Those of you who have followed this project from the beginning know that it has evolved greatly over time. Originally conceived as an OSR/White Box take on sword and sorcery, the game slowly incorporated modern RPG concepts, like the well-known advantage mechanic. Once upon a time, I thought this game was done, but a player at Origins offered a very unique observation after playing the game—”Don't be afraid to be different.” That stuck with me and I took a hard look at what Reaver was at the time, noting a number of inconsistencies and overlapping rules. Things weren't quite meshing.
After that, the game evolved away from the OSR and modern styles of D&D to embrace the unique die-chain mechanic which is now present in the game. Astute readers will, of course, detect hints of Reaver’s roots and mechanics inspired by other games, however at the heart of our development was the question—“Does this support the S&S genre?” That question has been asked of everything from the names of the Attributes to the grappling rules to the spell descriptions and we feel that our game can answer with a resounding “yes!”
But Which S&S?
As we know, the S&S genre encompasses a quite broad spectrum of styles. Dark fantasy, as presented in Karl Edward Wagner’s Kane; campy over-the-top action in the style of 80s films; weird fantasy in which magic is relatively common, as in Lieber’s tales—not to mention the related genres of “sword and sandal” or “stone and sorcery.” These are all amazing works and genres to play in, and while Reaver can feasibly handle any of them, we have leaned heavily into what I can only call “heroic adventure fantasy,” the type of Sword and Sorcery that is closely connected to historical adventure fiction. Think Bran Mak Morn and Imaro and you're there—remove the weird aspects and sorcery and you are left with a historical tale. Our setting, the Sagas of Cennor, is deeply inspired by our own ancient world, though one of intermingling ages and influenced by dark sorcery and inhuman powers. The adventures are plentiful and the possibilities endless.
The Book
The Reaver Core Rulebook is a full game, approximately 350 pages, and will include everything you need in one book, including character creation, sorcery, action resolution, GM rules, mass combat, seamanship, artifacts, adversaries, and will even include a generic history-inspired setting.
More Soon!
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