Watch Well Games #77
Age of Vikings RPG review and play-through report.
Welcome to another issue of our newsletter. I’m K.J. I truly hope you're doing okay. Here’s what we have for you today: A double dose of Vikings.
Wazza’s Whimsical Wanderings reviews Age of Vikings (Chaosium).
I played Age of Vikings for the first time and share my first impressions here.
📋✍️Age of Vikings RPG Review
by Warren Davidson (Wazza)
What springs to mind when you think about the Vikings? Fierce warriors, prodigious sailors, ruthless invaders plundering the English and Scandinavian coastlines? Whilst all these things are true they also had a rich culture of family values, the law, and diverse beliefs. The Age of Vikings RPG by Chaosium offers a comprehensive overview of Viking society coupled with a solid system of mechanics which have been tried and tested for over forty years. Let’s grab up our shields and trusty axes, give a prayer to Odin, and jump into our Dragonships!
Age of Vikings is a complete game and sourcebook presented as a full-colour 314-page PDF for $29.99 and in hardcover for $59.99. It uses Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying system used in several of their other games such as Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest. Why? Because it’s a rock solid. While it may be crunchier than others, it’s always logical and consistent in play as well as being extremely flexible. It handles skill resolution and combat as easily as it does differing magic systems and social interaction. Whilst a GM may have to explain what a DC is to a new player, a percentage chance for success is a familiar and instantly recognisable concept.
So what kind of characters can you play in this game? My impression is slightly above the average in skills and abilities. You’ll still need to generate characteristics such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Constitution, Charisma, and Power and a background like any other character. The game provides copious advice on how to do this. You might start out as a simple farmer or sailor, and you’ll most likely have a family to take care of. Where this becomes interesting is the Vikings values of honour, loyalty, and religion. These all figure in your character creation and enrich your background considerably. You’ll have to choose passions linked to the large pantheon of gods which provide differing intrinsic benefits. Add in some life events before your adventuring career begins, and you’ll start playing with a fully rounded and believable character ripe for roleplaying opportunities from which the Gamemaster can draw forth adventuring hooks guaranteed to entice you.
It wouldn’t be a Vikings game without conflict and you can expect plenty when you go on raids, defend your village from marauders and fight Iceland’s multitude of mythological monsters. That’s right the game incorporates fantastic elements as well set against the backdrop of an Iceland. This fascinating country is described from its very beginnings where the world was created by the great dragon Sváfnir and Óðinn, Vili, and Vé created humans from the trunks of fallen ash and elm trees by breathing life into them. Great stuff!
And we’re only getting started! Vikings were skilled sailors so it would be remiss not to have a large entry on ships and sailing. We’re presented with several vessels for those inevitable raids and a naval combat system when resistance is encountered. Players can also add magic to their arsenals with two systems on offer runic and Seiður, letting you summon deadly hailstorms, commune with spirits, and perform rituals for divination, clairvoyance, and healing.
This is all great material but what about the GM? A comprehensive gazetteer of Iceland is presented with notes on its unique geography incorporating established horse paths and unexplored areas. Important locales in the West, the Westfjords region, the North, the East, the South, and the Central Highlands. And as an added bonus most of these area include helpful adventure seeds which can be developed into fully grown adventures. There’s even a section on the Byzantine Empire, England, Finnmark and France, Ireland, Normandy and Scotland if you wish to go further afield and plunder errr… I mean explore the rest of the world!
Iceland was replete with terrifying monsters and a bestiary is included with enough foes to keep players on their toes in and out of their ships. As you’d expect they are unique to Iceland and will definitely heighten the feel of the fantastical should you want to incorporate these elements into your campaign.
When you’re not busy plundering and adventuring you can take some downtime to engage in advancing your skills at the quarterly religious festival, managing your farms, getting hitched, and having children. All this reinforces the Vikings values and belief system and will, no doubt, result in numerous and memorable roleplaying opportunities.
We finish with a couple of excellent introductory adventures designed to familiarise you with the core Viking beliefs of law and honour whilst offering several opportunities for social and combat encounters.
In conclusion, if you have ever wondered what roleplaying a Viking might be like then give this game a look, you won’t be disappointed. Odin!
🎲Age of Vikings: Play-Through Report
by K.J. Montgomery
Iceland landscape is absolutely stunning. The people I’ve met from there are incredibly friendly. Because of these factors, alongside the fact that I can understand and like Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine (BRP), I decided to check out Age of Vikings (AoV). After months of delays from my original sign up, I was finally able to sign up for a game hosted by Don Ford from the Chaosium team.
Hours before the session, I began going through character creation to better understand the finer details of AoV. For the one-shot The Cursed Farm, we used pre-gens. I and two other players took on the roles of Icelandic Vikings, each equipped with our different strengths and weaknesses. As I usually do well over 50% of the time, I selected the tank of the group.
This introductory adventure, according to Chasoium’s website, is one where “[t]he heroes are called upon to aid a neighbor in need, solve the mystery of a curse, and set things right, before a dreadful creature has its vengeance.”
