I have begun diving headlong into the RPG system, Shadows of Esteren. I have been investing time into reading Book 0, Prologue. This particular book is a basically a primer for the system and the setting of Esteren itself. I also have Book 1, Universe to read after Book 0.

The game itself came to my attention after some of my RPG Geek gamer friends continually mentioned it here and there. These folks gave a wide array of opinions regarding the game, the system and the setting. I finally said the hell with it and ordered Book 1 and downloaded the free PDF of Book 0. I had to see what all the buzz was about. For now, the two things I can tell you about the game is that background information is rich and very deep. The other thing of note thus far is the art is amazing! I am not normally an artsy kind of guy, but the art in these two books drips with the underlying themes and gritty nature of Esteren.

Ok, I finished reading the prologue and it has definitely wetted my appetite for more! There are some very interesting ideas presented in the prologue. Mechanically, the game seems pretty straight forward with rolling a d10 and adding one or two values to the total to beat a target number. Seems easy, right? What really grabbed me was, as I mentioned above, the flavor of the game. The gritty, low magic, medieval feel is what I like. Not to mention there is a horror element to the game too; double win!

If you have read or even better yet, played this game, tell me your thoughts. Oh, and if anyone is planning to run a game of this please let me know.

~ Modoc