<i>The Zorcerer of Zo</i> presents a wondrous land full of fairy tale creatures, princesses locked away in distant towers, and good hearted adventurers. With the fast and easy PDQ system driving it forward, a detailed example campaign, and plenty of pre-gened characters, ZOZ is extremely GM friendly and easy to work with.
Re: [RPG]: The Zorcerer of Zo, reviewed by C.W.Richeson (4/4)
Thanks for the positive feedback!
And now, corrections! Since I submitted this almost two weeks ago here's what I've learned:
1. Any reference to "Emerald City" in the review should be "Jade City." While very similar, I'm confidant that only Chad has an IP interest in Jade City
2. The book does not have an Index but instead has a very detailed Table of Contents. My reference to an Index should be read as "The Table of Contents is very detailed and comprehensive, providing functionality equivalent to a well done Index and making the product easy to navigate."
The setting is really all that isn’t included in this product
What do you mean by that? The setting isn't included?
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Tragical fairy tales are often quite dark and, often, end with the death of the main character. These tales serve to teach lessons and serve as a warning to others. They’re the most common form of older fairy tales.
I was going to point out that there's no such word as tragical, but dictionary.com proved me wrong. However, I don't think they qualify as the "most common form of older fairy tales." I've read most of the original Grimms' fairy tales, and I think I'd categorize most of them as being "Harsh But Fair", whereas "Tragical" sounds more like the type of story Hans Christian Andersen wrote.
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Azul, Giallo, Rosso, Viola, and Zo Proper each receive one page of description.
Can you give us some idea of what they're like?
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The system used in ZoZ, known as the “Good Parts” of the PDQ
Cute. Did you get the reference?
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The GM decides this is a Good Difficulty (9). Since there are vines growing on the walls, however, the GM gives Jake an Upshift – a +2 modifier.
Is there a mechanical difference between lowering the difficulty and rasing the roll? For example, does a higher roll equate to a better success?
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In Complex Situations dice are rolled, even though there may not be negative circumstances if the character.
If the character what?
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I want it to be a Magic Star Quality too, so he can create magical toys, and choose to give up another Rank (+2) in order to do so.
If "Magic Star Quality" is a descriptor attached to other qualities, how would you create a generic "magician" character?
Btw, I noticed that your font kept switching back and forth from Times to Arial, which was a bit distracting. Is there a reason for that?
Wyvern
__________________
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
- William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"
Thanks for the comments, Wyvern76! Let me see if I can help.
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Originally Posted by Wyvern76
What do you mean by that? The setting isn't included?
I'm referring to the fact that a game involving a composite of fairy tales is going to derive most of its "setting" from the fairy tales the group seeks to emulate. There is a setting, I briefly discuss it, but I find a detailed setting to be completely unnecessary here.
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I was going to point out that there's no such word as tragical, but dictionary.com proved me wrong. However, I don't think they qualify as the "most common form of older fairy tales." I've read most of the original Grimms' fairy tales, and I think I'd categorize most of them as being "Harsh But Fair", whereas "Tragical" sounds more like the type of story Hans Christian Andersen wrote.
Neat!
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Can you give us some idea of what they're like?
I wont, but someone else might be up for it. They're simple and flavorful, about what you'd expect from a page of description.
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Cute. Did you get the reference?
I don't understand, so I expect not.
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Is there a mechanical difference between lowering the difficulty and rasing the roll? For example, does a higher roll equate to a better success?
I want to say that if a character succeeds by a wide margin they may gain a bonus, but otherwise no. Certainly in a contest with another character you want to succeed by as much as possible in order to decrease your opponent's abilities.
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If the character what?
Fails. Sorry, that one missed the editing check. Sometimes dice will be rolled even if the character stands to suffer no big negative if they fail.
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If "Magic Star Quality" is a descriptor attached to other qualities, how would you create a generic "magician" character?
I'd buy Wizard*, Witch*, Magician*, or something similar at +4 or +6.
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Btw, I noticed that your font kept switching back and forth from Times to Arial, which was a bit distracting. Is there a reason for that?
I went back and checked. The text I submitted is Times New Roman all the way through. It looks fine on my screen. The Examples use Italicized text to distinguish them from the body of the review.
I suspect it's a reference to The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version). Goldman wrote the book with the conceit that it's an abridged version of a story his grandfather read to him as a boy. Supposedly, both S. Morgenstern and his grandfather were from Florin, the country in which the story is set. Goldman loved the book as a child, but when he finally managed to track down a copy as an adult, he discovered that it had long, boring stretches of political satire, so he edited them out to give us just the "Good Parts". (Incidentally, I have a friend who read Les Miserables, and she said that it's much the same.)
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I went back and checked. The text I submitted is Times New Roman all the way through. It looks fine on my screen. The Examples use Italicized text to distinguish them from the body of the review.
Well, I was actually reading the printable version. The main review page is entirely in Arial, the same as most RPGNet reviews. If you put font tags in the text you submitted, that may have something to do with it. Or it may not.
Wyvern
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"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
- William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"
Azul, Giallo, Rosso, Viola, and Zo Proper each receive one page of description.
Can you give us some idea of what they're like?
Here's a short selection from the Proto Zo textbox on page iv, detailing "the entirety of the campaign design for the initial ZoZ campaign – before the players made up their characters, at least. All additional details in the description of the setting (see Chapter 2) or in the NPC descriptions (see Chapter 4) were either added during play or (rarely) the writing of this book."
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The Zantabulous Land of Zo!
The magic empire of Zo is composed of five smaller countries:
1. Zo Proper: Jade City, ruled by the Zorcerer of Zo. Vaguely pan-Asian; metropole of the Zo Empire, though in practice never exercises his power. Zolanders are known for their keenness of observation and manners. Center of Map. Green.
2. Azul: Farmland and forest. Azulites are known for their industriousness and perseverance. East of Map. Blue.
3. Rosso: Port cities, trade and fishing. Rossons are known for their adventurous and romantic nature. South of Map. Red.
4. Giallo: Plains given to farmland (grain) and herding. Giallons are known for their courage and pragmatism. West of Map. Yellow.
5. Viola: Hills and mountains; mining and crafting. Violanders are known for their intellects and inventiveness. Viola has a slightly higher number of magical things – and thus magic-users – hanging around. North of Map. Purple.
Throughout the Zo Empire there are witches, dragons, ogres, talking and dumb beasts, fairies, lucky third sons, princesses, evil step-mothers, the whole megillah.
Chapter 2 expands on these, as Chris said, up to about a page. . . and there are further details here and there within the book.
Here's a short selection from the Proto Zo textbox on page iv, detailing "the entirety of the campaign design for the initial ZoZ campaign – before the players made up their characters, at least. All additional details in the description of the setting (see Chapter 2) or in the NPC descriptions (see Chapter 4) were either added during play or (rarely) the writing of this book."
Thanks, that was very helpful. I was wondering what distinguished them from one another besides their names (and colors), and that answered the question nicely.
Wyvern
__________________
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
- William Shakespeare, "Hamlet"
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