Wolves of God: Dark Ages OSR RPG Review

[@QuestingBeast]

Buy Wolves of God in PDF or Print-on-Demand: bit.ly/WoGDTRPG Buy the deluxe, offset version: bit.ly/WoGOffset The Waking of Willowby Hall (print): bit.ly/WillowbyPrint The Waking of Willowby Hall (PDF): bit.ly/WillowbyDTRPG

[@ErinWi]

A selection of foes ranging from ordinary bandits all the way to mythic monsters and, even, Welshmen.

[@airsheeps]

I appreciate the conceit that it's a historical tome that's been unearthed, but if that's the case it would have been fantastic to see art that had a style like that in illuminated manuscripts, which would also give this a very unique flavor among RPGs (and spare you the uninspired vanilla feeling you mention).

[@AdrianFacchi]

Aquelarre did that quite well www.chaosium.com/aquelarre-pdf/

[@Sanguivore]

I agree completely, Jay. When he got to the first piece of art, I was extremely let down.

[@GREENSP0RE]

That would have really pulled the whole thing together.

[@geoffreynelson6413]

I am loving Wolves of God. I plan to use elements of WoG with Beyond the Wall, for a Rosemary Sutcliffe/Lloyd Alexander kind of vibe.

[@landonmackey1091]

What a impressive game adaptation of Middle Ages culture. I love how he built the system not around epic gameplay, but the priorities and beliefs that they lived by, and what THEY would consider epic and "worthy of much laud." It would be quite amusing to run for new players who are only accustomed to fantasy RPGs. "Wait, what do you mean I have to amputate my hand? It was ONE combat!" I've actually been playing around with a low-magic realistic fiction setting for a story plot, so I might enjoy this game. I've never heard of rule-prescribed plot armor before too

[@PhyreI3ird]

Damn, this has gotta go on my list now. This sounds absolutely awesome! I love anything that uses our knowledge of history to try and paint an image of how people used to view the world and each other, and this seems to have it in SPADES!! Thanks for sharing dude!

[@GreasusGoldtooth]

I've wanted to do a fantasy game that was based more on the Dark Ages rather than the High Middle Ages or the Renaissance for a good while. This seems like the game for that. It wouldn't take much to convert this to purely fantasy rather than mostly historical.

[@revylokesh1783]

Might I recommend checking out _Mythic Britain_ for Runequest/Mythras? Awesome book.

[@dubuyajay9964]

Me too. The first 500 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire is so underused. The only bright spot was "corrupt" Byzantium. The closest we have to that is pretty much Conan. Maybe Dark Sun, but that's more Bronze Age collapse.

[@RobertWF42]

Was just watching a documentary tonight about a huge Pictish hill fort that was recently discovered in Scotland.

[@midshipman8654]

tbh? i really think dark age (or early medieval or whatever) britian is a great setting for an rpg! in my mind, i feel like it by and large has been the greatest era of inspiration for classical fantasy in general, and fantasy rpgs and B/x style in particular. The idea of a setting with the backdrop of an anceint empire of civilization (rome) which collapsed with its scant remnants in the church and old texts fueling a burgeoning and vital, but preeminently uncertain civilization. the meeting point between the wild mysticism and youthful energies of the north, and the half forgotten memories of south fusing in a misty settings of legend. the interplay between the two providing ripe grounds for heroics, ones that i think preminently influenced people like tolkein or gygax in their modeling of their works. both high theology and virtue and superstition. very real kings and larger than life figures. bandits and terrifying monsters. noble savages and savage nobles. Rolands and Arthurs and alfreds and Hengists and Horsas. i just think the feel is really spot on, and I am happy that it was made if nothing else.

[@paavohirn3728]

Seems like there's a lot of cool flavor! That time period and place is hugely fascinating the more you get into it. Last Kingdom btw is a pretty good series looking into the era. Wray I don't get is removing the expert class. Now there's only one non - magical class in a low - magic setting...

[@Sanguivore]

Yeah, 2 of the 3 classes being magic-users was a very strange choice for a low-magic setting.

[@ilyaalexakhin8745]

I think its to harken back to Fighting-man/Cleric/Magic-user of OD&D. I love the flavour of the setting a lot too, which is why I wish it would have less sub-systems like 2d6 skills (including spell/miracles checks), wyrds, splendor re-rolls, foci, point buy system for levelling up, lots of modifier math etc. Oh well, I'll just use the awesome setting with OD&D rules

[@Sanguivore]

@@ilyaalexakhin8745 Oh, it certainly is for that reason that they're included-but it still wasn't a logical or thematic inclusion given the setting.

