Against the Darkmaster

Ancalagon · Post February 14th, 2022, 12:38 am

Against the Darkmaster (VsD) is is a tabletop Epic Fantasy roleplaying game of high adventure, heroic action, and heavy metal combat.

If you put together works like The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, sprinkled them with a bit of Labyrinth and Dragonslayer, and put everything in a blender together with a healthy dose of classic Heavy Metal, you’ll get a typical Against the Darkmaster game session.

Travel to distant lands, face terrible dangers, uncover ancient items of power, and gather the armies of the world to defeat the ultimate Evil.

https://www.vsdarkmaster.com/

VsD is basically an updated and expanded version of the old Middle Earth Roleplaying (MERP) put out by Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) back in the 80s and 90s. the game features

Unified Mechanics - A simple resolution mechanic based exclusively on d100 rolls allows for fast play and easy-to-learn rules.

Full Character Customization - The combination of Vocations, Kins, Cultures, and Backgrounds allows to build extremely diverse characters.

Flexible Magic System - A magic system based on Magic Points and Spell Lores, open to all characters for maximum flexibility. NOTE: the magic system may be open to all characters but that doesn't mean it is easy for all characters...

Brutal Heavy Metal Combat - The Attack Tables & Critical Strikes system allows for lethal, tactical combat. Maim, stun, and kill your foes!

Travel & Exploration - Travel to distant, dangerous places and fabled lands with a system aimed at creating great, epic fantasy quests.

Character-Driven Play - The Passions & Drive system is especially designed to bring characters’ motivations and goals into play!

I ran MERP a bit in the early 90s and was fortunate to play in a session at GenCon several years ago. VsD is tugging at my imagination a bit. I may work on generating a character and try out the combat system against various foes to see how it plays out. If I do, I'll post about it later in the thread.

Ancalagon · Post February 19th, 2022, 2:49 pm

Here is a review of the game:

https://techraptor.net/tabletop/reviews ... rpg-review

I'll probably post more reviews as time passes.

Ancalagon · Post June 9th, 2023, 1:50 am

Been a while but here is another review...

Necron 99 · Post July 12th, 2023, 4:38 pm

New vid I caught today.

Ancalagon · Post July 22nd, 2023, 1:07 am

Finally got around to watching this. Good stuff! I'd definitely play it at a convention or home campaign. Antone who complains about the simple math should just use a calculator. Anyone that complains about using a calculator for math in a game can go play Pokemon.

Necron 99 · Post July 24th, 2023, 2:32 pm

Ancalagon wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2023, 1:07 am Finally got around to watching this. Good stuff! I'd definitely play it at a convention or home campaign. Antone who complains about the simple math should just use a calculator. Anyone that complains about using a calculator for math in a game can go play Pokemon.

Many players these days simply lack the patience for what they consider complex systems. I blame the uptick of online/social media entertainment. It's the same reason younger generations refuse to read books and would rather just get spoon-fed visual stimulus, no real thinking involved. This isn't something new though, it's been that way since 2000 when 3.x came out and people complained that THAC0 in AD&D 2e, with SUBTRACTION, was too difficult and slowed the game down.

I would definitely like a chance to play in a game with this system. I never had the chance to play MERP back in the day, so this would be a nice opportunity to get the feel for it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll take a gander at the MERP or AtDM rules and run a one shot for our group, just for S&Gs to give it a go.

Ancalagon · Post July 25th, 2023, 9:44 pm

Necron 99 wrote: ↑July 24th, 2023, 2:32 pm
Ancalagon wrote: ↑July 22nd, 2023, 1:07 am Finally got around to watching this. Good stuff! I'd definitely play it at a convention or home campaign. Antone who complains about the simple math should just use a calculator. Anyone that complains about using a calculator for math in a game can go play Pokemon.
Many players these days simply lack the patience for what they consider complex systems. I blame the uptick of online/social media entertainment. It's the same reason younger generations refuse to read books and would rather just get spoon-fed visual stimulus, no real thinking involved. This isn't something new though, it's been that way since 2000 when 3.x came out and people complained that THAC0 in AD&D 2e, with SUBTRACTION, was too difficult and slowed the game down.

I would definitely like a chance to play in a game with this system. I never had the chance to play MERP back in the day, so this would be a nice opportunity to get the feel for it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll take a gander at the MERP or AtDM rules and run a one shot for our group, just for S&Gs to give it a go.

Emphasis mine.
Heh. Subtraction with integers that don't exceed the 20s is complex math to the modern gamer. Gary wrote in the early days of D&D that it was a game for the imaginative and intelligent.

I ran a MERP 4+/- week demo adventure with the early 90s group. We had fun but it wasn't the jelly in our roll so we flipped back to the heavily house ruled AD&D games. But... MERP and AtDM has me pondering HARP....