Ashes to Ashes is a 177 page monograph setting for Chaosium’s Deluxe BRP rule set, released last year. It’s a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy role-playing setting with darkly humorous underpinnings. It is available in both print and downloadable PDF format from Chaosium’s website. A few brick and mortar vendors, particularly in the UK carry the monograph line, but they are few and far between.
For those unfamiliar with Chaosium’s implementation of monographs; a monograph is a “longer work” where everything: art, content, editing, and layout is done by the author. Chaosium gives the work a cover and a product number, prints a small batch and sells them exclusively through their website. They do not enter the distribution market.
For full disclosure, the PDF copy I received was complimentary from the author. I have not seen the print version. In addition, this is my first review on RPG.net
The book
The book is divided into 14 chapters, each of which I’ll deal with separately. There will be some mild spoilers. The layout is clean throughout, and as far as monographs go, very typo free. I wasn’t keeping an active eye out for typos, but did spot 10. That’s very good for monographs, many of which are littered with typos. It is straightforward two column text with artwork sprinkled throughout. One part of the author’s style which I like, but others may not is the POV shift from third to second person periodically. In my opinion, it helps set the tone for the world, helping bring the chaos and disorder to life. The author never shifts POV in the middle of a section, so it is not disorienting in that respect. One thing I didn’t care for was the outline method chosen by the author. New sections were prefaced by either a number or letter, and underlined. For example, the introduction starts with “
a. Welcome(?) to the World.” While I understand the utility, I find it breaks the flow of the text.
The art shines, however. The author chose to go with artwork publically accessible from the Library of Congress. Most are fitting, but not your typical fantasy art. For example, the photo of atomic bomb exploding with the caption “The Abjuration from Eight Miles Away” at first seems out of place, but then the sudden realization of the author’s use of dark humor settles in and the picture becomes entirely fitting. As you go through the book and look at the artwork and think about what is presented in the text, each picture becomes increasingly relevant.
The maps are hex based, reminiscent of many wargames. While functional, I would have preferred line drawn maps. I think that would have fit with the post-apocalyptic fantasy theme, but given the limitations of monographs (i.e. the author doesn’t know anyone who can create line maps) he’s forced to use the tools available to him. Since the maps are functional, but just not to my liking, I can’t ding the author. At least he included maps.
Introduction
In the introduction, the author sets forth the goals he had in mind when he wrote Ashes to Ashes. He set out to create a very specific type of role-playing environment, “Ashes, to Ashes is a role-playing-heavy, philosophy-heavy, conflict-heavy type of game that would be best enjoyed by serious-minded folk.” The author tried to create a world where the players’ choices would come down to something more than just a few rolls of the dice. “If the PLAYERS are arguing among themselves not about what they can do, but whether they should do anything, then you have the hang of Ashes, to Ashes.”
The introduction offers a high level overview of the game world that GMs might want to photocopy and hand to their players so they can have some grounding in the setting. It also sets the tone for the post-apocalyptic nature of the setting. Even the destruction of the world involved a major moral and philosophical decision. “The World has been broken, broken as a desperate sacrifice to save humanity against the invading demons. 100 years have passed, and it's still quite broken. The remnants of a mighty, high fantasy civilization litter the World, but civilization is no longer mighty.”
History
This section describes the relatively typical idyllic high fantasy world that preceded the downfall. A wise man succumbed to his pride and entered a Faustian bargain and released an army of effectively immortal demons into the world. In his pride, however, he did not see the downside of this bargain and suffered for it. To get revenge against his immortal demon cohorts, he set in motion the abjuration, a world shattering event that not only destroyed most of civilization, but it severed the links between various magical realms, ending the role of magic in the world, and prevents more demons from entering the world.
This history is engaging reading. It has all the elements of a tragedy. Heroes and common men sacrifice themselves to save a world that had already doomed itself. As the author notes, this is not information for the players to learn outright. It’s been 100 years since the abjuration, and most communities are isolated, so many of the lessons of the lessons that could have been learned are lost to time. As the players progress through the world, they might peel back the layers of the world and learn what happened.
The Present
This chapter details the power structure as it exists 100 years after the abjuration. In a nutshell, “The World is still broken. The weather is, by and large, still berserk and unpredictable, making a peaceful living (and even survival) difficult. The World is still largely depopulated, having only recovered in isolated areas, with vast stretches of ruin lying between habitable areas. Huge mountain ranges and vast deserts make contact between regions rare and dangerous.” Demons rule the world, but there are only a few hundred left, and they are no longer immortal. They are susceptible to steel and magic, and work hard to keep those things out of the hands of potentially dangerous humans. They rarely risk exposing themselves, preferring to rule through intermediaries.
