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Honor + Intrigue $14.99
Average Rating:4.7 / 5
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Honor + Intrigue
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by GREGORY L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/10/2023 12:56:28

I just received my hard cover Honor + Intrigue Core Rulebook -- well worth the wait!!!

The Bad: The only negative thing I'll say about Honor + Intrigue is the hard cover book has lightweight paper, as opposed to a premium paper option. This is made known in the product description, so I don't feel ripped off. I appreciate the publisher's honesty. Very "Honor"able of them to disclose the paperweight quality. i just believe this game system to be such a High-Quality ruleset it deserves a high-quality print option.

Regardless of the paperweight, however, the interior design is great. And if you just want the PDF's, the content and layout are top-notich.

The Good: The Rules are simple and very "rules lite". Roll a 9+ on 2d6 for pretty much everything. There are no "skills" so you are freed up to try whatever you can imagine as opposed to what's on your character sheet.

The Amazing: There is some "crunch" to the rules, but in all the right places- particularly sword combat. This system's combat maneuvers make duels feel intense and dramatic. It's not just I swing/roll for damage, you swing/roll for damage, rinse / repeat-- the combatants have tactical maneuvering choices and the tide of the battle can swing as one dueler gains advantage over another through superior swordplay and footwork. It is Epic!

Have you ever met someone for the first time, but you feel like you've known them your whole life -- and you become instant best friends? I had that same feeling when I stumbled upon Honor + Intrigue. It's my new favorite RPG.

If you love swashbuckling action, treacherous political intrigue and eldritch horror, you should check out Honor + Intrigue. You won't be disappointed.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Lorenzo M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/15/2021 10:00:23

Probably one of the best swashbuckler rpg there is, definitely the best I've seen.

Honor + Intrigue takes the core engine of Barbarians of Lemuria and adds stuff on top of it that makes it even better, while keeping the game simple and fast to learn. Combat has a bit more meat to it, adding maneuvers and dueling styles that add a lot of fun and make different characters actually feel different in play. The strong guy uses brute force, the charismatic guy makes flashy moves, and the smart guy brings a gun to a swordfight.

The game is well balanced, with every trait being useful in combat. One problem I had with Barbarians of Lemuria was that every character had to have at least one or two points in agility if you want to make them a decent fighter; Honor + Intrigue doesn't do that. Instead, every character can contribute to the fight.

There are some fun ways the system enforces the swashbuckling tropes: one is the use of Stunts to take out multiple pawns (the nameless mooks), which has the player come up with a way to take out a group of people by using the attribute they want. For example, you could pull a carpet from under a group of guards to sweep them off their feet and knock them out, or shoot that chandelier above them that seems to always be there whenever there's a big fight.

Also, using Advantage is a fun way to replicate combat where neither side hits the other, but one yields ground until they're at their opponent's mercy. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts against Inigo Montoya: nobody is actually hurt during the whole fight, but the victor is clear.

One more and I stop: I liked that the list of Boons and Flaws is more than just "You get a bonus dice at doing that thing, you get a penalty dice at the other thing" but some are more narrative bonuses/hindrances, like being part of a Dueling School or having an Incompetent Servant, and they give you a little bonus whenever they give you big problems.

The biggest flaw I can think of for Honor + Intrigue is the art. The oil paintings are fine, but the original art is a bit ugly (as you can see in the cover art). It didn't detract from my enjoyement of the game, but then I don't personally care much for the art in general.

Overall, completely recommended, whether you want a campaign with Musketeers, Pirates, 17th century occult hunters or more.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by An E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/22/2020 22:28:54

After the thorough diappointment that was 7th Seas Second Edition, I went searching for a set of rules that would give me and others the swashbuckling fun we wanted. We thought about homebrewed DnD5e but it wasn't exactly the kind of environment for that in the game's resume. I read a few Reddit threads mentioning using Honor + Intrigue's system in 7th Sea's world and decided to peek at it.

The system itself is pretty simplistic at first but broadens out. Unlike most systems where you're working from a broad list of stats and narrowing it down to skills, you're doing the inverse where stats are narrow but the skills are broad. The career system basically takes traditional rules and says they're more like guidelines really. Instead of a hard and fast skill system, you have a career where you can make an argument to the GM that your character would know how to do some basic smithing because you were a farm boy and sometimes farmboys have to know how to make and shoe a horse. If you successfully argue your position you can then use the career points to add towards the roll. If you don't have a crafting career at all though, you're likely not going to be able to justify your character being able to make a blackpowder rifle out of no where.

