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Fleshscape $0.00
Average Rating:4.5 / 5
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Fleshscape
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Steven [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/11/2024 21:42:40

Fantastic, simple, elegant. Wonderful artwork too. Truly a gift.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Pascal M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/09/2018 18:54:17

I am a french spoken player. So it is not very easy for me to review your game. I'll try to make it as simple and straight as possible. Anyway I am using a translator to help me. I really like the aesthetics of the game. the system is simple and quick to use. The three characteristics give an effective and direct profile to the character. I love the very original background of the world and the principle of a role-playing game where the goal is simply to survive and not to accumulate wealth. my only criticism is that the rules plan is not very clear. We move from the equipment to repair and dismemberment without being able to find a coherent order. it's a game that makes you want to play immediately. I plan to do a test game as a GM very soon with some friends.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you Pascal! The layout of the rules was very much determined by how large each section was, since I wanted to waste as little space as possible and stay within the four pages limit. Hopefully you will enjoy playing it!
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Aansgar B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/20/2017 20:07:01

I you saw someone play Kingdom Death and thought to yourself "now if this was more of an rpg and less than 400$ I'd be down for that" then this is exactly what you wanted. The game is nicely designed and simple to learn to get going right away, the art is dope, the standardization of items is classy and convenient. The encumberement feature is too vague for my taste, could have used a description or be determined by the amount of + but that's a small thing. I also wish their were more creatures and random events, but what's there is enough to get a solid idea of what's going on and how to make more in the same vein. Thankfully the rules are simple, as the document itself is a bit annoying to skim through to find the relevant thing sometimes, but it's short enough if you need to read through it's not so bad.

A good snack-size offering filled with creamy possibility.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for your review! And I must say, tying the encumbrance to "+"s is an interesting idea. I'll keep this one in mind!
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Lucas F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/16/2017 17:31:45

Very unique and interesting setting and a concise game. The quality of the PDF is great.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you!
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Kai P. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/16/2017 01:30:33

Fleshscape is about the tribe the players form (together with some NPC, created by the players and the GM),about the aim the tribe tries to achieve (stated by the players) and an enemy of the tribe (again, chosen by the players). The few rules of the the game (about 2 pages, and two more pages for the character- and tribe-sheet that do include further, necessary rules as well) make it clear that this is game is meant to be player driven: the players state the goal, the players state the enemy. The GM uses what is given to him (the aims and actions of the PC, the enemies of the players, the fleshscape itself and its inhabitants) to provide challenges the protagonists need to deal with during their journey. A further arrow in the quiver of the GM is provided by the “bounds” of the PC. Each of them has one (or later: more) special relations to other members of the tribe (good or bad). These generate XP when they are played out during a game session, but also provide the GM with an indicator about what to incorporate into the game.

The rules are as simple as one may expect from a micro RPG: each character has a few special advantages (among them “Flesh Moulding”, the thing one could call magic in this game world), three stats (Brain, Muscle and Guts) and in a test, the character throws a number of d6 equal to his or her stat. 4+ is a success, the number of success need to acomplish the task is determined by the GM. XP (named “Survival Points”) are used to buy new traits (not new stats, but some modify stats) or to manipulate dice-rolls during the game. Aside from wounds to the body, the PC may just as well receive wounds to their mind and soul (as even to them, some of the things they face are true horrors), but healing comes naturally and rather quickly (unless somebody got maimed). Items are crafted by the characters (with help of their NPC, perhaps) and give a bonus (more dice) in a certain situation or some ability (e.g. “stores items“ or „gives shelter against bile rain“). All weapons and armors are crafted by the characters, too.

There are no cities, only tribes and camps. All items are made from flesh, sinew, bone or organs, all harvest from the surrounding fleshscape, from monsters and beasts… or other humans. The fleshscape is mostly inedible (to humans, at least) and there are NO plants. There is hair, but no plants. Fire is made from the fluids of a common type of maggot (which ignites itself after mixing), and there are no herbivores. Carrion eaters (like maggots) feed on the fleshscape, predators eat the carrion eaters, stronger predators eat the weaker ones and humans found are somewhere in-between. At the top of the food chain are the god-like true dragons: leviathans of flesh that are so gigantic that their parasites are monsters the size of a hut, and their dead bodies, should they end up as such during a fight with another dragon, are rotting mountains and landscapes in their own right.

The flesh of the beasts of the land is mostly edible, but instead of water there is “clearblood” that flows from the fleshscape in some places. The monsters are grotesque and strange, and so is the land.

What I like about the game world:

In as little as about two to pages, the game provides it all, in a nutshell. It is “sword and sorcery”, but with bones instead of steel and a shamanistic/psi-like flesh-shape “magic” instead of sorcery (and the latter is pretty much free form). There is no defined civilization, and there is no real need for one: each tribe will have their own taboo, each tribe will fend for survival, and the player´s tribe may or may not stumble into some more “advanced” civilization than that of roving nomads. The game is about exploration and traveling, but demands a different approach by the GM: there will be no patrons that will give tasks to the characters. They will not loot gold and riches and magic items. They will try to hunt and gather and craft. The “basics” of what they could (or have to) harvest is provided with the game rules. Just in examples, of course, but enough to provide the GM (and the players!) with the necessary concepts.

