Midian Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Game

Let me start by saying that I will try and keep this review as honest and unbiased as possible, but I love this game. Granted, there are quite a few fantasy games out on the market, many more successful, but Midian has everything that I want in a game. It does things right.

Style

The book is reasonably priced at $15US for 212 pages. The cover is mottled-red and sturdy, with a spill resistant coat. The spine is reinforced with metal; the book is all but indestructable. One nice added touch is the velvet ribbon attached for a bookmark. The cover logo features a "ye olde inn" style sign with the logo of a skull imposed over a modified ankh. The logo is grey scale, but adding bright colors would probably be a poor design choice. For me, the cover set the style of the book nicely.

There are few pictures inside; only about one every 8-12 pages. The pictures are not what one usually sees in a fantasy game. Rather than pictures of races, characters, battles, weapons, etc. there are pictures of landscapes, skulls, flowers, and old objects--much creepier. I would have liked to see more pictures, especially of the various playable races.

The layout is clear, mostly in two-column format. The fonts are non-standard, but easy to read, and the bullets are little celtic crosses, which I thought was neat. The downside to the fonts used, is that in the pdf version, you can't cut-n-paste from the text; it just comes out as junk. There are no sidebars, but I'm not a big fan of those anyways. The bulk of the book is well sub-headed text. There aren't many charts, tables, or lists, compared to most games. Beyond character generation, the only charts you need to look up is the Comparative Appearance chart (different species have different standards of beauty), or the Experience chart to see if your character went up a level. There are a few times when there was an interesting juxtapositioning of words. I never could tell if they were coincidental, or due to a very clever layout.

There is no index in the book, but the table of contents includes all of the main headings. There is an index of content online (more about that below), but not in the book itself. It would be useful to at least have an index of the skills, if nothing else.

The first printing had few typos or other errors, about the same number of errors that I have seen in the first printing runs of major publishers. My book came with an errata sheet, which I thought was a nice touch. There are some sections where the sentences get kind of long. It is obvious in places by the grammar and spellings used that the writer, Golgotha Kinslayer, is not a native English speaker. It's hard to describe, it's easily understandable when you read it to yourself, but sometimes feels clumsy when reading it out loud.

Content

This book was a very fun read. It isn't a dry listing of game mechanics, neither does it get lost in its own artistry. It is overall well written, and covers quite a few things very well. I really liked the combination of dark imagery and darker humor. My first read of Midian was engrossing. I was almost late for work when I realized that I had not put it down for several hours.

The book's contents are largely laid out in character-creation order. For example, your race determines your attributes, so the Naleth's Guide to Sentients chapter comes before the Attributes chapter. The overall tone of the book is written in an irreverent manner, with dry--often dark--humor. For example, there is a trait called Executive-style Hair, or the chapter covering combat rules is titled Hunting and Escaping and subtitled Combat: the subtle art of breaking and killing things. There is an introductory story (one of only two dialog/story sections in the book) that has everyone who reads it thinking, "hey, that's my group." The story involves players arguing, speaking out of turn, trying to cheat, and ends with a fight between the players... not the characters. This is not an RPG for younger players, Kinslayer doesn't hold back language in graphic descriptions, cursing, or just big words. There is no "18+" label on the game, but it was created for more mature players. One of the interesting touches is that some of the chapters are written as treatises by characters in the game world. Where game mechanics are mentioned, they are enclosed in brackets [ ] to separate them from the larger narrative. Midian is a very open system, with lots of room to add elements on your own.

The main book covers standard fantasy races, Dwarves, Elves, and Trolls, and adds a Human sub-type, the Gaijin. Gaijin are big, red, fast, strong, and smart, but lack a cultural identity. There are other species in the Midian world, but these are not covered in the main book. Trolls in Midian are a genetic soup of all the various Troll stereotypes thrown together & salted lightly. Trolls can be the Scandanavian type (complete with a black cow's tail), the big & regenerating type, or little trolls with brightly colored fuzzy hair (only missing the jewel in the tummy), or any of hundreds of possible combinations. Midian Elves are immortal and 4-fingered, with anime style hair colors. Dwarves are given consideration in the book for their deep culture. Humans are treated as a separate, and viable, species and player option, rather than just the default for everything. Attention is given to make each species special and different, instead of just a list of bonuses. It is worth noting that Humans and Trolls have different types, but Dwarves and Elves do not, a refreshing switch.I think now is a good time to mention that there is no enforced play balance in Midian. Good things are not always balanced by bad, and it is possible to have starting characters of widely different power levels. Some people will hate this fact; some like it because they want to play superpowerful characters. I like it because it makes more sense to me that sometimes a person's lot in life will be poor, sometimes great. It is possible to get large bonuses, but you have to get there +1 or +2 at a time, and make many sacrifices along the way.