The GM is encouraged to work with the players in the rules which is a nice additive. I can say without a doubt there will be rule lawyers who fight this method but it will be an uphill battle for them.

The combat seems clunky at first, and the initiative system I feel could be handled better with just a traditional roll order, but ultimately I'm fine with it as is and just use RAW methods.

The 2d6 system keeps the flow simple and math light. Two base stats + 2d6 to equal 9 or more. Its that simple. Combat is two relevant stats versus 9 as well. If the enemy has a defense stat of 1, then that just gets added to the base 'versus' and it becomes 10 you have to beat. Most everything is like this.

Where I find things get interesting is the Advantage system where you can win a battle without either side ever drawing blood. The moments where the good guy manages to keep the enemy pushed back and back until they're on their butt with a sword at their throat? You can recreate that easily here and can give plenty of GM narrative opportunities and give players plenty of space to role play.

Some of the wording in the book gets a little confusing and it took me a few read-throughs to fully understand combat but once I did it was easy enough to explain to my players.

One spark of criticsm that I'm not sure is really criticsm is that I wish there was more content. I'm hoping for either an expansion or Honor + Intrigue 2 of sorts where it has a more fleshed out fantastical element, where there are magical pieces that could be suited. As it stands the book leaves a lot of that up to GM imagination. Its easy enough to have a Pirates of the Caribbean style epic but beyond that you're wandering into waters not yet charted. Even if its just another expansion, please give us more.

Ultimately its a great pick up and play game with lots of pirating fun to be had. Solid foundation with unique mechanics in the Advantage system. If the Dueling styles interest you, definitely check out the add-on Duelist's Guide where they go more in depth with each style and give more of a draw to them. Full package runs you about 24 dollars which for a good pirate feel, its done well at that price.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Nick L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/23/2020 03:45:15

Simply the best swashbuckling RPG you'll ever play. One of the best RPGs I've ever played at all, let alone in genre. Highly recommend.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Auri F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/02/2017 13:19:49

I'm a fan of swashbuckling style and I've ran a entire campaing in this genre (2 years), but with a homemade system. It worked well, but I didn´t have time to write and test the designed rules, so I decided to find a system to emulate all funny things like, battle ships, heroic combats, social intrigues and some magic, and finally I found Honor + Intrigue. It´s an amazing book, really great job! In a single book we can do everything we need in my group! It is unbelievable how we think similar about the rules (my homemade system and yours), but Honor+Intrigue is far better. I can see a large research and effort in development of this book!! Next month we will play again but using Honor + Intrigue. Thanks for this great job!!

In my group, the Crew is very important, because we play like Pirates, so the fame, resources, and influence, became good points in my campaing as managing the loyalty and moral of the crew. The crew sometimes did important missions while the PC's was doing another quests in paralell. So my suggestion is to created a mini system to manage this, for example: If I want to pick some pirates to invade a Fort (as my own pawns to help me in combat)? If I pick some pirates to spy someone, how they succeed? And about the loyalty (never miss the Rum)? And how to rule the fame, influence and the resources of the Crew (Oh! You are a pirate from The Undertaker's Ship! It´s better think twice before betrayal you).



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Marcus B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/03/2015 09:03:09

Great swashbuckling game. It takes the Barbarians of Lemuria rules and makes them better. Great additions for the genre. I did not feel anything was missing, quiet the contrary. There is so much here I could not decide If I wanted to do Pirates, Musketeers or anything else in between. But not only the rules are fantastic, there are also copious amounts of background information and plot ideas for the whole world. I mean that. Fictitious history, but still close enough to get you a good idea on how to run things in any particular area. There is even information on how to run a bit more fantastical campaign like Pirates of the Caribbean or Regime Diabolique. This is not only a rulebook, but a swashbuckling toolkit. Heartily recommended, my favorite swashbuckling game, such a fantastic work.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Adam S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2012 15:45:47

This is a good simple system that does what it sets out to do. If you want to play a swasbuckling type campaign where it is possible to take out tons of mooks in a single action but still need to worry about both your dueling skills and you reputation then this should work for you.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Olivier R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/17/2012 12:08:49

It's a labor of love and it shows. It contains plenty of very good ideas to implement the swahsbuckling genre at your table.

