Even a casual reader of this blog will notice that I perseverate on My Little Ponies a bit more the average middle-aged gamer, yet I do not consider myself a fanatic Brony It simply boils down to:
A) I'm a father of two young ladies and have watched a LOT of MLP with them, new and older episodes.
B) The idea of a properly licensed property getting a solid treatment away from the traditional gamer demographic is fascinating.
C) River Horse Games produces some ridiculously nice material, and I've already sung praises for the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling Game hardcover rulebook.
Upon churning out a high-quality rulebook, they moved onto a bugbear for most game companies, the RPG boxed set.
A quick time to wax nostalgic. Many players of Dungeons & Dragons have found memories of the RPG boxed set. For some, it was a starter set to learn how to play the game. For others, it was how their cherished campaign setting game packaged. Sometime in the 90's, the concept of the boxed set faded from production schedules, the chief excuse was the prohibitive cost to produce such an item.
I don't know exactly how River Horse Games/Ninja Division has done it, but they've released the My Little Pony: Curse of the Statuettes Boxed Set for the low price of $25.95!
While it's not jammed pack full of stuff, it does provide everything a beginning MLP gamemaster would need to run a game. Let's start from the outside and work our way in.
The Box!: I've owned many RPG, boardgame, and wargame boxed sets, and the box containing Curse of the Statuettes is in the top echelon for quality. The 9" x 2" x 13" has thick, sturdy walls and shouldn't have blown out corners like the boxes of old (subject to the machinations of the adult/child who owns it).
Dice!: The box includes a tradition assortment of polyhedral dice for the game (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20). Bright solid colors, nothing fancy, but fancier official dice are also available on the website.
Character Sheets! A pad of character sheets with stock Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony profiles, as well as blank sheets where you can draw your own picture. When I used the pad for the players of the convention games I ran, it took two sessions to realize the they offered male (red border) and female (purple) profiles.
Storyteller (GM) Screen!: The true treasure of the boxed set, the trifold Storyteller Screen is a sturdy piece of construction. The game itself isn't nearly as complicated as other games, but it is nice to have a map of Equestria, the equipment list, and a further explanation of how to use Tests and Tokens of Friendship.
Curse of the Statuettes!: The centerpiece of the boxed is Curse of the Statuettes, a 48-page softcover adventure. It follows up on The Pet Predicament in the main rulebook and takes the player's ponies on a cross-Equestria trip into the Badlands to find out what happened the Mane Six (the main characters of the cartoon, for those who are unaware.) It's well-written, details the motivations of the important characters and outlines the stages of the adventure in ways that suits both new players of any age and experienced gamemasters. The plot is a mixture Old West and Pulp Archeology, with a fix classic Dungeon Crawl tropes thrown in for good measure.
The most amusing portion of the book to an old grognard like myself is the inclusion of random encounter tables and FLAVOR TEXT (parts of the adventure that should be read to the players verbatim.). It suits the adventure perfectly.
I've had the pleasure of using the character sheets, dice, and Storyteller Screen when I ran multiple sessions of the game at Mepacon this past month. The character sheets were a hit with young and old, the dice seemed to roll high right when the characters needed them to, and the screen was an excellent quick reference and shield for all dice and miscellaneous accessories (I improved the sessions at the table, so I had only a few written plot points jotted on index cards that I hid from the players' views.
In the grand scheme of gaming, a boxed set is best represented by its routine utility, and Curse of the Statuettes has it in spades. Lots of basic accessories for gameplay, plus an adventure that would normally fetch $15-20 as a standalone item? In a sturdy box? Sign me up with a Five out of Five Gnomes review!
For a good look at the items within the boxed set, outside of the stock photograph provided, check out Equestria Boards on Amino.
A) I'm a father of two young ladies and have watched a LOT of MLP with them, new and older episodes.
B) The idea of a properly licensed property getting a solid treatment away from the traditional gamer demographic is fascinating.
C) River Horse Games produces some ridiculously nice material, and I've already sung praises for the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling Game hardcover rulebook.
Upon churning out a high-quality rulebook, they moved onto a bugbear for most game companies, the RPG boxed set.
A quick time to wax nostalgic. Many players of Dungeons & Dragons have found memories of the RPG boxed set. For some, it was a starter set to learn how to play the game. For others, it was how their cherished campaign setting game packaged. Sometime in the 90's, the concept of the boxed set faded from production schedules, the chief excuse was the prohibitive cost to produce such an item.
I don't know exactly how River Horse Games/Ninja Division has done it, but they've released the My Little Pony: Curse of the Statuettes Boxed Set for the low price of $25.95!
While it's not jammed pack full of stuff, it does provide everything a beginning MLP gamemaster would need to run a game. Let's start from the outside and work our way in.
Dice!: The box includes a tradition assortment of polyhedral dice for the game (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20). Bright solid colors, nothing fancy, but fancier official dice are also available on the website.
Character Sheets! A pad of character sheets with stock Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony profiles, as well as blank sheets where you can draw your own picture. When I used the pad for the players of the convention games I ran, it took two sessions to realize the they offered male (red border) and female (purple) profiles.
Storyteller (GM) Screen!: The true treasure of the boxed set, the trifold Storyteller Screen is a sturdy piece of construction. The game itself isn't nearly as complicated as other games, but it is nice to have a map of Equestria, the equipment list, and a further explanation of how to use Tests and Tokens of Friendship.
Curse of the Statuettes!: The centerpiece of the boxed is Curse of the Statuettes, a 48-page softcover adventure. It follows up on The Pet Predicament in the main rulebook and takes the player's ponies on a cross-Equestria trip into the Badlands to find out what happened the Mane Six (the main characters of the cartoon, for those who are unaware.) It's well-written, details the motivations of the important characters and outlines the stages of the adventure in ways that suits both new players of any age and experienced gamemasters. The plot is a mixture Old West and Pulp Archeology, with a fix classic Dungeon Crawl tropes thrown in for good measure.
The most amusing portion of the book to an old grognard like myself is the inclusion of random encounter tables and FLAVOR TEXT (parts of the adventure that should be read to the players verbatim.). It suits the adventure perfectly.
I've had the pleasure of using the character sheets, dice, and Storyteller Screen when I ran multiple sessions of the game at Mepacon this past month. The character sheets were a hit with young and old, the dice seemed to roll high right when the characters needed them to, and the screen was an excellent quick reference and shield for all dice and miscellaneous accessories (I improved the sessions at the table, so I had only a few written plot points jotted on index cards that I hid from the players' views.
In the grand scheme of gaming, a boxed set is best represented by its routine utility, and Curse of the Statuettes has it in spades. Lots of basic accessories for gameplay, plus an adventure that would normally fetch $15-20 as a standalone item? In a sturdy box? Sign me up with a Five out of Five Gnomes review!
For a good look at the items within the boxed set, outside of the stock photograph provided, check out Equestria Boards on Amino.
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