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"Shakhan" (v4.1), is a fantasy RPG, written by Marcus & Karen Shields. Set on the world of Telostic, it has been developed over the past 25 years and is designed for long term, immersive role playing rather than hack'n slash.

(NOTE:This game contains references to sexual concepts that make it unsuitable for use with young roleplayers.)

It is available in three forms, the first is a free online version, this is a series of seven .PDF downloads from www.globalserve.net/~marcusnkaren/shakhan/shakhan_homepage.htm. Otherwise it can be purchased from the Telostic corporation as a printed rule set for US$ 35.00 or as a CD-ROM for US$20.00.

This review will deal with the free online version.

THE SEVEN BOOKS.

Book A: Introduction/Game Setting. (56 pages, 2.2 meg)

This book contains the rules for character actions, basic GM tips and the history of the world of Telostic, focussing on the northern region of the continent of UsHu'l which contains the nation of Rocitien, the Empire of the Golden Falcon, the starting region for player characters.

Book B: Establishing a Character. (114 pages, 1.5 meg)

This book details the character generation process, available races, character races and available skills/equipment.

Book C: Combat on Telostic. (35 pages, 0.3 meg)

The book details the combat system and contains all necessary tables required for combat.

Book D: The Supernatural. (126 pages, 1.5 meg)

This book details the Gods of Telostic, the different schools of magic, the rules for learning/casting, spells available and lists detailing which spells are associated with which school/god.

Book E: Adventures in Northern UsHu'l (66 pages, 0.7 meg)

The book consists of further GM advice and the tables required for encounters and NPC generation. At the back of the book are equipment lists and setting calendars.

Book F: Bestiary of Northern UsHu'l (38 pages, 0.7 meg)

As the title states, this volume contains a listing of the various animals and monsters that exist in Northern UsHu'l. They are listed alphabetically by type (from Avians to Undead). The book concludes with a set of encounter tables.

Book G: The Watchers (10 pages, 0.4 meg)

The final volume of the current edition, this GM only book provides information on "The Watchers", enigmatic, quasi-divine beings that are major force for good in Telostic.

THE GAME SYSTEMS.

The character generation system begins with the selection of character races, then the players roll for stats. The base statistics are:

Strength: The characters physical power

Agility: The coordination of the character

Constitution: Characters health and endurance

Dexterity: Characters hand/eye coordination

Intelligence: Characters reasoning ability/background knowledge

Psychic Ability: Characters ability to manipulate the vibrations of the universe (Mages primary stat). Characters with very low scores in this statistic gain the ability to stop mages casting spells.

Mystic Ability: Characters sensitivity to religious supernatural (Priests primary stat). As with the statistic above, characters with a very low score in this stat become able to prevent a priest from casting a spell by their mere presence.

Willpower: Characters abilty to endure pain and to resist mind control.

Vision: How well the character can see by day and by night

Hearing: How well the character can hear. Characters with a high score in this statistic gain the ability to detect possible attacks before they happen.

Sense of Smell: How well a character can detect scents. High scores with this statistic give the character the ability to identify substances by smell alone.

Taste: Like smell a high ability statistic gives the character the ability to identify unlabeled substances.

Touch: A high score in this ability is vital for characters who wish to find hidden doors.

Physical Beauty: How attractive a character is, low scores mean people may run away in fear of the character, high scores have their own set of problems...

After personal statistics have been created the player rolls for the character background, possible physical/mental disorders and the statistics that make up their mental characteristics. These statistics, which are divided into primary, secondary and tertiary are:

PRIMARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Self-Esteem

Self-Control

Objectivity

Sex Drive

SECONDARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Temperament

Eccentricity

Disposition

Compassion

Self-Indulgence

Integrity

TERTIARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Attentivness

Tolerance

Altruism

The character generation finishes with the determination of occupation and character skills & equipment.

The character generation system is comprehensive and I like the idea of defining a characters psychological makeup, there are problems with the character generation section, firstly there is a reference (page 46) to an upbringing table which is not included in the character generation rules, while this material may be for a future release, it is not explicitly stated as several other future inclusion items are.

The second thing is that the section defines 'mundane' characters (e.g. what PC's were before they became adventurers), but no information is provided on the PC character types.

The skills resolution system revolves around a percentile die roll, but not directly against the skill involved, but rather against a target number(threshold) derived by the following formula:

Requistite score )(* or ) Skill modifiers (* or -) Difficulty modifier (* or ) Skill modifiers (if not already factored in) = Target threshold.

One of the more interesting aspects of the system is that modifiers are applied AFTER the dice roll, not before.