[@ilyaalexakhin8745]

@@Sanguivore I can see it from that point of view yeah. Yet after reading through it, the setting doesn't seem that low magic or realistic to me. For example the bestiary is quite fantastic (dragons etc), Roman ruins are pocket dimensions with monsters, death is impossible until heroic/unheroic destiny is fulfilled, huge modifiers left and right, damage on every miss etc. So maybe the magical classes seeming out of place is a sign of larger thematic disconnect or something. Like if the book wasn't pitched from a point of view of a monk from a realistic time period, it would seem a lot more like heroic fantasy. Personally I do wish it was more cattle raiding and less magic, but what historical parts are there are good.

[@Sanguivore]

@@ilyaalexakhin8745 All good points, my friend. Thank you for all that additional information! (And I, too, would enjoy a low fantasy RPG with more cattle-raiding! Hahaha.)

[@jaytomioka3137]

Glory and Shame are really interesting rpg concepts for xp advancement!

[@geoffreynelson6413]

A good companion to this is the Beowulf rpg. I was also disappointed with the idea presented in WoG that villages were interchangeable and uninteresting, and Beowulf somewhat makes up for that. (I guess the pejorative village prejudice has to do with the monk-author-metafiction, but I think it really hurts the game.) There’s a free hall generator on DTRPG for Beowulf that’s full of story potential.

[@FMD-FullMetalDragon]

I hope he will do historical games on other time periods. It woukd be interesting to see him work on the weird west, age of piracy, and ancient Greece.

[@thomasdevine867]

How about a alchemical-industrial 1930s America with a moonbase. Great Britain, France, Russia, Brazil (let them be a superpower in this world), and Germany, also have lunar claims and bases. Mars could be Atlantis and a very Arabian Night-ish blend of Ancient Egypt, India, and Tibet.

[@bjhale]

I recall a thread, possibly on rpg.net or Reddit, where he discussed working on a fantasy colonial Mexico, if I recall correctly.

[@thomasdevine867]

@@bjhale Something blending Aztec Mythology with Mexican folklore and the Mexican Inquisition's witch trials, would be mind-blowing. Besides, a strictly historical Colonial Mexico is good Swashbuckler territory.

[@VosperCDN]

Been looking at this for a while, glad to see your review of it.

[@rolanejo8512]

Thank you Ben. I am prepping a Viking invasion of Britain campaign for Vieja Escuela. Will definitely be getting this for flavor.

[@rolanejo8512]

Got it. Still managed to get the offset copy. Gorgeous book with tons of flavor.

[@darkwielder2088]

It depicts Berserkers more "realistically" to how they are explained as I've seen without it being broken with how overpowered it would be, Berserkers are immune to fire and iron as its said it sources, but its satisfying. I'm a big fan of barbarians. Also the dark ages are awesome in opinion.

[@RobertWF42]

Great system to roleplay the setting in the film Dragonslayer!

[@papacthulhuspricht...5820]

YES!!!!

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Just got Waking of Willoughby Hall from Swordfish Islands and am super looking forward to running it! Good looking book, but just don't have the wallet to get everything that looks cool currently 🙁

[@victoryfish]

For being so good at layout and content, I don't understand how Kevin Crawford drops the ball on the art in every book he's published. I love WWN and SWN, they're both fantastic tools and systems, but I just don't feel inspired by the art at all. I really wish he went for more "medievally" art with this book like the old Pendragon books, it would have fit so well.

[@mateofantasma]

Cost, I presume

[@victoryfish]

@@mateofantasma Most likely yes, although its not that the artwork isn't of high quality - it is technically good - its that it is always just a bit bland.

[@ckenp]

In his defense he tends to use art that can later be shared and reused and makes it available.

[@victoryfish]

@@ckenp Very true

[@bonbondurjdr6553]

@@ckenp it's so available that Tiny Gods used the art of Godbound for their book... ^^'

[@funzerkerr3710]

This reminds me Darklands. DOS game by MicroProse. It had incredibly interesting magic system. Instead of spells you could pray to patron/Saint or use alchemy.