The only thing that does not work for me (YMMV) are the dueling rules, which IMHO slow down combats and are thus not "in the mood". The good side is that you can get rid of them pretty easily. My personal approach is the following, depending on the players' mood:

  • if my players feel inventive, I tend to play the duels "wushu-style": the better they describe their actions (and the more flamboyantly the better), then I simply give them an according bonus to their "bladework". If the roll is successful, they get to describe their action;
  • if my players are not "in shape" (it is late at night, etc), then I made a set of cards that reproduce the listed actions. Each player draws a single card, activation costs 1 Fortune point, or it is free if they have that action already mastered. The cards represent an opportunity in combat to play this action. If the player feels at ease, (s)he can describe how it came to happen (and then rolls accordingly). If the player gives the DM room to make his combat more exciting, then he does not pay anything at all. Each round, each player draws a new card and gives the DM any used or unused cards they had the previous round. This keeps things flowing and exciting, while a more "tactical" set of rules tends to slow things down (at my table, YMMV).

I did not like the "detailed combat" rules, separated between main actions and "small actions" which can be used as reactions, etc. It reminded me too much of my old D&D days.

I also houseruled things to simplify a bit more social combat during "actual combat". I suppressed Composure and instead decided that successful social actions could remove lifeblood (difference between the player's roll ad the target's Flair) OR 1 advantage in combat (player's choice). This houserule gives one less thing for DM and player to keep track of, and tends to accelerate combats, while keeping flavour).

I kept the "classical" social combat, as I loved the example provided in the rulebook.

I am also in love with the stunts rule (which should be encouraged, actually it can by itself alone replace any dueling rules) and the firearms rules.

I also kept the whole Fortune Point system,which I'm really fond of. My houserules also encourgae players to act "in tone" in order to gain Fortunes Points, which they will likely badly need when combat happens.

I don't use the more "simulationist" rules found in the ships section (especially the ones about costs, and all that sort of things which I prefer to solve without rules).

I really liked the parts about secret societies, magic, monsters, etc, that provide a fresh "pulp angle" to a highly a-historic kind of game. And it's a good idea to keep it in a "real world basis" as digesting (as in 7th Sea) real-world analogues that feel at best clumsy is not my cup of tea.

All in all, it's a great game because if you find that a rule is too "detailed" for you, then it's easy to remove it in favour of a simpler one. The setting (although highly a-historical) is good too.

I can't stress enough that this book is a love letter to the swashbuckling genre, that gave me only one obsession after reading it: find some players and have a blast of daring actions!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Marc H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/04/2012 12:45:20

Intro: I have Savage Worlds, and am a huge fan of it, and was thinking about using it for the ubiquity setting of Regime Diabolique, wich i loved but somehow just couldn't get the hang of the system. It is a great system, but just not for me.

And then this came along. Sliced bread for swashbuckling. Awsome! The system is easy, yet complete, and has a tremendous swashbuckling feel. I am so going to use this for Regime Diabolique!

It's not going to replace Savage Worlds as my go to system, but having this for my musketeer action will keep that fresh, and keep SW fresh for other stuff as well. One minor flaw: I had to turn to Barbarians of Lemuria to get some divine magic rules ( it has a free version, but it would have been nice to have that in this set of rules as an option )

Get it......It's awsome



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thanks for the review, Marc! Regarding "Divine Magic", there are some things. On page 189 it says that the Clergy career can be used to transfer a blessing that is used to fight unholy monsters like demons and undead. Likewise they can make prayers that grant protection to allies against such unholy monsters and sorcery. They can also do exorcisms on unholy creatures. You are right that Clergy are not by default "magic". Mysticism is not part of the the "normal" training that they would receive. However, there is nothing stopping a person with the Clergy career from also having the Magician, Astrologer, or Alchemist career if you want to have a character more focused on the mystical. The Soothesaying aspect of Divination magic might be especially appropriate if viewed as "miracles" or talking to spirits.
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Honor + Intrigue
Publisher: Basic Action Games
by Nick R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/20/2012 10:18:55

This is an excellent RPG for anyone who loves the simplicity of Barbarians of Lemuria but wants a bit more crunch. The fencing manuever rules are superb and give a totally cinematic experience. I ran a sample game at Conception 2012 and wrote it up here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?614181-Honor-Intrigue-Fair-Wind-in-Jamaica.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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