Review of A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying

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A Review of A Song of Ice and Fire (Green Ronin, 2009)& comparison to Game of Thrones (Guardians of Order, 2005)

Here is an attempt to produce a review of the new Green Ronin (GR from now on) rpg ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ (ASIF from now on) and to make a comparision between it and A Game of Thrones (GoT from now on) rpg produced by Guardians of Order back in 2005, which led to its bankruptcy. I am also using previous reviews by Aaron Duran (he did an excellent review of GoT here - http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14254.phtml ) & Ben Redmond (review here: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11866.phtml ) to assist in this process!!

Both ASIF and GoT are noble attempts to create a RPG for GRR Martin’s famous series of novels set in Westeros, which kick off with the book A Game of Thrones (1996). I own them both, have read all GRR Martin’s Westeros novels (& can’t wait for the next novel to come out), and have played as a player in GoT and am currently using ASIF to run a short series of Pendragon stories. The purpose of this review is to attempt to inform those who own GoT whether or not they think they should buy ASIF, as well as to those of you who haven’t bought ASIF (yet ;). Do bare in mind though, that GoT was the game that brought Guardians of Order to its knees and was its ‘swan song’, which as stated in their intro to the rpg, they never imagined they would ‘burn through (and burn out in some cases) 17 writers, 2 editors, 2 copy editors, and 20 artists’. Green Ronin though, to my knowledge, is in healthy shape, and is producing both web support (eg errata & forum) & a future release schedule – which will include the campaign background material – which is within GoT but is only briefly laid out in ASIF, so in some respects this review/ comparison is disingenuous.

My bias: I love Green Ronin’s work (from WFRP to Freeport); and I also love the works of GRR Martin. I also really enjoyed Guardian of Order’s GoT.......

The look of the books

ASIF is a different beast altogether to GoT, a hardback weighing in at only 840g or 1.2lbs, and 224 pages. [GoT is a massive hardback book, weighing in at just over 2 kg (about 4.5lbs), 496 pages. As Aaron previously said, you may feel the need to go to the gym and work out your wrist muscles in particular since holding the darn thing open and reading whilst standing, rather than having it rest on a table is gonna hurt after a while!!!] ASIF seems well enough made – so far – in terms of its spine holding up and pages staying intact. The paper is thinner that GoT’s though – and I wonder how the ink will hold up over time. I also thought what artwork there was is good – but compared to GoT is weak. Whereas GoT had 2 page colour art pieces, double sided, ASIF has none of that! (Most ASIF art is a quarter of a page, some art is ½ a page). I think also that there seems to be a consensus, which I share, that the graphic design of ASIF is something to be desired. It compares badly to other GR products in this respect (eg WFRP was far prettier/ better laid out). Lots of tables in blue – no attempt to create a medieval feel to the product as they did in GoT. ASIF does have a 2 page A4 colour map of Westeros – but no removable map ala GoT.

Style/ art score: ASIF: 3/5 GoT 5/5 – GoT wins hands down!

Introduction/ Setting the Scene

ASIF: 19 pages. After the one page; what is a ‘rpg’?, the rest of these pages are a ‘primer’ to Westeros – almanac of the lands and some of the customs. These 19 pages also include the 2 page map. The layout on most of these pages is nicely done – on ancient type parchment giving it that more authentic feel. Shame about the rest of the book.... It is a nice summary.

GoT: 29 pages. After the opening letter to the reader, chapter 1 begins with an introduction and 5 page summary of George R.R. Martin’s first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series: A Game of Thrones. While you do not need to read the book in order to enjoy this game, it is understood that you will have a more fulfilling game if you do. (Plus, you should read them anyway – as should all fans of fantasy literature!) It also shouldn't be a big shock that this summary and the GoT rpg itself is one big spoiler, so new readers; be warned. After the novel summary, the authors delve into role-playing and the history of fantasy. Normally this is a section that many of us experienced gamers may find ourselves glossing over, as we rush to the ‘crunch’ or the fluff, short-story fiction bits. However, the history of fantasy literature section (16 pages) is well written and a very well informed progression of fantasy literature. Really interesting – and a great spring board to explore other authors you may have missed.

Introduction score: ASIF 4/5 GoT 5/5 Thus, whilst ASIF is good, GoT goes the extra distance

Character Creation In simple terms, GoT is a d20 system, whilst GR’s ASIF is classless, no d20s, uses dice pools of d6s, and draws mechanically on previous GR incarnations. Thus whether you like GR’s ASIF more/ less/ at all depends in part on these issues! Here is the detail....

