Review: The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game
The System
Following my current trend, The Dying Earth was bought for its novel system. Theoretically any task is just one roll on 1d6, with 50% chance of success, and 1/6 of dismal failure. But this is where the system is very clever - because you can spend your skill points to reroll (or make your opponent reroll an "illustrious" success), so in practice no roll is absolute. Since the various successes and failures get wound into the description of what happened (and failure is as much a part of the story as success), you end up with a system that feels very random (befitting the nature of the world) yet is sufficiently controllable to make the characters feel capable.
The key abilities give you a good idea of what drives the game - persuade and rebuff (counter-persuade), attack and defence. In reality, combat is sufficiently random that sensible characters (and players) avoid a fight if possible (that, and skill points don't return easily so getting into pointless fights is very risky). Rather it is the art of persuasion which is central. I normally avoid social skills on the basis that most players and STs ignore them anyway. But in Dying Earth, you are expected to be able to persuade people that you can sell them the Golden Gate Bridge - and that you will be persuaded that saving Diddums from the hungry Pelgranes is a really good idea. This is a game where you are meant to laugh at the messes you get yourself into, even as you charge straight in in-character. Indeed, although there are Improvement points (see below), by and large characters are expected to be as badly off (or worse) at the end of the story as they were at the beginning.
If there is a flaw in the system, it is in the complications of abilities. Each of the major abilities has six different styles (e.g.Glib, Intimidating or Obfuscatory for Persuade). Each style has it's own implications, even though in theory they all work their own way. In addition, each ability or style has it's own way of restoring itself, whether it's a good night's sleep, a roll in the hay, or a friendly duel. I had horrible images of players constantly trying to artifically induce a situation to get their points back. Having read the Essential Rules chapter which made it all look so straightforward, it was quite a shock to be thrust into these complicated additions. However, by the end of Abilities in Practice it all started to make sense. So if you are reading the book - be prepared for extra stuff, but don't let it put you off. It really does make sense, and make the game work. However, I do have an unresolved gripe - it would have been much easier if the character sheet included room for the complications. If it did, the major abilities would something like:
PersuadeTrumps/
trumped byBenefitRefreshes afterStyle: EloquentContrary / Wary- You gain a boon of 1 when attempting to sway a crowd.
- You gain a boon of 1 when using magic that increases the intensity of emotions felt by your target.
- a sound sleep and perusal of great literature
OR
- listening to the stirring words of a great orator with whose philosophy you agree.
Improvement points (XP by any other name) are handed out not for achievement, but for using taglines (as seen in Who's Line is it Anyway?) in funny and appropriate ways. I have mixed views on this - I don't like the idea of players being distracted by the need to fit in their line, and if a player really roleplays well but forgets about their line, won't they feel penalised? However, it can also inject humour in what is supposed to be a light-hearted game. It's too bad they didn't suggest reading the taglines blind which would seem to be much funnier.
Heroes
All characters are human. The book gives you three different power levels to play at: Cugel-level (basic), Turjan-level (expert adventurer) and Rhialto-level (players are probably arch-magicians), all named after characters in the source books. However, characters aren't expected to be fleshed out beyond their choice of styles and their stats. This is deliberate - you are expected to play shallow characters in a shallow world.
Villains
Your opponents are much the same. As well as various beasts you might encounter while travelling - only occasionally storyline antagonists - players face opposition in the form of towns or cities thronged with perverse people and strange customs. The book actually gives a list of plot characteristics that the ST can follow, and they are very apt. While it threatens to make adventures repetitive, the same technique has been employed in Paranoia successfully.
The Look
With a cover that is reminiscent of early D&D books (albeit with better art), and glossy paper that is long passed out of fashion, the book at first glance feels dated. Indeed the style of the artwork - high contrast shading with a grainy look - seems almost designed to make it feel archaic, along with the patterned banner at the top. But the art IS better than the works it mimics and adds to the mood the writing brings, and the humor in the images is deliberate. Modernising the look would have compromised the style they were trying to convey. Having said that, I think that EOS press would have done a better job here.
The Good
The system is one of the most refreshing I have come across, and moreover it seems to work (at least within the context of the world). It also does a very good job of conveying Jack Vance's world to the tabletop. To a large extent, this is what I think a medium-fantasy world should look like.
The Bad
The only really bad part of the book is that the character sheet should have been clearer (see above).
The Ugly
There is however quite a lot of 'ugly'. Dying Earth has several counts against it for certain players.
Ideas: 7
The Dying Earth seems to be one of roleplaying's most unrecognised treasures, although clearly there was enough popularity to enable quite a few supplements.
