I missed out on the Kickstarter for this one, and the hardcover finally came. This one is sort of fell off my excitement level, since I already have enough fantasy games, and my desire to collect new ones has fallen off a cliff.
Honestly, I like Shadowdark, DCC, OSRIC, and Dungeon Fantasy. Do I have room for another?
This is essentially Low Fantasy Gaming 2.0, a 5E variant I really liked. It tackled the problem of "too much magic" that is chronic in D&D, a problem that spoils the entire experience for that version of the game. Sure, it is fun to "flippy whippy woo" powers around, but eventually it all becomes meaningless and the martial characters quit after a few levels because nobody can put up with the constant caster nonsense in the game.
D&D with too much magic becomes "the game permanently on hallucinogenic mushrooms." Like an addict, the game suffers, divorces itself from reality, and develops chronic conditions. The game also keeps telling itself, "I don't have a problem."
I had this one version of the game where a warlock had this "energy whip" - usable every turn. The entire game felt like a pen-and-paper ARPG, the cool power wasn't special, and it got to be boring after a few turns of "aww cool" turning into "this thing again?"
My group got tired of D&D's overdone magic system.
Even Shadowdark rolls back caster power and puts a cost on magic. If magic is a "shortcut to great power" then it should have a cost. It should be special. Using a magic power should be a single-use game changer. Period.
Infinite use "attack power cantrips" are an abomination to the game, and are as dumb as the "bonus action." Even the word "cantrip" means a minor magical trick or effect. They are not "magnum laser pistols" to be used infinitely with zero cost. 5E cantrips are superpowers, not magic.
Tales of Aragosa is a dense book. I swear words were packed in here extra tight, and I feel the game would have benefitted by being two books instead of one. Shadowdark is a minimalist game, where ToA is a dense rulebook that should have been given room to breathe. I love this much information, but there are times when I flip through this book I get overwhelmed by how much is packed into each page.
It is a good thing and a bad thing. It is a super high-value book full of tables and information, capable of generating entire campaigns by itself. The usability and new player friendliness suffers. If I am playing with new players or random other people, Shadowdark is still my go-to game.
ToA is sort of "Shadowdark plus" in my view. They keep compatible with the monsters and damage scale, which means the ToA book can be used as a "Shadowdark campaign generator." This is still based on 5E-like rules, so it is still familiar to this group of players who have a 5E preference. If you are looking for a 5E Lite game with more rules than Shadowdark, and more options, this is also a good choice.
Considering this is numerically compatible with Shadowdark, you are not losing anything by "side grading" to this game. They have conversion notes in the back of the book for various games, and this keeps with the Shadowdark, B/X, OSRIC, OSE and other scales - while 5E remains the "bag of hit points" outlier. My old-school games are remarkably compatible with each other since they keep the original (non-Wizards) hit point and hit die scale.
I can buy any OSR game, monster book, adventure, or anything else and have easily work with any other OSR game of my choice - Shadowdark, Old School Essentials, ToA, Swords & Wizardry, the Without Number games, OSRIC, or any other. The "damage scaling" Wizards introduced in 3E and on broke compatibility, and these "high hit point" numbers make the game tedious and combats take forever. There is an argument that Wizards never understood D&D from a mathematical foundation, and every version of the game they made missed the mark. DCC feels like an exception, and feels like the game is more tuned to 3.5E hit point levels with classic AC ratings.
If you feel like you outgrew Shadowdark, and you don't want to go to Dragonbane (or back to 5E), ToA is a great game that gives you more depth, options, while keeping that low-fantasy, gritty, dangerous world feeling.
ToA feels worth trying, and as an "advanced Shadowdark" style of game may fill a need I have in my "5E Lite" dark & gritty style of game.
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