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Qin Legends
 

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Qin Legends
Publisher: AKA Games
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/19/2016 09:27:45

Opening with an almost lyrical description of a combat between three adventurers and a couple of ball-and-chain wielding giants, this book contains details of higher-level abilities in Taos, Martial Arts and Magic, as well as magical items and an adventure. This material will help characters rise to even more legendary heights, all in keeping with the style of the game. Firstly, The Power of the Taos looks at taking a character's power beyond the four levels described in the core rulebook. Legendary indeed will be the things that a character can do. Next comes The High Levels of the Martial Arts which offers new combat techniques that will indeed have their practitioners talked about in epic accounts, perhaps compared to the gods themselves, with additional lower level ones as well as probing the heights of level five and six. Plenty here to enable each character to define and perfect their distinctive style and to give those minstrels and story-tellers something to write about! This section also covers the costs (in experience) of taking any skill to Legendary or God-Like levels, not just combat ones. There is also a wealth of information about the combat styles honed over generations by the leading martial families - perhaps out of favour at court these days, but if fighting is your thing, potent indeed and redolent with cultural richness. To learn a particular technique, a character must already be skilled in the associated martial art. Many such techniques and styles are well-known and a connoisseur can recognise them from the distinctive stance and movements of the practitioner. Of course, to learn these, the character has to find a master and persuade him to teach... not as easy as looking up a local dojo and paying for training! Each style is introduced with its history and the mechanics of actually using it in play. Then the different techniques incorporated in that style are described in detail, flavour and game mechanics wrapped together in an elegant and logical package. This approach makes it easy for players to describe what their characters are doing as well as to handle the mechanics of the combat. They are all dressed up with colourful names too, after all, practising the Style of the Mortal Kiss of the Metal Butterfly sounds a lot more legendary than saying you are pretty handy with a dagger! Next, The Magic of the Gods provides the same service for magic as the preceding chapters have for Taos and Martial Arts, taking it to the next level. There are many higher-level (legendary and godlike) spells and techniques for the aspiring magic-wielder to study and master. Then Treasure of Men, Gifts of the Gods introduces a method for creating legendary items and presents a selection of example items to get you started. Whole adventures could be written around such items, and it’s easy to see how those who possess them can themselves gain legendary status. They do not just have a list of abilities or effects, each has its story that tells of its origins, describes its appearance, and makes it into a true artefact to be quested for or treasured. If that wasn’t enough, we also have Celestial Objects which are crafted, it is said, by the gods themselves and bestowed on mortals who have gained favour in their eyes. Finally there is a scenario called The Treacherous Prince, which is intended to follow on from the scenario in the core rulebook and forms the opening of the “Tiàn Xia” campaign. Or of course you can use it in your own campaign as you see fit. It deals admirably with character growth, starting with the ostensibly simple task of escorting a bride to her new home… then finding themselves embroiled in growing tensions between townsfolk and barbarian tribes that lead to demands that very important heads should roll or all-out war might result! It presents plenty of atmosphere, the sense of being at the centre of affairs and, of course, opportunities to start forging your own legends. The additional rules material is well-nigh invaluable and the scenario exciting – what more could you want?



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Qin Legends
Publisher: AKA Games
by Alexander L. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 03/08/2012 09:06:45

Originally Published at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/03/08/tabletop-gaming-qin-legends/

Qin Legends is a supplement for Qin: The Warring States, a role-playing game set in ancient China. Legends expands on the core book by adding more creamy, nutty, martial-arty, inner-strengthy goodness of every sort. This book contains a lot of chunks that cater to everything from Taos to weapons, and then concludes (for the second half of the book) with an adventure stemming from the one contained in the core book. Let me break it down for you:

Higher Level Taos

Extends the Taos to level 5 and 6 (“Legendary” and “Godlike” respectively), and provides one power that is accessible at each of those levels. For instance, at level 5 of “Tao of the Thousand Bees”, a character can throw small objects without having to touch them, or redirect a missile weapon that is heading towards him to another target.

New Combat Techniques

Close combat or ranged combat, each gets a few new moves to throw around in a fight that are available at higher levels of weapon skill. One example for close combat is a “Suicide Attack”, which allows you to attack a striking opponent without regard for your own safety. For ranged combat, a character can “Trap” someone or something with a missile, not to kill but to prevent them from doing something else. There is also a handy list that shows which moves are available at which level of skill, which of course includes the 5- and 6-level tiers.

New Weapons, a Weapon Skill, and Combat Styles

Legends contains rules for bianshu (flexible weapons) like the bian (a whip), or the “flying guillotine”, a bladed disc on the end of a long chain.

There are also combat styles now, where a character can be taught a specific style of martial art within a martial skill. For example, if Ling is “Legendary” in bangshu (staff weapons), and then is taught a specific style like “the Style of the Wall of the Hundred Thousand Bamboos”, he will be known as: “Ling, Legendary in the art of bangshu, practitioner of The Wall of the Hundred Thousand Bamboos”. In order to learn a combat style, you have to find a master and persuade him to teach you, which can be an adventure in and of itself.

More Spells, Fabulous Treasure

There are also Legendary and Godlike levels of spells for the four schools of magic. An Exorcist can send cursed souls back to Hell; an Internal Alchemist can dissolve his spirit temporarily into the surrounding nature and control the plants and beasts, even the water. We’re talking downright crazy power here. Of course, you’ll have to get your character enough experience points to get any of them.

During their travels, a player might find an item of great value. Not just something that is well-made or of precious materials necessarily, but something imbued with power. Over time, an object may have special powers bestowed on it by its wielder, and may even have its own Renown value. Legends has rules and guidelines for these special items, and how they might gain notoriety as powerful weapons belonging to a specific master.

An Adventure

The second half of the volume is an adventure following on the tails of the one presented in the Qin core book. In it, the party will be tasked with escorting the young bride of an official to a nearby town. However, things go wrong, and they end up in more trouble than they bargained for. It is designed so that the players will have an easier time of it at the beginning, but end up having to make some serious choices with lasting consequences.

What Do I Think?

Qin Legends is like putting more whipped cream and chocolate sauce on a delicious sundae. Do you want more? Of course you do! However, this content is only available to characters with high skill levels and Taos, so you most likely won’t be building any characters out of the gate with these abilities (unless you want to go that way). Still, if you’ve been playing Qin and your players are itching to make their characters more powerful, this is a must-have. I would also recommend it for the adventure, as it is literally half of the book and is a continuation of sorts from the one presented in the core book. Since official adventures for this game are in woefully short supply (though I expect that to be remedied in the near future), I would pick it up just for that, and then have it handy when your players get more powerful.

The legendary item section can be a very useful tool for GMs. What’s one thing adventurers like to go looking for? Treasure, of course. Qin isn’t about treasure-hoarding and finding uber-loot, but finding a weapon or other item with some powers beyond the ordinary is bound to perk up any adventurer’s ears and send him wandering.

Even though this book is a collection of various things, I did not find reading through it as jumbled as the core book. Everything is presented in a certain order, with a fantastic index at the back. Kudos to Cubicle 7 for more great Qin material.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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