First, let me state that this is a self-review for Deathstalkers. In the review post, it said that they are encouraging publishers to self-critique their work, so this is our attempt at it. We also want to do this to “update” our reviews since 2nd Edition is a much different product than the original game (which so far, all our reviews are for). I’ll try not to be biased, and give you the low-down about this new version of our game and its system . . .
INTRODUCTION: A LITTLE HISTORY
Originally, Deathstalkers was sold in a binder on 3-hole punched paper with a mylar strip to help it stay durable. It was over 600 pages long (if you include the table of contents) and had lots of great artwork. It was also filled with a lot of “extras” that not everybody found as amusing as we’d hoped – such as riddles, short stories and spooky poems with a folk-loreish type feel. The original format worked well for us the last three years, but now the time for change is at hand.
The new version of Deathstalkers (2nd Edition), is now an actual hardcover book! It has been chopped down a bit (now it’s 474 pages long [496 if you include the ToC]) and it has also been revised, re-edited and generally made more appealing to the masses. Lots of the artwork has been improved over the original game, and we’ve also added some great new artists to our arsenal. We’ve taken out just about all of the short stories, poems and riddles (much to the dismay of some of our fans :(, leaving in only the best of the best. But overall I think the game and its new format work much better.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT
Deathstalkers is a fantasy-horror RPG that takes place in a land known as Arkastapha. The world has been thrown into chaos by not one, but TWO evil forces! It all started hundreds of years ago when the mighty Juggernauts arose and marched across the lands, decimating cities and leveling kingdoms. They appeared seemingly from nowhere and were bent on nothing short of the destruction of all races. Arising first from the bowels of the Dark Lands, the Juggernauts swept east across Arkastapha, destroying everything they came across. People fought back, but the iron-clad, automatonical titans were too powerful. Nearly indestructible with rusty iron armor 2-inches thick, these 10-foot tall hulks plow down city walls and slaughtered indiscriminately. Eventually the world was thrown into ruin, but still man persisted and rebuilt their kingdoms and cities. They made their walls taller and more powerful, they made their armies bigger and tougher. The Juggernauts still came and went, but man still fought back.
But then another tragedy befell the world. In the heavens trouble was brewing. Mother Earth, the kind goddess of the world, was seduced by the evil and terrible god, Narzool. He warped and twisted her, making her a vile and despicable women. She bore eight mighty sons of the Devil – the Deathstalker Demons. These Demons, powerful as the Gods themselves, were terrible and wretched. But the Great Mother could not keep these evil children in the Heavens, so she sent them down to the mortal earth where the other demons – placid and content in their arctic lands – lived. But the old Demons now had fiery and terrible brothers. And they were no longer content in the cold and frozen arctics. Filled with the rage and terror of the Deathstalkers, the Demons lusted for the blood of man. It was then, during the years of the Demon Run, that the Demons rampaged across the earth, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The already ravaged world could not handle this new threat, and soon kingdoms and cities fell, never to recover.
The world is now a dark and foreboding land where Demons lurk in the shadows of night and the footfalls of the Juggernauts echo in the distance. The world has been twisted and decayed, reflecting the growing insanity and hatred of Mother Earth. The seas boil and crash, the skies are dark and dismal, the woods infested with monsters and terrors, the dead rise from their graves to stalk the living, and the mountains stand like jagged teeth of abominable monsters. Nothing is at peace anymore, and the world is a dark and dangerous realm filled with all sorts of terrors.
In shory, Deathstalkers uses a fantasy setting that throws in a good dose of horror elements to allow for creepy and suspenseful adventuring.
CHARACTER CREATION
Deathstalkers emphasizes character creation, allowing Players to make very unique characters customized to their liking. To start with, Players can choose to be any one of 17 different character races – including Half-Wolf, Sabyr, Lizardmen and more. There are also all the classic races, such as Gnome, Elf, Human and Dwarf. Many races have new twists on them, such as the Gnome who has a magic beard that allows him to house an animal familiar in it; or the Elf who suffers from the Kala Hur – a condition that slowly degenerates them with the more lives they take.
Each Race has 9 different stats and Hit Points. Stats include Knowledge, Mental Tolerance, Leadership, Courage, Strength, Endurance, Beauty, Agility and Speed. Each stat is based on a 20-point system; the higher the score the better. Each race also has its better stats. For example, a Gnome gets to roll more dice to determine his Knowledge score than an Ogre; an Ogre would get a higher Strength score than a Gnome. Also, the amount of hit-points obtained by a character is based on his race. Bigger and tougher races such as the Demon and Sabyr get many more hit-points as they advance than an Elf or a Gnome would. For example, a Gnome might only receive 1D4 more hit-points when he advances his experience levels while a Half-Giant might receive 1D10 more HP’s.
Which brings me to the next stage of character advancement: Choosing a Character Class (or CC). In all, there are 26 different CC’s, including non-magic, magic and semi-magic. Classes range from the typical adventurer Knight (and Dark Knight!) To the Elemental Warrior and Necromancer. There is also a Summoner class and a Vampire class. With your CC, you get your experience tables, skills and combat bonuses. Magic CC’s also get their spell lists (there are hundreds of spells!). As you advance in your experience levels, you’ll obtain Skill Points with which to buy more skills or increase the ones you already have, and you’ll also get combat bonuses to help you fight better. Obviously, CC’s such as the Bard and Thief obtain more skill points than a fighter class; Knights and Juggernaut Slayers will get better combat bonuses. Magic CC’s also obtain more “Spell Castings” to allow them to cast more spells per day.