A GM learns a lot about demons, their methodology, their organization, and their flaws in this chapter. Since demons are the main adversaries in this broken world, the author provides a lot of details for making them unique. Although limited in number, the demons work hard to control the human population to ensure the survival of both, since demons need humans to breed.
The World
The World deals with how humanity is managing to survive in a world that’s been stripped of its resources and every day is a struggle. Although the section is called “The World” it only details one continent in the world. The remaining continents are not covered in Ashes to Ashes.
One of the more interesting aspects explored in this chapter is how people are dealing with the transition from a high magic world where magic was everywhere to a low magic world where someone who uses magic might be mistaken for a demon and run out of town on a spear. As an example, magic used to provide light, allowing for work to proceed almost around the clock. Now, fires provide the light, so darkness is a time for sleep and fear.
The world is now an iron-age society. Steel is very rare and most population centers survive on subsistence. A very brief outline of the major regions of the world is presented here. More detail on each area mentioned here as well as more regions is available in the gazetteer.
BRP Rules Variations
Here the author outlines the optional rules from the Deluxe BRP book that are suitable for the world of Ashes to Ashes. There are no great changes to the BRP ruleset. It’s still percentile based and skills are tied to occupation.
However, there are changes to the number of skill points allocated to characters, especially if you choose to play a magic user, referred to in this setting as an adept. Most players receive 200 plus INTx10 skill points. Adepts receive 100 plus INTx10. If the adept chooses to have a wild talent, he receives 150 plus INTx10 skill points. In other words, it costs 100 skill points to be an adept and 50 to have access to a wild talent, which will be discussed later.
The author tweaks the available skills, as well as starting values for those skills, to better suit the setting. It also adds the Survival and Religion skill, both of which are important to the setting.
The only races available to players are humans and Halflings. Dwarves were driven underground into secluded communities cut off from the world by the abjuration. Elves, tied to nature, were either killed or driven insane by the abjuration.
Ashes to Ashes has an abstracted wealth system where a character’s wealth rating determines what type of gear he has. The system is vague, and could do with more fleshing out, because there is little information on how to perform a transaction. It mentions that horde of coins is more useful for studding leather armor than it is for buying something, but it doesn’t provide me enough details on how to buy or barter something when the need arises. Given the nature of the world, magical items that are mundane in a typical fantasy setting are very rare here. The wealth section then concludes with information and tables on the various weapons and armor available in the setting.
BRP Rules Variations – Magic
Magic is rare, difficult to study, and greatly feared. As one of the headings states, “b. Magic and How to Acquire It (Or, How to Make Everyone Hate and Fear You).” Aptitude for magic in this setting in innate; either a character has it at creation or he doesn’t. This section includes information on how magic users are viewed by the populations of the world, both human and demon. Despite the fear and lack of knowledge, an adept is not a hopeless character, the world was once highly magical, and somewhere in the rubble are the great libraries and magical academies of the days before the abjuration.
The magic system is complex, but there are tables and examples to help readers understand the system. Rather than cover every aspect of the magic system, I’ll cover the basics. Spells cost Magic Points to cast, but unlike base BRP, there is not an individual skill for each spell. To quote the author, “That implies too much organization and predictability. Magic here is fractured and wild.” Spell casting is controlled by the POW attribute and skill points invested in an aptitude such as healing or fire which relate to broad categories of spells. These points are used to determine the adjusted POW used to cast spells. “Success in spell-casting is determined by a modified POW check. The Adept checks his (adjusted) POW x3 vs. the MPs needed for the spell x10 on the Resistance Table. If the Adept wins, the MPs are expended and the spell goes off. If it fails, the MPs are still expended and Bad Things Happen.” This system seems to work well for the setting, creating a sense of suspense and mystery every time and adept tries to cast a spell. There is a detailed discussion and table of potential modifiers to help GMs work through the system quickly. The “Bad Things” happen to the adept. If an adept fails his roll, he suffers HP damage. If an adept tries too powerful a spell by expending numerous magic points, it’s possible a failed spell will kill him.
The magic chapter also conatains the Lost Arts. These are hidden mysteries that adepts can delve into as they progress in power. Some of the lost arts include Terrible Presence, whereby an adept physically radiates magic. He can use this ability to intimidate enemies, but it also causes penalties to social rolls where the adept wants to be viewed as a nice, unassuming guy. Another Lost Art is Dreaming, the adept can have visions of the world and what might come.
Listed as a Lost Art, but seemingly out of place, are Wild Talents. Any character can spend 50 skill points at character creation to have a Wild Talent. Those 50 points are why character creation indicates a Wild Talent character has 150 skill points instead of 200. A Wild Talent only has one aptitude, but is better at exploiting it than a normal adept. Unfortunately, the risks of taking damage are higher.
