Usually, entertainment is limited to browsing the internet , watching movies and series, or reading books. I want to suggest you enter the world of tabletop rpgs , amazing games involving no less than computer games, telling stories as addictive as books and having epic actions with you in the lead role.
Maybe you have ever heard the concept of rpg or its development, i.e. role playing game . Currently, the vast majority of people associate these words with games created for consoles and computers, e.g. Witcher 3. It all began a long time ago with rpg board games , which consisted of playing the created characters in different worlds. There are many rpg systems , some are more complicated, others less and I would like to talk about the latter today.
In my hands I found a simple rpg system EveryVerse RPG, which allows newcomers to enter the world of tabletop games . Before we get to the review , let me try to encourage you to play RPG games for a short time .
Pen and paper RPG , because I so sometimes called a tabletop RPG , in order to show the how much need to play is a great form of entertainment , in which players embody the roles and describe the language of their actions .
Taken decisions have an impact on it which way to roll up the story , and what will be the fate of the form .
However , that each game could be held needed is a system of play , describing the rules of the game , of which heroes can and what not , sometimes -creating the whole world . Players often have the card as having the characteristics of a hero , age , gender skills so on . For this , some systems RPG are very powerful and have separate books of several hundred pages rules , which effectively may discourage the fun .
Meeting up with friends usually dating to the few hours of the game , if most of the time will take care of their translation , is anyone there would want to play . That is why I suggest starting with tabletop rpgs for beginners , a set of rules that can be adapted to most worlds and hories.
The Game Master is responsible for knowing the system, he is a person who knows the rules well and creates the story. Responsible for playing NPCs, creating stories and making the game at least a small challenge for players.
The set of rules is called the rpg system , while the individual rules determine the game's mechanics.
I assume that the above information was known to you, since you read this post, but a few words of introduction will always be useful. I always act as the master of the game, although sometimes I feel like playing the player, but as a GM I also fulfill myself. I meet with my friends on average once a month to play a short script.
Recently there was an initiative to play with less experienced people and I needed some good system not to discourage them. I came across EVERYVERSE RPG, as rpg is just one form of entertainment for me and I don't spend too much time in this area, it was a system unknown to me.
Before purchasing, I had several criteria that in my opinion had to be met to be able to talk about a simple rpg tabletop system.
They simplify so much, any rpg system can be reduced to the division into character creation, mechanics and skills. To recognize that the roleplaying systems is easy and suitable for beginners, each of these stages have to contain a small amount of pages and be described in a meaningful way.
The disadvantage of many basic RPG systems is that they have no balance and are too simple and contain mechanics that give little satisfaction from the game. The player must enjoy the game if we give him a system that does not reward cubes with success, he will not care about the game.
RPG systems , regardless of how complex they are, are always created by enthusiasts who love this form of entertainment. It is no different in the case of EveryVerse RPG, whose creator is Dennis J. Parizek , an avid player since the time of college .
His passion turned into the creation of fun basic rpg games , whose main premise was that the Game Master did not have to sit up with his nose in the book describing the rules, and had the opportunity to create a simple rpg world and generate interesting adventures while maintaining equally simple mechanics, but giving satisfaction with game.
Unfortunately, the author did not live to see the release of the system, because he died of cancer, but his passion was alive with the wife of Dennis . In a certain way, she received a textbook describing the basic principles, outline of paranormal phenomena, history and high- tech equipment .
Debra and friends finished the system and we can now talk about the specifics.
Each major adventure begins with the generation of characters that players will play. EVERYVERSE includes five methods to create characters that differ in their complexity.
The first method, called the standard generation, will require 4 10-sided dice, or 4d10, i.e. four throws with one 10-sided dice. For this you will need a very simple character card, which you can create yourself or use the example.
By default, we choose the name, gender and in this case the species.
Skills
Skills are used in some attempts as long as they are adequate to what the game's master expects. The skills have been divided in a cascading manner, i.e. gradation occurs . Skills may be modified with Equalizers, Aptitudes , blocks , improvements it d . The circumstances of using the skill are described in the textbook .
Game rules
Many tabletop rpg games have extensive player movement systems. They are often strict and kill creativity a little. For example, information about pursuits, movement, etc. in the Call of Cthulhu is described on several pages. In addition, depending on the version of the manual, these rules are described differently, which disturbed me a lot and I modified them according to my own needs, which in a way affected the game.
Fortunately, in EVERYVERSE RPG the movement system has been greatly simplified. Movement is interpreted here based on the logic and physical abilities of the characters. The game for the more ambitious GM allows the possibility of fatigue and is described in detail how to do it. Personally, I think that this is good mechanics and I use it myself, but also on the principles of the logical representation of the game world.
Regarding mechanics, it all comes down to practically 4d10 views and interpreting the result in relation to the table attached to the textbook.
World
The game world may vary depending on the campaign, the rules are very flexible in this respect . As the world changes, you will have to change the attribute names, but that's a minor issue. In the manual we will find information on how to create the world and how it will look in relation to what we know from the earth. For example, an ED 39.81 score will mean that 38,1 million people live in the new land.
There are many variables we can define in this way, from temperature to gravity to crime levels.
Created worlds can really be very different from each other, it is enough to change one element between games, e.g. one campaign you play at earth temperature and another in the world where people can live only in special air-conditioned places, because the temperature is too high for humans outside. This approach gives GM amazing opportunities to create completely different campaigns, that's what I love about RPG systems .
At the beginning of the handbook we will get some guidelines and suggestions according to which the world should be created, e.g. the historical period, divided into advancement in technology. The best thing about EVERYVERSE is that the game can take place in the world of fantasy and Science Fiction . Personally, I played a lot of games with mystical monsters, elves, dwarves and tasks in which you had to defeat the evil dragon. After a long time, it can get boring and then it's nice to move into the world of High-Tech.
In the case of a world with developed technology, it is worth following the assumptions that can actually exist in such a world of the future, e.g. lasers or cars hidden in capsules like pokemons.
I cheated you a little, because in fact the world you create depends only on you. A game after the Holocaust where players play the role of spies? USSR winning the war and not stopping in Berlin? A world where dinosaurs have never died out and live in special enclaves, but one day they break free?
By creating a world based on real events, you have a lot of source material on hand and you are able to write fact-based campaigns. Do you know how the assassination of the Pope took place, maybe your players will be mixed up or prevented?
The creative process may seem complicated, but as the example from the manual shows, you can create an RPG world by adapting to one A4 page.
If you are looking for a simple rpg system for beginners and you do not want to read dozens of pages of rules and focus on pure gameplay, EVERYVERSE RPG is for you. By using this guide you will create a world that will be convincing and sufficient for many sessions. Mechanics are described in an accessible way and focus on practically one table, you can forget about hundreds of variables and focus on the story.
Simple tabletop rpg system which is EVERYVERSE RPG is even more interesting because the price is attractive and definitely lower than most RPG manuals. Maybe you will not find amazing graphics and bestiary here, but this was not the assumption of the creators, after all, it was about creating a simple and fun rpg system, and it definitely succeeded.
E-book available on the manufacturer's website