Attributes are next, and there are twelve of them. Listing the social attributes (appearance, personality, grace) first helps show the emphasis placed in the game on interacting with people (pc & npc) instead of just fighting and magic. This chapter is the "big list o' charts" section, with 9 of the attributes having various mechanics that they affect. The mental attributes (knowledge, wits, willpower) are next, followed by physical (strength, agility, stamina), and lastly the miscellaneous attributes (awareness, speed, common sense). These last three do not have any charts. Grace is sort of a social catch-all, covering those elements that don't involve how pretty you are, or how well you speak. Knowledge affects how many skills you start with, and how well you learn & remember. Wits is how fast your brain works, and affects defense and initiative. Common Sense is my favorite. It also affects how fast your character picks up new skills (along with 'knowledge'), and is used as kind of a saving throw vs. stupidity. It's a way for GM's to be subtle, or just throw characters off track. In my game, we used a house rule where anyone could call for a common sense check, if they thought that someone else was going to do something that would get them all in trouble.

The next area in character creation is the Backgrounds chapter. This is a mix of random rolls and player choices. You roll to determine how many backgrounds you get, and which ones. Then you can discard some of the ones that you don't like, or trade them out from a Player's Choice list. Some backgrounds are genetic or based on your birth, like having Efreet Blooded or being nobility, some are based on experience, either as a child or later in life. The experience-based backgrounds are useful to a GM because they are throw-away characteristics, but still give the players a chance to add something else to their sheets. For example, one of the default backgrounds is Never Left Town and can be replaced with Familiar with Area after they've started adventuring.

Traits are next. These cover a wide range of elements, from aptitudes, to supernatural, to pure game mechanics. This is sort of Midian's version of advantages and flaws, except that some are mixed blessings, and each is weighted equally. That is, something that gives you a +1 doesn't "cost more points" than something granting a +3 or a -2. It's all the same; no points involved. Traits are similar to backgrounds, but covers everything else. Many of the traits are attribute modifying. For example, Head for Numbers modifies Wits checks by +2 when doing math.

The next chapter is Social Interaction. It covers: appearance, contacts, reputation, status, titles, nobility, and influences. As I stated before, Midian focuses on character interaction. Almost everything about the game is based on how your character can affect the world, and that world is filled with other people. Status is an interesting feature. They are descriptive terms that tell how other people think about your character. Some have other game mechanics, but mostly they are just description. One of the things that statuses affect is reputation, add your total number of appropriate statuses to your reputation score to find the percentage chance that someone has heard of you. Nobility (at least in one country), is based partly on status. You can increase your social standing in the peerage by gaining certain statuses.

The next chapter covers character classes. Classes are purely optional; you don't have to take one. This is a feature that I like. Classes are "purchased" with skill points (based on the knowledge attribute), so classes that are geared to be more intellectual or have more included skills have a built-in mechanism to ensure that only characters that are smart enough can have this class. Also, characters that are smart enough (have enough skill points) can have more than one class at character creation, but can only advance one per level. That is, I can start out as a martial artist/rogue, but have to pick one or the other each time I go up in level. There are 7 classes listed in the main book: apprentice wizard, martial artist, phantom, rogue, scout, Formourian soldier, and syndic. Apprentice wizard and rogue are the closest to "standard" fantasy classes. Different specialized magic types are purchesed as "traditions" with the apprentice wizard class, but none of these are detailed in the main book. Martial artists and rogues give quite a few options to the players. The former lets you pick between grappler and striker, and gives a choice of how to otherwise specialize your kung-fu power. Rogues can be nearly any type of less-than-moral types, with a list of possible skills to build the class with. Formourian soldiers are not standard fighters, they are part of the army of the Kingdom of Formour, along with the scouts. Syndics are not the typical fantasy class at all. They are more like accountants, lawyers, or agents than adventurers. The phantom class is probably the most unique. They are sort of a gothic mafia, and have built in versions of prestige classes; when a phantom reaches 8th level he or she must choose to become either an agent or an assassin. Each class has certain additional restrictions (apprentice wizards have to be literate, scouts must enlist), and each comes with certain bonuses (rogues have additional contacts on the street, syndics get a loan of 300 guilder).

