First, I want to thank Kabouter Games for sending us a physical copy of Spears & Spells so that we could review this role-playing game with light rules for creating fantasy adventures in a very short time.

If, after reading this review, you would like to buy the product, you can find it directly on the publisher’s site at 10 dollars (about 10 euros) for the digital version. It is possible to take advantage of the print-on-demand service on the DrivethruRPG website and get the physical copy with a flexible cover for just under 15 dollars, about 15 euros.

The manual, which consists of 64 A4 pages, contains the rulebook and a ready-to-play adventure. You can immediately immerse yourself in this game with its old-school atmosphere.

Structure of the Opera

Let’s start by saying that Spears & Spells looks great. A useful table of contents makes it possible to immediately identify the topics so that you have them at your fingertips should the need arise. The subdivision into chapters is precise and clear, and all the key points needed to build not only a one-shot but also a long campaign are covered quickly and effectively.

Tthe book is divided into six chapters. The first three define the rules, the fourth and fifth offer treasures and opponents, and the last constitutes the actual playable adventure.

An Easy Ruleset

Spears & Spells was designed to help players take on adventures and make their characters heroes without hundreds of pages of rules. The design assumes that the player’s skill is as important, if not more so, than the character’s abilities. Players narratively describe what characters do, as in other games. But rather than looking on the character sheet for a skill or resource to use, players use their imagination to find what they need to continue, effectively making the roll of the dice not the core of the game experience.

One of the most interesting premises is that the rules are not written to cover all possibilities that may arise in the game. It will be up to the group consisting of the players and the master (here called Ref) to decide together which additional rules to include, as long as they are mutually agreed upon.

The manual also provides an extensive list of treasures and opponents to enliven the adventures.

A Pool of D6 to Pass the Tests

The rule system is still based on the roll of six-sided, old-school dice. When the outcome of a character’s action is uncertain, it is time to roll the dice.

Ref with the group assesses which characteristic is related to the test and the difficulty of the test (from easy to extremely difficult). The player rolls some 6-sided dice and adds up the results. If the sum is less than the defined characteristic score, then the character has success. It is only possible to re-roll the dice once per session, but the second roll is valid even if it gives a worse result.

If the same number is rolled on every d6 in the pool and the test is passed, the character gains a Special Success. The Ref and the player work together to tell a tailor-made scene describing what is happening. Extra damage, a special magic effect, a magnificently defused trap, and more can be thrown in.

If a 1 is rolled on every d6 in the pool, the test automatically succeeds and the character scores a Spectacular Success. Again, the Ref and the player work together to tell what happens.

Spears & Spells also uses an Advantage and Disadvantage system. Quite simply, when the character is in a condition to have an advantage, the difficulty will go down one level by removing a six-sided die from the pool. If, on the other hand, the character is at a disadvantage, the difficulty will go up one level by adding a six-sided die to the pool.

Character Creation

In Spears & Spells, character creation follows extremely linear rules. The character sheet is filled out very quickly, as well as having an essential design.

Characters have 4 Stats:

• Brawn, strength and endurance;
• Agility, or dexterity;
• Smarts, intelligence and cunning;
• Spirit, willpower and magnetism.

To establish the value for each characteristic, 3d6 are rolled and the result is added up.

The character’s Hit Points are calculated by adding the Brawn and Spirit scores and dividing the result by 2.

Spears & Spells does not identify classes for characters but has a good number of Talents to choose from. To determine how many Talents the character starts with, simply roll a d6 and choose as many. If a 1 comes up on the die, a second talent can be chosen from a list.

Equipment in Spears & Spells is not a problem. It is assumed that the character begins his adventure with the necessary. Everything must have logic and common sense must be used in these evaluations. Although sometimes it may be useful to have a ladder, it is not necessarily the case that characters have one.

Review of Combat in Spears & Spells

The character has a Base Attack for melee combat and a Base Attack for ranged combat, but how the character performs a Base Attack depends solely on the narrative. Each player narrates how his character tries to target his Base Attacks.

The initiative is established by descending order of Agility. In their turn, each character may perform a simple action (such as picking up an item in a bag), move 30 feet (including breaking movement) and perform an action (such as attacking, defusing a trap and casting a spell).

Review of Magic in Spears & Spells

In Spears & Spells, the management of magic is also very narrative. A spellcaster may cast a number of spells per day equal to his level. It is possible to cast any spell in one’s spell book for these uses, without further restrictions.

Spellcasters start with 1d6 +1 spells but may learn, copy or create new ones. Spells have no levels but increase in power as the character grows.

Levelling up

Each time the group as a whole (including the Ref) decides that it has reached an important point in the story, each character gains a level.

When a character levels up, he gains 1d6 health points and chooses a new Talent. On such occasions, it is preferable to choose new Talents based on the character’s personal history and for consistency, though this is not strictly necessary. The last step is to choose a characteristic and roll 3d6; if the result is higher than the value of the statistic, it is increased by 1 point.

Oxius’s Tower

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, the Spears & Spells manual also contains a ready-to-play adventure: Oxius’s Tower, written by R.P. Davis. Let’s see together the synopsis and some details, without spoilers so as not to spoil the gaming experience,

Oxius was a sorcerer of great renown, who lived a solitary life in a tower deep in the forest. He was famous everywhere for creating a powerful magical artefact, the Wand of Oxius, but also for being fabulously wealthy. Rumour has it that, despite being only a few hours’ walk from a city, the tower was so cleverly hidden that no one could tell exactly where it was.

Oxius’s Tower is divided into five parts designed to offer new and interesting challenges to the game group. The challenges are suitable for low-level characters.

The structure of the adventure is well thought out and offers the possibility for the Ref to juggle encounters and NPCs according to his own taste and character initiatives. This plot also features a couple of twists that will appeal to fans of fantasy and beyond.

Review of Spears & Spells Aesthetics

As you will have seen from the pictures in this review, Spears & Spells is a decidedly old-school-looking manual. All the illustrations (with the exception of the cover) are in black and white and recall the aesthetics of games from the early 1980s. Even the choice of the A4 format and the very clean layout recalls a certain retro style. The chosen font is particularly readable and the two-column printing handles text, tables and images well.

The adventure maps, integrated into the text, are also present at the back of the volume together with the character sheet. In this way, the game material is perfectly usable, printable in a useful format and usable directly at the gaming table.

Conclusions of the Spears & Spells Review

In conclusion, I can say that Spears & Spells is an easy-to-approach manual with extremely affordable content. Perhaps not suitable for newcomers, it can however provide a pleasant gaming experience for fans of the old-school genre who do not disdain a free handling of the rules and more narrative.

The affordable price and low page count are certainly an advantage. The manual can be read in a couple of hours and is ready for use in even less time.

If you love classic adventures and have a seasoned gaming group that loves to narrate spectacular scenes, Spears & Spells is the game for you.

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