I’ve been an OSR (Old School Renaissance) gamer for a number of years now, but I’m also a huge fan of FASERIP. So when I heard FASERIPopedia came out, colour me excited to say the least. It basically covered everything I could want in one superb tome. Now, we have Epic fantasy released. I was curious as to what the author could do with mixing the two. Well, after getting my mitts on it I was’nt disappointed. If you like old-school fantasy games but want an elegant set of mechanics that won’t break down at higher levels then this has you covered. You’ve got all the character options and more besides, all wrapped up in the easy to use FASERIP system. But Epic Fantasy is much more than just a OSR fantasy conversion it not only brings you all the details you need for making old school fantasy games, but a plethora of new material that you can port into your fantasy world. All the player races are there as well as a multitude of classes. There’s a wealth of, treasure, monsters and magical items detailed too. All in all this book clocks in at over 452 pages, and for $18 that’s a steal, imo. If you like old school fantasy and want everything you could want in one book then I highly advise you to check this out. It’s five stars from me.

Interesting premise and I appreciate the rules light aspect. However, this book feels unfinished and the premise unrealised.

There are very little details on how to actually run the game considering its unique premise and the unique threat. The games master advice is very small and mostly generic (safety and X-cards). And given the uniqueness of the setting this is a real let down.

So if you decide to buy this game be prepared to fill out a lot of details for the setting because what is presented is rather obtuse, imo. YMMV.

There is a intro adventure which is fine, but again it’s doesn’t really go into any depths of why or how the shadow is doing what it is doing.

I don’t really do reviews but I felt this tome deserved some special praise. If you’re old like me you will have heard of Marvel’s FASERIP system. It was great back then and it’s still great to this day. Of course there are a few other books out there on the market that bring back the system for the modern (and retro game lover). But FASERIPopedia is a must if you like or would like to try this system. It clocks in at 396 pages. Therefore it's not only a complete system it is a complete tool-kit and unlike the previous Marvel game line you’ll have everything you could ever want or need in this book.

FASERIP has always been a very versatile and quick to use system, but with this cyclopean book you can literally do anything you want. It’s certainly not limited to the Superhero Genre. It can do it all with ease from Pulp to Sword and Sorcery and anything in between and at any power level.

Highly recomended! This is a five out of five stars for me. It’s everything I could ever want from FASERIP in one handy volume.

Another fantastic release from The Design Mechanism. Mythic Polynesia is very well written and is crammed full great info'.

While this was an interesting idea I found the content of the encounters rather lacklustre and a tad juvenile. I think the product has been greatly 'over- hyped'.

I've only heard about this game recently... It's ciminally underrated imo. Not a game for people who don't like true dark horror. But I happen to love it. :)

This book is worth it for the ideas alone! Highly recomended.

It's a good wee game while containing a lot of great flavour but there's not a lot of substance to get your teeth into.

However, imo, I don't think it's a good as everone has cracked it up to be. YMMV of course!

Probably one of my favourite rules light games at the moment, and it's very easy to adapt to anything. There's some really good GMing advice in there as well.

The only thing I'd wish for is a bit more detail on the supernatural side of things (perhaps some deetz on creatures) and some 'powers' for the characters - Assuming you wanted to emulate that style of pulp. But again, this would be a ‘nice to have’ and not essential.

I still feel the product is worth a 5 star rating!

I've been gaming for over 35 years and finally decided to start writing some material. For me, this course was more than just a simple 'how to'. James goes into some deep gaming theory but yet makes it exceedingly accessible at the same time. But he also goes into a lot of the 'why' which really makes you start looking at your game in a completely different light. Overall I’d say this was great value for money, and from someone who’s got a proven track record within the games industry. Highly recommended.

If there’s a follow up course to this I’ll snap it up in heart beat.

I loved this! Well worth a purchase. The author has put together a unique framework for creating various scenarios from this one book - so it’s open ended . The NPC characters are very well fleshed out, and all very interesting at the same time. They all interact in some way so you've got plenty of reasons why bad stuff is going down. The setting is also fluid. That is to say, the author sprinkles some good seeds throughout, while not holding your hand. Meaning, that this scenario has a lot of reply value, and the horror can be dialled up as needed (and could be number of things depending on your taste). But whatever you do don't look in the basement, that's all I'll say…

Excellent product! If you want to add some hi-tech weaponry to your OSR games - from slug throwers to precision lasers. Covers a lot of material in eight pages with some good mechanics for implementing them into your game. Good production quality as well… Highly recommended.

A very inspiring setting oozing with atmosphere allowing the GM to pretty much do anything in a setting that begs to be explored. It takes the 'traditional fantasy RPG trope' and turns it on its head. But still retains some of the flavour.

The rules are smooth and snappy, and don't get in the way of gaming. The art is lovely and very evocative of the world.

The book is crammed full of useful info. Including some neat adventures to familiarise the GM and players with the wonderful setting.

Quality of the PDF is excellent.

If you want something that's a fresh take on fanstay, with less micro management, and where the rules are modern and light(ish), then this is well worth a look.

Fantastic job!