Play-Through Report (Abridged)
***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE CURSED FARM***
Today is unusually overcast for midsummer. I, Hrund Erpsdóttir, along with Þrymur Sörlason and Njáll Þórólfsson, travel to a neighboring farm owned by Björg Finnsdóttir at the request of our goði. Upon our arrival, we notice the land has been stricken. What we see leads us to believe that something unnatural has occurred. We go to the homestead. Njáll knocks on the door, and soon after, a farmhand answers the door. We are welcomed in, and find the family huddled up to the small central room. They greet us and offer us to join them, as they have just begun to eat supper.
We secure makeshift seating at the already crowded table. Björg knows why we're here. She doesn't hesitate to tell us all they have been through lately. Everything, it seems, is directly related to the farmland. Both crops and livestock have suffered. Thank the gods that no one in the household has fallen ill, she concludes. We agree.
One family member draws attention to himself, and I wonder if it is because we share similar backgrounds. Björg and her husband Heimir recently took in a orphan named Leifur. The young lad is somewhat awkward, and I quickly conclude this was because he was no longer a child but not yet a man. I chose not to marry, so any matters involving children meant guesswork on my part. However, Þrymur detects Leifur’s somewhat odd behavior too, and he attempts to inconspicuously look around for any clues.
Þrymur’s player rolls Rune Magic but fails with a 96 out of 90. He tries again per the GM request and gets a 100 out of 90 (a fumble).
His attempt to be discreet fails. I attribute this to the man’s severely scarred face, as Þrymur is not known for going about unnoticed. The orphan becomes greatly distressed, so we conclude it is best to go outside and search for leads there. We survey the farm. Njáll notices before anyone else that a particular garden plot has been struck by lightning.
Njáll’s player augmented his Area Lore (Iceland) roll but failed with a 93 out of 45. The GM then allows him to then roll for Insight but with a -20% against the Skill (this penalty reduced the 25% chance of success to 5%). Njáll’s PC says, “There’s no way,” only to stick the landing by rolling a 3!
Being devoted to þór (Thor), I pray for answers.
At the beginning of the one-shot, the GM encouraged us to use the Devotion points without hesitation since this was a short adventure. It’s here that I used all three of my Devotion points to augment my Search roll, adding +50%. I still fail, rolling an 88 out of 75. I learn … nothing.
Overwhelmed at the thought of disappointing the god of thunder, I fall to my knees.
While I search my heart, Njáll and Þrymur locate a small mound. Njáll retrieves a nearby shovel and quickly uncovers a shallow-buried item. “A warrior’s sword wrapped in child’s clothing,” Njáll remarks. He hands the weapon to Þrymur, who deciphers its runes.
Another set of note-worthy rolls here: Þrymur’s player rolls for Rune Magic and gets a 90 out of 90. The GM then asks for a Second Sight roll as well. The PC rolls a 1 out 70 (a critical success).
“Great discontent fills this blade,” Þrymur solemnly concludes. “It is cursed.”
Resolved to reconcile with þór, I volunteer to approach the family. We return to Björg’s house. It does not take long after my inquiry that we discover the truth.
Our party of three, along with the orphan, journey to the graves in the south beyond the river. Although I’m a grown woman, I understand Leifur’s struggle. Having no roots puts us at risk when the storms of life roll in. His decision to rob a warrior’s grave threatened not only him, but all of us.
Our redemption came when the gods gave me the strength to parley with the restless draugur. Had they not heard my cries, we may have all too soon joined the company of the dead.
Conclusion
Going through character creation and a one-shot for Age of Vikings meant I spent several hours this week with the material. Having played a lot of Call of Cthulhu, I was surprised there was no Luck to spend or opportunity to push rolls. Fans of Rune Quest and Pendragon will see familiar elements from those two games. Overall, anyone who's played a Chaosium-produced RPG should be able to pick up AoV with relative ease.
Here are three concerns I have.
Too many errors. Many folks on various social spaces have complained about the numerous typos in the AoV rulebook. This is unfortunately nothing new from larger publishers nowadays. Dead tree versions are obviously not updated like PDFs, so they require an additional purchase to obtain the corrections in final form.
Small font and bad use of space. So many tabletop roleplay gamers wear corrective lenses, use screens for hours a day, and/or are past a youthful age (when eyesight is not usually a major concern). Loads of white space could have been better utilized by going with a larger font size.
Not beginner-friendly. The Cursed Farm is promoted as great for new players and beginner GMs. I’m hesitant to agree, as it still requires reading the 300+ page rulebook. A starter set or quickstart would a more fitting entry point for newer GMs with less experience.
Despite these three points, Age of Vikings has enough solid content to earn space on your RPG shelf. With a bit of refinement, I’ve no doubt it will be a source of fun at many gaming tables. I enjoyed the introductory one-shot The Cursed Farm and thank Don Ford of Chaosium for hosting us! Want to check out Age of Vikings? Don occasionally offers to run games on Chaosium’s Discord server.
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Viking hedgehog here (ninth photo down)🦔
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Great review and the game sounds pretty cool. I enjoyed the thorough discussion of weaknesses that a fair overview should not shy away from. The dice hated you all in the intro one shot lol