[RPG]: Artesia: Adventures in the Known World, reviewed by Brand_Robins (5/4)

2nd Level RPGnetter · #1 01-30-2006, 01:00 AM

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11915.phtml

Brand Robins's Summary:

Based on the <a href=\"http://www.artesiaonline.com/\">Artesia</a> graphic novels, this fusion-based RPG is a solid product with high production values and a solid system. It's only flaws are a distinct lack of game-helpful references like a glossary, index, or cross-referenced organization.

Go to the full review for more information.

Dan Davenport · #2 01-30-2006, 08:14 AM

Good review, Brand! My only comment would be that you didn't really go into the religious magic that anyone can use as opposed to the secular magic requiring study. (As I understand it from previous reviews, at any rate.)

Denys · #3 01-30-2006, 09:17 AM

Nice summary of likes and dislikes. Especially salient are your comments regarding the lack of advice on running various campaign styles. True, that -- and it's a crime that too many games commit.

That said, this rpg is quite smashing.

Brand_Robins · #4 01-30-2006, 12:04 PM

For those looking for a more detailed breakdown of the books contents, I recommend the <a href="http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11824.phtml">by Cason Snow</a> in which he gives a chapter by chapter breakdown. I wrote this review with an eye to not retredding his ground, but covering things he only looked at briefly.

Nick Brazukas · #5 01-30-2006, 04:53 PM

While there is no index and such the author did do one neat thing to help the reader find the necessary rules. In each paragraph that an important rule is being discussed the actual mechanical rule itself is written in bold faced type.

So in the text all the important stuff is going to be very hard to miss.

Brand_Robins · #6 01-30-2006, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Brazukas

So in the text all the important stuff is going to be very hard to miss.

I did like this feature. However, it's only very hard to miss when you're on the right page and looking at the right paragraph. Finding the page isn't always as easy as it could be, and when you find a bold section that is related to a point you're looking for without being the point itself, it often doesn't help a lot.

It is a good idea, and one I'd like to see other publishers use. It is still, however, a good idea I'd like even more if there was a good index. Hell, at that point I'd love it to death and have its babies. Index + Bold Introduction of Concpet = Easy.

ShannonA · #7 01-31-2006, 12:19 PM

The lack of an index is a definitely failing point that makes the game harder to play in real-life situations. Likewise there are a lot of missing charts & reference sheets, including: listings of skills, listings of advantages & disadvantages, a quick-ref page or two for the Arcana system, and a quick-ref page for combat.

Fortunately in this era of the WWW online PDFs can account for these deficiencies.

2nd Level RPGnetter · #8 01-31-2006, 11:41 PM

Honestly, I found none of this to be anything even approaching a deal-breaker or to actually make running the game difficult. I just did what we did in the old days: I headed to Kinkos and photocopied the Arcana. That's all I needed (and that was really just to hand to the players).

Brand_Robins · #9 07-25-2006, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tetsujin28

Honestly, I found none of this to be anything even approaching a deal-breaker or to actually make running the game difficult. I just did what we did in the old days: I headed to Kinkos and photocopied the Arcana. That's all I needed (and that was really just to hand to the players).

Well, for those of us who like a little more than that, there is now an index avaliable on the website. Which pretty much removes the one big problem I had with the game.

Zoom!