Rating: 
Summary: Masterstroke or unholy mess?
Review: Mr Gygax's new role playing system has much to commend it. Leaving behind the rigidity of the Dungeons and Dragons system in all its incarnations it introduces some new, exciting races and a flexible system of character professions (known as Orders). Its beauty lies in creating a fully operational avatar (character) which even at the lowest experience level has a mouth-watering array of abilities and spells at the disposal of the player. There are no one-hit wonders here, newly rolled characters are robust enough to survive a few skirmishes. The combat system is quick-fire and uses a d100 for hits rather than the cherished d20. The spell system (and the remnant of psionic abilities from D+D) has been attractively revamped. But the game's simplicity is also its undoing. The editing, layout and pictures are crap. The text is littered with typo's and confusing statements and there are simply not enough ground rules. Mr Gygax, with all his genius, and experienced game masters could fill in the gaps but I believe that someone starting with no previous role-playing experience would find the system confusing. In fact, having read the player's manual a few times as well as reading the FAQ's on the Lejendary Adventure website, character creation is still wooly. At least Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 looks good and its structure lends it a certain reliability.
For my money, close but no cigar.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite RPG after playing it
Review: The latest RPG from the original creator(s) of Dungeons & Dragons. Gary Gygax after years in the industry gives us the total medieval fantasy Role-Playing experience. After writing many game systems it looks like he has taken everything that is good about role-playing games and placed it in this book. Pros: Very fun. Quick and easy to play and learn. Incredibly flexible with rules which allows for a lot of creativity for the Game-Master. Adventure and Role-Playing are the focus, rather than tons of combat and creating characters or should I say Super Characters.
Cons: Not for people who are into todays D&D 3E type rules. But will appeal to most D&D 3E players because of the fantasy background. Needs a little more work on the readability and graphics. Finally, the game is not as well known as the D&D 3E (d20 community), so it does not get a lot of outside support. Playing this game took me back to when I first started playing paper and pencil RPG's. I highly recommend this to anyone who is into Fantasy Role-Playing but does not want to stick with a standard d20 rules system. Very fun hope to see a lot more!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite RPG after playing it
Review: The latest RPG from the original creator(s) of Dungeons & Dragons. Gary Gygax after years in the industry gives us the total medieval fantasy Role-Playing experience. After writing many game systems it looks like he has taken everything that is good about role-playing games and placed it in this book. Pros: Very fun. Quick and easy to play and learn. Incredibly flexible with rules which allows for a lot of creativity for the Game-Master. Adventure and Role-Playing are the focus, rather than tons of combat and creating characters or should I say Super Characters.
Cons: Not for people who are into todays D&D 3E type rules. But will appeal to most D&D 3E players because of the fantasy background. Needs a little more work on the readability and graphics. Finally, the game is not as well known as the D&D 3E (d20 community), so it does not get a lot of outside support. Playing this game took me back to when I first started playing paper and pencil RPG's. I highly recommend this to anyone who is into Fantasy Role-Playing but does not want to stick with a standard d20 rules system. Very fun hope to see a lot more!
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent new RPG
Review: The Lejendary Rules for all Players is the first release in the Lejendary Adventure game line.Its designer has succeeded in creating a truly exciting set of rules. The rules are straightforward, easy to explain to others, and very ingenious. Best of all the system is suitable both for veteran RPGers and newcomers to the hobby. One can swiftly create nearly any kind of adventurer to play. Numerous races are described for those that prefer to play non-humans and all are fresh and offer unique opportunities for role-playing. Rather than spend ages describing the ins and outs of this game I'll simply say this: it is fast and fun, offers great creative freedom to both players and GMs alike, and recaptures the "magic" of RPGing that many other systems seem to have lost. More books are to follow for this game and it seems that a thrilling new system is in the offing.
