Review: The Fantasy Gamer's Compendium by Gamescience
Mar 10, 2018 22:07:59 GMT -6
Zenopus, thegreyelf, and 5 more like this
Post by strangebrew on Mar 10, 2018 22:07:59 GMT -6
User Julian Grimm Mr. Darke asked me about this book in a thread about an unrelated topic. My PM to him kept growing, so I decided to post it here in case anyone else is interested. I’ve had this book for a few years, and at one time considered starting an “OD&D on a Shoestring” blog to cover interesting, contemporary, yet affordable OD&D publications like this. Don’t have the time, but someone else could take that idea and run with it.
Basics
The Fantasy Gamer's Compendium, published by Gamescience, is fifty-five pages of small, dense print with a charming color cover and B&W interiors. It is made up of six sections, which were originally six digest-sized booklets published by Little Soldier Games in the 1970s: Book of Mystery, Book of Monsters, Book of Demons, Book of Sorcery, Book of Shamans, Book of Treasure.
Overview
Book of Mystery assumes a sci-fi origin to the fantasy world ala Empire of the Petal Throne or Blackmoor. It deals with a new character class called the Lords of Mystery, who are kind of a secret society that preserve the super science of the original humans. There's a skill system for use with the class or with characters in general. This must be a pretty early attempt at this, because it cites as contemporaries RuneQuest, Chivalry and Sorcery, and Bushido (circa 1978) which were some of the first skill-based games. It also has rules for a new category of magic items (amulets) and some odd quest rules.
Book of Monsters is a list of 124 monsters from real-life cultures around the world. They are arranged alphabetically with descriptions, and at the end of the section there's a table of statistics for all of them (OD&D-ish, but made a little more system agnostic).
Book of Demons details three character classes: the magician, the witch, and the scholar. The magician and the witch are attempts at a more "realistic" magic-user rooted in Western occultism and folklore. The magician seems to gain spells like a regular magic-user, but is also able to conjure demons in complex rituals. Witches belong to covens, have power over minor demons, and have other additional abilities (familiars, love potions, etc). Scholars gain 1d4 languages and an area of expertise with each level. Magician-scholars are possible. The section ends with a list of over 80 demons "derived from medieval European traditions, the Bible, the Kabala, and other authentic sources."
Book of Sorcery begins with a kind of pre-class, the Apprentice. This character has studied ten spells in his eagerness for knowledge. These spells are determined randomly from levels 1-3. When he casts a spell, a d10 is rolled that number spell is cast (apparently regardless of the one that character wanted to cast). After they meet one of a few requirements (one being successfully casting the right spell 3 times) they can move onto being a magic-user. I guess the benefit is they get to maintain access to those ten spells, but it's not clear. This is followed by an explanation of how sorcerers' (which I assume means magic-users) magic comes from demons, and is susceptible to failure, with a d% table for rolling success. d100-character level is rolled; 1-90 is success, and 91-100 is some degree of failure (demonic possession, insanity, being carried off to hell). Keep in mind this is rolled every time the character casts a spell! There is a table for variable psychic energy, which is a spell point system that was introduced but not quite explained in the Book of Demons. Then there are a bunch of incantations that Apprentice players (not characters, the players) have to memorize to even get a shot (roll the d10) to cast the right spell. Finally there are a few dozen magical items, like the Hand of Glory (ala The Wicker Man), a candle that locates buried treasure, and a skull that answers questions asked.
Like the magician and witch class, the Book of Shamans introduces two more “realistic” classes, this time based on indigenous cultures. The Warrior and the Shaman both go on vision quests to get a spirit animal. The warrior gains a random ability (summon spirit animal, control weather, charm) usable once per year, or a magic weapon. Shamans (the most powerful of which have intestines made of quartz!) have mana points which they can use for a number of powers involving souls, controlling nature, shape changing, etc. The section ends with a short bibliography, emphasizing its True Scientific Realism.
The last section, the Book of Treasure, contains two categories: magic items from world mythology and science fiction items for use in fantasy games. Examples of the former include a magic pipe whose smoke creates plump turkeys and pigeons, a robe of feathers that makes its wearer instantly forgettable, and a talking bronze head (perhaps inspired by the one in Holmes' 1977 sample dungeon). Examples of the latter include a brain probe (retrieves memories), an explosive collar, an electromagnet, and glider wings.
Opinion
First off, this book costs $11. The original booklets sell on eBay for several times that each. The material within is a mixed bag in terms of usability, but are almost always interesting. The classes are a bit confusing at points. The lists (of monsters, demons, magic items) are pretty cool and easily usable. The books give the impression of a more serious, folkloric, darker D&D game. A lot of it reminded me of the first edition of the Palladium Fantasy RPG, with it’s talk of demons and magic circles. I found the best books to be Monsters, Demons, and Treasure.