ASIF PC Creation: 95 pages.

You go through a step process in ASIF. The default mode of play is that players are all in the same royal household – as either nobles or retainers. This mirrors GoT (and both give ideas for different modes of play). It is an experience point buy system (you spend experience points to advance) – in which you buy your core abilities (general skill domains) for 30xps and specialisms (focussed skills) for 10xps. What age you are determines how many points you have to spend initially, as well as how many Destiny Points and flaws you have. I really like this system – a refreshing change from levels and classes, and add this to the dice pool mechanic, fantastic – that is – if you like these kind of things!

Abilities.

Instead of having traditional ‘Attributes’ and then skills, GR has dispensed of them, and instead they are fused together into ‘Abilities’ There are 18 abilities, but then each one has specialisations within it that allow further definition of characterisation, eg ‘Awareness’ is the ability, and ‘notice’ & empathy its specialisms. Personally, I really like them (although I believe there should be an ability called ‘Perform’ for acting, music, reading) – but they capture the flavour of the novels excellently. Gaining ‘ranks’ in an ability is expensive in terms of experience points – but increasing your specialisms is 3x cheaper – which is why players will choose them.

Destiny Points (DPs) and Qualities

DPs are like Fate/ Fortune Points in WFRP: you can spend them in a game session to gain a bonus die etc – or you can burn them for more dramatic effect, eg avoiding certain death! You can also ‘invest them’ temporarily into ‘Qualities’ – the ASIF system of what are called ‘feats’ in d20. Very nice they are too. These vary from ‘Ability Qualities’ such as polyglot, mummer, beastfriend; Fate Qualities, such as Heir, Master of Ravens, Man of the Kings Guard, etc, to Heritage Qualities, eg Blood of Valyria; to Martial Qualities, such as Axe Fighter 1,2 and 3; to Social Qualities, such as Charismatic, which improve your abilities in Intrigue. Once invested, these Qualities are permanent until you complete a relevant story objective, at which point you can re-invest them in another/ simply de-invest them and keep the DP as an ace up your sleeve!

Not all qualities are beneficial either. Drawbacks (flaws) are things you can either choose at pc generation to gain another benefit, or you gain due to ageing. All adult pcs must have one – and like Pendragon, things get worse as you age. They vary from Bastard Born, to choosing a penalty to an ability (1 less test die) to mute, naive, outcast, etc. All very flavoursome.

The house creation system.

ASIF does this very well – a chapter that is absent in GoT. Moreover, what stands out here is how it ties in to both character creation and gameplay. The players must all start out as members of the same house, which they create as a team before they start to generate their characters. The stats for their house determine the PCs position in the world and will affect how the GM / ‘narrator’ runs the game. However, it also determines some of the options available to the players. Do they want to play the heir to the house? If so they will need to spend some points on enabling that to happen. The status of the house also sets maximums for character status, so you can’t just dump your points into status and set yourself up as the Warden of the West. This chapter sees you go through a variety of detailed steps – unique to ASIF and absent in GoT – all done via random tables with lots of descriptors – all helping you think WHY – to develop a story around these bare bones.... Step one - Starting Realm – you can choose or roll randomly (eg Kings Landing?) Step two – Starting Resources. Lots of random tables with details on your Defence Values, Influence, Lands, Lawful/less; Population levels, Power (military) and wealth Step three – Historical events: is your house in Ascent, Descent, had a Catastrophe, suffered Conquest or Defeat, Doomed?, is Favoured, has Glory to its name, a decent Infrastructure, is being Invaded/ suffering Revolt?, Madness in the family (inbreeding), Scandal haunts your family, or Treachery – or that your house has been Victorious. Step four – Holdings. How will you invest your house’s resources? Into Defensive, Influence, Land, Law, Population, Power or Wealth generating holdings? In each you have choices - eg in Wealth Holdings where you choose what kind of specific holdings you choose, eg Guilds, Port, Sept, etc. These will affect your ratings in these ‘domains’. Future investment by the players of their personal glory into the House’s resource pool can add to these resources. There are rules here also for creating banner houses, and unit types for soldiers (influenced by Power Rating). Step five – Motto and Arms. Tons of random tables to help you generate your own Coat of Arms. Excellent. Step six – household details: The Lord, Lady, Heirs, Retainers, Servants, & Knights. Plenty of advice on completing the details.