Rating:
Summary: A Solid Component of an Excellent New RPG System
Review: The Lejendary Rules for All Players--along with Lejend Master's Lore and Beasts of Lejend--is one of three books that form the nucleus of the new Lejendary Adventures system launched by Dungeon's & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. It is a basic rules manual intended for players and game masters alike and introduces gamers to the fundamentals of the game system. Sections in The Lejendary Rules include an introduction to the Lejendary Adventures system; "The Avatar," a guide to character creation; "Avatar Abilities," what characters can do and how; "Equipment Lists," including starting equipment tailored to characters' backgrounds and skills; "Extraordinary Abilities," such as spells and paranormal powers; and "The Journey," the basic rules of play. Other elements include reproducible character sheets and "Forlorn Corners," a short introductory adventure. Creation of Lejendary Adventures characters is described in a clear, step-by-step manner, and is intended to allow players to design exactly the characters they want by allocating points for characteristics and selecting an appropriate mix of abilities. Lejendary Adventures characters have three basic characteristics, or "base ratings," Health, Precision, and Speed. An optional characteristic, Intellect, also exists, but is more applicable to nonplayer characters. These base ratings, along with race, are used to determine a character's level of proficiency in more than three dozen Abilities (e.g., Commerce, Divination, Weapons), which form the basis for character development in Lejendary Adventures. Races available to players in The Lejendary Rules include familiar ones, like Human, Dwarf, Elf (Wylf) and Gnome; some traditionally not open to characters, such as Kobold and Orc (three varieties); and others that are fairly unique to the game, such as Ilf, Oaf (three types), Trollkin, and Veshoge. Lejendary Adventures characters have the option of either joining various orders (reminiscent of the character classes that form the basis of systems like Dungeons & Dragons) or of remaining "unordered." Either course has its advantages, increased proficiency in various abilities for the members of orders, and greater flexibility for unordered characters. Characters with the prerequisite abilities can select from the Demonurge, Desperado, Ecclesiastic, Elementalist, Forester, Jongleur, Mage, Mariner, Noble, Outlaw, Rogue, Soldier, and Warlock orders. One especially interesting aspect of The Lejendary Rules are the various lists that players use to select initial weapons and equipment for characters based on their abilities. For example, Minstrelsy allows a selection from the Low list, Hunt from the Middle list, Learning from the High list, Enchantment from the Magical list, Weapons from the Military list, and Alchemia from the Special list. Incidentally, this softback, perfect-bound book is durable and certain to last a long time, something inadvertently brought to our attention after a cat knocked our copy into the toilet one night. The next day we fished it out and let it dry, after which it was a bit warped but completely intact and usable. If this book has a palpable weakness, it lies in its artwork, which includes a full-color illustration on the cover (depicting a traditional adventuring party) and hundreds of black-and- white illustrations inside. Unfortunately, quality of the latter are somewhat uneven, and many are coarsely rendered or poorly scanned. Many of these are reminiscent of the cruder illustrations in the old AD&D Monster Manual, and generous souls may allow that this similarity is deliberate. Aesthetic flaws aside, this system has no substantive deficiencies to speak of. Like the Lejendary Adventures system as a whole, it is a solid, enjoyable, easy-to-use gaming component that is sure to provide years of entertainment to a great many gamers.
Rating:
Summary: A Solid Component of an Excellent New RPG System
Review: The Lejendary Rules for All Players--along with Lejend Master's Lore and Beasts of Lejend--is one of three books that form the nucleus of the new Lejendary Adventures system launched by Dungeon's & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. It is a basic rules manual intended for players and game masters alike and introduces gamers to the fundamentals of the game system. Sections in The Lejendary Rules include an introduction to the Lejendary Adventures system; "The Avatar," a guide to character creation; "Avatar Abilities," what characters can do and how; "Equipment Lists," including starting equipment tailored to characters' backgrounds and skills; "Extraordinary Abilities," such as spells and paranormal powers; and "The Journey," the basic rules of play. Other elements include reproducible character sheets and "Forlorn Corners," a short introductory adventure. Creation of Lejendary Adventures characters is described in a clear, step-by-step manner, and is intended to allow players to design exactly the characters they want by allocating points for characteristics and selecting an appropriate mix of abilities. Lejendary Adventures characters have three basic characteristics, or "base ratings," Health, Precision, and Speed. An optional characteristic, Intellect, also exists, but is more applicable to nonplayer characters. These base ratings, along with race, are used to determine a character's level of proficiency in more than three dozen Abilities (e.g., Commerce, Divination, Weapons), which form the basis for character development in Lejendary Adventures. Races available to players in The Lejendary Rules include familiar ones, like Human, Dwarf, Elf (Wylf) and Gnome; some traditionally not open to characters, such as Kobold and Orc (three varieties); and others that are fairly unique to the game, such as Ilf, Oaf (three types), Trollkin, and Veshoge. Lejendary Adventures characters have the option of either joining various orders (reminiscent of the character classes that form the basis of systems like Dungeons & Dragons) or of remaining "unordered." Either course has its advantages, increased proficiency in various abilities for the members of orders, and greater flexibility for unordered characters. Characters with the prerequisite abilities can select from the Demonurge, Desperado, Ecclesiastic, Elementalist, Forester, Jongleur, Mage, Mariner, Noble, Outlaw, Rogue, Soldier, and Warlock orders. One especially interesting aspect of The Lejendary Rules are the various lists that players use to select initial weapons and equipment for characters based on their abilities. For example, Minstrelsy allows a selection from the Low list, Hunt from the Middle list, Learning from the High list, Enchantment from the Magical list, Weapons from the Military list, and Alchemia from the Special list. Incidentally, this softback, perfect-bound book is durable and certain to last a long time, something inadvertently brought to our attention after a cat knocked our copy into the toilet one night. The next day we fished it out and let it dry, after which it was a bit warped but completely intact and usable. If this book has a palpable weakness, it lies in its artwork, which includes a full-color illustration on the cover (depicting a traditional adventuring party) and hundreds of black-and- white illustrations inside. Unfortunately, quality of the latter are somewhat uneven, and many are coarsely rendered or poorly scanned. Many of these are reminiscent of the cruder illustrations in the old AD&D Monster Manual, and generous souls may allow that this similarity is deliberate. Aesthetic flaws aside, this system has no substantive deficiencies to speak of. Like the Lejendary Adventures system as a whole, it is a solid, enjoyable, easy-to-use gaming component that is sure to provide years of entertainment to a great many gamers.
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