Following my current trend, The Dying Earth was bought for its novel system. Theoretically any task is just one roll on 1d6, with 50% chance of success, and 1/6 of dismal failure. But this is where the system is very clever - because you can spend your skill points to reroll (or make your opponent reroll an "illustrious" success), so in practice no roll is absolute. Since the various successes and failures get wound into the description of what happened (and failure is as much a part of the story as success), you end up with a system that feels very random (befitting the nature of the world) yet is sufficiently controllable to make the characters feel capable.
The key abilities give you a good idea of what drives the game - persuade and rebuff (counter-persuade), attack and defence. In reality, combat is sufficiently random that sensible characters (and players) avoid a fight if possible (that, and skill points don't return easily so getting into pointless fights is very risky). Rather it is the art of persuasion which is central. I normally avoid social skills on the basis that most players and STs ignore them anyway. But in Dying Earth, you are expected to be able to persuade people that you can sell them the Golden Gate Bridge - and that you will be persuaded that saving Diddums from the hungry Pelgranes is a really good idea. This is a game where you are meant to laugh at the messes you get yourself into, even as you charge straight in in-character. Indeed, although there are Improvement points (see below), by and large characters are expected to be as badly off (or worse) at the end of the story as they were at the beginning.
If there is a flaw in the system, it is in the complications of abilities. Each of the major abilities has six different styles (e.g.Glib, Intimidating or Obfuscatory for Persuade). Each style has it's own implications, even though in theory they all work their own way. In addition, each ability or style has it's own way of restoring itself, whether it's a good night's sleep, a roll in the hay, or a friendly duel. I had horrible images of players constantly trying to artifically induce a situation to get their points back. Having read the Essential Rules chapter which made it all look so straightforward, it was quite a shock to be thrust into these complicated additions. However, by the end of Abilities in Practice it all started to make sense. So if you are reading the book - be prepared for extra stuff, but don't let it put you off. It really does make sense, and make the game work. However, I do have an unresolved gripe - it would have been much easier if the character sheet included room for the complications. If it did, the major abilities would something like:
PersuadeTrumps/
trumped byBenefitRefreshes afterStyle: EloquentContrary / Wary- You gain a boon of 1 when attempting to sway a crowd.
- You gain a boon of 1 when using magic that increases the intensity of emotions felt by your target.
- a sound sleep and perusal of great literature
OR
- listening to the stirring words of a great orator with whose philosophy you agree.
Improvement points (XP by any other name) are handed out not for achievement, but for using taglines (as seen in Who's Line is it Anyway?) in funny and appropriate ways. I have mixed views on this - I don't like the idea of players being distracted by the need to fit in their line, and if a player really roleplays well but forgets about their line, won't they feel penalised? However, it can also inject humour in what is supposed to be a light-hearted game. It's too bad they didn't suggest reading the taglines blind which would seem to be much funnier.
Heroes
All characters are human. The book gives you three different power levels to play at: Cugel-level (basic), Turjan-level (expert adventurer) and Rhialto-level (players are probably arch-magicians), all named after characters in the source books. However, characters aren't expected to be fleshed out beyond their choice of styles and their stats. This is deliberate - you are expected to play shallow characters in a shallow world.
Villains
Your opponents are much the same. As well as various beasts you might encounter while travelling - only occasionally storyline antagonists - players face opposition in the form of towns or cities thronged with perverse people and strange customs. The book actually gives a list of plot characteristics that the ST can follow, and they are very apt. While it threatens to make adventures repetitive, the same technique has been employed in Paranoia successfully.
The Look
With a cover that is reminiscent of early D&D books (albeit with better art), and glossy paper that is long passed out of fashion, the book at first glance feels dated. Indeed the style of the artwork - high contrast shading with a grainy look - seems almost designed to make it feel archaic, along with the patterned banner at the top. But the art IS better than the works it mimics and adds to the mood the writing brings, and the humor in the images is deliberate. Modernising the look would have compromised the style they were trying to convey. Having said that, I think that EOS press would have done a better job here.
The Good
The system is one of the most refreshing I have come across, and moreover it seems to work (at least within the context of the world). It also does a very good job of conveying Jack Vance's world to the tabletop. To a large extent, this is what I think a medium-fantasy world should look like.
The Bad
The only really bad part of the book is that the character sheet should have been clearer (see above).
The Ugly
There is however quite a lot of 'ugly'. Dying Earth has several counts against it for certain players.
- Firstly, it could come across as a comedy game, although light-hearted is probably more accurate. Certainly the expectation that characters will suffer embarrassing failures on a regular basis, and the awarding of experience solely on comedy lines, virtually rules out a strictly serious game.
- The inability to min-max, or even to reliably be able to achieve what you want to achieve will put players off.
- Players may feel it has a lack of depth, that it would become repetitive and boring. I can't speak with certainty on this point, but having run my own low fantasy game I think there is plenty of scope for imaginative storytellers.
Ideas: 7
The Dying Earth seems to be one of roleplaying's most unrecognised treasures, although clearly there was enough popularity to enable quite a few supplements.