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I've read and enjoyed some of George R. R. Martin's work. I haven't actually finished the Song of Ice and Fire books out so far. I made it up through A Clash of Kings, and backed off a bit, because there was some pretty hefty adult content in there for my age. I'll need to go back and finish that, because those books had excellent work. Characters like Eddard Stark and Tyrion Lannister quickly found their way into my good graces, and I enjoyed the gritty but still (in its own way) epic fantasy that ensued.
So I was kinda interested when I noticed the Quickstart Rules for Green Ronin's Song of Ice and Fire RPG. I had a look through them, and I really liked what I saw. Now, I've finally got a copy of the core book, pocket-sized, and it's well worth the $17 I spent on it. If you're already familiar with the core book, you can skip down to the end, where I briefly touch on the look and feel of this particular edition. Or, you could just read the rest of the review.
Basic Engine
The SIFRP, as Green Ronin abbreviates it, uses a "roll a bunch of d6s and add them up" mechanic. The new twist here? You also get a number of "bonus dice" from trained specialties. Roll a number of dice equal to your Ability rating, and a number of bonus dice equal to any applicable specialties. You then retain a number of dice equal to the Ability, so the bonus dice effectively become "swap out" dice. It's an interesting and workable system.
It also does a good job of handling the "core attribute vs. specialized skill" split. While SIFRP has more core attributes than your standard fantasy game's Big Six + Luck, it also doesn't use skills. Abilities are a little more specialized than Strength/Dexterity/etc., but they're not specialized on the level of, say, Knowledge (Arcana). Those are handled via "specialties", which are attached to specific Abilities. Like I mentioned, you get bonus dice from applicable specialties.
Combat is deadly, and the game has a rather innovative mechanic to combat "HP Refresh", the phenomenon of an adventuring party who's none the worse for wear after a fight, thanks to out-of-combat healing. Health is generated at the start of a fight, but you're going to be incurring Injuries and Wounds, which stick around. You take an Injury or a Wound whenever you want to cancel damage, which you'll probably want to do in order to avoid losing all of your Health in the middle of the fight. It's damage with consequences, and it works very well for the gritty setting of the game...or, indeed, for any medieval-esque setting.
As you might expect from a world where political intrigue is heavily encouraged, there is a social combat system as well. It's essentially a modified reskin of the regular combat. There is no injury/wound system here, and it introduces the idea of "Stances": your attitude towards the other person. Those closer to you are harder to deceive, easier to persuade, while those farther from you are easier to deceive, harder to persuade.
Story and Game
This game engages what's probably my strongest interest in roleplaying games: the flow between game and story. Different games have a number of different takes on this. Dungeons and Dragons tells you to make your own story, and the rules support little more than a dungeon crawl, usually. (Yes, I'm aware that there are some actual roleplaying rules in D&D, but they're not terribly strong on their own as roleplaying support. Integration is still a bit lacking.) On the other hand, a game like FATE is all over the board, encouraging you with "character aspects" and other narrative, abstract concepts.
Something which immediately caught my attention was a part of the rules called "Qualities". A friend of mine was recently complaining about how D&D liked to indulge in feats that did little to add distinction to a character, instead giving minor, less flavorful bonuses. Looking at the Qualities listed in the core book, I had a difficult time finding ones that weren't flavorful in their mechanics. Every Quality does something different, and it's a very unique schtick, especially when it comes to ones such as Animal Cohort (which gives you an animal companion who helps you fight) and Skinwalker (which lets you jump into the mind of an animal). In this regard, Qualities are rather like the Merits of World of Darkness.
The most distinct story connection, though, is the tie between Qualities and Destiny Points. Both of these are, in some sense, "usual" for a roleplaying game. The uniqueness (and strong story connection) comes when they tie together. As I understand it, you can over the course of the story choose to "invest" a Destiny Point, losing it to gain a Quality. Maybe you stick part of your destiny in the bank and "withdraw" an animal companion, or sword training. You don't buy Qualities with experience points. On the flip side, you can "deactivate" a Quality, and receive that Destiny Point back! Maybe you sacrifice an ally to scrape together resources to protect yourself. Maybe you forsake your knight's anointing to pursue a new calling. The moment that I realized this, my storytelling mind had one thing to say: "COOL!"
For the House!
One of the most detail-packed features of the game is the House Creation system. This makes sense; everything in A Song of Ice and Fire deals heavily with the noble houses, and they also provide a handy framework for putting players into a single party. The game even recommends that all the players make their house before rolling up characters. The House Creation rules form a sort of "mini-game" of their own. Through a combination of dice-rolling and resource allocation, you build up a noble house, with a unique history, specific geography, particular buildings, and even notable figures.
What is the most glorious about this part is the huge amount of juicy detail found in the House Creation tables. From randomly rolled historical events to large lists of heraldic features for a coat-of-arms, this chapter is filled to the brim with lovely story hooks and inspiration for storytellers. I am a firm believer in rules that provide inspiration for creativity, and this chapter alone is a fine example of inspiration.
Production Value
The book itself is well laid-out. The Pocket Edition is pretty hefty, even with its dimensions, and colored in black and white. The grayscale doesn't detract from the appearance, thankfully. Everything still looks good, and even vibrant at times. Not all of the art is necessarily well-rendered, but it does still help give a sense of story. The buildings and heraldry are particularly good. The book also includes a large number of in-play references, concrete examples that help teach the game.
Overall Ratings
Game System: Not massively innovative, but still has enough of a twist, and is fluid enough, to be excellent. 4 out of 5.
Player Options: The amount and variety of Qualities for characters are substantial, and the large number of Abilities, though possibly daunting, let players customize with ease. 4 out of 5.
Story Integration: Though this game lacks substantial metagame story support along the lines of FATE, it still provides a good, simple, and character-based integration, especially tying together Destiny Points and Qualities. The House system, though, gives this game an extra edge, especially with the detailed creation process. 5 out of 5.
Backstory Content: Rather surface-level, sadly. There's an opening section summarizing the history of Westeros, and overviews of the main Houses and regions of the country, but that's it. I understand that the Campaign Guide fills a lot of this in, but you'll still want some sort of source for information on Westeros, such as A Wiki of Ice and Fire. 3 out of 5.
Physical Production: Hefty, snappy, but not clunky, with some nice illustrations. 4 out of 5.
Overall: 4 out of 5.
