Roll Player Adventures - Effortless Fun

[@SoloBoardGamingKnight]

For the past week, I’ve been debating on whether or not to purchase RPA. Everything about it seems great! My biggest concern comes from other videos/posts mentioning a lack of actual gameplay. That is what I’ve read/watched but it seems to be a greatly exaggerated complaint because this looks phenomenal! I will be picking it up today and that’s mainly because of how you explained/showcased (especially when you talked about the books included) the game. Loved what I saw!

[@joerobertson7709]

Discovered your channel while looking up info on this game. Great video. Love your style. Subscribed.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Thanks! This is cool game. I’ve been meaning to get back to it.

[@williammyles]

Nice walk through of games looks nice thanks so much 😊

[@erikpeters7072]

Love this game. Been playing roll player which I bought after this and actually really enjoying it with the monsters and minions expansions. Going to restart with some characters imported from Roll player.

[@annoyingrequirement]

Just picked this game up, delivered on Friday - happy to catch this video!

[@krislam0]

Funny how I'm seeing this a bit after I started with my own campaign, and you talk about spoilers and such - then I see you picked exactly the same hero and opted to explore exactly the same path (starlit door), we seem to share a fair bit of title cards as well :D

[@MegaChatzi]

Yess I've been waiting for this. I was worried you'd spent the money then hated it. Phew! Effortless Fun is a great way to describe it. It looks so complex but once you get the rules it's so easy and fun to go through. And I agree with the awesome setup/breakdown time. I refuse to play huge box zillion miniature games that take a half an hour to set up. This really hits the sweet spot.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yes! Thank you for convincing me. :)

[@d-manozgaming8447]

This looks absolutely awesome! 👌

[@jean-sebastienh.8789]

Thank you for the review! My god! I really though that this game was just an upgrade version of Roll Player that I didn't like! I was so wrong!!! I'm sold, gonna buy this as soon as I find it!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Highly recommended!

[@ten_oclock_scholar4690]

Would love to see some extended thoughts on this game if you've gotten a chance to play through some additional scenarios!

[@yodennis2000]

Sold me on this Daniel. I got my ridiculously heavy box in the mail on Thursday!

[@TheDungeonDive]

It’s a big heavy box, for sure.

[@jwraper1498]

Enjoyed this one!

[@josh1674]

Hey Daniel, if you look at call of Cthulhu seventh edition, they have a push your luck option anytime you feel a skill roll. You can do it again, but if you fail, something really bad happens. I feel like this would be very easily to house rule. Maybe you get to make your attempt with double what you would normally have in terms of chancesbut then if you fail, you will get a bad keyword. Maybe we can look at what some good keywords are that could be used for this

[@crazyvolucris]

Well i guess i will pick it up later in the year for a good second hand price… or next year? Well i am not in a hurry (got plenty stuff up on the shelves 🤣🤪

[@Naruga]

Hmmm, I also had no interest in this after being severely disappointed by my Roll Player experience after having the game hyped up for me for so long. I have been getting back into the Fighting Fantasy games though since playing them as a kid and really been enjoying them (especially mapping out my adventure and seeing the map get filled in over repeat adventures). I may have to reconsider this. Though a quick look at Amazon shows it is selling for more than I would want to pay for it. Edit - I think the keyword system can work well, it really helps Fabled Lands feel personal to your character so happy to see more board games using it.

[@cheesedanishable]

The big problem I have with the game is the balance. Playing true solo the game starts far too hard but quickly becomes far too easy half way through the campaign. The designers actually are working on an official fix and are actively watching BGG for feedback and ideas. They also say there's future story content coming so it's possible this good game can become really great. I hope so because I really love the narrative and you're spot on with your comparison to dragonholt and sleeping gods.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I can see that being a problem for some people. It’s not for me. I suck at games, so I prefer them as easy as possible usually. :)

[@rpgchronicler]

@@TheDungeonDive Thank you. I feel like im not doing it right if i played games on easy even though its more enjoyable than playing games on higher difficulties where i would just be too frustrated to continue on playing.

