Ysgarth RPG

[MonkeyBees]

Did anyone else ever own "The Ysgarth Rule System" by David Nalle and published by Ragnarok Enterprises? I had the 2nd edition in the early 80s and remember rolling up characters and doing some solo play.

Sadly I sold all my Ragnarok stuff in the the 90s. A while back I eBayed for a copy of the 2nd edition for nostalgia's sake and it's fun to revisit something that seemed so impressive when I was 13/14 years old.

There doesn't appear to be much online about Ysgarth or any community out there (probably understandably) so I thought I'd post here. Did anyone else own/play this game?

[Finarvyn]

Can’t say that I’ve ever played it. Heck, I’m not sure if I’d ever heard of it before.

There is a 20th Anniversary Edition web page with some info, copyright 1998. Looks like an overview of the game but I don’t see offhand where to order anything.

These are not the complete rules to Ysgarth. These Minirules are the most basic version of the rules, with enough information to actually play a limited game, but without many of the details and refinements. Complete mechanics can be found in the full version of the forthcoming 7th edition rules.

[Finarvyn]

I also note info at Wayne’s Books, which is a decent online game store. While they don’t seem to have any copies for sale, they have descriptions and amazon links.

Book I: Rulecraft (1985)

This is the first of three books in the Ysgarth role-playing system, the first game to bring together fantasy and reality as a believable whole. Ysgarth is an advanced system, streamlined and unusually open-ended to encourage the imaginations of players and game-masters while providing a practical background and mechanical structure. Ysgarth is a challenge to your imagination, adding depth and texture to your fantasy adventures.

Ysgarth combines simplicity and logic so that the game is both comprehensive and playable. More than that, Ysgarth is easy to learn and fun to play, even though it is more sophisticated than other fantasy games. Because Ysgarth is a skill-based system it allows you to create the character you want with a well developed background and identity. Variety and flexibility are the greatest strengths of the system and insure that every character and situation is unique.

This book contains all the basic rules you need to start play. The first area covered is character creation, with a unique attribute system which lets the player pick his abilities within certain guidelines. Next the player picks a logical selection of skills from a listing of over 400 skills and special areas of knowledge or training. At that point the character is ready for play, and mechanics are provided for skill use, background and social status, advancement, further training, morality and a combat system so simple and realistic that it is almost elegant. Extensive examples are provided and all the rules, including variants, are clearly explained. The rules place the emphasis on role-playing and character development and allow lots of freedom of choice for the player and gamemaster in designing characters and situations.

This book provides only basic functional information for magic and world background design. These two topics are covered in the second and third books of the system respectively. Book two contains complete rules on magic and religion with hundreds of spells and priestly powers and extensive discussions of mage guilds, religions, gods and cults. Book three is a detailed background aid for the world of Ysgarth, including detailed scientific data on how a world works. It also includes a set of introductory adventure scenarios.

Ysgarth opens the door to the worlds of your fantasy, with the first mechanics so simple and realistic that they enhance rather than limit your imagination. There is no quicker route to glory and adventure

Book II: Spellcraft (1987)

This is the second of three books in the Ysgarth role-playing system, the first game to bring together fantasy and reality as a believable whole. Ysgarth is an advanced system, streamlined and unusually open-ended to encourage the imaginations of the players while providing a practical background and mechanical structure. Ysgarth is a challenge to the imagination, adding depth and texture to your fantasy adventures.

Ysgarth is more sophisticated than most other fantasy games and is designed for mature players who demand the best. At the same time it is simple and fun to play, because we have discovered that realism need not be complex if it is well thought-out. Ysgarth is a skill-based system and lets you create the character you want, with a well developed background and identity. Variety and flexibility are the greatest strengths of the system and they insure that every character and situation is unique.

SpellCraft contains everything you need to run spell casting characters including all types of mages and priests. It includes 50 special magic-related skills, over 500 spells (some of them sort of twisted), complete lists of over 200 demons, spirits and gods, plus all the mechanics for a magic system which will make you believe that magic can work. The emphasis is on flexibility, variety and believability as well as an accurate simulation of magical traditions from literature and history.
Character creation is covered in RoleCraft, the first book of the system, which also includes basic skills and the combat system. WorldCraft completes the three book set and explores world and campaign design as well as providing creatures, background characters and introductory scenarios.

Ysgarth opens the doors of your dreams, with the first mechanics to combine realism and simplicity to enhance rather than limit your imagination. There is no better route to fantastic adventure.

Ysgarth Advanced Role Playing (6E; 1992)

Behold the dream...

Imagine a roleplaying system which brings every aspect of epic fantasy to life. Imagine a world of the mind which is as real and as powerful as our world of the flesh.
It's not impossible. It's Ysgarth!

Ysgarth is elegant. The mechanics are consistent, versatile and logical. A few basic systems handle every type of interraction. The rules are sophisticated without being complex.

Ysgarth is flexible. The rules cover every possible aspect of play in as much or as little detail as you want. In addition to the standard rules there are alternate rules for novice and advanced players and special variants so you can customize the game to suit your needs.

Ysgarth is believable. The rules emphasize skills and a wide choice of character actions. The world background is detailed and comprehensive, strongly linked to the traditions of myth and legend, yet still new and unusual. Ysgarth brings the fantasy world and the characters startlingly alive.

Ysgarth is roleplaying. It leaves control of howthe character develops in the hands of the player, providing systems which encourage characters with unique personalities and real substance. The rules are supportive and never restrictive, a framework on which the imagination can build greatness.

Ysgarth is progressive. This is the sixth edition released in the thirteen years since Ysgarth was first developed. The rules are constantly being tested and updated so they define the leading edge of game design, leaving other games to follow or fall by the wayside.

