Introduction
When I first heard about "The Dying Earth Role Playing Game" (TDE) from Pelgrane Press I was quite sceptic.
Many fantasy authors did their homework with regard to world building: They have put some work in the history, geography and cultures of their worlds and provide maps, timelines or genealogies. These details give their worlds a credibility and deepness and also seem to be the material necessary for a conversion to a RPG setting.
In comparison, the setting of Jack Vance's fantasy cycle consisting of "The Dying Earth" (1950), "The Eyes of the Overworld" (1966), "Cugel's Saga" (1983) and "Rhialto the Marvellous" (1984) is quite vague and lacks most of these features. We're told that the stories take place in "the 21st aeon", a distant future of our own earth without ever learning what happened during the last millenias. The sun has turned red and sputters. There's plenty of magic (or technology?). While wild creatures and escaped magical creations roam the countryside, people tend to stick to small communities or towns and have quite a jaded and hedonistic view. Why try to achieve something when everything has already been done at least several times during the last aeons and the sun can go out every moment?
Vance never attempts to portray the world in detail but just enough to create a sense of wonder and to keep the plot going. "The Dying Earth" is a collection of short stories with differing protagonists and places. "The Eyes of the Overworld" and "Cugel's Saga" deal with the travels of Cugel the Clever who is sent on an errand by a magician. On his way he deals with intriguing characters and passes through exotic locations but rarely visits them twice. The last book describes the adventures of the magician Rhialto and his colleagues which are even more fantastic and exotic as they travel back in time or to the stars.
While Vance's stories make a great read I would never have thought that they make good background material for a RPG. Fortunately, someone with more vision and skill than I decided to try it nevertheless and succeeded admirably.
First Impressions
TDE comes as a 192 page hardcover printed on glossy paper and with the pages stitched to the spine. When opened the book will lay flat on the table without breaking the spine.
The illustrations are black and white and often quite evocative. At the top of every other page there is a quote from the novels which conveys the hilarious mood of the books. Some examples:
- "My talismans are not obviously useless."
- "A doomed man needs no such elegant footwear."
- "My name is of no consequence. You may address me as 'Exalted'."
- "Are you ready for unorthodox procedures?"
The text is printed in two columns and can be read easily although not much space is wasted on every page.
TDE follows the standard layout of many roleplaying games: The first part is mainly for the players. After the introductory chapter there is a chapter on character creation, on the basic rules and on the skills. After the chapter describing the magic system there is a grimoire followed by some tips for the players. The second part for the GM starts with hints on creating adventures and setting the mood. Chapters describing places, personages and creatures and an adventure follow.
The game was mostly written by Robin D. Laws with the magic rules designed by John Snead and additional material by Peter Freeman.
Character Creation
TDE allows for three types of campaigns which differ in the level of power the PCs wield and which are named after characters from Vance's stories. At Cugel-level the characters are competent but more or less ordinary humans who must rely on their wits and luck to survive. This is the power level most fantasy RPGs use for beginner or intermediate characters. At Turjan-level the characters are highly skilled and can wield considerable magical power. At this power level the characters can be compared to a group of magicians in an Ars Magica game. Finally, at Rhialto-level the characters are among the world's most powerful magicians.
TDE uses a purchase system for character creation. Depending on the power level of your campaign players have a certain number of creation points that can be spent on abilities, possessions and other gifts. The power level of the campaign also determines the normal maximum rating for abilities. Characters can start with higher ratings but they are expensive.
There is no differentiation between attributes (e.g. strength or intelligence) and skills (e.g. climbing or fighting), all abilites are equal. Nevertheless, there are some abilities that are more equal than others. Your most important ability is Persuade with which you can convince other characters to do the things you want. Your defense against being persuaded is your Rebuff ability. For physical confrontations you need your Attack, Defense and Health abilities. Last but not least, some points in Magic may be handy as well. The remaining abilities often cover a broad range of skills, e.g. Athletics which includes running, swimming, climbing etc or Pedantry which is for knowing academic facts. Creation points can be spent on personages (famous or influential people you know) as well as on special possessions or general wealth. At Turjan or Rhialto-level you may create retainers, i.e. NPCs in your employ.
