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-1 Cinematic Vs. Real 7/10 Basic rules for uping the cinematic fantasy level of your game. Not a lot hear that can’t be extrapolated if you’re familiar with other games. Nice knowing its there if you need it though.
-2 Archery 9/10 Very cool. These rules replace the archery rules in the core book. Archery is a lot more deadly now. Archers now shoot faster, longer, and with targeting that’s a bit more realistic. Be wary of armor though. The increased arsenal of ranged weapons has some very nice selections (I’m preferable to the sling).
-3 Armor 10/10 My favorite section in the book! The new rules are simple and intuitive, and give the players TONS of new choices with lots more armor samples. The diagrams of armor and shield coverings are incredibly helpful, stylish, and creative.
-4 Drawing Weapons/Dropping-Retrieving Items/Fatigue 8/10 More simple rules to cover common situations. Fast and intuitive, they will make your game livelier. The new fatigue rules combine with the new stances to make for some interesting play.
-5 Grappling and Wrestling 7/10 The new rules for grappling replace the ones in the core book, and are not quite as intuitive or sleek as the other new rules in the book. But, they are more comprehensive than those in the core rules. Size and strength no longer mean as much as they used too. A skilled, large wrestler will still have a significant dice advantage over his opponent, but no longer are his opponents TNs through the roof. Though, any maneuver called “Break” that DOESN’T refer to objects, gets a thumbs up in my book…
-6 Weapon Length and Initiative 9/10 The new initiative rules are great. More combat options, more consideration to blade length, and a reward for those who buy up there proficiencies, not just there stats.
-7 Knockdown 7/10 A revision and clarification of the knockdown rules, as well as dropping and retrieving weapons. Also, the mounted combat rules are reprinted. Not a whole lot is new here… Still fairly difficult to knock someone down, but getting back up is now a royal pain. The mounted combat rules haven’t changed much. Since you still need OBAM to use with these rules, I don’t really think 5 pages were needed to reprint them. What is new would have been better off as a free web supplement, and the reprint space used for something else. But, what is reprinted is fantastic.
-8 Stances 10/10 My favorite section in the book! Having never liked the original stance rules, these are a greatly needed change. The new rules change stances form the old aggressive/defensive/neutral, to a more realistic (and cinematic, how often do THOOSE two traits coincide?), High/upper, lower/back, etc. style. Stances now mean something, when combined with the new favoring defense. Again, more player options are always a great sight, especially when they don’t slow down combat.
-9 Terrain 10/10 My favorite section in ... The terrain rules as presented open up an almost limitless line of opportunities in combat. The sheer versatility of the system is astounding and opens up slew of tactical possibilities with absolutely no fuss. Need to do anything outside of combat, while inside of combat? Terrain rolls are the way to go…
-10 Toughness 8/10 This section is a compilation of suggestions on how to deal with high toughness characters, and the fact that the can undergo ridiculous amounts of damage unhurt. If you have kept up with the forums (www.TROSforums.com) for a while, you these rules should already be familiar to you. If not, they can be quite helpful.
-11 Firearms 9/10 Good, in-depth rules, descriptions, and stats. Surprisingly complete, even the rules for exploding barrels full of gunpowder are included. Exactly what you would expect from TROS.
-12 New Maneuvers 9/10 A slew of 12 new maneuvers, all of which are integrated into the old proficiencies as well as the new ones. Very nicely put together. Quite of few new basic maneuvers, such as disarm that will come in handy in any game. Plus, the more advanced maneuvers such as Master Strike, give benefits to those who increase their weapon proficiencies. The twitch maneuver is a tad clunky, but works. I give high praise to the shield wall maneuver, and personally think more abstract like this (more than just another way to attack or parry) are needed. I do wish that the shield wall and Net throw were listed under normal maneuvers though, not just “examples”.
-13 Proficiencies 9/10 5 new proficiencies, as well as guidelines for creating you own. The new proficiencies are nicely put together and relevant to play. The Modified Tools proficiency stood out for me, as it’s extremely elegant in being a peasant form, as well as an “crazy asian weapons” form all in one neat package. The master default list is very handy, and worth being Xeroxed out of the book for character creation. I again wish the Spear and Trident proficiencies were written up as “real” proficiencies, instead of being left as examples, but, they did make it on the master default list, so that was nice.
-14 Poison 9/10 Rules for poisons, cost for poisons, and examples of real world poisons. Again, exactly what I have come to expect from TROS. A good look at real world poison, and there effects.
-15 Weapon Schools 10/10 OK, Seriously… My absolute favorite part of the book… Add style and flair to your character with a minimal of fuss and add great story hooks while you’re at it. Easy as pie to create your own school for whatever you need. Players and GMs will love this.
-16 Battle System 6/10 Alright, as big a fan boy as I am, I feel this is where the book slumped and could have been improved. The battle system incorporates 1: Logistics and buying your army, 2: Actually fighting the Battle (in a system not unlike AEGs mass combat system), and 3: Having your medical Corps pick up the pieces after the battle. Generally speaking in terms of a mass combat system, there are two camps of players, the armchair generals, and the heroes. I write this from the perspective of some one who wants his cake and to eat it too… The Riddle of Steel battle system is written from a hero perspective, but tries to satisfy the armchair generals to some degree. This is all well and good, but I think they tried to straddle the line a bit too close, and could have done better taking a more cohesive side one way or the other. In fact, the system, as presented could work beautifully to satisfy both camps of players if the Heroic actions were a bit more fleshed out, and the units were not all lumped together into a completely generic army (In fact the system starts to falter here, and is patched together with an almost slapdash “just have the GM decide”). Not to say the system is all bad, there is some truly great stuff in here. The logistics section for how to buy your troops is easy and innovative, and the medical support rules are brilliantly done.
-17 Damascus/Pattern Welded Steel 8/10 A great essay on Damascus and pattern welded steel. Very informative and historical. My only complaint is that the rules for Damascus steel and Pattern Welded steel were not included here.
-18 Weapons 9/10 A VERY extensive collection of weapons old, new, and updated. Pretty much every weapon you could want is contained here, with the exception of fantasy weapons. Strangely the weapons now have a rating for there hilt and blade type, but, these new were accidentally left out of the book, and will be included in the errata.
-19 Items of Power 10/10 OK, dead seriously this time, this, …is my favorite section in the book… This is a collection of weyerth and real world(!) items of power. The sheer thought of having items with SAs had me giggling in my seat. The combining of the items narrative and game play aspects are astounding, and the sample items are very well written.
-20 Presentation 9/10 The Book is very well put together, with a majority of quality artwork, great layout, index, and compelling fiction that doesn’t drown out the content. The index is very well put together, and actually gives PROPER page reference (a rarity in the RPG world). Through reading of the book, I came across only a few minor typos.
Final Thoughts
All in all, this is one of the best supplements I have ever read. It is astoundingly well put together, and at 217 pages, worth every single penny. The book retails for $29.95, with the PDF selling for $18.00 and a combination deal for $35.95. This is a must have for every player of The Riddle of Steel.
Overall Score 9/10
