I've read through the primer and it looks good to me, some random comments :

• I had trouble choosing from the list of the weapons, usually a sign of good balance
• I like that even though we have classes everyone kind of works the same way, both from a level of stats + skills to do actions and with the powers activated by blood points, having the same structure for casters and non-casters helps with keeping their potential close.
• Even considering the above i mildly dislike that the specializations are so encompassing for the class, for warriors and experts i would like to see some shared traits and powers for when you don't feel like picking something exotic, like for instance the triple shot ability of the viper seems pretty generic, why wouldn't the ninja be able to do that as well ?
• I like the resource management of wounds and equipment through time coupled with clear ways to handle them
• You have a skill to research through heap of books ;) it's a thing i tend to do often and our gm is always annoyed when the skill is not included

A well thought out TTRPG with great potential in this free primer. I cannot wait until the kickstarter to see all the options and meet the rest of the world!

This looks like a well-thought out game that (being free) already includes more content than many paid games out there. It seems easy enough to get into but actually has a decent amount of crunch as well. The bundle even comes with music included, and a gorgeous map. It runs on a d10 dice pool mechanic, but does a lot of cool things with it (setbacks, weapon attributes, momentum). There's too much to cover here in short but being free it's definitely worth taking a closer look for anyone.

Also, the artwork is all top-notch and has a distinct, paintery style that's both colorful yet feels dreamlike and otherworldly at the same time, giving 'Athyr' a very unique atmosphere. The addition of two books to compliment the rulebook, one offering a wealth of setting information, the other the most expansive lore on cults I have yet seen in a tabletop RPG, makes this something I can recommend to everyone. Can't wait for the Kickstarter.

I've played a decent number of TTRPG systems in the past, each which had their upsides and downsides. Blood And Doom for me strikes a great balance between the crunch I appreciate in some systems, whilst still keeping it all very neat and organized. I also greatly enjoy the various tips and tools for GMs, something even after over half a decade of GMing I still find use in.

Still very happily surprised by how expansive yet easy to read all the cults and lore are. Normally I tend to lean towards either my own homebrew setting or the real world depending on what game system I'm using, but with Blood And Doom I'm actually thinking of giving this one a serious shot! As for the cults, I love how much detail is shown about what their goals are and how they seek to reach them. Too often do I find systems where this part is either left behind during writing, or becomes so hard to follow that I only end up using some monsters and writing the cult myself.

All in all, really looking forward to run this system myself and excited to see the full product take form!

Excellent game with one of the best settings I've ever seen! I don't usually like Level-based system, but Blood and Doom only uses them for advancement purposes, there are no explosive Hit Points and almost no fixed abilities you get - you can pick yourself what you want to learn or become better at. The game really shines in its setting, though. The regions described in the Doomsayer's Codex are evocative and I absolutely can't stress enough how many adventure ideas, cool locations, NPCs, etc. are in there. But the absolute gem is the Doomsayer's Codex: The Twelve Pillars of Doom. THIS IS WHAT FANTASY CULTS SHOULD BE LIKE in a game that includes horror elements! It's amazingly cool and so many details are included that you can build entire campaigns on just one of these cults.

Some of the texts are written in a style that goes well beyond what we've come to expect from more pedestrian-written TTRPGs. The writing is, often, impressively imaginative. It's as if Jack Vance's and Fritz Leiber's brain child had written some of this. Even if you're not going to use the D10 dicepool system (cool system, by the way), you NEED to get this, honestly. Looking forward to the Kickstarter launch!

It's a must have if you're new and overwhelmed by the idea of solo play. It's great if you don't know where to start or if you found gm emulators/oracles to not work for you. It's much more theoretical than mechanical but does have enough actioanble steps to get you playing.

gettig better all the time.so nice ezy to comprehend.format getting better

I'm not particulary fond of D&D related product, in particulary when something so mithologically and epic is converted in another and repetive kind of Fantasy. But the product is well done and have a good graphic

I'm just about positive there's a terrific game buried in here under all the ... stuff ... but I'm not used to having to put this much effort into finding it. Every part of this game is a confused mess.

I've been gaming for decades and at this point I can pick up a new action resolution system in a couple of minutes. Not this time. I kept finding myself having to flip back and forth across the same handful of pages, mentally juggling the game's different metacurrencies, constantly running into terms that were crucial to understanding what I was reading but which wouldn't be discussed at all until pages later. I had to search around to find tutorials, and then COMPARE those tutorials to each other, just to get a grasp of the basic system.

It's probably very easy to learn if someone teaches it to you instead of you having to learn it for yourself. The system doesn't actually seem that complicated! The problem here starts and ends with BAD WRITING: a jumble of concepts presented in the wrong order. I felt like I wasn't reading a published game system, but the scattered notes and post-its of a gamemaster's homebrew system, typed up in random order. Where was the editor!?

This isn't even getting into how much fluff there is. Now, under most circumstances fluff is a good thing, particularly when a game is designed for narrative play (which a competent Star Trek game would need to be). In-universe quotes and documents are also a good thing, and make fantastic sidebars. But the book goes way overboard here; entire chapters are devoted to nothing but those sidebars! No actual text! Even the chapter on the UFP is written from an in-universe perspective, and assumes that you're already familiar enough with the setting that you only need an orientation on where in the established timeline the game is set.