[@shazam2323]

have they revised/added anything since release or filming of this video?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Don't know. Check BGG.

[@TheMightyFlea-0]

Looks great, but a little rich for my blood. Which is a shame. I own Descent and play solo with the app as the DM, and the hill that i die on in that game is the "You die, you start over". The option here of receiving a punishment and not aquiring something or a negative perk sounds FAAAAR better than the Quest just ending. An adventure story should play out and the concequences should be a lot more imaginative than just death. It's such a craw in my side that i may sell Descent to put towards this. I might sell Lord of the Rongs LCG too as i have never beaten that game. I think the Artwork looks great in this.

[@TheDungeonDive]

Totally. Dealing with a consequence is far more interesting than just GAME OVER.

[@RedTheCrimson]

My main criticism of rpa is the story. The encounter book was great, just right on the randomness I was of looking for (however I do feel Tales of the Arabian Nights has forever spoiled me, nothing has come close to that book ever). That said, the campaign really irked me. Truly, the decisions you make in the end matter very little. Thunderworks had a VERY specific story to tell, which is completely fine. However, in a create-your-own character game, that kinda bummed me out. I was hoping the decisions I made, and the way I approached the story, would offer me options in the end. Sadly, this story sees only in black and white. To be fair, people are often black and white, and stories are black and white. I suppose j just had higher hopes for the versatility of the game. I hear the expansion adds some life to the pre generated characters, as well as RP tie ins. I'll have to give that a try. I love the writing, characters, and world, so I want to keep this game. Time will tell, it may just be a super light story game I keep for parties, rather than solo play. For me, the last chapter really let me down on an otherwise wonderful, rich ride.

[@rhubahb]

Daniel, do you play this solo with 2 characters?

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yes

[@rhubahb]

@@TheDungeonDive Do you have the Nefra's Judgement expansion that adds backstory and alignment to the characters? I've heard both good and meh things about it. Curious if you've played with it and interested in your thoughts / if you think it adds enough to get a copy.

[@GrungefolkBoy2010]

I was gonna pass on this, but looking at yr video, actually seems pretty cool, I enjoyed Dragonholt, so shall add this to my wishlist, gota get Mini rogue first...you are not good for my bank balance 😜

[@TheDungeonDive]

If you liked Dragonholt, you will love this. Although I do think Dragonholt has better characters and writing. That might be the best game book ever made.

[@danno4729]

Hi Daniel, great review! I just watched your top 50 as well. Is it too early to say if RPA might make your top 50 from last year, or maybe not? It looks like such a great game. Thanks again!

[@TheDungeonDive]

Too early to say. Haven’t played enough of it.

[@minnwaiyan]

it's been on my radar for a long time but i'm afraid it would be too similar to Sleeping Gods, which was a disappointment for me.

[@fehner27]

is it worth the high price tag?

[@TheDungeonDive]

I mention that in the review.

[@Klovember]

RPA is one of the worst story driven games I had the displeasure of playing. While it starts out somehow interesting, with its D&D like adventure books, the game has incredible flaws, especially played true solo. 1. It does not scale. Playing with 4 makes the start so much easier. The start is very hard. 2. After a while, after getting some more cards, the game becomes increasingly easy, making it difficult to miss a single test. 3. The story sucks. The decisions the game forces on me, would never ever be chosen by one of my TRPG characters. In essence, RPA is just a bloated choose your own adventure book. And it is not even among the best. But it costs 10 times as much.

[@TheDungeonDive]

We can't all like everything :)

[@shazam2323]

what are some good alternatives?

[@Klovember]

@@shazam2323 The Isofarian Guard is the far better game IMHO.

[@MelvLee]

Super cool! Looks like 2021-22 will be a good year for Gamebook comeback with games like Roll Player / Sleeping Gods / Alba / Storm Weavers / Legendary Kingdoms book 2 / Army of Bones and many other gamebooks / gamebook inspired board game coming out!