I have always believed there are two extremes to gaming. On one end, you find the rule-mongers; those who love endless rules, charts and rolls. The game must be completely structured in order for them to enjoy it. You usually find these gamers running endless Role-Master "!campaigns. On the other end are character players. They couldn't be bothered about rules, or structure. They aren't out for pure combat or constant advancement. They are there to play and they want their experience to be realistic and enjoyable. If you're like me, you probably fall in between somewhere. And if you're closer to the character players" side than you are to the rule-mongers, you might just enjoy a new game. It's called "Forge: Out of Chaos"!.

Some of you may have seen the earlier incarnation of Forge a few years back called GruntBuggler!" which was BGU's first attempt at marketing the game. Unfortunately, it didn't get a very wide distribution. So, BGU renamed it and re-released it under the name of Forge: Out of Chaos."!

Forge's back cover makes a lot of promises like:

Realistic combat mechanics!
Armor that can be destroyed! and
No two mages are ever alike!

Which for some fantasy gamers is quite a promise. A promise I'm happy to report Forge delivers on.

Anytime I read a new fantasy game I can't help but compare it to Dungeons & Dragons, which I suppose is only natural. D&D started us out in the realm of fantasy RPGs and it's only fair to consider them when you're looking over another game of the same genre. So, to that end, let's talk Forge.

The World of Forge

Juravia, like many fantasy worlds, had a lot of trouble with gods, and even suffered a god war at the beginning of time. Unlike other games, however, the gods are now gone. Leaving in their stead a host of creatures, some friendly (and available to play) and others not so friendly. Races who grudgingly get along, and are usually forced to in order to survive populate this world.

There are lots of mythological monsters on Juravia, but not so many you have to buy a compendium of just monsters (yet). Fortunately, monster hunting is a popular hobby on Juravia, so your players will never be bored.

Characters

Unlike other fantasy RPGs there is no class structure to Forge, so you are able to create extremely unique characters. I always hated it when I rolled up a new character only to find out someone chose the same class and kit as me, essentially creating the same character. But Forge has eliminated this. This of course makes creating an adventure party very interesting. In most D&D sessions you'll find a warrior, a rogue, a priest and a wizard. With the various magic types and various races available in Forge, you could literally find yourself in an entire party of wizards, but your character wouldn't be anything like the other player characters. Refreshing.

You roll 2d6 + 1D10 for 6 statistics: Strength, Stamina, Intellect, Insight, Dexterity, and Awareness. Unfortunately, these rolls break down into somewhat confusing decimal points like 14.8 or 9.0, because you take the total of your d6's as the whole number and the result of the d10 is the decimal point. Now I probably wouldn't mind breaking everything down into decimals if there were an advantage to it. Yes, a strength of 10.5 gives you a +2 bonus to damage while a 10.4 only gives you a +1, but hey, you're only a decimal point away… But there is no difference between a 10.7 score and a 10.8 score because everything is in a range. There are skills where you add together certain characteristics like Strength and Dexterity, but the decimal gives you no clear advantage there.

If, for example, you have a strength of 12.8 and a dexterity of 8.8 you come up with a base total of 21.6 so what's your percentage? 21%. You always round down. On the other hand, if the decimals weren't there, you would only have a 20% base. As irritating as it is, it doesn't slow the game down, except when you're first explaining it to the players. Three additional stats are rolled after the six: Speed, Power, and Luck. Once you've got those, it's time to pick out a race.

There are 11 races to choose from. There are of course your standard humans, dwarves, elves, and sprites; but there is also a plethora of strange races for you to get into. Since these are commonly accepted beings on Juravia, knock yourselves out. There are lots of nifty bonuses and even niftier (if you're the GM) detriments for each race. The races are left up to the player's personality and discretion. Your choice in race will also determine your physical attributes, like height & build. These add additional points to your stats, and determine what weapons you can use and how expensive armor will be.

After this is done you can "tweak" a character with additional Benefits and Detriments. After that, you determine maximum strength, hit points and start picking out skills.

Because there is no class system in Forge you aren't stuck picking up skills from just one or two lists. Forge allows you to pick up any skill your little heart desires. The game also makes it easy to advance these skills at the end of a session through how many times you roll for a particular skill.

Now you buy some equipment and spells (if you're a wizard) and you're finished. Not too bad, eh? You'll probably have to set aside a couple of hours for a group of 4 or more unless you copy off the skills and equipment sections.

Combat

Forge promised realistic combat mechanics and, I'm happy to report, didn't wind up with a confusing 50-page system because of it. You have 3 totals to keep track of: Attack Value, Defense Value 1 & Defense Value 2.

Your AV determines whether you can hit anything, it's determined from your weapon skill level and dexterity modifier. This score changes depending upon what weapon you pick up.

Your DV 1 is your armor, shield, and awareness thrown together, while your DV2 is just your armor rating. These values change as your armor and shield take damage, or when you're not paying attention. So what do these 3 scores have to do with each other?

Simple, you roll a d20 for your attack and compare it to your opponent's DV1 or 2. Forge has a chart which breaks down whether or not you hit, but for simplicity's sake I've discovered that to hit your score all you need is a 10. In other words, if you have an AV of 5, you have to roll at least a 10 to hit a DV of 5. This little piece of knowledge makes THACO look like advanced algebra! If my warrior has a 3 AV when swinging his sword and is able to get 2 hits in on a monster I roll a d20 twice. I get an 8 and a 19. I can now say to my GM (called the referee), "I hit DV 1 and DV 12!"

In D&D a character in full plate mail with a two handed sword was basically a walking tank. Even if his/her hit points were reduced to zero during combat, a successful healing spell or potion would bring them back with no loss to their THACO or armor class. Forge on the other hand wants realism. Any damage done to your character takes its toll on your armor, eventually destroying it beyond repair. Any critical hit (rolling a 20) not only inflicts major damage upon your opponent, but it also does some damage to your weapon and you will eventually break it.

Because of this, at the end of each combat round you have to re-figure your AV and DV for the next round. This could get a bit tedious in long battles, but then the fun is in the realism, right?

Magic

Magic in Forge is a great improvement over other gaming systems. First, there is variety in the types of magic available. You have Divine magic, coming from the only gods left with any influence on Juravia, Grom and Berethenu. And you have the pagan magic paths of Beast Magic, Necromancy, Elemental Magic, and Enchantment. When you create a magic user you choose one of these paths. From there you learn spells. Divine magic users can only choose spells from their own level, but pagan users can choose spells from one level higher!

Divine magic has its limitations and requirements of the user, but does not require the spell components pagan magic does. However, playing a pagan wizard will keep you from having your magic taken away by an angry god. You may have noticed there is a lack of basic Priest-style characters. The opening section of the book describes the gods of Juravia and their followers. I'm sure with a little tweaking and imagination you could easily create a priest without too much trouble.

If you're new to gaming, or even an old hat, and love the idea of really being able to play a realistic, fun character, pick up this game. As you've seen it has a lot to offer, even for the pickiest gamer, in the way of unique characters and general fun. I think that if you enjoy fantasy gaming you won't find Forge too different or too unique. You should be able to get into adventures quickly with little or no transition sickness, and have lots of fun in the process.

So if you're bored with the D&D scene, and can't handle anymore math lessons from Role Master, I recommend you pick up Forge: Out of Chaos.

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