If you could actually learn about the Star Trek universe from these sidebars, then maybe it could be salvageable. Paranoia XP pulled it off. But I read these things, and they're largely incomprehensible unless you not only know Star Trek but recognize the specific episodes they're referring to. This is not a world background chapter. This is trivia night. If you're not already familiar with the universe -- and yes, that's entirely possible, I know a few people who'd be happy to play an RPG of interstellar diplomacy and scientific discovery but who've never seen a single hour of Star Trek -- it's absolutely no help.

On top of everything else, the only way to get an actually readable copy of this book is to buy it on DriveThruRPG as a print-on-demand. The generally available book is printed in white text on black because that "looks more like an LCARS screen." Puts me in mind of an RPG called ... was it Secrets of Zir'an? ... where the game was perfectly fine but they chose to use a page background of glyphic text. Printing text on top of text. It was flavorful, sure, but it made the book unreadable and the game unplayable. The retail Star Trek Adventures books aren't that bad, but there have been so many reports of eyestrain that it's very clear the publisher put form over function.

Finally, there's the elephant in the room. I don't care about the drama. What I care about is that the fandom insisted that a certain person not be involved in the book, and Modiphius not only still got that person involved but actively lied to its fans, listing that person under a pseudonym, and the person responsible showed absolutely no remorse. That's a level of contempt for your customers that's pretty much unforgivable, especially these days when there are people way worse than that guy still getting plenty of work in the RPG industry.

For all of these readability and usability issues, I'm awarding this book two stars. I want to be clear I'm not writing a negative review of the GAME SYSTEM. If you can find someone to teach it to you, so you only need to use the book for reference and browsing, you'll probably have a ball with it. But this book needs a new edition, pronto, with a new graphic designer, a new writer, and a new editor.

Personally didn't find whole lot here to add to my existing campaign. The intro campaing might be useful for someone just getting into it, but someone already familiar with the mechanics, you can just skip past this. The variable difficulty is nice, but never found that to be a problem with the core game (at least as far as I've played my campaigns). Co-op and PVP won't be something I'll use. Name generation tables are nice, but I usually just pull up ideas online. Enemy deployment variables, a great addition. So is the escalating battles. For someone just getting into 5P, this might be a good addition, or someone who's looking for extra challenge. Everyone else can possible just skip this.

I love this book and think it does not get the love it deserves. I like that it's self contained and designed for short but manageable campaigns with a real ending.I really like the atmosphere of the setting. The rules are simple yet perfectly set the tone. Lots of player agency in setting creation, not unlike what you can get from Beyond the Wall but with enough setting description that you are not lost. All in all I really like it. I am thinking of porting the rules to the Midnight setting which I love but really hate the 5e rules... Also you could easily use it for a 4th age middle earth campaign. Can't wait for the further books, especially the book of quests.

I am re-writing my review of this game, because my opinion of it has changed after a few campaigns. There were a few things I didn't really like after the first reading, but everything in it has grown on me.

My first RPG campaign was AD&D 1E, and that magical experience has never been replicated. Until now. Ivan has taken all that OSR magic, and put it in a streamlined solo game. I loved the uncompromising lethality of that system, and how surviving battles always made me feel like a grizzled fantasy veteran, and how I always felt like a new story was beginning when I rolled up a new character. Five Leagues and Parsecs improve on this concept by 1) Making character creation much faster, and 2) Brewing lethality into the system. I loved AD&D 1E, but to be honest, your campaign could really get screwed if one or more characters died at the wrong time because resurrection was so expensive, and getting new characters going could be tough. Starting a new campaign might very well mean the end of your game group! Lethality can be rough in 5XFY, but I've been able to recover from some near disasterous situations by thinking things through. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few TPWs as well, especially with the difficulty modifiers in the Trailblazer's Toolkit, but getting a new campaign going is fast and fun.

At first, I was put off that traditional D&D classes like Dwarf, Elf, and gnome were replaced with Dusklings and Preen. "Birdmen? pfft" thought I. After immersing myself in the setting, I now love them. The races feel simulaneously metal, OSR, AND refreshingly original.

I loved the combat from the start. This and Five Parsecs are my favorite game systems. They accomplish the holy grail of being streamlined, OSR, and something of Ivan's own creation all at once. Prior to playing Five Parsecs and Five Leagues, I played 4AD, Pathfinder / Mythic / DM Yourself, A Song Of Blades And Heroes / Lone Blade / A Song Of Deeds And Glory, Nemesis (board game), Rangers Of Shadow Deep, Gloomhaven (board game), and Ironsworn. All these games are excellent, and I have many great memories of them, but Five Leagues and Parsecs are my current favorites.

Ivan's music recommendations (included in the PDF) are excellent for gaming. These albums really bring out the flavor of Five Leagues. We used to listen to Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, etc. while gaming, but Ivan's playlist trumps even that.

The art and layout are excellent, and the PDF is very well organized.

I would even go so far as to say this is my favorite gaming product ever produced. If I could give it 6 or even 7 stars, I would. Five Leagues From The Borderlands is a real labor of love.

Ongoing review located here: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653977-Raiders-of-the-Serpent-Sea-Third-Party-5E-Review

so far best book ever and love the ranger class in it and can't wait to use in my next game

Ran this for my friends recently, had a lot of fun. Love the world and the plot hooks especially as a fan of Greek Mythology