Ysgarth is fun. Good, believeable roleplaying is about the most fun you can have. Ysgarth makes fantasy roleplaying what you always hoped it could be. Dare to live what others only dream!

Hope that helps a little. Wish I could provide some first-hand info.

[MonkeyBees]

Thanks for the info Finarvyn. Ragnarok published a little magazine called Abyss. I found issues for sale and ordered them today, along with a few Ysgarth supplements to continue my trip down memory lane.

I remember ads for the game touted its superiority by looking at Ysgarth's cost per page vs. that of other major RPGs. Brings to mind the saying that you get what you pay for...

Ysgarth combines simplicity and logic so that the game is both comprehensive and playable.

IMO there are at least three things wrong with that statement (comprehensive I'll give it)

[Finarvyn]

Well, once you get the articles and such and have a chance to re-read, hopefully you'll give us some sort of review and evaluation. It's not often that a game like that pops up from the 1980's that I have zero knowledge of, and I'm curious as to how it plays.

[harami2000]

Mar 20, 2011 10:17:43 GMT -6 MonkeyBees said:

Did anyone else ever own "The Ysgarth Rule System" by David Nalle and published by Ragnarok Enterprises? I had the 2nd edition in the early 80s and remember rolling up characters and doing some solo play.

Sadly I sold all my Ragnarok stuff in the the 90s. A while back I eBayed for a copy of the 2nd edition for nostalgia's sake and it's fun to revisit something that seemed so impressive when I was 13/14 years old.

Well done for managing to obtain a 2nd edition copy again and not feeling so bad for being outbid on the last couple given your own history with the game.

I don't know many people who started with the 2nd edition. Kudos!

Mar 20, 2011 10:17:43 GMT -6 MonkeyBees said:

There doesn't appear to be much online about Ysgarth or any community out there (probably understandably) so I thought I'd post here. Did anyone else own/play this game?

Ysgarth wasn't seen all that often over here in the UK until the 4th/5th editions and the large number of supplements was both a positive and a negative: given the production method for those, I strongly suspect from recalled discussions that that counted against the system as a whole since it was a lot more fiddly than stocking "more visually impressive" items.
Recollections of crunchiness, too, from 4th edition (played but not purchased at the time) but I've been meaning to revisit, once I can pick up an older edition to compare/work through, owing to the random smattering of add-ons that I also have. Hope to get around to that before I need a desktop magnifier.
Ragnorak's other games were a fairly interesting and diverse bunch and their 'zine, Abyss, was pretty good reading right from the start (1979).

Dave Nalle's still around and around, but aside from his inner circle of gamers from back in the day, Mark Petrick ( www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mdtpetri/ ) is certainly one of the people most familiar with their diverse output.

[MonkeyBees]

harami2000 said:

I don't know many people who started with the 2nd edition. Kudos!

Glad to hear someone else knows about this game. The copy I got off of eBay is almost mint: pristine paper, no staple rust, perfect corners, etc. Not sure how it can be in such good shape after almost 30 years, but I'm not complaining!

Found some pics of the 2nd edition on Tome of Treasures:

www.tomeoftreasures.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=936&sid=98cd2f62a0bd2e93a7dca2e58fde0e47

harami2000 said:

Dave Nalle's still around and around, but aside from his inner circle of gamers from back in the day, Mark Petrick ( www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mdtpetri/ ) is certainly one of the people most familiar with their diverse output.

Small world, I'm in SW Ontario myself. And I saw Dave's blog.

Thinking back, I'm not sure where I got the original rules from. Back then there was a good game store in Toronto that had lots of RPG stuff, I suppose that was the source.

[MonkeyBees]

I haven't had a chance to put my thoughts down yet, but here's a capsule review from Space Gamer #58:

YSGARTH RULE SYSTEM (Ragnarok Enterprises) $10.00. Designed by David Nalle. Six 8.5" by 5.5" offset typed booklets, 168 pages, c. 130,000 words. Second revised edition (orange cover) published 1982.

If you are looking for a FRPG which takes account of a great many factors in character generation, and includes a tremendous variety of skills, all in a logical and consistent manner, you must look into YSGARTH RULE SYSTEM (YRS). If you're looking for a font of sound advice about world-building and gamemastering, look at YRS. But if you're looking for a simple FRPG, or one to start GMing with, look elsewhere.

Generation of 12 characteristics divided into physical, mental, and social groups is largely a matter of choice, not chance. Characteristics determine secondary characteristics such as attack and defense ratings, save throws (in conjunction with level), skill learning points, hit points, fatigue points, etc. Five warrior classes, two priestly classes, and 15 magic-using classes are available; several may easily be combined. Anyone can learn any skill, but specialization has advantages. Experience level is derived from the D&D system. Combat includes fatigue, hit location, armor deflection and absorbtion of damage points. Magic allows for spell failure, fatigue, mana use, targeting, saving thows, and enhancement of spell effects. This is also the only system I know in which magicians can duel for more than a few rounds without result.

There is a great mass of information here, logically organized and well written. Most of the rules deal with characters and with roleplaying; lists of monsters and magic items are confined to the last book, which also includes an introductory scenario.

Sometimes the great mass of abbreviations and values can be confusing. The typescript text is fairly small, with occasional breakdowns in syntax or typing, but YRS is a professional publication despite the lower-than-professional price.

This is the closest I've seen to a simulation FRPG, and there's plenty of potential for additions to other systems, if you prefer. At $10, YRS is one of the FRP bargains of this or any year.

- Lewis Pulsipher