The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Up front, I'd like to say this review is by invitation from David Nalle. Other than that, my only connection with Ragnarok Press is that I once won a copy of Ysgarth 6th ed. at a convention.

So far as I can tell, Oroborus is a generic version of the Ysgarth rules. All the world-specific information has been removed, and character creation has been simplified. This is good. Ysgarth has some fairly complex character creation rules, no doubt for added realism. While some of that realism has been sacrificed in Oroborus, the net effect is an easier character creation system. And the included examples are well-written enough to clarify most points. Some of the tables are misaligned, but easy enough to figure out.

Characters are created with points. A certain amount are allotted to nine characteristics, grouped into three categories. There are also some figured characteristics, and Size is left to player and GM discretion. It's important in some of the figured characteristics though, and has both positive and negative impact on them.

Skills get two separate allotments of points, Basic and Advanced. Only certain skills can be bought with each. The points spent are then distributed again to sub-skills, and finally multiplied by a Facility number to get the actual skill percentage. Characteristics do affect Facility.

Modifiers to skill difficulty do not apply directly to the skill roll. Instead, there are difficulty levels that are a fraction of the skill. This means a player might have to roll below half his skill % to accomplish a difficult task. The mechanics used also mean that in highly difficult situations, a critical success might not be possible for anyone. Whether this is better than a straight penalty or not is a matter of taste, but I rather like it.

There are also rules for paranormal abilities--magic, superpowers, etc. The rules for inherent abilities are unpleasantly vague, requiring a lot of GM guesswork to maintain balance. For more information, the Oroborus rules direct the reader to other Ragnarok products. The one example provided is the worst-written, so it's not a big help.

Aging gets even less information. It is brought up in the rules, but then dropped almost immediately. "A gain in some areas and losses in others, to reflect physical deterioration and increased learning" is about the extent of it. That makes it more of a suggestion than a rule, and there are no examples to help.

The rules for actions still retain a lot of the Ysgarth complexity. Each character has a certain number of Action Points, a figured characteristic. Each action requires the character to spend some of these points. Spending more can increase the chance of success for some skills. Unused points carry over on a diminishing basis to future rounds. The concept is easy, but requires a lot of bookkeeping that can bog play down. Fortunately, a much easier alternate system is provided. It's ostensibly for less experienced gamers, but would work fine for anyone.

Overall, this is an acceptable system. I have some automatic dislike of percentage-based systems of any kind. (How much difference is there between 50% and 51%? Does it matter?) Oroborus does not really address this, but it's not bad.

The one glaring flaw I see is a complete lack of ability to increase characteristics. While divine intervention may be required to raise a character's Creativity, for example, it should be possible to raise Strength if the character spends enough time working out. Or Size could be increased just by eating too much consistently. Granted, this could be a bookkeeping nightmare, especially if some of the advanced options are in use. Still, it should not be totally ignored.

Ragnarok Press plans to release a printed version of Oroborus in a pocket-sized format. The website gives no information on how many pages it will be, or how much it will cost. That's just a minor quibble, of course, especially since the rules are available for a few clicks now.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Oroborus
Author: David F. Nalle Category: game Company/Publisher: Ragnarok Press Cost: free Page count: n/a ISBN: n/a Capsule Review by Patrick Clark on 12/09/98. Genre tags: Generic	Up front, I'd like to say this review is by invitation from David Nalle. Other than that, my only connection with Ragnarok Press is that I once won a copy of Ysgarth 6th ed. at a convention. So far as I can tell, Oroborus is a generic version of the Ysgarth rules. All the world-specific information has been removed, and character creation has been simplified. This is good. Ysgarth has some fairly complex character creation rules, no doubt for added realism. While some of that realism has been sacrificed in Oroborus, the net effect is an easier character creation system. And the included examples are well-written enough to clarify most points. Some of the tables are misaligned, but easy enough to figure out. Characters are created with points. A certain amount are allotted to nine characteristics, grouped into three categories. There are also some figured characteristics, and Size is left to player and GM discretion. It's important in some of the figured characteristics though, and has both positive and negative impact on them. Skills get two separate allotments of points, Basic and Advanced. Only certain skills can be bought with each. The points spent are then distributed again to sub-skills, and finally multiplied by a Facility number to get the actual skill percentage. Characteristics do affect Facility. Modifiers to skill difficulty do not apply directly to the skill roll. Instead, there are difficulty levels that are a fraction of the skill. This means a player might have to roll below half his skill % to accomplish a difficult task. The mechanics used also mean that in highly difficult situations, a critical success might not be possible for anyone. Whether this is better than a straight penalty or not is a matter of taste, but I rather like it. There are also rules for paranormal abilities--magic, superpowers, etc. The rules for inherent abilities are unpleasantly vague, requiring a lot of GM guesswork to maintain balance. For more information, the Oroborus rules direct the reader to other Ragnarok products. The one example provided is the worst-written, so it's not a big help. Aging gets even less information. It is brought up in the rules, but then dropped almost immediately. "A gain in some areas and losses in others, to reflect physical deterioration and increased learning" is about the extent of it. That makes it more of a suggestion than a rule, and there are no examples to help. The rules for actions still retain a lot of the Ysgarth complexity. Each character has a certain number of Action Points, a figured characteristic. Each action requires the character to spend some of these points. Spending more can increase the chance of success for some skills. Unused points carry over on a diminishing basis to future rounds. The concept is easy, but requires a lot of bookkeeping that can bog play down. Fortunately, a much easier alternate system is provided. It's ostensibly for less experienced gamers, but would work fine for anyone. Overall, this is an acceptable system. I have some automatic dislike of percentage-based systems of any kind. (How much difference is there between 50% and 51%? Does it matter?) Oroborus does not really address this, but it's not bad. The one glaring flaw I see is a complete lack of ability to increase characteristics. While divine intervention may be required to raise a character's Creativity, for example, it should be possible to raise Strength if the character spends enough time working out. Or Size could be increased just by eating too much consistently. Granted, this could be a bookkeeping nightmare, especially if some of the advanced options are in use. Still, it should not be totally ignored. Ragnarok Press plans to release a printed version of Oroborus in a pocket-sized format. The website gives no information on how many pages it will be, or how much it will cost. That's just a minor quibble, of course, especially since the rules are available for a few clicks now. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)