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It's a real pity, as well, because it has a very simple and elegent system and a couple of neat ideas. But it's hampered by poor writing, shallow research and terrible presentation.
Let's do the good stuff first. The first neat idea is that the player characters are outlaws in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire at about the time of Richard the Lionheart and Prince John, but there's no Robin Hood. Why? Because the PCs are intended to assume the role, and having the legend wandering around doing the same as them, only better, would rather spoil the fun. And if the players take on the role of Robin and the Merry Men, somebody gets to be Robin and outclasses the others. So, no Robin Hood.
Then there's the system. It's simple, flexible and effective -- perfect for storytelling games where you don't want to get bogged down in the rules. However, it's no better than Colin Speir's C&S Essence, which is available free on the internet.
In Darkwood you have six attributes (Agility, Awareness, Brawn, Knowledge, Spirit and Stamina), which have values between 2 and 9 (average 5), and a number of points to distribute between them. The number of points varies depending on whether the GM specifies a "gritty" campaign or a "heroic" one.
Then you have points to buy skills (again, it varies depending on the level of campaign). The skill list is flexible, allowing players to name and describe their own skills -- one might pick Broadsword, for example, and another a broader skill, Swords, which would allow him to use all swords, but at a penalty.
To test a skill, you add your skill level (with penalty if any) to an appropriate stat, and try to roll less than the total on d20. The attribute can vary -- you might add your swimming skill to Stamina for distance swimming, agility for speed swimming or awareness to trying to get through waterweeds, for example. There's a simple critical system, too: divide your total target level by three and round up; roll that number (between 1 and 4 usually) or below to get a critical success.
Combat follows the same procedure: roll your attack on d20; success means damage, unless your opponent has selected the All Out Defence option, in which case he gets a defence roll. Level of success and weapon type determines the amount done, which may be reduced by armour. There are a couple of pages describing how to handle special circumstances (large combats, secondary weapons, etc), but nothing too taxing. The effects of getting hurt depend on whether you suffer a Light Wound, Wound, Serious Wound or Deadly Wound, and there are rules for bleeding and infection as well.
The magic system works the same way as the skill system. Spirit is invariably the attribute used, but players are free to name their spells as they see fit (Call Animal gets you non-specialist penalties, Call Wolf doesn't). Lightning Bolts and other flashy magic are not considered to be in the spirit of the game.
All in all, the system takes up about 35 pages of the 208-page rulebook. It's the other 173 pages that are the problem.
Darkwood begins with a 12-page short story (Robert and the Maid of Calverton). It's not too bad, but does demonstrate two things: the author has no idea about the basic rules of grammar, and he doesn't believe his own advice about avoiding duplicating the Robin Hood legends, for the protagonist is Robin Hood under a different name, his companion is basically Little John, and the Maid in question is a dead-ringer for Marion.
I have to get something else off my chest regarding the author's writing style: he keeps addressing the reader directly. An example, from the injuries section of the rules: "Presuming someone has been wounded, I suppose you want to know what happens next. OK, first I'd better describe the wound categories." Maybe this doesn't bother others, but it gets right up my nose. It's loose, lax writing.
Nor is the author's level of historical research any better. Perhaps the most obvious example is in the listings of pagan gods, which feature the Tuatha de Danaan and the Norse gods. Uh, sorry? This is late-12th century England, not Dark Age Ireland or Scandanavia. And in pursuing this anachronistic travesty, the author loses the opportunity to explore some of the fascinating 12th-century folklore, which a little more research would have revealed to him.
Then there's Laxton. Darkwood would have us believe that this is the chief residence of the Earl of Nottingham. Sadly, there was no such title in this period. It also tells us that Laxton is the last open-field village in England today (true, but irrelevant), and that although the village possesed a great castle, for Darkwood it's been upgraded to an even bigger castle. OK, but why?
Wouldn't it have been far preferable to use Laxton's real history? For at this time, it was the chief residence of Radulf FitzStephen and his wife Matilda de Caux, who jointly held the office of chief foresters of all Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire -- not just Sherwood Forest, but Hatfield Forest, the Forest of the Clay and, in Derbyshire, the Forest of the High Peak. It is their servants who are likely to trouble outlaws in the forest, their castle to which captives will be taken to await trial. Furthermore, the organisation of their foresters is known, at least as far as Sherwood is concerned (Hatfield and The Clay were disafforested in 1218, a fact which Darkwood ignores, even though it purports to cover this period as well). We know how many foresters patrolled each section of Sherwood, how many of them were mounted, and what goods they could tax. None of this is mentioned in Darkwood.
Nor is there any mention of the high politics that infested Nottinghamshire in the early 1190s, events that would provide an excellent backdrop to any campaign in this period. No mention that in Richard's absence Prince John fortified his castles at Nottingham, Tickhill (just over the border in Yorkshire), Newark and the High Peak in rebellion, nor of the sieges of those castles by Richard's ministers, and only brief mention of Richard's High Council at Nottingham in 1194, when John was tried.
Maybe the real history doesn't matter to others as much as it does to me. But I simply can't see the point of calling this a "historical" game when the history is completely out of the window. Darkwood is pure fantasy, and not very original fantasy at that.
To close, I'll just briefly mention the artwork: it's terrible.
Those who want to game in 1190s Sherwood would do far better to scour ebay or a second-hand games shop for Graham Staplehurst's Robin Hood.
In consulting DriveThruRPG we've come up with a number of products which we think might be related, but some might be inaccurate because the name, Darkwood, is so short. Nonetheless, take a look, as purchasing through the RPGnet Store helps to support RPGnet.
