeous and the team did a splendid job. It's really neither here nor there, but one of the things that really convinced me to give Against the Darkmaster a real solid go rather than reading and forgetting about it was the inspiration. One of the ones they cite is David Gemmell, a sadly departed author whose works are very near to my heart. I think that Against the Darkmaster does that inspiration justice, as well as the Lord of the Rings. I look forward to future works by Open Ended Games, and feel that Against the Darkmaster is a solid product. Very happy with the purchase.

Against the Darkmaster is a fantastic reworking of the classic d100 (roll over) adventure game. It keeps tried and true aspects of the original while simultaneously adding in new and modern mechanics. If you are looking for something new and different than the worlds most famous fantasy rpg, then I highly recommend taking a look.

<p>I like this ruleset. Character creation is fairly simple but the &quot;Motivation, Nature, Allegiance and Special Traits&quot; can give players a sense of actually putting the &quot;character&quot; into playing the pc character. I like brutal fighting and has options. Spell list... Page 410. &quot;Sounds &amp; Lights&quot; list. 2nd level spell: &quot;Tongues&quot;. Says:&quot;For the duration, the caster can speak (but not understand) the language of target sentient humanoid creature&quot;. Okaaay...the Wizard put a lot of energy in saying something that not only doesn&#039;t understand what he/she is saying but cannot even listen to a conversation. But in generally, the lists are better as they don&#039;t overwhelm anything than many other systems do, which is in my opinion a good thing.<br /> Marcus (Featured Reviewer)--Personal difference about the blackout pages. Prepare for new printer ink and it&#039;s hecka difficult to read.</p>

Against the Darkmaster is a new fantasy tabletop RPG, a retroclone of Rolemaster. I’ve not played Rolemaster before, so this review won’t be able to compare the two.

This tome is REALLY massive rulebook, containing character creation, rules mechanics, game mastery, bestiary, magic lists, and an adventure. There’s a lot to it, but it’s all contained there in a single book, and would be very easy to run an entire campaign all out of this one 563 page book. The book is much thicker than Zweihander, though fewer pages. The paper’s a lot thicker, so it all feels really durable.

The basic mechanics of Against the Darkmaster are pretty simple: A D100 percentile roll is used for all rolls (with a few exceptions using a D10). Your skills and attributes have values both negative and positive. You’ll roll your D100 and add or subtract the appropriate attribute, trying to meet or beat 100. The game has degrees of success and failure, so 75-99 will get you a partial success, while over 175 will give an outstanding success.

Character creation has a lot of different components to it. Players will choose their character’s Kin (race), Culture (which tells where you came from), Vocations (your class), Background (where you’ll choose to spend Background Points for different advantages), as well as Passions and Drives.

Combat works in phases. All characters declare their actions, then move into the actions. First spells prepared in the previous round go of, followed by instant spells. Then ranged weapons prepared the previous round are fired. Close combat then happens (longest to shortest weapons in order). Then ranged attacks that hadn’t gone off before are fired. Finally, all unprepared spells go off. I love the way this goes, allowing tactical preparation, and then watching a cascading effect take place as all of the actions play out.

Taking damage is very dangerous. Tables for each type of weapon determine the severity of damage, and how likely critical hits are. As you take damage, you’ll suffer penalties, which can lead to a death spiral. Luckily, your enemies are also under the same effect, so it balances out.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is the creation of The Darkmaster. There is a large section for creating your own Darkmaster. A series of D100 rolls determine the epithet of the powerful being, as well as the coveted artifact that is tied to them. The game master and players can work together to determine the Darkmaster’s origins, their goals and servants, and their powerful dark fortress. There’s also a great selection of premade Darkmasters with great backgrounds and info. Here, the pages are inverted, so the black pages actually stand out when the book is closed, which I like.

Magic is another cool aspect. There are a collection of Spell Lores. Each lore must be purchased separately as a skill, but each rank grants the next highest spell in the list as you weave more complex spells. For example, Communion: first gives you Question Animal, allowing you to summon and speak to creatures. Higher levels allow you to cast auguries, divine visions, and speaking with he dead.

The art throughout is REALLY solid, all in solid black and white, very evocative of the implied setting.

I really like this ruleset. I can see why people love Rolemaster and MERP. It’s has straightforward rules that’s a lot less complicated than it seems at first. I can’t wait to try out some one-shots soon to really run the system through its paces.

If you’re looking for a grim and brutal system, Against the Darkmaster is a solid contender.

Dice Monkey was sent a copy of Against the Darkmaster by Gamerati for review.

Other games have come close to perfection. Against the Darkmaster is one of those games that might have achieved it. In rules, art, substance, and errata. The rule system is likely familiar to those who have experience with ICE games but condensed to rules that can be remembered and applied. Honed is probably a better word. Where the rules might not strike "right" for everyone, the authors present options that increase the crunch for simulationists/traditionalists, don't make the system any more difficult, but maintain the genre feeling they intend. Many art pieces create a feeling that they can be found in classic hero's journey literature or their representative games. Often this reader was sure pieces were brought over from RM or MERP but are original and match the intended tone. This is not a game where players or GMs are left waiting for the follow-on products to understand how to create more for their game. Kin, adversaries, and magic items are all examples of where groups can understand the engine and have a relatively small limit as long as imaginations hold up. After several read-throughs, there are no unanswered or conflicting rules. However, there are sparse grammar issues, most often in the form of double plurals. The only thing that would ruin this game is if data was not updated on the final edit/translation. For example, if weapon info, like the range errors in Forgotten Lands or target numbers, like the autofire difficulty tables in Cyberpunk Red, was incorrect. Like those games, these would ruin the perfection but could be forgiven for all the other positives. While missing large variability of perceived persons of color, kins, cultures, and artistic representations, each has binary representation. The same also seems to have gotten respectful treatment. Even the genre's traditional enemy kin/cultures are presented as being taken advantage of by the main protagonist. In this setting, it's just as easy for the "good" races to be adversaries as the "evil" ones. It seems all of the things that the D&D crowd has been trying to hit since the realization of 5e's societal shortfalls are met by Open Ended Games' release. If these aren't a group's concerns, though, there is no pandering here.

This is the game I wish I could give to teenage me. A wonderful mixture of traditional mechanisms, modern insights and design ideas, all stirred to produce a solid game conducive to the kind of traditional epic fantasy stories it clearly and enthusiastically draws inspiration from. And all wonderfully customizable and adjustable. A love letter to the genre and to tabletop fantasy gaming in the best possible way.

Against the Darkmaster (VsD) is a successor or MERP (Middle Earth RolePlaying), with the same mood but without direct references to the Middle Earth setting. It's a clear and concise new take and a great system. Character development is clear and made easy, combats are brutal and deadly... happily you have a mechanic of Drive Points, earned from your passions, to survive :)

So VsD is a new take on MERP, but it's more than that. It's a solid fondation for classical fantasy, dark fantasy and sword & sorcery, easy to adapt.

You have a nice character development system, a great combat system, a good wealth system (not counting every gold piece), travel rules, many spells and a good bestiary.

A elegant and complete game for a more civilized age :)

One of my earliest loves in TTRPGs was Rolemaster. I played and ran that constantly in middle school and high school. Against the Darkmaster is the best successor to Rolemaster/MERP on the market, and I've looked at them all. Happy to have supported this and look forward to more open-ended d100 adventures!