In this review we present not one, but two products: Roll & Play The Fantasy Character Kit and Roll & Play The Game Master’s Fantasy Toolkit; two tools (one for storytellers and one for players) containing a large number of tables with tips and ideas for characters, situations, meetings and much more suitable for any fantasy RPG.
The two products are published in English by Roll & Play Press, which we thank for providing us with this reviewable material. We recommend you visit their website to discover other interesting projects and follow them on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
If you decide to buy them, please note that both are available on the Roll & Play Press shop: the Fantasy Character Kit is sold at a price of about 16 £ and the Game Master’s Fantasy Toolkit at about 14 £. For a limited time, using the discount code UNROLLED10 you can get a 10% discount on your purchase!
Structure and Art Review of Roll & Play: The GM & Character Fantasy Kits
The first thing that is striking about both manuals is the cover; from an artistic point of view it is really well cared for and you can return a feeling of great fantasy adventure. The same care is present in all the illustrations, which are not many but are really well made.
The ring binding and the type of paper on which the products were printed give the impression of holding a notebook to take notes. As much as this feeling is very nice, as you browse through the two manuals, in some places I felt a little fragile and I was afraid that I could ruin some pages.
From the point of view of writing, both manuals are characterized by simple and easily understandable English. During the reading I did not find any errors or inaccuracies, a symptom of a good review work.
The content of both Roll & Play manuals consists of a set of very well-prepared tables; you will find some examples in these reviews.
The Contents of Roll & Play: The Fantasy Character Kits
Specifically, Roll & Play: The Fantasy Character Kits contains all the tables necessary for the creation and characterization of PG and PNG; being the module focused on fantasy, the tables are divided by class. In the first pages we find a chapter that contains, in summary, the characteristics of the most used fantasy races.
The classes are those of D&D5e, although the suggestions and contents are universal and not linked to any specific system. If you are looking for a way to completely create a PG from scratch, you will be disappointed because the tables give inspirations and suggestions only for the background and not for the numerical part.
A nice detail is the presence, at the beginning of each chapter, of a PG created through the tables in the manual; the examples are always useful!
The Content of Roll & Play: The GM’S Fantasy Toolkit
Instead Roll & Play: The GM’s Fantasy Toolkit collects a large number of tables that can be used by the Game Master to generate situations, encounters and much more.
The various tables are divided into thematic areas and are often accompanied by food for thought or questions. A positive detail is that all tables can be used without preparation, since the suggestions within them are very clear and quick to apply.
In conclusion
To conclude, I find the two products really well made and able to give a lot of ideas to both players and masters.
I recommend buying it for anyone who wants to give randomness and character to their sessions and gaming campaigns; alternatively they can also be very useful in order to speed up the creative process or unlock it if necessary.