Review of Otherkind

Otherkind is a fantasy role-playing game where players take on the roles of fairy races defending their people, culture and power as they retreat from our world into another realm known as Elsewhere. The PCs search out sources of Numina (fairy power or magic) and other Numinus beings, and help protect them while they remain in our world, or guide them on their way to Elsewhere. They are put in direct conflict with humanity, and although war and death diminish them physically, these characters must choose to make personal physical sacrifices in the defense of Otherkind.

Players can choose to be; dwarves, elves, orcs or trolls. Each race has a specific power and a specific weakness when they receive damage or cause death. At only 11 pages, there is not much more to the background than that. Otherkind are empowered by "radiance", most humans are rated by their "iron" which damages magic, and a few sympathetic humans have the opposite of iron, "moonlight". In any confrontation or task resolution, participants are given dice to represent their power in various skills or magic. Having the highest score allows that player, or gm, to narrate that part of the action. For example, in combat, the winner of narration describes the combat but the dice assigned to "life" and "safety" determine the level of the attacks' affects.

In the end, it's a nice little open-ended system with a specific background that all work well together. It's free, what more could you want? Download it and use it to take a break from our regular gaming.

This review appears in Alarums & Excursions #332, and appears here with permission.