[@aquakroot]

Missed opportunity to have tapestries and anglo-saxon/norse art instead of bland fantasy art

[@colerape]

Wyrd is pronounced Weird. Other than that a great review. When this game first came out there were reviews on DTRpg that really knocked the game because of the overt Christianity of the narrator. I appreciate that you were even handed and explained why this particular conceit was used. One thing that is missing from Wolves of God (that shows up in many Kevin Crawford rpgs) are Heroic rules. The game is more "realistic" in that violence quickly leads to death/maiming. Given the setting and it's low fantasy nature this is perfectly understandable. But you could always use the Heroic rules from WWN/SWN or Scarlet Heroes if you were wanting to create a more "mythic" style of game.

[@adammoffat6797]

Brilliant idea to turn a historical era into an RPG setting. I'd love to see a Napoleonic RPG or something set at the height of the British Empire. Might even get some folks learning a thing or two by the back door!

[@WarDogMadness]

not sure about that armour rule, saints could have weapons and armor and clerics, bishop odo wore armour but wielded a club. romans were there ? at this time each anglo saxon kingdom had silver and golds coins and Arabic coins trough trade . hope this isn't another the welsh live in the trees when they had the same kingdoms. most common people wouldn't know anything about Christianity outside of what the priests as they did not speak Latin.

[@SergeGilette]

Nice review. Actually the idea of a rpg book as an archeology find trick has been done already. Also for themiddle age, also with a monk in chronica feudalis the great game from Jeremy Keller. The same game that introduced the usage dice long before the black hack :-)

[@PilafIsACookingMethod]

This feels closely related to King Arthur Pendragon...

[@PilafIsACookingMethod]

@Spencer aka Free Thrall I was referring specifically to the game by Greg Stafford, currently published by Chaosium.

[@NefariousKoel]

There is also a setting for Runequest6/Mythras called "Mythic Britain" which is quite interesting, set after the Saxon invasions with all the trappings of that period. Has an interesting belief mechanic regarding the setting-neutral RQ/Mythic magic system in which magic's effectiveness is based on each individual's level of superstition.

[@PilafIsACookingMethod]

@@NefariousKoel yeah, I think I just prefer KAP if I want to play an Arthurian based rpg. That said, King Arthur Pendragon is one of the best mythic Britain/middle ages RPGs of all time and if you’ve not played it or read it, you’re missing out.

[@NefariousKoel]

@@PilafIsACookingMethod - Picked up King Arthur Pendragon back in the '80s. Still have the massive version with the extras they removed from later editions (my second purchase of KAP) so I haven't felt the need to get later editions. Although I did pick up the beautiful Paladin version for the Charlemagne era not long ago. Cool system, yes!

[@PilafIsACookingMethod]

@@NefariousKoel they’re working on KAP6e which is supposedly the ultimate edition of Greg Stafford’s vision he was working on before his death.

[@ВолодимирМайко-п7р]

man, this sounds great! Adventures in Christian world, this sounds neat!

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@GrinningAries]

The anachronistic conceit is really going to confuse some future historians from some post-fall civilization that discover this

[@wesleynewcomb]

Is this a sequel to Dogs in the Vineyard?

[@collin6691]

I thought dogs was Vincent Baker not Kevin Crawford

[@wesleynewcomb]

@@collin6691 I was making a really lame joke. In Dogs in the Vineyard, you plays as "God's Watchdogs" This is called "Wolves of God"... a step up Though maybe, from an evolutionary standpoint, this would be a prequel.

[@emarsk77]

+1 for non-Vancian magic, I'm so sick of it. I think they should've used authentically-looking early medieval style art, it would have been so much more evocative. The title squares look particularly ugly and misplaced to me.

[@midshipman8654]

i really like this!

[@Charles-jj2su]

I really enjoy the historical Christian themes here! Shameful that the crusades would follow within a few centuries. I also can’t disagree more about the artwork :p it’s very romantic and pleasant, not what you usually see with OSR games!

[@LordVader1094]

Crusades? Shameful? Nonsense.

[@WizardJim]

6 Welsh raiders hated this video.

[@pedrobernardo5887]

I am not in the english speaking world. I have zero players that would be interested in delving into that sort of game. But the reason I don't buy this book is the bland art.

[@chrisschuber9149]

More DM fiction meant to be read instead of played. Pass.

[@ilyaalexakhin8745]

Even though I wish it wasn't so, I have to fully agree. If it was a chunky zine with all of the generator goodness, fun setting rules and a hex map of Britain in the middle spread, that ran on BX/OSE core, it would be so dope!