Your remaining creation points can be used to raise your resistances against temptations. The typical inhabitant of the Dying Earth differs from characters in most other fantasy series in so far as he is arrogant, greedy, indolent, rakish, loves fine food and can't resist the urge to correct others. For each of these characters flaws there is a corresponding resistance. When your resistance fails your character follows the temptation whether you like it or not.
Essential rules
TDE uses standard six-sided dice. When you try to use one of your character's abilities, you roll a die. On 1-3 you fail with 1 being a critical failure. Correspondigly, on 4-6 you succeed with 6 as a critical success. On a failure you can use your ability pool for a reroll. You have a number of ability points in your pool that is equal to your rating in the ability. A reroll usually costs you one point. You can reroll until you score a success, your ability pool is empty or you decide to stop.
There are a number of additions to these rules like adjusting the task difficulty by applying a bonus or malus to your roll or to your ability pool which fit smoothly in the gaming system. But the system seems to work best in resolving confrontations, i.e. when two characters are opposing each other. The acting character rolls until he scores a success. The the opposing character rolls using an ability appropriate to thwart the action. When the opponent succeeds the acting character may again reroll etc. This mechanism can be used for all kinds of opposing actions like persuasion attempts (Persuade vs. Rebuff), combat (Attack vs. Defense) or a game of chess (Gambling vs. Gambling) and it offers great opportunities for a vibrant description of the ensuing action ("The defender parries the attack only to encounter a riposte...").
There's a specific way for each ability of how to replenish the pool. For some abilities this is a certain quiet period during which you don't use that skill ("a night's sleep", "a day of civilized living in a human settlement"), for others it's a more obscure activity ("four or more hours spent developing a theory so complex as to be incomprehesible, which you then share with anyone foolish enough to listen", "see evidence that honesty and virtue triumph in the end", "spend an evening numbing the brain with mighty intoxicants"). While this may add some nice touches to the PCs activities it may be hard for the GM and the players to remember how to replenish the pool for each activity. Additionally, as you have to record the increase and decrease of your pools on your character sheet you'll have to use a rubber quite often during the course of the game. A new sheet may be necessary every few gaming sessions.
Magic system(s)
The type of magic available to players depends on the power level. At Cugel-level they can only be Dabblers, at Turjan-level they additionally may be Magicians and at Rhialto-level all should be Arch-Magicians. Dabblers have a little knowledge of the magical arts but lack the thorough training and commitment of Magicians and Arch-Magicians. Thus, they only know a few routine spells. Magicians have devoted their life to studying magic. They know a larger number of spells, spent their time tracking down spell tomes or pursue arcane projects to produce new enchanted devices or life forms. Finally, Arch-Magicians command the nearly omnipotent sandestins, extra-dimensional beings that can create almost any effect.
There are two ways to cast a spell: It can either be cast from a book which requires 20 minutes to an hour or the spell can be encompassed (imprinted to the mind of the caster) and be fired latter at any instant. Once the spell is cast, it must be encompassed again. This is very similar to the D&D spell system or rather the later one is said to be modelled after the magic from the Dying Earth books. However, TDE has no elaborate table for how many spells can be cast per day according to the level of the caster. Instead, spells are divided in straightforward and complex spells. To encompass a straightforward spell, the caster must have two "free" points, while a complex spells needs four points. So, a Dabbler with a maximum rating of 7 may encompass three straightforward spells. The Grimoire chapter lists about 25 straightforward and ten complex spells which cover a broad range of effects from killing an opponent ("The Excellent Prismatic Spray", straightforward), creating illusions ("The Illusion of the Vile Arthropods", straightforward), increasing abilities ("Charm of Brachial Fortitude" or "Khulip's Nasal Enhancement", both straightforward) to magical longevity ("Enchantment of Youth Renewed", complex), stopping time ("The Spell of Temporal Stasis", complex and one of Rhialto's favourites) or time travel ("Temporal Projection", complex).