All together, the best thing about the Fantasy Gamer’s Compendium is that it gives some real insight to the early days of the hobby and amateur press publications such as Little Solder, Dragon Tree, and Arduin (all of which are still available in print in some way). Similarly affordable publications that come to mind are the Dungeoneer Compendium and (more professionally) the Best of the Dragon. I recommend you pick it up, not only due to the weird bits, the good bits, and the historical curiosity, but because it’s just $11!
www.gamescience.com/The-Fantasy-Gamers-Compendium_p_11.html
Basics
The Fantasy Gamer's Compendium, published by Gamescience, is fifty-five pages of small, dense print with a charming color cover and B&W interiors. It is made up of six sections, which were originally six digest-sized booklets published by Little Soldier Games in the 1970s: Book of Mystery, Book of Monsters, Book of Demons, Book of Sorcery, Book of Shamans, Book of Treasure.
Overview
Book of Mystery assumes a sci-fi origin to the fantasy world ala Empire of the Petal Throne or Blackmoor. It deals with a new character class called the Lords of Mystery, who are kind of a secret society that preserve the super science of the original humans. There's a skill system for use with the class or with characters in general. This must be a pretty early attempt at this, because it cites as contemporaries RuneQuest, Chivalry and Sorcery, and Bushido (circa 1978) which were some of the first skill-based games. It also has rules for a new category of magic items (amulets) and some odd quest rules.
Book of Monsters is a list of 124 monsters from real-life cultures around the world. They are arranged alphabetically with descriptions, and at the end of the section there's a table of statistics for all of them (OD&D-ish, but made a little more system agnostic).
Book of Demons details three character classes: the magician, the witch, and the scholar. The magician and the witch are attempts at a more "realistic" magic-user rooted in Western occultism and folklore. The magician seems to gain spells like a regular magic-user, but is also able to conjure demons in complex rituals. Witches belong to covens, have power over minor demons, and have other additional abilities (familiars, love potions, etc). Scholars gain 1d4 languages and an area of expertise with each level. Magician-scholars are possible. The section ends with a list of over 80 demons "derived from medieval European traditions, the Bible, the Kabala, and other authentic sources."
Book of Sorcery begins with a kind of pre-class, the Apprentice. This character has studied ten spells in his eagerness for knowledge. These spells are determined randomly from levels 1-3. When he casts a spell, a d10 is rolled that number spell is cast (apparently regardless of the one that character wanted to cast). After they meet one of a few requirements (one being successfully casting the right spell 3 times) they can move onto being a magic-user. I guess the benefit is they get to maintain access to those ten spells, but it's not clear. This is followed by an explanation of how sorcerers' (which I assume means magic-users) magic comes from demons, and is susceptible to failure, with a d% table for rolling success. d100-character level is rolled; 1-90 is success, and 91-100 is some degree of failure (demonic possession, insanity, being carried off to hell). Keep in mind this is rolled every time the character casts a spell! There is a table for variable psychic energy, which is a spell point system that was introduced but not quite explained in the Book of Demons. Then there are a bunch of incantations that Apprentice players (not characters, the players) have to memorize to even get a shot (roll the d10) to cast the right spell. Finally there are a few dozen magical items, like the Hand of Glory (ala The Wicker Man), a candle that locates buried treasure, and a skull that answers questions asked.
Like the magician and witch class, the Book of Shamans introduces two more “realistic” classes, this time based on indigenous cultures. The Warrior and the Shaman both go on vision quests to get a spirit animal. The warrior gains a random ability (summon spirit animal, control weather, charm) usable once per year, or a magic weapon. Shamans (the most powerful of which have intestines made of quartz!) have mana points which they can use for a number of powers involving souls, controlling nature, shape changing, etc. The section ends with a short bibliography, emphasizing its True Scientific Realism.
The last section, the Book of Treasure, contains two categories: magic items from world mythology and science fiction items for use in fantasy games. Examples of the former include a magic pipe whose smoke creates plump turkeys and pigeons, a robe of feathers that makes its wearer instantly forgettable, and a talking bronze head (perhaps inspired by the one in Holmes' 1977 sample dungeon). Examples of the latter include a brain probe (retrieves memories), an explosive collar, an electromagnet, and glider wings.
Opinion
First off, this book costs $11. The original booklets sell on eBay for several times that each. The material within is a mixed bag in terms of usability, but are almost always interesting. The classes are a bit confusing at points. The lists (of monsters, demons, magic items) are pretty cool and easily usable. The books give the impression of a more serious, folkloric, darker D&D game. A lot of it reminded me of the first edition of the Palladium Fantasy RPG, with it’s talk of demons and magic circles. I found the best books to be Monsters, Demons, and Treasure.
All together, the best thing about the Fantasy Gamer’s Compendium is that it gives some real insight to the early days of the hobby and amateur press publications such as Little Solder, Dragon Tree, and Arduin (all of which are still available in print in some way). Similarly affordable publications that come to mind are the Dungeoneer Compendium and (more professionally) the Best of the Dragon. I recommend you pick it up, not only due to the weird bits, the good bits, and the historical curiosity, but because it’s just $11!
www.gamescience.com/The-Fantasy-Gamers-Compendium_p_11.html
