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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by A customer [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/30/2017 09:34:23

I love this game! Developed by a Native writer who was tired of seeing endless fantasy worlds modeled on mediaeval Europe, and "tribal" peoples of any kind exoticized or treated as inferior, it's a post-spiritual-apocalypse world where all the cultures are inspired by various indigenous societies from our own world rather than by the usual Eurocentric fantasy tropes. But they're still fantasy societies - none of them are 100% identical to any real-world culture, and there are a lot of very imaginative touches, like an Aztec-inspired culture worshipping (and literally building their cities on) sanity-shattering Lovecraftian sea monsters, a Bedouin-inspired society that has developed sort of proto-steampunk technology using volcanoes as forges, plains nomads who ride giant spiders, etc.

It uses the FATE system, which is a nicely streamlined and easy-to-use system that will be familiar to many people from other games like Spirit of the Century, although things get a little complicated when you get into magic (I recommend going with the simplified magic rules that appear in a sidebar). So it's relatively easy to get up and running with quickly.

Be aware that it is a post-apocalyptic game (though set in the wake of a spiritual/magical apocalypse rather than a technological one), and can get pretty grim and dark - more so than I was expecting when I bought it. But at the same time, the spiritual themes running through it and the focus on holding onto hope and trying to heal the world make it ultimately feel uplifting.

Really, the only down side is that the book (and the Red Dog, Hungry Dreams supplement also) could really have used a good editor. As other reviewers have noted, there are a fair number of typos, minor rule inconsistencies, etc. sprinkled throughout it. Also, the history/cosmology section is really long and in-depth - enough so to be a little overwhelming - so that could have done with being tightened up a bit. But those are pretty minor quibbles with a game this fascinating. (I'm half-tempted to volunteer my services as an editor for any future books, just because I love this game enough to want to see it get even better!)

Overall, highly recommended!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by A customer [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/11/2017 12:12:08

Ehdrigohr is a game set in a fantasy world based (mostly) on Native American mythology rather than the world of Tolkien. Players take on the roles of heroes protecting the world from the horrors that come out at night, but there is a great deal of lattitude, supported by the rules, in whether a given campaign focuses more on combat or on social and political aspects. The setting is rich and beautiful, and fundamentally respectful (as far as I can tell) to the cultures they draw upon. Additionally, the author admits that he aimed for overall themes of struggle with mental illness (particularly depression), hope, and community; these are expressed clearly in the content, making this a blend of fantastical adventure with the human that I rarely find in the gaming world. I've long felt a game like this was needed, and I'm glad to see it's here and that it uses the Fate Core rule set.

For these reasons I give it a five star review. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention a few flaws. First, there are a number of simple typos throughout the book. None of them muddle the rules or the overall content, but sometimes it's distracting. Secondly, some of the rules on the use of Mysteries are a little disorganized, and it took me several readings of that chapter to be clear on how it was supposed to work. I would hope to one day see a cleaned up second edition. Nevertheless, I don't think any of these reasons are enough not to purchase the game if the setting and themes appeal, and I can't bring myself to even detract a star.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by Derek K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/08/2016 17:31:10

Simply put, Ehdrigohr is brilliant. The setting is impeccably thought out and written and is a refreshing take on your usual fantasy or post-apocalyptic worlds. The options for making a character in this interesting setting feels infinite. There are builds for insane "magic" users, inventors, fighters, rogues, rangers and wildmen, and things you've not yet dreamed of.

It is a rich world and complete.

That said, the book does have a few organizational and grammatical issues. Some important rules fall in the wrong section and so it can feel a little disjointed. There are no exemplar character sheets and numerous typos. A little digging and reading, however, puts all of it in line so you can begin enjoying the game.

Any issues with the book itself should not keep you from enjoying Ehdrigohr. And the fact that there is ongoing fiction and mechanical support on the blog bodes well for the future.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by Mike C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/16/2015 23:32:28

Kinda cool concept except... awfully executed. Feels like 300-odd pages of mind-crushingly tedious game mechanics , it even spends a couple pages explaining what a roleplaying game is. You know, because you might buy an RPG and not know what one is...somehow.

Massively detailed pantheon... huge number of vaguely described cultures...

