Was feeling sick today and picked up Wildermyth, which is a really fascinating RPG. It's got an algorithmically generated story built on handcrafted elements weaved together based on character stats, your choices, and events.
General aesthetic is "young-adult fantasy."
General aesthetic is "young-adult fantasy."
It's visually beautiful, well-done, and while the turn-based combat isn't particularly deep, things are well-balanced enough such that you won't ROFLstomp the campaign solely based on understanding good unit positioning.
(My tank lost a leg—permanently—due to a poor tactical choice followed by an unlucky die roll, *and other characters comment on that hours later*. Fascinating, fascinating idea.)
I will mention since this will impact your enjoyment a lot:
If you enjoy classical fantasy, and do not enjoy contemporary young adult fantasy, be forewarned that your points in Genre Savvy may routinely mispredict what the game wants you to do.
If you enjoy classical fantasy, and do not enjoy contemporary young adult fantasy, be forewarned that your points in Genre Savvy may routinely mispredict what the game wants you to do.
Example, and I won't spoil the outcome other than to say that a Tolkien fan and a 20-something young adult author have radically different intuitions here:
You chance upon an altar in forest. A flame whispers in your mind "RELEASE ME. I. Want. To. Be. Free." Stick hand in fire?
You chance upon an altar in forest. A flame whispers in your mind "RELEASE ME. I. Want. To. Be. Free." Stick hand in fire?
There's also quite a bit of roster management as the campaign ages your characters and some of them will age out of adventuring before the end of the campaign, which is shortly going to deprive me of one defense-specced tank with movement challenges and also *all his epic gear*.
