Crestfallen

This review details the rules found in crestfallen_print.pdf, a 10 MB PDF available for download at http://www.whiterosegames.co.uk/ in an 8 MB ZIP file. These rules are an updated version from Crestfallen v .008d, the last official release to these rules of which this reviewer is aware.

Taken at a glance Crestfallen: A Bronze Age Role-Playing Game appears impressive, even for a PDF. There are 164 pages of material organized in three main sections as follows: World Book, containing all the history about the world; Character Book, wherein character races and character creation are detailed; and Game Book, detailing the actual mechanics of play. With roughly ten sub-sections covering everything from World Events to Gods and Religion in addition to the standard sections dedicated to character creation, magic, and various integral rule mechanics Crestfallen packs an awful lot of material into one PDF, quite a lot of bang for your proverbial buck. And since this is freely available for download that says a lot!

The Setting: The bulk of the background information of the campaign setting is found in the section titled “World Book”, wherein is described the gods and religion of the game world. Here it is explained that Crestfallen centers upon the continent of Rivanon on the planet Kerun, a world cast from a Greco-Celtic mold. While this section comes at the very beginning of the PDF the section that follows, “Character Book”, also contains indispensable information about the races. Players have five character races to choose from: Arcadian, humanoid trees; Cyclops, characters pretty close to the mythological mold; Human, of which there exist several racial stocks; Lupus, as the name implies these are wolf-men; and Naderite, who are essentially four armed humans. While it is possible to skip the first section and jump right into the section on characters and character creation, it is suggested that the first section at least be given a cursory glance.

The Game: This is not your typical sword and sorcery role-playing game. If anything it is more a sword and sandal flavored historical setting, just as the subtitle implies. For instance, while Magic exits in the world of Crestfallen it is centered upon divine Powers and the system has been designed chiefly for Priest and Shaman character archetypes. In fact a scan of the document reveals that the word “wizard” does not appear, nor does the word “witch”. A fact that immediately reveals much about the style of fantasy world being portrayed.

The Magic System: From the text of the game “all magic in Crestfallen is of divine origin” yet it is also stated “magic is performed by binding spirits”. Those familiar with the magic systems employed by other game may find those two statements contradictory. After all Sorcery in Stormbringer is defined in a similar fashion, only instead of binding spirits the magic of Stormbringer relies upon the binding of Demons. In game terms these concepts are much the same thing, right? Perhaps not.

When considering the standard archetypes of fantasy there exists an Otherworld of difference between a demonic entity and a spirit. On the one hand is Sorcery and demonology while on the other is Enchantment and spiritualism. In Crestfallen magic is portrayed as firmly rooted in animism, which fits well with most anthropological theories about ancient Bronze Age religious practices. In fact it is plainly stated that the game draws upon real world templates for its magic system and traditions, a fact that adds authenticity to the game’s goal of creating a fantasy game rooted in a historical setting.

So how does magic work? Simply put it’s a spell point system based upon Piety. There are no spell lists. Rather Piety is expended to bind spirits (of a type and power) to either the character or an object, thus providing the character with the ability to utilize certain affects, more or less. Most spells are temporary, and permanently binding spirits requires that a significant amount of Piety be expended. Otherwise the system is primarily one of spending X amount of Piety points to achieve effect Y.

The Rule Mechanics: Honestly I’ve read the section on character creation several times. It is dense and poorly written, for the newbie. For those familiar with the game, and role-playing games in general, the section should make sense. However I would suggest a rewrite from scratch. First point: at a glance the text leaves the impression players can either use dice of a type in two colors (red or green) or not. There is a reason for this that ties into the dice mechanic, but it is poorly explained. Second, this section suggests that the character sheets be printed out prior to actual character creation. My PDF had no character sheets, only blank pages where they were supposed to be. Black mark. Third, “You may be asked to roll a D3, since three sided dice can not be manufactured we cheat…” in a world with polyhedral dice there is no need for such nonsense. Besides I don’t want to read in any official rules about empowered “cheating”. Not ever. Poor word choice, what they meant was “fudge the results”. But those unfamiliar with role-playing games may find such pointed statements about sanctioned cheating confusing.

Speaking of cheating: Yes, I quickly glanced at the old PDF. Two things immediately struck me. 1) The Contents page is properly laid out and keyed to immediately show what sections belong under which “World Book” category. Nicely done. 2) The character sheets, while not as pretty as some, are darned functional. Made me wish I’d had the new ones. But since I don’t, and this is a review for the current edition, I shall plunge onward into the cold dark waters and see where the current flows.