Equipment chapter: good and detailed – appropriate for setting. Weapons have some interesting qualities that impact on game play.

PC Creation – GoT: GoT: 179 pages.

PC generation is broken down into: 10 pages on the basics; 7 pages on Ability scores; 20 pages on pc backgrounds (which region are they from); 20 pages on House Affiliations; 25 pages on classes and a further 20 pages on prestige classes; 14 pages on Skills; 16 pages on Feats; 8 pages on Influence, and another 8 pages on pc defects, and finally, 18 pages on equipment. GoT is a d20 based system – but there are enough variations from normal OGL d20 that they have wisely broken the whole character generation process into separate sections. There is a wealth of detail here – enabling the player to really manage to root their pc into the lands of Westeros (or beyond) and their purpose in relation to the royal houses of the land. The classes, feats, equipment are all evocative of the setting. Do see Aaron’s review for more detail.

Scoring for PC Creation: GoT: 4.5/5 (it does OGL d20 perfectly for the setting) ASIF: 5/5 Loved the classless, Abilities and Qualities system. The House Creation rules the icing on the cake. Marvellous. The rules and setting are very interwoven in a classy way. ASIF shades GoT with its House creation rules.

Rules Combat:

ASIF: dice pool mechanics. Using d6s. Each player will need up to 14 D6 dice! You roll dice pools – like in 7th Sea – in a ‘roll x, keep y’ fashion. Your ability determines the keep dice total which you add up for a total value. Your specialisms act as bonus dice you add to the initial roll.

Fighting: You attack someone in melee rolling your Fighting value as a number of dice, plus a relevant specialism, eg ‘longblades +2B’ = add 2 more dice to the initial roll. Thus Fighting 4, Longblades +2B, you roll 6 D6s, keep the highest 4 scores, and add them up.

Defence: You are rolling against your opponent’s Combat Defence value (Agility + Awareness + Athletics + Defensive Bonus (from shields or parrying off-hand weapons) MINUS armour penalties from bulky, heavy armour).

Damage = fixed amount per weapon (like T20) – often some variant on your Athletics value +/- 1 or so. Lances use Animal Handling as their damage score, eg War Lance = AH+4!

Raises: like with any Ability check, for every 5 you roll in Fighting above the Target Number, you gain a Raise. In combat this means you double, treble, or even quadruple damage!

Armour Soak: your opponent then takes off their armour soak value from the hit.

Hit Points – ‘health’ = endurance ability x3. Often you only have 9 health. Thus getting hit will hurt. Good news – you can change hits into Injuries and Wounds. You can take temporary injuries to wipe of health damage equal to value of your Endurance. For each Injury, you take off -1 to your test result total. You can only have as many Injuries as you have Endurance. A wound removes all damage from a single attack in exchange for a –1 D penalty die on all tests. If the number of wounds taken equals your Endurance rank, you die.

You regain health points after a battle (ala 4e) but injuries need to be saved for at the end of the day (Endurance Test) and Wounds take ages to heal. Healing by an expert helps. ;) There are extra rules you can use (we do) such as critical, and there is a separate –but easy to use jousting rules part.

There is some errata to deal with, and I believe there will be a second printing of the rules sometime within the year (at a guess). There is concern on the Forums that once you get high powered, it is hard not to be successful..... I need to playtest this system more. But it is trying to emulate the notion that an armoured knight can take down loads of peasants – and at this it is successful! Likewise, archers of quality are fantastically dangerous – as they should be. One player’s retainer, Perin, had an archery score of ‘Marksmanship 6/ Bows +5B’ along with other ‘Qualities’ such as Double Shot (-1 keep’ Dice, but can shoot at two different targets) –to awesome effect – gaining rolls of 20-25 (rolling 10 dice with double shot, and keeping 5), thus beating the Combat Defence of an opponent by 3x/4x each time for more damage; and, with critical rules (criticals on a roll that is 2x higher than the Combat Defence), was doing even more damage. That Bridge Troll they fought had no chance!

GoT: d20 system. So you either love it / hate is straight off I guess! As mentioned earlier – it is a severely ‘tweaked’ d20 game – and this really sets it apart from other d20 games. Eg: you get 6 to 10 hps at first level – and 1-3 per level beyond! Classes have Defence Bonuses rising per level...making it harder to hit them - but getting hit now hurts more - less hit points!! Good news – armour soaks damage ala ASIF/ Iron Heroes – but ‘bad news’ (for players - not narrators!) is Shock Values. These = ½ Constitution score. If a pc suffers from hps damage (after soak) beyond that, they make a DC12 Fort save (+1 to DC for every point beyond the SV), failure leaving to a serious injury. No magic in GoT so better see a Maester quick! All well done – gritty and lethal! For more – see Aaron’s review. Its fab.

