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Introduction:
The Chronicles of Ramlar is a new non-d20 fantasy roleplaying game by White Silver Publishing. It is set in a traditional fantasy setting which leans more towards JRR Tolkien than most of the other fantasy settings on the market now. Though, the setting has a lot of elements of high fantasy, such as flying mounts and magic schools. But what makes Chronicles of Ramlar unique? There are many answers, but first I have to say where I stand when it comes to fantasy roleplaying games. I played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons years ago, and when Dungeons and Dragons came out, I joined the playtesting of the Forgotten Realms setting for the new edition. At first I really loved the d20 system, but later I became more and more irritated with its rather unrealistic rules and clumsy game mechanics, especially if you’re not into square maps and miniatures. So I’ve been looking for something that delivers true roleplaying, not “roll-playing”. Chronicles of Ramlar delivers perfectly with the new A/B system. During this review, which is my first, I will compare Chronicles of Ramlar with Dungeons & Dragons and the d20 rule system.
The Style:
The book itself is either softcover or hardcover (you can get either, but in Europe, the hardcover hasn’t been released yet, it seems), and weighs in with about 340-something pages, including the extra sheets in the back. There’s a good index system, and the art black and white, and of excellent quality. There are several artists who have contributed, and the cover is by Larry Elmore. I have to say that I’m not very fond of Elmore’s paintings myself, but the art inside the book more than enough makes up for this. The art by Mark Tedin, Alex Bradley and Jennifer Meyer is excellent, giving varied and good illustrations throughout the book. Other artists have also contributed, and all of it is above average quality. Players of the older editions of Werewolf and Fading Suns will recognize the style in much of the art. The layout is all around good, and this being the first printing, I’ve noticed a couple of smaller mistakes. I haven’t had the time to read through the whole book with the purpose of finding mistakes and typos, but overall it looks good. One table seems to be repeated a couple of times too much, I think. True it is used for several purposes (more on this in a bit), but it is basically the same table. But other than that, the layout works very well. I have no trouble finding my around.
The Rules:
The A/B System, which stands for Armor/Body System, is the best rule system for a fantasy rpg I’ve seen to date, though it might not be for everyone, and this all depends on what you’re looking for. It gives more realism and grit, and it can be quite deadly. It uses several new ideas to make combat very intense and it makes the players focus on roleplaying, not “roll-playing”. There are no grid maps or miniatures, which is, in my opinion, a relief. But how does it work? Well, first off, you create your character. Each race is divided into subraces. The humans have Auzionians (the “standard” type of humans), the Osarians (a mysterious, desert-dwelling culture), Fiorinians (surviving in the frozen north in an eternal conflict with savage werewolves) and the Nurinians (worshipping evil gods in their dread city of Nimrolt). Other common fantasy races also appear. There are two types of dwarves, one being the standard we see in just about every fantasy setting, the other being more focused on lore and magic. The elves make their appearance, and there are four types. These are the Fetharn (forest elves), Sinflar (mountain elves), Tulvaie (nomad elves roaming the plains) and the Druegarn (evil dark elves). Elves in Ramlar are more like the ones in Tolkien’s books. They are tall, physically though and though not immortal, they live to be around 800 years. In addition, the Halflings make their appearance. They are the makers of instruments, music and merrymaking. The last race is the Spirinari. This is a mysterious and long lived humanoid race, who are known to shape a material called spirit bone into just about everything. A Spirinari warrior in armor crafted from this material is a fearsome sight. The attributes are the common ones appearing in many fantasy games, with the welcome addition of Tenacity as one of the primary ones. Being a percentile rule system, attributes are rated from 1-100, with 50 being the common rating for most humans. Characters, being the heroes that they are, often have a lot more than commoners. There is a class system, but it’s not much like in d20. In Ramlar, you choose your base path from Warrior, Wizard, Rogue, Merthwarg (a nature magician) and Sevar (a kind of cleric). These provide path skills and talents. Skills are rated from 1-100. The A/B system is level based, but again, it’s not like d20. With each level the character get two talents to be picked from a list for the path he’s on or the common list from which everyone can choose. These are like feats in d20, but you get two each level, and they are made so that you can customize you character completely. There is no class table with levels 1-20. Each level you get your talents and 20 skill points. Also, there are Elite Paths which can be taken later, and Master Paths that can be taken even after that. These are specializations, narrowing the character’s field, but giving access to more powerful talents. There are 35 paths in total.
