First of all I want to thank Max Moon Games for sending us a review copy of Twelve Years. It is a masterless roleplaying game, lethal and dark, to be played alone or in company. Andy Webber also collaborated for the illustrations, while the layout was handled by Slopmotion.
In case you are interested in buying a physical copy, keep in mind that you can do it at the official store for the price of $ 20.00, about 20 euros at the current exchange rate. Here you can find the free summary of the ruleset.
A Classical and Charming Setting
Twelve Years provides for a very simple and precise plot, from which however very varied and unpredictable plays can arise.
Mad prophets remind us that in twelve years’ time the Lich King will be reborn in his Sunken Castle of the South and it will be the end of the world, literally. To prevent his skeleton armies from serving again their commander, the characters must create a party and go and complete the coronation ritual, so that he can remain quiet for another twelve years. Someone says it is also possible to kill him, but only a madman would try.
This time frame may seem very large, but the game world is strongly influenced by the author’s love for faeries; they are strongly present in the work, providing excellent narrative cues but also dragging the characters into their world for long periods. Max Moon Games’ passion for these shows excellent expertise, as seen in Fairyland.
Twelve Years Core Mechanics Review
Players enter this context with a first fundamental choice: the game mode. First of all, you have to decide whether to play alone or with other people; in the latter case, it is then necessary to understand whether you want to collaborate to stop the Lich King or enter into competition with the other groups of adventurers. In the event that different players control different parties, it must be taken into account the possibility that, with the intervention of the faeries, there will be moments in which time advances for one of them but not for the others.
This TTRPG puts the group of adventurers at the centre of the narrative, not the individual characters; it can already be seen from the creation of the party (one per player if you have chosen the competitive mode or one to be distributed among the various players if you opt for the cooperative one).
To do this, 2d4 is rolled and the result indicates the number of adventurers. Through a sequence of random tables (a key element of this game system) the archetype (Hermit, Rogue, Fae Folk or Giant), the gold, the weapon and the equipment of each of them are then determined. If the first three options are simple and predictable, the items instead show superior care and, thanks to the use of multiple tables, are more interesting (also at a narrative level). Some items are magical, some cursed, some of superior quality, and some broken; each possibility also increases the replayability of the product. I really liked the fact that some can kill characters during creation, leaving the party already at a disadvantage.
The greater importance given to the group is also evident from the fact that it increases its level, with transversal advantages for all the components.
Hexploration and Delving
The game tools required (in addition to the manual) are just a classic set of dice, pen and paper, the party sheet, the Delving sheet and the Hexploring sheet. As you will understand in this review, Twelve Years is based on two very distinct game phases: Hexploration and Delving; both again make extensive use of random tables.
The first one makes adventurers leave a settlement and allows them to explore a different world each time. Some terrains will be more favourable, others more problematic. Along the way, they will be able to meet precious allies or ruthless enemies, in an unpredictable journey that always sees the Lich King as the final goal. Each box explored is (obviously) a hexagon and over time can host new surprises; some also contain entrances to places to visit with great prudence.
Indeed, dungeon exploration is confirmed as a very fun aspect of this type of roleplaying game. The party needs cunning and luck but, if not wiped out by traps and monsters, they could find precious treasures; and who knows that some of them may help in the endeavour to stop the Lich King…
In both modalities it is very probable to find creatures ready to try to take the life of the protagonists; in these cases, there are only two solutions: evading or fighting. Both happen through simple dice rolls on a random table that indicates the outcome, taking into consideration the characteristics of the forces in play. Therefore, there are no specific mechanics, but each customization option (such as archetypes and weapons) affects these rolls. It is therefore clear that the combat in this tabletop RPG doesn’t want to be mechanically deep, but prefers to abstract it with dice rolls that reflect the dynamics of a brawl.
Conclusions of the Twelve Years Review
The aesthetic side of this manual is simple and effective. The mainly single-column layout and the classic font of its almost 40 pages are clear and facilitate reading. Moreover, the illustrations maintain deeply old-school tones and accompany the text perfectly.
I also point out that at the end of the manual, there are helpful summaries of the rules and the sheets to keep track of the group and the maps.
To conclude this review, I can say that Twelve Years lived up to expectations; maintaining simple mechanics, it knows how to bring the exploration of territories and dungeons to life while always keeping the pressure of time running out; The Lich King is about to awaken and the characters must find a balance between the desire to discover new encounters and approaching the Sunken Castle of the South to assault it. However, we must not forget the risk of being kidnapped by fairy beings and losing years in their realm; in this case, the usefulness of taking pen and paper and marking the events that occurred to your group is evident. This operation improves narrative immersion and helps clarify in case there are more parties at work.
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