We thank Nigredo Press for the copy of Lay On Hands by Alfred Valley which allowed us to make this review.
You can find it here at the price of €6 for the digital italian version only or 10 for the paper version (including PDF).
But what is Lay On Hands really? We are faced with a solo narrative game in which we will be a healer with special powers in a post-apocalyptic world. If this description has intrigued you, all you have to do is get to the end of this article to understand if this is the product for you.
Lay On Hands: Character Creation Review
Let’s start with the creation of our character.
Faculties are macro-categories of skills. They are divided into three groups: Grit, Agility and Ingenuity.To help you understand this division better, here is an example for each group. Grit includes survival, Agility is used to open a trapdoor, while Wits includes persuasion. Each Faculty will be better the lower its number is.
We will then choose Skills, indicating actions that our character is particularly good at performing. In this case, the higher the relative score, the better.
We then decide on an Archetype among those available: Barber, Exorcist, Alienist, Bloodsucker, Hunter and Mechanist. Each of them will have special powers that will allow you to progress in the story. For example, an Exorcist can perform a ritual to banish a spirit, while a Bloodsucker can donate his blood to a patient to cure him.
All we have to do is evaluate the Boasts, or beliefs that our character refers to. Added to these are the Pitfalls, represented by the hero’s character flaws.
After we have written down our choices on our paper card, we can begin our journey.
Game Mechanics: An Oracle to Determine Evidence
At our disposal we will have the Oracle, represented by a chessboard of words and scores. It will represent our fate every time we ask ourselves questions about what happened or what is to happen. Thanks to the answers thus obtained, we will be able to create our own personal narrative and give ourselves answers to what is happening to us.
When we are not sure of the outcome of one of our actions, we must perform a test to determine its success. First we must decree the category, evaluating which one may be most appropriate. The options are: Progress, Contest, Challenge and Clash. To better understand what the level and nature of our obstacle are, we have at our disposal an action table.
First of all we will have to decide which Faculty the action falls under and subtract the value of each relevant Skill. After that, thanks to a specific table, we will determine the Challenge Level (or we will toss a coin on the Oracle to establish it randomly) and we will add the value to the previously calculated score. We will thus obtain the Count, or the score to reach or exceed to have a success.
Let’s take an example, as indicated in the manual. My character needs to climb. Consulting the table, I think the most appropriate move is Challenge, since Agility ties into it. I also have a 1 in climbing. I’m not sure of the difficulty level, so I flip a coin on the Oracle and the result is 1. So we have all our values ​​to determine the count: 3 agility – 1 climbing + 1 challenge rating = 3.
Facing the Trials
Now it’s time for the test.
Let’s take our Oracle page and spin a coin on it. As the coin continues to spin, we should use our pen to complete parts of the test on a chart available within the manual. Again, a photocopy is preferable, so that it can be used multiple times.
The boxes are marked according to the ability they represent.. For example, Ingenuity actions are represented by black circles with white dots. If the number of completed parts is equal to or greater than the count, we will have a success. However, if the coin stopped on a tail, we should consult the oracle again to define a possible obstacle. Be careful! If the coin stopped and we had not yet completed the blackening of our path, it would be an automatic failure.
Our successes or failures will give us bonuses or penalties that we will have to manage immediately or in subsequent tests.
Miscellaneous
There are many other variables that can affect your character’s story. Your Belongings, for example, will allow you to perform an action or not. A Pact, or an alliance or mission to which the character is loyal, will make a difference in your choices. You can also make other Pacts during your journey, provided that they are challenging but achievable goals.
We will also have to pay close attention to Vigor, which represents life. Some special abilities consume it, in addition to the damage we may receive on our path. In this case, before it reaches 0 and puts an end to our deeds, it will be a good idea to stop and rest to recover it. This will also help us improve our abilities, as long as they have been used in the time frame before resting.
Every time we stop to recover our strength, we will toss a coin and write the result obtained (heads or tails) in the countdown clock on our card. With three identical results, we will give life to a meetingand, after having determined its nature, we will address it immediately.
Lay On Hands Review Conclusions
Lay On Hands is a complex title, with great replayability. Setting is evocative and the gameplay experience is certainly different from most of what you have tried. The idea of ​​a traveling healer is very stimulating, but it takes a good imagination to take the Oracle’s results, adapt them to the setting and use them as fuel to advance the narrative.
Rules are a bit difficult for newbies, but they are full of examples to refer to to dispel any doubts.
Graphics are minimal, as are the illustrations,to recall the sense of desolation and loneliness of a ruined world.
Recommended for those who decide to face their inner fears alone. Who knows, maybe the self-driven narration will bring out thoughts that we have long been afraid to face.
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