There are two combat systems 'regular' and 'quick'

The 'regular' combat system is complicated and looks similar to systems used in board/minitures wargames. The players first determine how many 'tactic cards' (Combat actions from all-out attacks to running away) they may use per round and then determine the characters 'combat factor' (basic fighting ability) & 'missile factor' (ability to use missile weapons) each round is divided into a series of 'phases'. These phases cover everything from divine intervention and magic to actual physical combat.

The 'quick' combat system while relying on the determining of 'combat' and 'missile' factors is much simpler and uses six phases as follows:

1. Both sides determine character actions.

2. GM determines initiative.

3. Both sides carry out missile attacks.

4. Both sides carry out magic attacks.

5. Both sides move characters and carry out melee attacks.

6. Characters may call for divine intervention.

The magic system is based around two different formulas, one for mages and one for clerics.

The mages target number formula is based on their psychic ability and their intelligence. The formula used by clerics to determine their target number is based on their mystic ability and their age. Whatever the formula used the magic will drain energy from the mage whether the spell succeeds or not.

OVERALL OPINION.

'Shakhan', provides the GM with a well written setting and the background material will provide them with plenty of plot ideas. The provision of GM advice is welcome, as is the attempt to avoid 'Monty Haul' role playing situations, by providing treasure tables that do not concentrate on money/magic items.

However there are some presentation problems with this game. The illustrations are a mix, some have obviously been taken from old history books, while others have been drawn by a non-skilled artist, these crude drawings detract from the presented material (the one exception is the cover picture for Book A), creating an amaturish impression at odds with the obvious care that has gone into the background.

While I agree and support the idea of including adult concepts such as sexuality in a 'deep' roleplaying game, I do not agree with the provision of 'anatomically correct' artwork, especially the crudely drawn images of full frontal male/female nudity in Book B, in a role playing game, this material does not really support the text and may put off some roleplayers.

The maps provided in Book A are another problem, the maps within the main body of the text are readable and thus usable for GM's. However of the four maps provided as appendices of Book A three out of four are heavily pixilated and almost unreadable.

Another problem is that at several points reference is made to the effects of intoxication/drug use, but there are no actual rules to cover character intoxication or drug use.

Despite the problems outlined above, I like the setting and will recommend this product to GM's, there is a lot of useful material contained within and the GM should be able to use it with another system.

