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The physical components of the WoTC game are of a very high quality. A sturdy reinforced box houses a Player's Guide (162pp), a Gamemaster's Guide (64pp) a Guide to the Fortune Deck (14pp), thirty six Fortune Cards, ninety vision cards, six quest cards, three source cards, twelve full colour character sheets with pre-generated characters one black and white character sheet, and two colour maps. The artwork, mostly on the cards, is ranges from good to exceptional with Ed Lee and Ian Miller providing the most notable illustrations. There is a strong bronze age, African and Near East flavour to the cards, which is a nice change from medieval European tastes. The font on the book is sans-serif which makes it somewhat difficult to read, a fact not helped by the "coloured-parchment" facing pages.
The game comes with a predefined fantasy world named Everway, which is an important nexus of gates by which the characters may travel to different spheres. Within a sphere exists several realms, of which Roundwater is described in some detail. Realms are treated like meta-characters, each with a virtue, a flaw and a fate derived from the Fortune Deck. Thus a narrative of each realm is created, and even more so if the vision cards are added in the process. Seventy-one other alternative realms are described however the detail is sparse to say the least.
Character generation in Everway begins with the GM describing the basic premise or quest. The player then selects five Vision cards based on aesthetic values and constructs a backstory with questions on the reverse side to assist the process. Character names invariably refer to heroic and mythic archetypes (Charity, Faith, Praise etc). In our game, based in a mythic Greek Africa (Aesheba) the characters chose names like Komet, Sofia, Gnostika and so forth. Each player selects a basic motive for their character (e.g., authority, wanderlust, knowledge) and selects a virtue, a flaw and a fate from the Fortune Deck; the latter being a personality aspect to be resolved, either positively or negatively during play.
The next step is to allocate 20 Elemental Points to Powers, Magic and the Everyway equivalent of character statistics, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water (which, for some unknown reason, must take up over half the character sheet). Powers are limited magical effects defined as frequent, major or versatile with each degree costing 1 Elemental Point with a number of examples. All characters have the power of spherewalking, and one free power (that is neither frequent, major or versatile).
The next stage is determining the character's Elements, which are rated from 1 to 10, with a human average of 3. The scale however is geometric, with each point being twice as powerful (on average) than the value below. The elements are well-defined and unambiguous, for example Air is "thought, focused energy and spoken wisdom" (p86, Player's Guide). The doubling effect per point makes it very tempting to create characters who are specialised and exceptional in one element rather than a character who is relatively balanced. In addition, characters may also choose a specialisation of their Element which invariably seems to be a skill group, for example "Stealth" in a Water score, which effectively increased the value by a further 1.
Finally the player allocates remaining points, if any, to the character's Magic Level. There are four types of magic, which is limited by a related Element (thus ten levels) and with four schools, or paths, suggested, namely Flux for Fire, Soil and Stone for Earth, Words of Power for Air, and Open Chalice for Water. Like the Elements, magic power tends to be geometric in power and a "two element test" is proposed for developing new schools. Like the elements, there are significant advantages in high levels of magical specialisation.
Actions are resolved in Everyway by a combination Karma (comparison with the character's abilities), Drama (GM decision on the narrative imperatives) or Fortune (a draw from the Fortune Deck), which have become quite definitional in RPG design. Such resolution methods were, and are, common to almost all RPGs, but rarely are they described so lucidly. The Fortune Deck does not just replace dice, but also provides an opportunity to weave narrative effects into the random events. However, difficulties can arise, firstly because the deck is qualitative rather than quantitative, and secondly because of the interpretative challenge; as one of my players pointed out: "So, you're in the middle of combat and you draw the Chicken card. Then what?". To be fair, there is no Chicken card, but the point is made. Much is dependent on the ability of the GM to interpret and in actual play, I found it useful to allow a great deal of input from players, especially in interpreting their own failures, like in Trollbabe.
Most of the GMs guide consists of quest advice and a sample scenario. The former is quite similar to that found in other quality products; nothing wrong as such, but nothing of earth-shattering importance. The Vision Cards were insufficiently promoted here, as they are potentially a great GM aid and, as the game is writ, probably the most under-utilised component of the game (despite a collectible set being released). The sample scenario is somewhat formulaic, but with some nice plot elements which clever players (and mine are damn clever) can generate some unexpected and interesting turns.
Overall Everway is a high quality game with largely excellent components, best suited for bronze-age fantasy adventures where the PCs are larger than life heroes in epic adventures (in our playtest they were the children of Hellenic Gods). The game does not function well as a model for low-level characters, as many mundane aspects as simply assumed or ignored (prosaic equipment for example). The sample game world is unimpressive and best ignored. GM care must be taken with the character creation process as the simplicity and geometric scale often leaves opportunity for abuse. The clearly-stated resolution methods both provides and challenges opportunities for interpretation of results. It is highly recommended as an epic storytelling game, but not for other genres or styles.
