Shadow of the Demon Lord (SDL1000)

I was a Kickstarter backer for this game.And what an amazing game it is! This is a highly polished game which can be viewed as the spiritual successor to WFRP2, with a dark setting and mechanics perfectly tuned to support a grim and deadly game.Before I delve into the mechanics (which will be the bulk of this review), let me first comment on the physical product itself. It is a hardback, full-colour gaming book with premium slightly glossy paper throughout, along with a full index at the back. This isn't a Print-On-Demand product, and it shows - this is a premium gaming intended to compete with the likes of D&D, Pathfinder and Fantasy Flight Games. There is also lots of full-colour artwork throughout. Art is a subjective thing - I have to say I really like about 95% of it, with 5% (just a few pieces) not quite to my liking. The author spent a lot of Kickstarter money on hiring good artists with whom he has worked on previous professional RPG's (including WFRP2 and D&D), so these aren't amateurs.So, the book itself is great - but how does it play?Like WFRP, the book does encourage ambiguous characters (ie "good" characters with flaws and "bad" characters with redeeming qualities) which is a welcome change from typical heroic fantasy in the vein of Tolkien (mainly looking at you, D&D).Whilst this is clearly a love letter to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, it also has mechanical influences from D&D5 (both of which the author professionally worked on). There are other mechanical influences in here, too (Edge of the Empire & FATE Core among others), but if you must compare this to any other game, it should be WFRP2.The mechanics are brilliant, using a d20 with banes & boons reflected in additional d6s. Target number for most challenge rolls is a straight-forward 10. The banes & boons remind me of the excellent Edge of the Empire RPG, but is far simpler in practice, as the banes & boons cancel each other out, keeping the dice pool down (and not requiring bespoke dice!). There are 4 attributes (Strength, Agility, Intellect and Will), and skills are replaced with your character's profession (career prior to becoming an adventurer). If a challenge could be influenced by your profession, you add a boon. Simple!Combat is also refreshingly simple yet still manages to have depth, the highlight of which is Fast & Slow turns feature. The PC's always go first (except vs some high-level monsters which have feats allowing them to bypass this), but have to decide to go on a Fast turn (where they can only do one thing) or a Slow turn (where they can effectively move and take an action). Adversaries also have the same option, which means they will sometimes go before the PC's (where the adversaries go Fast and the PC's go Slow). As there is no turn order, the PC's decide who goes when at the start of each round, similar to Star Wars Edge of the Empire. The result is a surprising elegant solution to initiative, which I've never been 100% happy with in previous systems. I love it here.Paths are the careers / classes you take when you level up, and these are introduced in a structured way that encourages an organic character development, rather than the min+maxing planning that D&D seems to invite. Speaking of levelling up, it is done as a group when it is applicable to the story (usually at the end of each adventure), not individually, a refreshing change to calculating XP.In terms of races (here called ancestries), Schwalb has taken traditional fantasy races and tropes, and twisted them away from Tolkien (and other games) in a unique way, to fit his vision. As such we see "traditional" races such as humans, dwarfs and orcs, as well as goblins, clockwork and changelings in this core rulebook. Supplements already released introduce unique takes on halflings, fauns, vampires, revenants and salamanders. Future supplements (all due out in 2016) will introduce elves, gnomes, jotuun, nephilim and cambions. It's also surprisingly easy to create your own ancestries (I've created a semi-aquatic people for a pirate campaign). True to it's WFRP roots, there are heaps of random ancestry tables to personalise your character.The setting is appropriately dark, being on the verge of a supernatural apocalypse. Demons, cultists, beastmen and other horrible creatures all feature. Those familiar with Warhammer Fantasy will find themselves quickly at home.I strongly suggest finding the free preview online (you can find it at DTRPG), then reading the Foreword (half a page), Preface (1 page) and Introduction (from "Moral Ambiguity" to "Examples of Play", approx 2 pages). They will help give you a taste of what is on offer here. If after reading those sections you are even slightly interested, I would highly recommend buying it, because the rules and mechanics are incredibly well thought out, easy to grasp and highly adaptable to many genres. I can see this supplanting D&D and WFRP at many gaming tables.There is also a glut of additional material available on DTRPG, including a huge number of adventures, two campaigns, lots and lots of setting supplements, a GM expansion (The Demon Lord's Companion) and a GM screen. More content is out pretty much every month, with more content planned throughout 2016. A future Kickstarter has also been hinted at!This is hands down the best RPG I've ever experienced. In addition, my D&D loving group (who also enjoy WFRP2, FATE Core and Star Wars EOTE) are also highly enjoying it.I give this a hearty 5 out of 5 demonic pentagrams.