But you can use your Experience Points for more than just CC advancement. You can also vote to use the “Experience Forfeiture” rules which allow you to spend exp points on things such as stat increases, combat bonuses, or even “buy” special powers (with the GM’s permission of course!). As well, Experience can be used to further train you in combat. Using experience, you can “buy” special attacks such as Aggressive Assault Maneuvers or increase your “Brutality Attack” dice to make you more formidiable. Of course, doing this you wont be able to advance in your CC as quickly.
COMBAT: USING THE STRATEGIC COMBAT SYSTEM
Deathstalkers uses its own, unique system called the Strategic Combat System (SCS). Now, from the name of it you might think that it’s a miniature based combat system – but it’s not! While you can use miniatures (and they do help for keeping track of who’s where on the battlefield), the rules are designed for straight role-play.
The SCS system is a very unique and well-designed system that forces Players to work together and use teamwork to overcome foes. While players can use hack-and-slash techniques to slaughter some foes, they won’t be able to keep that up for long! In the end, it’ll come down to who is smarter and better skilled. The SCS system is a powerful blend of strategy and luck with the dice. Player must calculate their moves and strikes while hoping that a bad dice roll won’t let them down!
All characters get “Actions Per Round” (APR’s). To begin with, most character have 3 (at higher levels they may gain upwards of 9). Characters can use only 1 APR per turn. When they run out, they will either have to take a submissive position or take a mauling. With your turn (an APR), you can either attack, defend or perform some other action such as cast a spell or down a healing potion.
First, all characters roll for initiative. Then turns are taken in decending order of initiative scores. You have the “Aggressive” position versus ALL opponents with a LOWER score than you; you have a “Defensive” position versus all those with a HIGHER score than you. If you have an Aggressive Position, you can exercise the Aggressive Advantage on your opponent during combat, which allows you to use more APR’s during your turn, however this also causes you to expire them quicker. You’ll have to be wise when deciding to use this advantage!
Basically, combat works like this:
Lets say you’re facing off versus an opponent. Your opponent has a LOWER initiative than you, thus you go first. Lets say you attack him with your sword. You roll to hit (Most combat rolls are done on a D20). You roll a 13. Now it’s your opponent’s turn. He can defend this attack by dodging it or parrying it; OR he can take the hit and return an attack on you. If he defends, he won’t be able to attack you this turn; if he wants to attack you, he’ll have to take your sword blow. Let’s say he decides to defend. He parried with his sword. He rolls the D20 to determine his defense roll (he’s gotta roll higher than your hit score). He rolls a 15. He successfully parried your attack. Now its your turn again.
That seems simple enough, but there are many other equations to be considered. For example, what if you miss? What if your sword breaks? What if you run out of APR’s before him. There are dozens of strategies to using the system successfully. The most basic strategy is to get your opponent to waste all his turns defending your attacks, because then you’ll never take damage. However, your opponent will be trying to get you into the defensive position so that he can go to work on you. For every move there is a counter move, and knowing all these moves will allow you to survive. In theory, a low-level character can take out a very tough opponent provided he is a master of the Strategic Combat system. Therefore, the combat system engine runs more on skill and player teamwork than it does on character level.
OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST
Among other things, Deathstalkers provides an extensive selection of Gods. Each God is fully described and detailed – some even have histories and interesting facts. Worshipping Gods will also give your character special powers, for gods grant “gifts” to those who worship them.
Deathstalkers also provides a detailed World Guide that describes the mood, atmosphere and territories of the lands of Arkastapha and it also gives some background history.
A HUGE buyer’s guide details hundreds and hundreds of different weapons, armors, foods and services. There is also a large herbs and poisons list and lots of magic stuff to peruse.
And finally, a large monster encyclopedia that has over 60 different entries – each one illustrated. Many of the monsters are unique to the game, such as the Doghty Walker, Razor back and Vampiric Death Hound. All of the Juggernauts and Demons are also detailed.
Well, that’s the gist of it. Im sure I could go on and on, detailing every chapter of the book, but I don’t want this to be a large advertisement for the game. I hope I’ve accomplished what I set out to do: give you readers a little idea about what Deathstalkers is and how it works. While first glance may tell you that it’s “just another Fantasy RPG”, I think playing it you will find much different. Deathstalkers offers a lot for those who LOVE fantasy RPG’s -- lots of history and dark storylines (often sad at times) and hundreds of Player options. And for Game Masters, Deathstalkers offers a large and expansive world filled with magic and mayhem -- a world big and detailed enough for endless adventure. And that is, I think, what Deathstalkers is all about: great adventure in a solid and true fantasy setting.
If you have any questions about any aspect of the game or this review, please post here and Ill try to answer your questions. Additionally, you can check out the website at www.cuttersguild.com
Thanks a lot for reading this!
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