The next chapter is the largest, Skills. Midian is a skill-based system, and that's where the bulk of the games complexity lies. Everything from speaking your native language to individual spells are different skills. All of the class-based abilities are skills. The skills chapter is broken up into sections based on game mechanics: apprentice skills (you know the skill as an apprentice, journeyman, or master), basic skills (you know it or you don't), and proficiencies (you know the skill at level I, level IV, level IX, etc.). Each type of skill also is either a social, martial, mystic, or technical skill, but this is purely descriptive. The sheer size of the chapter (52 pages) can be a bit much for the first time player or GM. However, it isn't necessary to memorize everything, most players can easily learn what they need to know just in the process of looking up their skills. As stated earlier, the number of skills is based on the knowledge attribute. In other words, the smarter characters will know more. Unlike other game systems, Midian doesn't have an advancement mechanic where you get X number of skill points by going up in level. Instead, it is possible to learn a skill at any point. The restrictions on learning skills in this game are the same as in the real world: time, money, effort, ability, and desire. In my first game, the players wanted to teach each other everything, but quickly realized that would involve months "in class" for their characters. They opted for only a few after that. I will admit that the skills system did take some getting used to. I had played D&D 3e, and thought of skills as only what Midian uses as proficiencies. Instead, Midian's skill chapter reads more like the spell list. Once I realized that what I was used to thinking of as different elements: class ablilities, feats, weapon & armor proficiencies, and spells, were all a single unified element in Midian, then I was all right. While it may seem problematic that each skill may have a separate game mechanic, that is no different than spell lists in other games with the same issue. Also, most skills in Midian don't have an associated game mechanic. That is, there's no need to roll or look up anything if my character is a journeyman blacksmith; it means that I can make everything with metal except weapons, armor, and masterpieces. No roll there is needed, simple. Most of the skills that have rolls, namely proficiencies, are a simple "roll over 10 to succeed." Skills are the heart of Midian, and while big, are great.

Development is the next chapter. That includes all of the little miscellaneous bits of crafting a character, like your ethics or how you dress. This chapter also includes learning skills, character journals (neat idea, totally optional, but great for roleplaying), and experience. Character improvement in Midian is based largely on the idea of petitioning. That is, it isn't up to the GM to keep track of all the things that your character did, if it was a worthwhile & memorable experience, they you should remember it yourself. Experience isn't awarded for monsters slain, but rather as obstacles overcome. That is, rather than try and remember how many snakes you killed in the cave, and how many points they are worth, you just get a blanket award based on the encounter difficulty itself. You also get awarded for useful ideas and plans, as well as for "miscellaneous cool actions." There are also rather sarcastic elements in the experience section for bribing the GM. Improving skills works on the same petitioning system, that is, if you used a skill quite a bit or you were studying actively, then you might be able to increase that skill. This is much better than just giving skill points to put wherever, I feel. This is one of the useful integrations with a character journal, noting that your study ___ skill in your off time will help you advance it. This system gives GM's a great deal of control over how rapidly the characters advance in power, more than just experience and treasure. This method also rewards more active players. The only downside is that characters have less portability, but few GM's of any system allow players to use characters in another game.

The next two chapters cover equipment. There are large lists of clothing and food, but the weapons and armor listed in the main book are a bit trim, only covering basic items. There are a few magic or unusual items listed, but again, there aren't many. One gets the impression that magic items in Midian are few and far between, rather than something that a character will acquire several of by second level. The second of these chapters covers weapon and armour features. These are like traits for inanimate objects. Having clear guidelines as to how a character can customise their gear is great. With enough weapon features, I don't need magic. Livestock are mentioned, but there are no game mechanics. While I don't need to know the wits attributes of a cow (not much I'm sure), it would at least be nice to know how fast my horse runs.

