Engel

Rating:
Summary: Engel - Very Promising RPG
Review: Do you know of angels? Heavenly beings, proxies of the God, the immortal warriors fighting against the devils...
Here, in the world of Engel, you become a soaring snow-white angel, fight back against the endless armies of
the monstrous host of the Lord of the Flies just like a sun piercing through a dark skies.
However, it's not the minions of the Lord of the Flies but the flashing brain-slashing fragments of memories of the past that really torment you...

Engel is a cool D20 setting.

Upon glancing, it'd maybe seem another sterotypic hero-game. But simply there are much more than that.
Politic, Social, Religious twists combined with fantasy & SF, which are made into a very interesting setting
based on the future(27C) post-apocalyptical Europe.

1. The first downside is, you need some knowledges and cognition on Catholic & European, history and geography.
And you might feel awkward for you have to play a young character at puberty(or near-puberty) with no knowledge of sex, lust and love.

2. Engel is based on the bleak, mind-boggling setting and focusing on storytelling. On the other hand, D20 is quite rule-intesive,
so you don't know yet if the Engel would go well with D20 rule-set.

3. The most grave weak point is, you have to wait till 'Creatures of the Dreamseed' book is released in mid March
which is the equivalent of the Monster Manual, to play the game at all.

Sum: Engel is an excellent RPG setting. I would have given 5 stars if not for those ambiguous parts.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome setting
Review: Greatly enjoy the setting. The game mechanics aren't quite as good, and could use some better editing, but the setting is easily one of the best in any RPG out there right now.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome setting
Review: Greatly enjoy the setting. The game mechanics aren't quite as good, and could use some better editing, but the setting is easily one of the best in any RPG out there right now.

Rating:
Summary: Good on its own, or inserted into any D20 campaign!
Review: The future is bleak. There are evil forces at work hell-bent on destroying all that is good; and fire rains down from the sky, scorching all in the infernos' paths. But God has not forsaken hunanity! God has sent angels to act as holy defenders of the people, and each of the 5 tribes of angels has unique abilities to aid in this most desperate of struggles.

Engel is a great book. It's fully D20 but contains enough of the core rules that you could pick it up on it's own and start playing. The setting is a post-apocalyptic, neo-feudal europe. The Holy Angelitic Church is lead by an ever-young (few hundred year old) pope, and dominates the lives of the common folk, while also crusading against the Lord of the Flies and the insectoid Dreamseed minions. The angels come from one of 5 factions are the main player character races, although other classes are offered as well. The great thing about this game is that if the setting isn't your cup of tea, all sorts of plot hooks allow for rogue angels who "know the truth" or even add these angels into a DnD 3ed game. Their advancement is very balanced.

A great game, and great looking. Every D20 group should have at least one copy of this book.

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: This game is about the a fight in the far future between the forces of good and evil. The Engel (Angels), champions of the one above fight the evil thats is the Lord of flies and his Dreamseed minions (horrific insectoids?. The game is in the world of darkness vein, the game world is bleak, oppressive and filled with pathos. There are a lot of secrets in the game background which add large twists to the game.

The game background is generally sound, there are gaps in the information presented and a few inconsistencies in the information available but nothing you cant work around, although there is a danger your solutions will mismatch with the supplements to be published later. The Game was translated from German and occasionally it shows.

The big problem with this game is the abbreviated version of the D20 system which forms the core of the book. The character creation system suffers from a cramped somewhat confused layout. Those not used to the d20 system will find the game rules a chore to learn as they are not well explained. The rules system itself is not bad but Im not convinced it really suits the game background.

What I felt was a bigger problem and an annoyance is the lack of information on the Lord of flies and the Dreamseed, they get two pages of information and you get two sets of stats for dreamseed creatures. The book indicates that there will be a dreamseed supplement coming soon, but in my opinion this information ought to have been presented in the main rules. This game is a stand alone d20 product, but not stand alone product in its own right which is a shame because Im not convinced this game has the legs to be a long term gaming prospect making it worth buying extra supplements.

So to sum up its and interesting game idea at its core, but the access to the heart of the game through the game system is botched, if you can live with its inherent problems then you will get a lot out of it, if you are not happy with doing that then avoid.

Rating:
Summary: The best RPG ever
Review: This is the best paper-and-pencil role playing game ever written, hands down. If you dislike the D20 system as much as I do, don't let that scare you away from this incredible game. Beside the fact that the game is awesome, the game was originaly made in Germany using a diceless rule system. The game was published in the U.S. with D20 rules, but F&S translated the German rules into English and they are floating around the internet as a PDF file. It has practially no game mechanics and uses tarot cards as a randomizer. Pure genious!!!

As for the setting itself, the game takes place far into the future of our world. Floods and disease has drastically widdeled mankind down in numbers and has altered the worlds eco system. The world has fallen into a new Dark Age rules by the Church. This new Church is run by a 12 year old boy who has never aged in thousands of years, and he commands the Lords Engel to defend man from the Lord of the Flies and his evil Dreamseed. Characters play as these Engel, but mystery runs deep in this setting, but I dont want to ruin it for any body, so I'll just leave it at what I've said.

This is a serious game for serious gamers. Sure, you can D&D hack-and-slash with this game, but there is so much more to this game for mature gamers can explore.

Also, worth mentioning is the beautiful art work. This is the NICEST looking book that I've ever seen for a RPG, and that includes Wizards of the Coast material. This book has been at most hobby shops and larger books stores that I've been to, so at least give it a look. You wont be sorry.