When the oldsters at Exalted Funeral first pitched me on Land of Eem — the role-playing sport equal of how the Muppets would possibly play Dungeons & Dragons — I used to be instantly bought. To my nice shock, the evaluate copy held up its lofty, if whimsical, promise. Land of Eem is nice in the identical means the very best cartoons are: wrapping critical themes in a goofy bow that rewards curiosity and social connections. With a giant push for TTRPG golf equipment at colleges and libraries, Land of Eem is a good sport to deliver to a desk of gamers at any age.
Based mostly on the center grade graphic novel sequence, Rickety Sew and the Gelatinous Goo by Eem writers Ben Costa and James Parks, the setting and mechanics of Land of Eem are focused at gamers who favor story over fight, in addition to youthful audiences. The core guidelines will appear acquainted to anybody who’s performed D&D. There are base attributes (Vim, Vigor, Knack, and Knowhow) that affect abilities, which modify ability checks. As an alternative of rolling a d20, nonetheless, the sport makes use of the far superior (no less than on this journalist’s humble opinion) d12.
The character and celebration creation course of, together with Land of Eem’s system for gamers to degree up, is the place the sport really diverges from its inspiration, D&D. This sport is specific about prioritizing and rewarding creativity, curiosity, and exploration, all whereas guaranteeing that the adventurers deal with all the things they arrive throughout as an individual with ideas and emotions — even when they find yourself having to combat them.
Land of Eem has six courses that cater towards completely different kinds of play, together with the basic Bard and Knight-Errant, the exploring Dungeoneer, the supporting Loyal Chum, the magical Gnome, and (my private favourite) the scoundrel-like Rascal. It additionally has 16 distinctive People (its time period for species) which run the gamut of whimsical little guys. And sure, importantly, you possibly can play a frog individual or perhaps a Muppet-looking humanoid.
Character creation emphasizes that constructing out a well-rounded character with beliefs, flaws, private targets, and relationships to each different celebration member isn’t simply going to make the sport higher — it’s how your character will degree up. Taking from the custom of story gaming, expertise factors aren’t gained by means of killing monsters, however appearing in your character traits, growing relationships, assembly new NPCs and exploring new components of the world.
Whereas all that’s wanted for the sport is the core rulebook (and character sheets which can be found for obtain on-line) the total Land of Eem set incorporates a hefty 500-page setting information, a bestiary, and a hexcrawl map of Eem that give GMs an unlimited world to place in entrance of gamers. The setting information is brimming with situations that may slot completely right into a Saturday morning cartoon slot, with depth and care that prioritizes the individuals who already dwell there. In the event you’ve been searching for a lighter, story-focused fantasy sport to play with the entire household (and even simply your good friend who loves Journey Time) that is the sport for you.
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