Sample magic items, which can be used to modify the POW roll are included after the Lost Arts.
The chapter is rounded out by two sample adepts. Both are ready-made NPCs and showcase the versatility of the system.
Religion and the Circle
This brief chapter outlines the one religion that is prevalent in the world. Not surprisingly, it’s not what the characters hope it is.
Inhabitants of the World
Most of the space here is dedicated to demons. The author is careful to point out that demons in Ashes to Ashes are not the demons of games such as D&D. In terms of game mechanics, there are no fantasy monsters other than demons. Some demons may look like a dragon, or a imp, or minotaur, but at their core, they are all demons and have the same abilities and limitations as every other demon. I think this interpretation adds flavor to the world and provides the GM with a great deal of flexibility. In the worldview of the inhabitants, everything evil and wrong is the product of demons, but no too demons are the same. Maybe even the character's neighbor is a demon. He can't be too careful.
Halflings and their very secretive way of life are also covered. Dwarves and elves also receive a small amount of space. The last race mentioned is the Overseers, who are soulless demon/human or demon/dwarf hybrids that are the backbone of the demon army and serve as a way to control the majority of the peasants.
Organizations
This chapter outlines four guilds that characters can join. The Heroes of Old are a traditional demon slaying group of heroes. The Paired are healers who travel the world with a life mate, offering healing for a price. The Coursers are brave souls who wander to where they’re most needed. The final presented group is the Brotherhood of the Raven, which is a secret society that tries to restore knowledge and learning to pre-abjuration levels. Sample NPCs are provided for each group.
Gazetteer
This is the largest section of the book. It is a detailed overview of the continent presented in Ashes to Ashes. If a GM wants to set his campaign in the author's world, he has more than enough material to work with. The regions are all well thought out and provide a diverse selection of geographies. There's a desert, a blasted wasteland, a seemingly verdant park, and even the remnants of a few great cities. There are numerous hex based maps to help GMs and players visualize the world.
Points of Emphasis for Roleplaying
The author stresses some of the key points of Ashes to Ashes in this section. Primary among them all is conflict. Not just physical combat, but moral conflict as well. The players should be confronted with difficult decisions for their characters to make; nothing should be black and white. The author also encourages GMs to stress the poverty and scarcity of the world compared to other fantasy worlds. Each character should find his own personal Hell in the world of Ashes to Ashes and strive to escape it. The world is destroyed, distrust is fomented by the demons of the world, and the cow the next farm over just died. The characters have to decide who they’re going to help and how.
This section is a nice touch. It allows the author to spell out exactly how he envisions his world without breaking the narrative he already established in the previous sections describing the world. If you like the material, but don’t necessarily agree with the author’s vision for it, simply forget this chapter ever existed.
Scenarios
There are two introductory scenarios included, The Lord of Nothing and The Redoubt. I have not had the chance to play the scenarios yet, but I want to. The Lord of Nothing is a morality play where the characters have to decide whether or not a local warlord who is provided for the people, but also working them to the brink of death is a boon or bane to the community. The Redoubt takes place at an ancient fortress where the “great wizards of yore” brought down the abjuration. It is more of a traditional fantasy scenario complete with massive dungeon and powerful dragon, but not without its own moral issues.
Some Noteworthy Demons
A who’s who of demons, this chapter includes statistics and detailed personality notes for six demons – the major adversaries in Ashes to Ashes. Each description should provide an enterprising GM with enough scenario seeds to run a campaign or two.
Index
The book has a useful index that allows a GM to find most of the pertinent information quickly. Coupled with a detailed Table of Contents at the beginning of the book, it’s easier to find material in this monograph than it is in many professionally produced RPGs.
Commentary
Was the author successful in his stated goal to create a philosophically heavy and conflict heavy RPG? I think so. Ashes to Ashes is all about surviving in a world that thrived, sowed the seeds of its own destruction, and is now trying to claw its way back. The allegorical nature of the book, at least as I see it, is a nice touch. If the seven deadly sins of Roman Catholicism are not the underpinnings of the various bad guys in the world, I’d be surprised. For example the man who destroyed the world was a victim of his own pride – he thought he was the best in the world, and would break the world to prove it.
Content wise the book is rock-solid and even if you don’t plan on using the setting, it is still full of excellent ideas to lift for your own setting. Or it might serve as a guide for introducing a more layered, realistic fantasy setting to your players. Almost every page is full of plot ideas and seeds I could lift for other systems.
Presentation wise, the book could use a little work. This is more a matter of my own taste. The spartan layout does get the job done.
Since Ashes to Ashes only covers one continent in the world, hopefully the author will produce more works further expanding the world.
Review Summary