Shakhan (V 4.1)
Shakhan (V 4.1) Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 23/11/01 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Great setting, but there are serious presentation problems. Product: Shakhan (V 4.1) Author: Marcus and Karen Shields Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Telostic Inc Line: Cost: Page count: 445 Year published: ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 23/11/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	"Shakhan" (v4.1), is a fantasy RPG, written by Marcus & Karen Shields. Set on the world of Telostic, it has been developed over the past 25 years and is designed for long term, immersive role playing rather than hack'n slash. (NOTE:This game contains references to sexual concepts that make it unsuitable for use with young roleplayers.) It is available in three forms, the first is a free online version, this is a series of seven .PDF downloads from www.globalserve.net/~marcusnkaren/shakhan/shakhan_homepage.htm. Otherwise it can be purchased from the Telostic corporation as a printed rule set for US$ 35.00 or as a CD-ROM for US$20.00. This review will deal with the free online version. THE SEVEN BOOKS. Book A: Introduction/Game Setting. (56 pages, 2.2 meg) This book contains the rules for character actions, basic GM tips and the history of the world of Telostic, focussing on the northern region of the continent of UsHu'l which contains the nation of Rocitien, the Empire of the Golden Falcon, the starting region for player characters. Book B: Establishing a Character. (114 pages, 1.5 meg) This book details the character generation process, available races, character races and available skills/equipment. Book C: Combat on Telostic. (35 pages, 0.3 meg) The book details the combat system and contains all necessary tables required for combat. Book D: The Supernatural. (126 pages, 1.5 meg) This book details the Gods of Telostic, the different schools of magic, the rules for learning/casting, spells available and lists detailing which spells are associated with which school/god. Book E: Adventures in Northern UsHu'l (66 pages, 0.7 meg) The book consists of further GM advice and the tables required for encounters and NPC generation. At the back of the book are equipment lists and setting calendars. Book F: Bestiary of Northern UsHu'l (38 pages, 0.7 meg) As the title states, this volume contains a listing of the various animals and monsters that exist in Northern UsHu'l. They are listed alphabetically by type (from Avians to Undead). The book concludes with a set of encounter tables. Book G: The Watchers (10 pages, 0.4 meg) The final volume of the current edition, this GM only book provides information on "The Watchers", enigmatic, quasi-divine beings that are major force for good in Telostic. THE GAME SYSTEMS. The character generation system begins with the selection of character races, then the players roll for stats. The base statistics are: Strength: The characters physical power Agility: The coordination of the character Constitution: Characters health and endurance Dexterity: Characters hand/eye coordination Intelligence: Characters reasoning ability/background knowledge Psychic Ability: Characters ability to manipulate the vibrations of the universe (Mages primary stat). Characters with very low scores in this statistic gain the ability to stop mages casting spells. Mystic Ability: Characters sensitivity to religious supernatural (Priests primary stat). As with the statistic above, characters with a very low score in this stat become able to prevent a priest from casting a spell by their mere presence. Willpower: Characters abilty to endure pain and to resist mind control. Vision: How well the character can see by day and by night Hearing: How well the character can hear. Characters with a high score in this statistic gain the ability to detect possible attacks before they happen. Sense of Smell: How well a character can detect scents. High scores with this statistic give the character the ability to identify substances by smell alone. Taste: Like smell a high ability statistic gives the character the ability to identify unlabeled substances. Touch: A high score in this ability is vital for characters who wish to find hidden doors. Physical Beauty: How attractive a character is, low scores mean people may run away in fear of the character, high scores have their own set of problems... After personal statistics have been created the player rolls for the character background, possible physical/mental disorders and the statistics that make up their mental characteristics. These statistics, which are divided into primary, secondary and tertiary are: PRIMARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS: Self-Esteem Self-Control Objectivity Sex Drive SECONDARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS: Temperament Eccentricity Disposition Compassion Self-Indulgence Integrity TERTIARY MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS: Attentivness Tolerance Altruism The character generation finishes with the determination of occupation and character skills & equipment. The character generation system is comprehensive and I like the idea of defining a characters psychological makeup, there are problems with the character generation section, firstly there is a reference (page 46) to an upbringing table which is not included in the character generation rules, while this material may be for a future release, it is not explicitly stated as several other future inclusion items are. The second thing is that the section defines 'mundane' characters (e.g. what PC's were before they became adventurers), but no information is provided on the PC character types. The skills resolution system revolves around a percentile die roll, but not directly against the skill involved, but rather against a target number(threshold) derived by the following formula: Requistite score )(* or ) Skill modifiers (* or -) Difficulty modifier (* or ) Skill modifiers (if not already factored in) = Target threshold. One of the more interesting aspects of the system is that modifiers are applied AFTER the dice roll, not before. There are two combat systems 'regular' and 'quick' The 'regular' combat system is complicated and looks similar to systems used in board/minitures wargames. The players first determine how many 'tactic cards' (Combat actions from all-out attacks to running away) they may use per round and then determine the characters 'combat factor' (basic fighting ability) & 'missile factor' (ability to use missile weapons) each round is divided into a series of 'phases'. These phases cover everything from divine intervention and magic to actual physical combat. The 'quick' combat system while relying on the determining of 'combat' and 'missile' factors is much simpler and uses six phases as follows: 1. Both sides determine character actions. 2. GM determines initiative. 3. Both sides carry out missile attacks. 4. Both sides carry out magic attacks. 5. Both sides move characters and carry out melee attacks. 6. Characters may call for divine intervention. The magic system is based around two different formulas, one for mages and one for clerics. The mages target number formula is based on their psychic ability and their intelligence. The formula used by clerics to determine their target number is based on their mystic ability and their age. Whatever the formula used the magic will drain energy from the mage whether the spell succeeds or not. OVERALL OPINION. 'Shakhan', provides the GM with a well written setting and the background material will provide them with plenty of plot ideas. The provision of GM advice is welcome, as is the attempt to avoid 'Monty Haul' role playing situations, by providing treasure tables that do not concentrate on money/magic items. However there are some presentation problems with this game. The illustrations are a mix, some have obviously been taken from old history books, while others have been drawn by a non-skilled artist, these crude drawings detract from the presented material (the one exception is the cover picture for Book A), creating an amaturish impression at odds with the obvious care that has gone into the background. While I agree and support the idea of including adult concepts such as sexuality in a 'deep' roleplaying game, I do not agree with the provision of 'anatomically correct' artwork, especially the crudely drawn images of full frontal male/female nudity in Book B, in a role playing game, this material does not really support the text and may put off some roleplayers. The maps provided in Book A are another problem, the maps within the main body of the text are readable and thus usable for GM's. However of the four maps provided as appendices of Book A three out of four are heavily pixilated and almost unreadable. Another problem is that at several points reference is made to the effects of intoxication/drug use, but there are no actual rules to cover character intoxication or drug use. Despite the problems outlined above, I like the setting and will recommend this product to GM's, there is a lot of useful material contained within and the GM should be able to use it with another system.

Shakhan (V 4.1)