Skill rolls are simple, yet brilliant. You roll your percentile dice, and you want to have as high as possible, but not over your skill rating. The number on the first die, which read the tens, counts your Success Value. The number on the second die, the ones, tells if you get a critical success or a fumble, which occurs when this die gives a 0. You can also give yourself -5% to get +1 Success Value. The more Success Value you get the better. Let’s take an example: My Ride skill is 78. I roll 56, which is a success. This gives me 5 Success Value (SV). If I had rolled a 50, it would have been a critical success, which would double my SV to 10. There are several methods of using skills, but I won’t go into that. In combat, this system is put to the test, and it works very well. This is nothing like the d20 system. First, you don’t roll initiative. It’s a simple way that focuses on roleplaying that determines this. The smallest group goes first. You can move a certain speed each round (again, not a grid map in sight), and do one active skill check. Attacks, Defense, Spellcasting and Subterfuge are all based on a very nifty table. You have an Attack Rating, based on three of your attributes added together and divided by 20. Same with Defense Rating, Contact Rating (spellcasting) and Subterfuge (stealth and such). The final number can be modified by certain talents. So, you compare Attack Rating with Defense Rating, Contact Rating with Spell Difficulty, Subterfuge with task difficulty, and get a number that can range from below zero to a bit over a hundred. This you need to roll below on the percentile dice. The character sheet will have all this set up for you, so you can just look for the Defense Rating and check what your target number is. The A/B System uses hit locations. You have a certain amount of Life Points (the Endurance Attribute divided by 10) on each of the 12 hit locations. Double in the upper torso, half in the neck. Armor adds directly to the Life Points, and attacks will have to punch through armor before it damages the character. This puts a whole new spin combat. You can do called shots, for example, and if you’re good enough, you can decapitate someone in one stroke. Armor is heavy, expensive, and very useful, and an armoured warrior better have Armourer skill, for he will spend time repairing his gear. Last thing I should mention when it comes to combat is Momentum. Remember the SV? In Combat, this carries over to next round, and you can use them to give yourself and your allies bonuses. But the thing is that this have to be roleplayed, and the Game Master can refuse to give Momentum if the player won’t roleplay. You can give yourself bonuses to attack, defense, damage, more attacks, stunning attacks, seizing the initiative and so on. Bonuses can be given to your allies too. Maybe your character shouts out some tactics on the battlefield, forming the group into a tight formation, making a shield wall? Use SV to give you and all your allies bonuses to Defense. The Rogue gets up behind an enemy with a Subterfuge roll that gives him several SVs. He looks for the weak spot in the opponents armor, gives himself bonuses to attack to offset the penalties for called shot. The Momentum rules gives endless possibilities in combat. First, when I heard about this, I though the combat would be slow and cumbersome, with the hit locations and such. But after testing it, it’s much faster than, say, d20. Rounds may take a bit longer to play out, but combat is over much quicker. I should mention magic. The spell system uses the Contact Rating of the spellcaster, and he is not guaranteed to succeed in casting the spell. It uses a combination of memorizing spells and mana points. The spellcaster's brain has a certain number of slots in which he can set spells. The rest he keeps in his spell book. Then he uses mana to power the spells he has memorized. He doesn't "use them up" once he has casted them. He can change his combination of spells whenever he has the time. Spells can also be improvised. Want to have that fireball to blast the advancing horde of a thousand orcs to ashes? Sure, increase the area of effect. You should probably compensate by adding alot of casting time and mana requirements, and then, maybe if your powerful enough, you can do it. It's very flexible, and reminds me a bit of making spells in Ars Magica (my other favorite rpg, by the way) You can take an existing spell and modify it all you want.
Last, I want to mention the way you get experience in Ramlar. Instead of using experience points, you have something called the Participation Wheel. It’s kinda like a clock with ten hours instead of twelve. Each time the GM is happy with the player, he awards one dot. Ten dots gain you a level. Experience is also individual, so the Rogue might get dots for other stuff than the Warrior or the Wizard. This system is simple and effective, and puts the control firmly in the GM’s hands. But it doesn’t end there. There are four other “wheels”, called Demeanor/Theme wheels. In these you can set goals. Anything you like. They are often used to gain Elite or Master Paths, for example. You want your Warrior to learn some magic? Put it in the D/T Wheel. Whenever the GM feels you’ve done something towards that goal, you get a dot. It might be easy, it might be hard. You can use it for anything. Skills, talents, campaign goals, divine favors. It’s all about making a story and roleplay. Characters are much more individuals here than in Dungeons & Dragons, in my opinion, and the rules back this up.
I could write much more about this game, and but my hand is aching and this review is getting quite long. If you’re looking for a great setting with what has to be the best rule system for a fantasy rpg to date, you’ve found it. If you want new ideas and are tired of the same old d20, here it is. If you like to be able to make the character you want, unrestricted by class tables and experience tables, well, run and get this now.
I have no doubt that this is the fantasy rpg I will be playing in the years to come.
