[RPG]: Prophecy, reviewed by macd21 (2/3)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13907.phtml

Mac Dara Mac Donnacha's Summary:

An interesting fantasy setting, but does it have what it takes or will it break your heart?

Go to the full review for more information.

[DavidStallard]

Nice review. I can understand the adverse reaction to the Felinor but I'm trying to remain open-minded about them at this point.

I'd be curious to hear more about the setting. What did your players like about the setting so much that they were willing to overlook some of the system problems you mentioned?

(I actually own Prophecy but haven't gotten past the Players Guide yet so I haven't read any of the GM or setting books)

[Destriarch]

Thanks for the review, I think this one's a misser. In fact I don't think I have much choice in the matter anyway since I've never even seen a copy here in the UK.

I'm sorry though, I just can't take a race called the 'Nelven' seriously when they're obvious elf-equivalents. "Hi, I'm a Nelven Mage..." yes... a bit obvious, isn't it? It even sounds the same as the more conventional version.

I also can't help thinking how funny it is that the female cat-things would die to protect the males, because they are necessary to the continuation of their species. Now, from this I can only assume that the males are very rare, which beggars the question why are the males trained as warriors if they are so vital to the continuation of the species? Surely the logical thing to do would be to toughen up the women, who are apparently of less biological importance to the act... of... procreation??? Hold on a second, last time I checked it was women that had the babies. There's something weird going on there. To me that whole logic sounds fundamentally flawed.

Ash

[Crimsoncat]

Originally Posted by Destriarch

I also can't help thinking how funny it is that the female cat-things would die to protect the males, because they are necessary to the continuation of their species. Now, from this I can only assume that the males are very rare, which beggars the question why are the males trained as warriors if they are so vital to the continuation of the species? Surely the logical thing to do would be to toughen up the women, who are apparently of less biological importance to the act... of... procreation??? Hold on a second, last time I checked it was women that had the babies. There's something weird going on there. To me that whole logic sounds fundamentally flawed.

Ash

I think it sound a bit strange myself but I am guessing that since they are catgirls that babies come in litters like cats and for some strange biological reason the majority of them are female. Sinnce both are needed to keep the race going expecially but then they have the soul link so if a female mates with a male he cannot go mate with other females. therefore males are need to be protected so to keep the race going. I have not read the material so I can only guess that magic is somehow been intergrated in their bodily system before the race fell which attributes to it. As for society roles that they have may go back before the fall and they do so because they are trying to keep their culture alive. Remember this is just a guess as I have not seen the books.

I found some things interesting and would like to know more about the setting itself. It seems to be another fantasy heartbreaker but seems to have some interesting stuff but the buy in is like $60 for the boxed set.

[DavidStallard]

Most of the male Felinor were killed in some sort of attempted genocide or something, that's why they are so rare. I don't know the details, haven't really gotten that far in my boxed set yet.

[arete66]

If you want gritty fantasy with extreme detail and great maps, get thee to Harn immediately.

Harnmaster, itself, can be an acquired taste but any system can be slotted into the setting. And big bonus: No female cat creatures.

Cheers,
Tom

[DavidStallard]

The game claims to be aimed at gritty, more realistic games, but so far in my reading I've seen no evidence of that. It looks like a typical Tolkeinesque fantasy setting to me so far. But like I said in a previous post, I haven't touched the setting book or the GM book at all; I'm maybe halfway through the players guide.

[g026r]

Originally Posted by DavidStallard

Most of the male Felinor were killed in some sort of attempted genocide or something, that's why they are so rare.

From which one can deduce that either:

a) most Felinor never meet their soul mates, or else there would be a lot less female ones

or

b) the massive gender imbalance was there to begin with

At least, that's what I get out of combining the description of soul mates with the genocide backstory.

[DavidStallard]

I think the killing of most of the males happened fairly recently, within the current generation. So I think previous to that, most female Felinor would find a male soulmate. Now that most males are dead, many females are doomed not to find one. I got the distinct impression that this is something relatively new for the Felinor to deal with, not a situation which has been maintained for generation after generation.

[macd21]

Its funny, every time someone starts talking about Prophecy, the conversation tends to turn to the Felinor...

Most of the Felinor were wiped out in a terrible war against the big bad a few generations back. Because of their traditions, the men went to war first, so at the end there were very few males left. Now, up until this point, the Felinor could only soulbond with other Felinor and could only have children with other Felinor, so it seemed the race was doomed. The great Elder Mages of the Felinor cast a great spell, which resulted in them being able to soul bond with members of other races. When a Felinor has a child with someone from another race, that child is automatically Felinor, but is also always a girl. Therefore, for the long-term survival of the race the male Felinor are critical, as they are the only ones who can father boys. Until the Felinor have enough males, they have to soul bond with members of other races, which is messy and awkward and often results in tragedy and death.

Plus, male Felinor are way hotter than the other races, 'cause they are cat boys.

I wish there was a rolleye smiley