What I like about the rules: The GM -never- rolls a die. Not a single one (except when it comes to random tables). Not even in combat. Every monster has a difficulty (the success the characters need to achieve a hit “or something” against it), an “armor rating” (that reduces the damage of an attack) and a kind of “force” rating that tells how much damage it deals to a character that does NOT succeed in an action against it (or helps the GM to judge what -else- it might do instead). While I have not tried that by now, I know from my years of experience as a GM that this will speed up combat IMMENSELY.

Another thing I like are the rules for armor. Whenever a PC (!) receives damage, a test is made to “soak” that damage. Armor adds to the soak roll OR the player may decided that an armor or a shield is DESTROYED, and all the damage is ignored instead. This makes for an easy “things-break” rule in regard to armor ( and shields) that both feels natural and makes sure that the PC will keep crafting things.

What I do not like about the rules: I see two problems there: first of all, the “Flesh Moulders” (magic flesh-shapers) do not have a REAL disadvantage. The trait is acquired like any of the others and it is rather powerful. In my opinion, their should be some SERIOUS disadvantages to this power.

The rules for “combat” seem to need some second thought and clarification. The rules-as-written are nice for one-on-one single combat or against a single monster that is so big that it may easily hurt ANY NUMBER of opponents that dares to engage them at once. In regard to “mid-sized monsters” (humanoids, hounds and the like), the rules might not -really- work. Imagine three PC fighting against three “flesh hounds”: as they fight one-on-one, a character that does not manage to achieve some success in his or her action against a fleshhound will either be bitten once or gain some other disadvantage. When two of the fleshhounds are killed and only one is still alive, it will (by RAW) effectively be thrice as dangerous as before: if all characters fail in their action, they ALL will suffer. Of course, GM can easily find a work-around for that, but I am missing a little paragraph in the rules section that addresses that issue.

Last but not least, the number of NPC that form the tribe should be increased (I won´t go into detail here, everyone that reads the rules will know what I mean), and I personally suggest to have tribes of at least 30 to 50 members.

Do I recommend the game? This depends on who you are. If you are an experienced GM who has a taste for the weird and visceral things, if you have a group of players who share this and want to try something new (that incorporates a bit of “shared world building”), you SHOULD give it a try.

Newbees might be in for a rough ride, as micro-rules mean that the GM needs to make up some rules on the spot AND the players must be “seasoned” enough to flow with this instead of attempting to sabotage it for their own “gain” (like there is a real gain in “beating” the GM… but some kids still think so at the start of their journey into roleplaying games). In addition, the game needs a creative GM -and- creative players: the players need to come up with their own goals here, where most of other RPG provide them with goals (and the players just need to create characters who have a reason to achieve it and the means to do so).

Is it worth your money? As soon as you actually play it, yes it is! And if you are able to use it as a source of inspiration for other games, it should be worth some money to you, too. Sadly, I guess my friends cannot currently be coaxed into giving it a try. But then again, I would need to wrap my mind about some house rules first, too.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for the deep review! I'm glad that the game gets this kind of attention. You have clearly been GMing for quite a while, and I want to address some of your (very reasonable) concerns :) 1. When it comes to tribe population, feel free to add people: I kept it small simply because new players will have enough trouble coming up with one npc, not to mention ten. Also, the GM might easily lose track of that many people! 2. Moulding is powerful, yes, but powerful effects are hard to achieve, failure causes shock, and it bears a social stigma. Plus, if you embrace the lovecraftian nature of the setting, this kind of visceral link to the fleshscape is a double edged sword. House rules like madness tables and such could be an option, and it's possible that I'll write something like that in the future. 3. The kind of situation that you describe can be handled in two ways: the last creature remaining grows more fierce (aggressive when cornered, basically); or the consequence for the failure is not always damage, or even directly tied to the creature (the enemy is able to run away, your weapon breaks, etc.). You should also remember that a roll is required only when failure has meaningful consequences; meaning that if an animal is trapped into a hole and surrounded by four tribespeople with spears... it's simply dead. Combat doesn't happen. (Another perk of this combat system is that it solves the decade-old problem of "solo bosses" being overwhelmed by the number of PC actions) Hopefully this helped a little bit! Anyway, I hope you get a chance to play it and, if you have any feedback, feel free to share it! Thank you again for the insightful review!
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Fleshscape
Publisher: Rooster Games
by Eugenio M. L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/06/2017 15:32:24

Fleshscape surprised me, a lot. In less than 8 pages I found a complete rpg, with solid, modern and ergonomic mechanics (with a couple of little strokes of genius) strictly bound to a weird, tribal and wild setting (even if is just sketched). A mindblowing game in its early stage, a breath of fresh air.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you Eugenio!
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