Scoring for Combat

GoT: 5/5 (for OGL - it does OGL d20 perfectly for the setting) ASIF: 4.5/5. Its dice-pool mechanics work well – and it is dangerous. Has some errata though and needs a little polishing. BUT I like it.

Reputation and Influence/ Intrigue

ASIF: 12 pages. This system works a little like combat but for social situations. You take actions that “attack” your enemy and damage their composure. When they run out of composure you can apply the effects you set out to achieve, which could involve convincing them of a truth, becoming friends with them, or something much more sinister. You can have simple Intrigue opposed tests – or you can go for complex ones, in which the Narrator will give you a number of Victory Points you must achieve in order to gain what you want. For intrigue tests, you need to follow a step by step process: Step one: Type – what kind of Intrigue test it is: simple, standard, and complex (and with the latter, how many victory points are needed) Step two: Scene: where is the Intrigue happening? Who is involved? Step three: Objectives – what do the pc and npc(s) want? Step four: Disposition. What are their respective dispositions to each other? These influence the starting target numbers for intrigue tests – the more you like someone, the more likely you are to be influenced by them initially, and thus your intrigue defence is lowered somewhat. Step five: initiative Step six: Technique. What technique will you use? Bargain? Charm? Convince? Incite? Intimidate? Seduce? Taunt? Whichever you choose to use, there will be consequences (good and bad) for their use potentially. These are all documented. Each technique is a specialism you can train in under the Ability ‘Persuade’, and invest Qualities in to social benefits such as ‘Charisma’. Thus the system flows beautifully from the pc generation system. Step seven: roleplaying. ‘nuff said. The narrator can give bonuses here. Step eight: actions and tests. Step nine: repeat Steps 2 to 8 if there is no clear victor. Step ten: resolutions. One side wins.

GoT: 8 pages. Some interesting d20 style mechanics using the unique Influence and Reputation system of GoT.

Influence Scoring:

GoT 4/5 – good, easy to use, works well with d20. ASIF: 5/5 a honed, dice-pool system which works really well with their pc generation rules. The system is very evocative of how intrigue works in the GRR Martin world of Westeros.

ASIF: Mass Combat System

Finally, there’s an excellent mass combat system. I haven’t run this yet (I am doing so in 2 weeks). As Mr Redmond noted in his review : ‘This isn’t just a scaling up of the normal combat rules, nor a separate system similar to miniatures wargames rules, but a system designed to be integrated with PC actions. It takes the best concepts from wargaming and integrates them into a game that allows the PCs to play their own individual roles within the battle, allows the general to have tangible yet not complete control over their troops, and scales beautifully from individual to unit combat within the battle. I’ve seen numerous attempts over the years of making a roleplay-friendly wargaming system, but ASIF goes well beyond that to create a truly integrated warfare-roleplay system.’ What more can I say? GoT – no such system exists- thus ASIF wins hands down!

Setting background – in depth?

GoT: 46 pages ASIF: 0 pages – as in none beyond their introductory almanac. BUT given that GR are treating us to a 256 page Campaign Guide ‘coming soon’, who am I to complain? It could be argues that this makes better sense – making the cost of the ASIF core book lower....

Thus...... which is better?

For looks, GoT by GoO wins hands down. For background, until GR’s source book comes out later this year, if you have GoT, then it still has a use value too. As for which game to use to play Game of Thrones/ or a similar game... then this really is about personal taste. If you love d20/ OGL games, then try and find an OOP copy of GoT – it’s all you need! BUT if you like the idea of a classless system with dice pools, then ASIF is an excellent rpg which has great promise. It needs a second edition, IMHO, but is being well supported by GR. I like the ASIF system so much I have been using it to play Pendragon - and it’s been very enjoyable.

ASIF: Style: 3/5 (poor colours/ graphic design; Great mechanics Substance: 5/5 (although needs the Campaign Book to play the game)

Summary: A Song of Ice and Fire is an excellent new rpg which is evocative of the narrative in GRR Martin’s Westeros novels, let down by some poor graphic design and the need for a little more playtesting before release. A very promising game system to run A Game of Thrones