Having done all of that, it very very lightly skates over the actual setting (if you bought it for the cool villages-on-the-back-of-a-turtle thing, yeah they get about 300 words).

You wind up with only a very vague idea what a game might be about, like, various kinds of extra dimensional monsters bursting into our reality... seems to be pretty much what it's built around. Actually ... that's about one adventure worth of content in 300 pages of mind crushingly boring detail...

And in all that there's like four kinds of monsters ... and all of them <spoilers> Evil Spirits or people possessed by Evil Spirits (ok maybe one giant spider).

And not even detail that's fun to read, like the magic system says you can use magic abiltiies in way that "creates a combat advantage"...<cricket sound>.

Nice idea, awful sourcebook.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by Brian P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/19/2013 15:03:18

I kickstarted this RPG a while ago based on the premise--an RPG setting with a tribal feel, based on a lot of real-world cultures that aren't usually the subject of RPGs--but I only just recently got around to reading it. I shouldn't have waited so long. It's quite good and immediately set a ton of ideas brewing in my mind as I was reading it, though I did have some small reservations. But before I deal with those, I'll do my usual split review.

== Setting ==

Don't let all the bright colors fool you--this is pretty much dark fantasy, though the backstory is actually pretty similar to the Ainulindalë. WhatMoves created the Songs, who set to work making the Weave. One of the songs, Ok'o-wi, started singing in dissonance with the other songs, creating sorrow, and it eventually led to the end of harmony, the destruction of the old society and the death or disappearance of all the intelligent races except humans in a giant war only ended when WhatMoves came back and banished Ok'o-wi outside the Weave.

After the end of the war, things seemed to be looking up, and humans settled down and started building villages, but as they gathered, they found a present that Ok'o-wi left for them: giant monsters called the Woe, which awoke when humans gathered in sufficient numbers and laid waste to human civilization. Even when the Woe weren't awake, their corruption created monsters called shivers that boiled out of the forests and wild places to attack the settlements. It wasn't until a group of elders traveled into dreams and came back with a rite that could keep the Woe asleep that humanity was able to build their cities in relative peace. Enter the PCs!

There are nine tribes that make up humanity, and each of them takes their inspiration from a historical culture: Barata (Mound Builder tribes from America), Batu (Mongols), Beyduun (North Africans and Arabs), Chi'an (Chinese), D'zul (desert tribes from the American Southwest), Ga'el (Celts), Mic'talan (Mesoamerican tribes), Urali (Norse), and Wiitjasa (American plains tribes). There are some neat twists, like how the Chi'an build their cities on the back of giant hibernating turtles, or how the Urali man The Line in the north, when the long polar night comes and the lack of sun means the shivers can travel freely, or how the Beyduun are divided into traditional desert tribes and a new Salduun Empire that's developing steam and clockwork technology as a new power source, or how the Mic'talan tribes are named after kaiju--G'Jhira, M'Otehr, G'deh'Ora, G'Me'era, among others.

One thing to be clear about. If you hate the fantasy tendency to sprinkle apostraphes on with a salt-shaker, you will hate the names in Ehdrigohr. I'm not sure, but I suspect it might come from the use of apostraphes in Lakota. Some of the cultural vocabulary, like the use of tiyospaye to refer to extended familiar or kin groups, are apparently Lakota concepts.

The world provides a pretty good variety, from the endless winter of The White where the Urali live, to the southern deserts of the Beyduun tribes, from the swamps of the Chi'an's turtle cities to the shiver-infested islands that the Mic'talan live near, to the great plains of The Shil in the center. A lot like Reign, most of the creatures that aren't spawned from corruption are natural animals but are still strange enough to provide a feeling of being another world. Giant spiders the size of elephants, or pillbugs the size of dogs that are kept as pets, or rabbits that are two meters high at the shoulder and used as mounts. There's definitely a good sense that this is a familiar yet different world.

Players are tacitly assumed to belong to one of the four "Great Societies" of the tribes: the Crows, who are warriors and peacekeepers; the Doves, healers who frequently receive advice from spirits; the Owls, mystical wanderers who seek out old knowledge and secrets; and the Jays, talespinners and entertainers. The societies cross tribal boundaries, so there's a ready-made reason to have characters from different ethnic groups working together without having any major conflict.

