I buy a lot of RPG’s that I’m never going to play. In fact, for most of the games I buy, I do so intending on simply using them for inspiration or for exposure to new rule systems. A friend recently turned me on to the FATE system, and all I can say is that I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to start using it. I’ve been aware of FATE since the release of Spirit of the Century, but neither me nor my gaming group are really into pulp adventure, so unfortunately I let FATE pass me by. Now, however, Cubicle 7 Entertainment has released Legends of Anglerre, and at last I have a FATE RPG in my preferred genre, fantasy.
Let me start by saying that I almost missed this game. Why? Well frankly when it comes to fantasy RPG’s, I’m not really looking for a specific setting, and I’ve never even heard of Anglerre or the Starblazer Adventures comics that inspired the setting. But upon closer examination I was pleased to discover that only one chapter, sixteen of the book’s 378 pages, is about Anglerre as a setting. The other 362 pages are much more accurately described as “The Fantasy Toolkit for FATE”.
Right up front, this is a beautiful book. The layout and design are top-notch, the index and the contents are user friendly, and numerous sidebars and examples allow for easy understanding of the game. The artwork is all black and white panels, apparently from the original British comic series. It took awhile to grow on me, but I like the consistent look and style.
Mechanically, this is my favorite iteration of FATE (having recently read Diaspora, The Dresdin Files, and Spirit of the Century). For those of you unfamiliar with FATE, it is a narrative-based game that strongly supports player contribution to both the story and setting. Characters are quick and easy to create, and are defined by their Aspects (short descriptive phrases) instead of lists of numeric data. In fact, when we tried Legends of Anglerre using the quick-play character generation system provided, five of us made up characters and were playing in literally 10 minutes. Full-blown character generation might take as long as 30 minutes or so.
In addition to character generation and rules for basic actions, Legends of Anglerre includes an excellent system for creating other elements in the campaign in a consistent and logical format. You can easily create and define anything from a bustling city – to a secret organization – to an elite unit of spearmen, using the same basic system as used in character creation. The beauty here is that all of these things can interact with each other in a variety of interesting ways. This allows Legends of Anglerre to include rules for other things, such as mass combat (say between a castle and an invading orc horde) as well as interactions between organizations (such as a thieves’ guild and local constabulary). All of this meshes completely with character scale mechanics and systems. In addition, one of the coolest components of Legends of Anglerre are the chapters dedicated to running the game, creating stories, and building campaigns. Regardless of the game you’re running, there is fantastic advice here for any gamemaster.
Overall I give legends of Anglerre my highest recommendation with only one caveat, and that has to do with the FATE system itself. Without going into a lengthy discussion of the way FATE works, you should know that it is generally a “rules light” system. For those of you needing more “crunch,” FATE may not be for you. This isn’t to say that the system is lacking in anything, just that it’s not about lots of math, hard data, and five-page character sheets. However, for those of you looking for an extremely flexible fantasy system, one that places the emphasis on storytelling over mechanics, and are not afraid of letting players make some of the decisions about the campaign, then Legends of Anglerre may be exactly what you are looking for.
So, if you like story over mechanics, and narrative over data, or you’re just a fan of FATE, then do yourself a favor and pick up this game. As for me, Legends of Anglerre has definitely become my game of choice, and the vehicle by which I want to tell fantasy stories. In fact, I’ve already begun work on my next fantasy campaign, and can’t wait to put Legends of Anglerre into action.
Editor’s note: Sadly, Legends of Anglerre has been discontinued, but you can still get copies at Amazon!