it is MERP as I wished I had in the 80s. Streamlined, polished, great community on Discord, I am GMing a campaign set in a world I created many years ago and it’s a blast. I feel 40 years younger! please play it soon with a group or solo on this channel.
You are bang on with respect to this as a great system for Midnight. I know of at least two GMs doing precisely that. There is VTT support for this game on Roll20, Fantasy Grounds and Foundry as far as I know (I code the Foundry system). There are some people playing it solo as well. It would be great to see you run a solo adventure of VsD in Midnight (don't play an Elf 🙂).
I got my copy about a month ago. I would say that it only partially resembles MERP/Rolemaster from Iron Crown Enterprises, being a far more streamlined and thoroughly revised version of those games. There are completely new mechanics for character development and gameplay (like the Drives, Passions, and Heroic Paths sub-systems, or the way navigation and travel are orchestrated). I'd love to see more from you about your impressions.
Against The Darkmaster is a great evolution of MERP/HARP. The streamlining of the rules and layout in the book is superior to those that came before it. I like that they included extra things such as a 'Dark Lord' generation system too. Dig some random tables, even if I pick & choose some things. Would be great to see you do some solo'ing with this, or similarly WFRP, for some dark fantasy themes.
Fantastic game, excited for the upcoming kickstarter! When playing Rolemaster and MERP I always assigned a player to keep track of HP and conditions, made my life as a GM easier. Thanks for the video!
Haha! I bought this book right after watching your Sage's library on MERP. I'm glad I did: it's a beautiful - streamlined, yes - modernized version of the old ICE game. I especially like the passion system, a system rewarding the development of character personalities. Now I just need to convince my group to try it.
The MERP critical tables. My freshman year of college back in 89 I finally convinced my suite mates (non-gamers) to play MERP and on the very first combat one of their players got one-shotted. That was the end of that experiment.
Great review. I picked up AvD just recently though I played a lot of both MERP and Rolemaster back in the day. It is true that there is more record keeping in combat, what with bleeding hits per round, stuns, etc, but likely you'll (meaning any GM) do as I did and develop your own shorthand for tracking it. It comes with experience and the fun is worth it. I have never heard of the Midnight setting before, you've got me doing a dive on that now. Cheers!
Got this game a while ago! haven't gotten to soloing it yet. It is as you said, a streamlined version of MERP. I also love that they have added some meta currency to offset any bad dice rolls, which can easily end a solo adventure in one single moment! Save those Luck Points!
For me, if you don’t have a heart for Merp, you no soul. It’s just the weird system, you gotta love!!! Played it for many years and it’s still my favorite after all these years, warts and all.
MERP was the first game I ever played. I didn’t like the system and I don’t think we ever played it right, but the art was evocative, and we got to play in Middle Earth. For that I will be forever grateful.
VSD has been one of my favorite sources for inspiration since I got it a year or two back. Fantastic art design, layout, a frankly fantastic companion playlist on spotify, and all that- and a finely streamlined versions of MERP/RM-style tabletop play. Just an absolute gorgeous book where my only major complaint is that its a bit TOO bulky for easy paging and showing players lol, but they put out a player's guide recently just because of that complaint.
Loved the new 'segment' on the channel. Something's off with the lights though - plenty of shadows. Maybe it was a nod to Sauron! Hope to see more of this and of Sage's Library. Oh, and you should really do something with Troika! That'd be amazing!
I have ony heard Against The Darkmaster and not usually run this kind of crunchy games like this or Pathfinder 2e or Fragged Empire or Twilight 2000 but i love reading them for mechanical game designs insight. How about you Mr. Devall do you have favorite rules light games that you play with friends, sir?
i've bought the pdf of this game because long time ago, i played merp (and i read rolemaster but never play). the rules are unique and the critical hit tables are just hilarous and terrible. but you need to dive inside to extract the juice of this game. This type of middle age world is definetly my favorite setting like Shadows of the demon lord or midgnight like you said or the witcher. Dark fantaisy has a vicious beauty.
I still play MERP and have wanted to get my greedy mitts on Against the Dark Master for ages. Unfortunately they don’t ship to Britain. I’d be interested to see what you think of AtDM once you’ve had a chance to play it it. Thanks for sharing.
@@barnyfraggles Thanks for the heads up. It looks like things have changed. Back then they weren’t shipping here due to Brexit but now it looks like they do. Happy days.
We actually do have a Roll20 sheet for the game! Search for "Against the Darkmaster" in the character sheets when you create your game and it should pop out 😉
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [2/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qJbQs_nhjD4/mqdefault.jpg)
*Holds up what appears to be a massive brick of a book*
"This is a streamlined version..."
Looks beautiful, though.
also its great!
but i havent played it
what an insightful opinion
it is MERP as I wished I had in the 80s. Streamlined, polished, great community on Discord, I am GMing a campaign set in a world I created many years ago and it’s a blast. I feel 40 years younger! please play it soon with a group or solo on this channel.
MERP is a great game. Complex yet elegant.
You are bang on with respect to this as a great system for Midnight. I know of at least two GMs doing precisely that. There is VTT support for this game on Roll20, Fantasy Grounds and Foundry as far as I know (I code the Foundry system). There are some people playing it solo as well. It would be great to see you run a solo adventure of VsD in Midnight (don't play an Elf 🙂).
I got my copy about a month ago. I would say that it only partially resembles MERP/Rolemaster from Iron Crown Enterprises, being a far more streamlined and thoroughly revised version of those games. There are completely new mechanics for character development and gameplay (like the Drives, Passions, and Heroic Paths sub-systems, or the way navigation and travel are orchestrated). I'd love to see more from you about your impressions.