Character Creation: Characters have the standard range of abilities and attributes: Strength, Perception, Knowledge, Ability, Willpower, Spirit, Health, and etcetera. In addition to these attributes characters have a range of Skills generated based upon predefined Racial and Career templates. Beginning character Stats are based upon a template, determined by age, which provides base stats for all character scores. These pre-defined stats may be modified by the addition of Skills or the use of an optional rule.

The Dice: Essentially you have two dice of a type. One is a “positive” die the other a “negative” die. Thus for 2D6 the roll would actually be D6-D6, which provides a potential numerical range of +5 to -5. It’s really that simple. Problem is this information is included within the text of character creation. Alas it really has no direct bearing on the process, as character construction is a template-based system that refers the players to a chart. Why was it included here? Not a clue beyond density of text.

Combat: Standard. Round based. Uses an initiative structure to determine actions and is weighed down with Fatigue rules.. Characters are given options to Attack, Parry, or Evade. The game text itself describes combat as “loose and improvisational” though is essentially a contest of character skills.

There’s plenty to like here. The core rules present very well developed background information, a game world that seems well fleshed out, and dice mechanics that are far from ordinary. However it’s hard to get a grasp of what the author’s goals and intentions for this material is due to the sheer density of text. Too, aside from a brief dedication page there, is nothing to detail the development of the game or to explain the differences between this edition and v .008d (the last version of the rules known to this reviewer) and that is frustrating. Furthermore there are no author’s notes, no bibliography, no index (or bookmarks), and no character sheets (just blank pages where they are supposed to be) nor does the contents page properly reflect the internal organization of the work by “Books” but instead reads like the contents page to your average RPG rule book. But all of this seems insignificant when one realizes that not a single sample entry for a monster of any type is given, not even a guide as to how to adapt creatures for use with this rules set, thus leaving the Game Master to import beasties from other sources blindly. And the last thing any Game Master wants is to have to wander around like Diogenes, eternally searching, which this system is likely to leave many doing.

As a core rulebook what is presented is, for the most part, solid and well done. However there is very little in the PDF that is likely to make the average Game Master want to drop their current rules for these. While a bestiary or sample adventure is not necessary for learning a rule system, something that provides solid samples of play and how to incorporate material from other sources into said rules would go a long way to making the effort required to learn a new system palatable. Two words: Support, support! Give us what is necessary to make this system do more than just float, even leaky rafts can float, provide support material to turn this barge into a trireme in proper fighting trim.

Negatives: Though the effort and time put into this work shows on every page the current edition has the feel of being an interim document. While the presentation of world material is solid the PDF could use a major overhaul, especially in organization of the “Books” and presentation of the “character construction” sections. A lot of confusion could be avoided by excising all text about dice, and dice usage, to its own separate section. Preferably a section that comes as preamble to the character creation section rather than being included within it. Given the size of the file, the lack of bookmarks, and the constant need to reference sections some may wish these sections had been broken up into more easily manageable individual PDFs. The lack of author notes about either design goals or updates to the system are a major black mark, as is the lack of an even a sample bestiary. Therefore I can only suggest this for veteran gamers.

Positives: Kudos to the authors for a major effort in historical era game design, indeed, faults aside; this PDF contains a colossal amount of information. Even if you don’t care for role-playing games with canned game world’s providing detailed histories, full color maps with each continent keyed and described, rich introductory mythologies providing more than the basic thumbnail overview of the game world’s background, and meticulous calendrical systems keyed to the seasons and dozens of deities then the unusual mechanic may be worth a look. Unless your players really don’t like games that are detailed, or prefer games with threadbare worlds that can be used as a foundation to build homegrown adventures upon. In which case I wouldn’t download this file. Still the world is well fleshed out and populated, well one continent at least, so if nothing else this can be used as a rich and detailed setting for use in your own campaign with your own favored commercial or in-house system.

Final Comments: If any one thing can be said of Crestfallen that needs addressing in future editions it is this: The core rules suffer from a density of text. By this I mean that there is so much information that, at times, it almost feels like information has been crammed into the corners and crevices. What the Crestfallen core rules really needs is breathing room, not just for the reader, but also for the individual sections. Still that’s better than not having enough information, but that’s a matter of opinion.