Next is the combat chapter. As most of the relevent details are covered by individual skills (and listed in that chapter), this portion isn't nearly as large as most fantasy games. This is in spite of the fact that this is sort of a catch-all-rules chapter. That is, it covers the differences in magical vs. neural paralysis in addition to dodging attacks. I like the combat system. As it involves rolling a D20 to hit, it was easy enough to learn. The chapter is broken down into two sections: Part I: Killing & Breaking Stuff, and Part II: Ow, That Hurts... I'll cover a few of the finer points here. Attacks per round are based on initiative, faster in one is faster in the other. This way you don't have the visual of some slow armored Dwarf swinging an axe after everyone else... then attacking three times in a row while everyone stands there waiting for the round to be over. First time combatants are penalized in Midian. if you are unaccustomed to violence, your first battle will be a frightening thing. Some combatants have "interrupts." These allow you to skip ahead of someone in the initiative order. That is, if your sneaky trick allows you to get the jump on someone, you can act before them, even if their initiative roll was higher. In play, this often gets into some dramatic bidding wars, as players threaten to interrupt the interrupt. As this mechanic is often hard to come by, interrupts are a limited commodity. Armor in Midian not only makes you harder to strike, it protects from damage when an enemy connects. The usual method is to subtract points based on the thickness of the armor, but some armors grant additional bonuses, like chainmail's 20% hacking resistance. Midian uses an active defense system. That is, you can dodge, parry, or block an attack. Accuracy in a hit adds to lethality. That is, each point above 20 on the roll adds an additional point of damage. Also, each point of damage that you take is one point of shock. That is, you subtract the shock from every roll that you make for the rest of this round, and for the next initiative roll. Critical hits and fumbles occur much more frequently, on a natural 19-20 or a 1-2. This adds quite a bit of added danger and excitement to a fight if an average of every 5th hit will be really great, or awfully bad. This also cuts down on munchkin players making unstoppable characters if any random peasant can critically hit them or they can critically miss the farmer. This chapter also covers graphic results of some of those critical hits. There aren't any charts, and the only game mechanics inherent to crits is doubled damage & always hits (no defense). Instead, there are examples of the awful things that can happen on a crit, including dropping dead. Descriptive actions are rewarded in Midian. If you describe your actions well, you receive bonuses to hit. The chapter also includes combos. These are DIY moves that really add to building your character, and quite a few examples are given.

The next chapter is short, Lorelei's Magical Primer. This chapter covers some of the elements of magic in the game, but doesn't include any game stats. This was the first place that I looked for magic spells, but there aren't any, they're all in the skills chapter. I would have liked to know more about familiars, traditions, or the philosophies of spell casting.

We're getting close to the end of the book now, with Thorrin's Brief Guide to History: Or "Everyone is a Bastard". This is a three-page chapter written as a dialog between a Human narrator and a drunken Dwarf historian. This very briefly covers the history of the world that Midian is set in, but I wish that there was more to it. I get the feeling that there's a rich history, but it isn't shared. Understandably, one of the things that the designers say they want to focus on is the future, but knowing the past is important.

The final chapter is Aurelia's Almanac. This is the world information about Midian. Holidays, climates, and lunar calendar information start things off. Two countries are detailed, although not to the extent that I want. Additionally, the Gothic culture of midian is covered. This chapter wraps up with write-ups on the main religions and some of the cults of the Midian world. I would have liked to see a map, either of the world, or a local area.

Support

The staff at Lost Souls Publishing care about their game. They promptly answer questions, and are actively trying to build a fan-based community. To this end they have a number of online features. There is the inevitable forum, a listing of recent in-game rumors as adventure seeds, an online index & search (where you can find where in the game something is mentioned, and pull individual paragraphs in the combat, traits, backgrounds and skills chapters), and an online "classifieds" section for in-character posts. Additionally, while the hard-copy book cost money, you can download a pdf of the individual chapters, or look at the most up to date version as html for free. Golgotha Kinslayer has even stated that he will help whoever needs adventure ideas, rules questions, or other support. This is a very nice touch from any game publisher.

Summary

Bad in style: few pictures, no index, odd writing style
Good in style: clear, sturdy (metal reinforced spine!), interesting writing style

Bad in content: not designed for young gamers, large number of possible skills, no balance, not enough "treasure," no bestiary, not enough world information
Good in content: doesn't talk down to adults, lots of details, attention to detail, lots of character options, open skill system, logical character development, magic-as-skills, graphic combat

Bad in support: nothing
Good in support: everything

There isn't anything truly revolutionary about this game system. Certainly there isn't anything that stands out as unusual about the game world. However, in Midian, all the pieces come together nicely. I definately recommend this game. It would have been well worth the $15 as a pdf, and I would have gladly paid twice that for the hard copy. As it is, you can try the game for free, well, for the cost of paper &/or electricity. I'll say it again, Midian just does it right.