FANTASY SERIES #7: An excellent game that is not for everyone given its complex and detailed game system. But don't miss the way it handles the setting and magic.
Post originally by Philippe Tromeur at 2003-04-18 05:58:38
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That's another very good review of RDD : I'll need lots of efforts to write mine (about the recent English version).
As a French player I'll try to spice it with actual play impressions, and talk a little bit about the many supplements (http://www.roliste.com/jeu.jsp?id=1701&ft=1 for an incomplete list).
Note : you're reviewing the third printing of the second edition.
Here are the editions :
- first edition (2 books, 1 screen)
- second edition 1st print (box, 3 books, 1 screen)
- second ed 2nd print (perfect bound)
- oniros 1st printing (simplified version of the rules)
- second ed 3rd printing (hardback)
- oniros 2nd printing (like the older one, but with a new cover)
- ourobouros (english translation, pdf versions of the 3 books, based on 2nd ed with a few elements from 1st edition)
My favourite version of the rules is Oniros (except many races and monsters are missing), but 2nd ed is clean too.
A note about campaigns :
As an old RdD player, I must say that the game is more interesting (to me) in one-shots (or short campaigns) than long campaigns, because the setting is so "unstable" (you're always swapping universes).
Multisim, when it was still the publisher, tried to remedy this with the "Unirêve" boxed set : a description of a inter-dream empire. Nice try, but not developped enough IMHO ...
Post originally by Antoine Boegli at 2003-04-18 10:21:44
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Good review.
RdD is my first RPG as a gamemaster. It has influenced my view on gaming more than anything (except perhaps Over the Edge and Nobilis).
Some observations :
- You are true, there is no reference to Magic, only to Haut-Rêve.
- The idea of the PC reincarnation is intended. It is true that it was, at the start, an expedient for solving the PC-death problem, but it is at the core of the game from a player perspective.
Denis Gerfaud has only written two games, wich are RdD and a completelly insane one called "Hystoire de Fou" (pun on the words 'histoire' (story) and 'hystérie' (hysteria)).
Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2003-04-18 10:37:37
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"The idea of the PC reincarnation is intended. It is true that it was, at the start, an expedient for solving the PC-death problem, but it is at the core of the game from a player perspective"
That's the beauty of it. RdD presents an excellent in-setting way to solve a gamist problem without making it feel forced. It's not the only way to do it (Rune has another approach that's gamist and proud to be) but it's excellently done.
Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2003-04-18 11:08:05
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"As an old RdD player, I must say that the game is more interesting (to me) in one-shots (or short campaigns) than long campaigns, because the setting is so "unstable" (you're always swapping universes)"
I always loved the scenarios in Casus Belli. When I read RdD I realized right away that it was a device to chain those scenarios and keep it consistent.
Frankly speaking, what I didn't get as much as I was expecting was the sense of onirical wonder that the reviews of the game drove me to expect. It's there but not to the point I was waiting for. Maybe the published scenarios for the game provide it.
Post originally by Sammael99 at 2003-04-19 07:48:50
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Sergio,
Regarding a comment you made in one of the comment threads, ie. the disappointment about the book not giving you the sense of onirical wonder, I wanted to say this :
It's true that this sense of wonder is mostly present in the published scenarios (magazines and/or otherwise). However, I believe the game line died partly because as time went by there was less and less of it. The later 2nd edition scenarios were pretty stale and formulaic, relying on tried and tested recipes but without the wacky greatness of 1st Edition scenarios.
I believe there are still a lot of RdD players in France and most likely, if the scenarios had kept on being original and fresh, the game would still be going strong.
For whoever's interested, the best published scenarios (IMO) are :
1st Edition :
L'Empire du Roi Joueur
L'Auberge des Derniers Voyageurs
La Cité des Treize Plaisirs
2nd Edition :
Un Rêve en Boldzarie
L'Oeuf de Psiluma
Also for what it's worth, Malcontent's translation is faithful and changes practivally nothing to the game. It lacks some examples and the scenarios are published separately and for free. That's about it for the changes.
Post originally by philippe tromeur at 2003-04-20 00:32:59
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Back in 1998, three of the best 1st ed scenarii were bundled into a supplement updated for the second edition : "Trois Reflets d'Anciens Rêves" :
- L'Empire du Roi-Joueur
- L'Auberge des Derniers Voyageurs
- Un Parfum d'Onirose
Of course, the book is out-of-print and difficult to fin, but less so than the original books (published in 1987 and 1988).
Some online shops for it :
- Troll's Games http://www.trollsgames.com/Catalogue/ListeProduits.html?Categorie=1&SousCategorie=45
- Neodelas http://www.crypte-neodelas.fr/shopping/?action=show_categ&category_id=216
- Le Dragon Laonnnois http://www.dragonlaonnois.com/Boutique2.php3?Produit=R%EAve%20de%20Dragon%20Oniros
Post originally by JR at 2003-04-24 12:10:43
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hello,
Even with my poor english, I would like to add a message about this game I really like.
We spend a lot of funny hours (15-20 years ago) with it, and I am happy if more people will discover it.
It is definitively a "different" game if you compare it with what were played in the same times : Chtulhu, ADD 1st, James Bond, Mega, ...
As for scenarios, we especially liked "au bonheur des Ziglutes" and "le sacré pinceau à barbe" for their Role playing aspects.
Linear Mode