All in all, it's set up to provide plenty of possibility for adventures and conflict while not unduly constricting the choices players can make.

== System ==

Ehdrigohr uses a version of the Fate Core System to power it. If you're unfamiliar with Fate, the SRD is available for free here, and since it is, I'm not going to spill a bunch of ink covering the system basics.

I will chat about it a bit, though. Fate has a focus on modeling the flow of a narrative, rather than using the rules as a physics engine the way that Dungeons & Dragons 3.x or Exalted does. As such, basically all actions the PCs take fall into one of four possible actions: Overcome a Difficulty, Create an Advantage, Attack, or Defend. Characters, locations, or situations have "Aspects" like "Show Your Might, Be as the Wolf" or "There's Fire Everywhere" or "Phobia of Spiders" and most of the bonuses and penalties on dice rolls relate to invoking these various aspects. The magic system, also ties into these basic actions, though there are a lot of different ways to accomplish them using the four Mysteries: Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water), Natures (Body, Mind, Spirit, Soul), Principles (Love, Life, Honor, Destiny), and the Essences (Weave, Moment, Space, Truth).

The magic system is one of the most complicated parts of the game, but even there it's still pretty simple since everything falls into the basic action types. A lot of it relies on player creativity on coming up with a way they can apply their Aspects and Mysteries to the situations, so players who are used to defined action types and a set list of knowing what they can do might have an adjustment period. And admittedly, I personally would have preferred a more physics-emulating system, but I can't fault the game for being what it is. I knew it was Fate-powered when I backed it, and it seems like a pretty solid implementation of it.

Aspects come from the PCs tribe and Great Society, and also they gain several from their upbringing. During character creation, each PC has six phases of their background they think through and draw an Aspect or important event from--Childhood Remembrance, Becoming (adolescence), Adventure (great deeds), Companions (sharing in another's background), Awakening (develop mysteries), and Nightmares (something terrible that happened). The Winter of Companions is an especially good idea. I always like it when games provide an explict note that the PCs should have met each other before and know each other as more than people who met in a tavern or whatever the local equivalent is.

If I needed to make an elevator pitch for Ehdrigohr, I'd say something like, "Heroes stand against the encroaching darkness and humanity's eternal divisions in a world drawn from indigenous mythology." If any of that piques your interest, Ehdrigohr is definitely worth your time.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Ehdrigohr Gazetteer Preview
by Alex S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/06/2013 13:09:07

A good preview for what looks like a very interesting product.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Ehdrigohr Gazetteer Preview
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Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
by John B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/23/2013 12:53:41

I backed the Kickstarter and followed the development of this game. This won't be an in depth review so much as an overview of what to expect to help decide if you might be interested.

First, I really like the setting and the art. That's what drew me to the game in the first place and what makes it stick out.

It's a Fate Core game with a setting largely based on Native American stories (particularly Lakota, I think), with a strong dose of other, mostly tribal, cultures.

The cosmology is really cool. It takes Native American themes and weaves them into a mythic, high fantasy setting with strong horror elements.

The PCs are definitely intended to be heroic and make a difference. You can help a town avoid literally being lost to sorrow, or run a zombie apocalypse-style game of survival horror as shivers threaten to overrun everything, or get involved in rebellions against an oppressive regime in cities built on the back of giant turtles, or investigate and heal a tear in reality that's letting inhuman Breachers through, or go on an epic quest to save the world (the Trail of Slumbers described in the book could easily be an epic, mythic campaign), and so on.

The game is pretty straight-forward Fate Core. If you like Fate Core, then you'll like this. If you don't, then nothing here will change your mind. There are a few minor system variations (like Power Levels and a magic system), but it's pretty close to Core mechanically.

The magic system walks a line between too much and too little detail (and different people will have differing opinions how well it succeeded). Mechanically, most of the system is about how you cast, depending on your tradition. The effects of the magic mostly come down to the four core actions. But the traditions and also the Mysteries are evocative and also allow a very wide range of possible character concepts.

Hopefully this gives you a better idea if you might be interested.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ehdrigohr: The Roleplaying Game
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