BASTARDS. PEARLESCENT EDITION
Designer: Micah Anderson | Publisher: Spear Witch
Bastards. opens with a note explaining exactly what it is – “my synthesis of ‘dragon games’ into the one I want to play and run. This is not a complete system. […] I believe in you.”
Readers might focus on the first part, the “this isn’t a complete system” part, but they shouldn’t. It’s the final part, the I believe in you part, that’s important.
The rules total less than half the book, and this is a good thing. Roll dice when things are risky and failure is interesting and do your best to stack the deck in your favour so you don’t need to roll. In combat, make things as unfair as possible or avoid it, because “characters are squishy, and enemies do massive damage”.
Characters have three Stats, plus a helping of Luck and some Health, the latter of which determines which one of six Classes you’ll play. On top of this you stack equipment and Spells, and that’s your lot.
Spells are the real magic of bastards.. Created from two lists (Actions and Objects), the text doesn’t give us any pre-written effects. Instead players combine their magic words in unique and interesting ways, limited only by their imagination.
The rest of the book contains everything you need to run a game: enemies, magic items, encounter tables, and a great introductory adventure. There are no endless pages explaining how to run this or what players should be doing – just a situation, the tools you need, and that opening. I believe in you.
If you’ve ever wanted to play an impromptu dungeon game but knew that by the time you’d opened your 250 page instruction manual and made characters the night would be over, this is the game for you. It’s fast, grimy, and a hell of a lot of fun.
CHRIS BISSETTE