Against The Darkmaster is a great evolution of MERP/HARP. The streamlining of the rules and layout in the book is superior to those that came before it. I like that they included extra things such as a 'Dark Lord' generation system too. Dig some random tables, even if I pick & choose some things. Would be great to see you do some solo'ing with this, or similarly WFRP, for some dark fantasy themes.
You need biceps the size of Bournemouth to lift that thing! I regularly use mine to save on trips to the gym!
...dab indeed ! 😏
(It seems heavy...)
Fantastic game, excited for the upcoming kickstarter! When playing Rolemaster and MERP I always assigned a player to keep track of HP and conditions, made my life as a GM easier. Thanks for the video!
Same here, my bean counter was Erik Schmidt. He does incentive systems for video games now, haha. Enjoy the dark side old friend.
Haha! I bought this book right after watching your Sage's library on MERP. I'm glad I did: it's a beautiful - streamlined, yes - modernized version of the old ICE game. I especially like the passion system, a system rewarding the development of character personalities.
Now I just need to convince my group to try it.
The MERP critical tables. My freshman year of college back in 89 I finally convinced my suite mates (non-gamers) to play MERP and on the very first combat one of their players got one-shotted. That was the end of that experiment.
Rolemaster’s not dead! ✊🏼😉
That is such a droolworthy hardback
Fun! Midnight looks really interesting, thanks for showing us.
Great review. I picked up AvD just recently though I played a lot of both MERP and Rolemaster back in the day. It is true that there is more record keeping in combat, what with bleeding hits per round, stuns, etc, but likely you'll (meaning any GM) do as I did and develop your own shorthand for tracking it. It comes with experience and the fun is worth it. I have never heard of the Midnight setting before, you've got me doing a dive on that now. Cheers!
Got this game a while ago! haven't gotten to soloing it yet. It is as you said, a streamlined version of MERP. I also love that they have added some meta currency to offset any bad dice rolls, which can easily end a solo adventure in one single moment! Save those Luck Points!
One of my first gigs was writing for Midnight. I contributed to the Fury of Shadow box set. Even though they forgot to credit me :/
I actually prefer black and white interiors for most rpgs.
I almost thought this was an early GoodTimesWithScar episode when I first clicked on it
Thanks for the review!
For me, if you don’t have a heart for Merp, you no soul.
It’s just the weird system, you gotta love!!! Played it for many years and it’s still my favorite after all these years, warts and all.
MERP was the first game I ever played. I didn’t like the system and I don’t think we ever played it right, but the art was evocative, and we got to play in Middle Earth. For that I will be forever grateful.
MM&D season 4 maybe ;)
Hope to see Pendragon 6th edition in these series when it hits the market soon :)
Would be great if Spacemaster got such a modernization treatment from Open-Ended Games, or somebody. Converted to this system.
VSD has been one of my favorite sources for inspiration since I got it a year or two back. Fantastic art design, layout, a frankly fantastic companion playlist on spotify, and all that- and a finely streamlined versions of MERP/RM-style tabletop play. Just an absolute gorgeous book where my only major complaint is that its a bit TOO bulky for easy paging and showing players lol, but they put out a player's guide recently just because of that complaint.
Perfect video for a lonely night drive home.
Loved the new 'segment' on the channel. Something's off with the lights though - plenty of shadows. Maybe it was a nod to Sauron! Hope to see more of this and of Sage's Library. Oh, and you should really do something with Troika! That'd be amazing!
Great new little series, I'm digging all the exposure you give to not-dnd games haha ✌💀
I would like to watch how you soloplay Fate Core
Love this series! Keep em coming
Huzzah!! ❤️
I have ony heard Against The Darkmaster and not usually run this kind of crunchy games like this or Pathfinder 2e or Fragged Empire or Twilight 2000 but i love reading them for mechanical game designs insight.
How about you Mr. Devall do you have favorite rules light games that you play with friends, sir?
Love this game
i've bought the pdf of this game because long time ago, i played merp (and i read rolemaster but never play). the rules are unique and the critical hit tables are just hilarous and terrible. but you need to dive inside to extract the juice of this game. This type of middle age world is definetly my favorite setting like Shadows of the demon lord or midgnight like you said or the witcher. Dark fantaisy has a vicious beauty.
I still play MERP and have wanted to get my greedy mitts on Against the Dark Master for ages. Unfortunately they don’t ship to Britain. I’d be interested to see what you think of AtDM once you’ve had a chance to play it it. Thanks for sharing.
That’s odd, had mine shipped to Ireland without any issues.
@@barnyfraggles Thanks for the heads up. It looks like things have changed. Back then they weren’t shipping here due to Brexit but now it looks like they do. Happy days.
@@andysimmons2648 Cool, enjoy!
Had to pick it up because I can’t resist giant old school styled tomes. Damn shame there’s no roll 20 sheet for it yet.
I share your sickness ;)
We actually do have a Roll20 sheet for the game! Search for "Against the Darkmaster" in the character sheets when you create your game and it should pop out 😉
@@againstthedarkmaster9619 ooh fantastic, haven't looked recently, thanks!!
I loved MERPS in the 80’s but my interest in crunchy systems has waned. I prefer quick narrative systems now I play solo.
You probably used MERPS for middle earth in the 80s (at 3:06) because it is the Middle Earth Role Playing System (M.E.R.P.S.).
Correct.