If these spells seem too powerful one has to remember that they are harmless compared to the power of a sandestin. Sandestins can "easily duplicate any effect produced by any other magical entity. They can transport someone through time and space, slay any living being with a gesture, and shrink a person to the size of a gnat." Thus, a Magician becomes an Arch-Magician when he learns the spell how to control these beings. Sandestins are bound to a Arch-Magician by indenture points and can earn its freedom by performing tasks for a set number of points. The number of indenture points is determined at the time of the first summoning of the sandestins and by the bargain skill of both parties. Sandestins are inherently lazy and deceitful and quite skillful in interpreting carelessly formulated orders. As one can imagine, this sandestin-based magic system offers great opportunities for roleplaying, e.g. in the form of unending discussions between master and servant or an encounter between a Cugel-level group and a powerful but unwilling sandestin.
Character improvement
Abilities can be raised by spending improvement points. A player gets his first improvement point for showing up at the game session. After this, things get harder. At the beginning of each session, the GM will assign each player two taglines, which is a line or two of distinctively Vancian dialogue like
- "A variety of deaths by contrasting processes may well enter into your punishment."
- "My honor has been assailed."
- "Your admiration is understandable."
Further improvement points are gained by having his character say taglines at appropriate moments. The GM can award 0-3 points depending on the relevance to the situation and the entertainment created among the players.
This is the area where I have the most qualms about the rules. I think this carrot-and-stick method for evoking Vancian atmosphere could be quite hard on the less eloquent players. Obviously, I am not the only person to find the system odd as the authors also provide an alternative, more conventional system which is based on the character's success during the game session.
GM's chapters
The chapters for the GM starts with a general advice for new GMs. Nothing special here, but the usual considerations like "make sure that everyone has fun", "ignore the rules when necessary for an entertaining story" or "see that all players get a chance to do things". This is followed by a section on how to create adventures. Here, a checklist with common themes for Dying Earth stories and corresponding examples is provided. Among them are for example "odd customs", "heated protests and presumptuous claims", "weird magic", "exotic food" or "foppish apparel". This works surprisingly well as the items manage to capture the Vancian style and the mood of the stories. Of course, not all elements have to be present in each adventure, but the list definitely helps with spicing up the story or as a focus for making up new plots.
The following chapters on places, personages and creatures are sometimes a little vague. But to do them justice they faithfully take the tiny bits of information that can be gleaned from the books and translate them to gaming material. Anyway, the material should not be followed slavishly, but only taken as examples of what can be encountered. The Dying Earth is a large place and Vance only shows us some small parts of it.
The demo adventure
Introductory adventures are often more educational than entertaining. As they are intended to give examples of the use of game mechanisms, the setting and themes to novice GMs as well as experienced ones, the story often lacks in complexity and depth. "The Cooks of Cuirnif" is an exception to this rule and by far the most amusing introductory adventure I've read for a long time. It's an adventure for Cugel-level characters taking place in the city of Cuirnif with its ruler Duke Orbal which both appear in a story from "Cugel's Saga". There are good opportunities for character interaction and roleplaying, some interesting NPCs and a hilarious story. It actually made me want to start a TDE campaign right away which is in my opinion the highest imaginable praise for a demo adventure and the best way to finish a rule book.
Conclusion
TDE is one of the best roleplaying games I've encountered over the last few years. The writing style and the easy and flexible game mechanisms manage to convey the atmosphere and themes of Vance's Dying Earth books. Furthermore, it's an amusing read for a rule book.
The negative points mentioned above concerning how to replenish your ability pools, keeping track of them and the tagline rules are only minor objections.
TDE may be the wrong thing for GMs who expect a detailed setting or for more combat oriented groups. But if you are willing to invest some time and your group is interested in clever problem solving and adventures in the humorous Vancian style "The Dying Earth RPG" is highly recommended.
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