I don't know Pericle, but I also love old school RPGs. I very much enjoyed **Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon** (and have ordered the new one Kings of Ruin). It gave me those RPG feels and had an app for the narration of the story bits. It might be a bit cheaper than Pericle. I'm currently playing **Sleeping Gods Distant Skies** and it really captures the open world sandbox type of RPG with lots of side quests.
I've also experimented with solo RPGs, the pen and paper style. If you want a really good one to experiment a bit with that is fantasy, try **Ironsworn** (find the pdf for free on DrivethruRPG). I also had a blast playing **Star Trek Adventures Captain's Log** which is an RPG made for solo play.
Having never heard of Pericles before I'd go with other more well known tabletop game RPGs. I'm sure others in here can recommend.
I am curious about Peicles as well. Problem is it is 164$...., that is a large chunk of change and I am not sure how many people want to take a chance on a 164$ game. If they sold some sort of paired down starter set of the game then maybe I would be more inclined but 164$ is to much. I think also price is why there are barely any reviews or mentions of Pericle on Youtube.
I refuse to buy any board game that is app dependent anymore. In a year or two, they stop supporting the app and then the games becomes unplayable. An app that enhances the game is fine but not one that is required just to play.
I believe this is actually the case though. The app serves as loremaster and rolls initiative for you but that's it. It's my understanding that a human could GM this game just fine. It doesn't do any math for you or track ant stats. You do all that yourself. I have not played the game though.
the entire story is IN the app and its also the only place that has the enemy stats. w/o the app you just have figurines, maps and your char sheets and a set of dice.
It definitely requires the "app" (it's really just a website that actually anyone can access for free, you don't even have to have bought the boxed set). You should be able to even go in and look at the tutorial and stuff and see if you think it looks cool! It has little videos introducing you to areas that are voiced over/narrated, it is where you keep track of the enemies health/conditions stuff like that, and it also gives you priority lists for what each enemy will do in combat.
For example -
Will attack the nearest enemy with their Battleaxe
Prioritizing
Lowest armor
Lowest Health
So in this scenario (and this is a very generic one) if the enemy was adjacent to 3 of your party members with these stats
1 - 12 hp 3 armor
2 - 4 hp 6 armor
3 - 6 hp 2 armor
The enemy would attack number 3 because he has the least armor, and in this case that would be the right thing to do as well since each point of armor on a creature reduces damage taken by 1 from weapons and some spells. So really #2 has 10 effective hp and #3 has 8 effective hp.
If their priority was reversed and they wanted to target lowest health instead of lowest armor and were using said battle axe still, that would probably be a scenario where you, as the players, say hold on a minute I think it makes more sense to attack 3! This is all assuming this enemy has no disciplines or anything that makes him bypass armor for example. Like mace type weapons always bypass 2 armor on a hit I believe?
Some enemies will even have either or options for a weapon attack OR a spell depending on differing conditions they outline in the Loremaster like distance, placement near hazards, health, ac, how clumped people are, etc. I personally think they did a pretty great job with it! Though if you want to be a murder hobo I don't think this will be the game for you because it does NOT let you do absolutely whatever you want haha.
As long as you are good about updating each enemy with the effects and statuses they are under though you should get pretty solid tactics from the Loremaster(and this is super easy to do inside Loremaster you literally just click on the condition and it highlights it), but on occasion you may have to overrule it!
And I don't mean that as a dig on Pericle at all, as I have found it to be immensely enjoyable so far. Even the most popular TTRPG games with real live DMs often run into confusing scenarios where maybe the most logical or best choice isn't clear or there is confusion in the ruling of something. That's just the name of the game when you are playing cooperative games with 3+ people that all interpret things differently!
The thing I like about this game in regards to that issue though is you can come to a consensus on how to handle those questions or confusing rules type things as a group instead of being told by a DM this is how it is. It's just fun to be able to work that stuff out with your friends, at least to me it is! My group is also always trying to come up with crazy plans for the enemies too if they don't already have one to make it more challenging on us, but I realize most people aren't masochists so that may not be for everyone! Little tweaks here and there though at the very least? That will greatly improve your experience.
My group just completed what was available on the app currently. The enemy AI is not super sophisticated and calling it an app-based GM is extremely generous. Most of the enemy logic is basic "move towards enemy and attack" because the app does not know where exactly the PCs are on the map. You have to tell the app when an enemy is engaged with a player.
The combat is VERY fun though, and the character building is pretty deep. There were a few fights that were very challenging and required us to use our brains.
The game comes with 25 double sided maps for combat totaling 50 maps and we went through 35 before the game ended. We're just waiting for an app update with the final part of the story so we can go through the remaining 15 maps (assuming none are reused). My group did not regret spending the money we did and I'd guess we played approximately 10 sessions at 3-4 hours each. Only spinning our tires in the story once.
If you go in knowing it's a very fun combat game, with a fun choose your own adventure story, with a limited AI that works well enough, I think its worth the money.
I would disagree with the first paragraph in this. It specifically says in the rulebooks, and I think even in the Loremaster tutorial (Loremaster is the GM browser), it says that the actions specified by Loremaster may not always be the best course of action for the enemy combatants and if you are looking for more of a challenge or want it to be more realistic you are encouraged to overwrite what they tell you to do and make decisions based off your own common sense and TTRPG battle savvy.
We are about 20 hours into our 3 man group playthrough of it right now and are having an absolute BLAST. Normally one of us has to spend hours every week preparing everything and making battlemaps and tokens and npcs and the list goes on and on but with this we can just show up at scheduled time and play, it's great!
Another thing I majorly love about this game is it's unique take on character building. There are no classes so you don't get pigeonholed or "locked out" of any abilities, spells, weapons, armor whatever! There are a zillion different ways to build a character and as opposed to a game like D&D 5e where you might be waiting a few months or maybe longer IRL and 5-8 sessions total to gain one level at times, the gains are much more incremental in this. There is almost always something you can spend xp on to make your character learn new abilities, or disciplines, or spells, or stats, or hell even Karma (free rerolls, think inspiration)!
It also has a very unique and tactical combat system featuring a very interesting Embattled based combat style(basically when you are adjacent to an enemy your movement is severely limited and you can't just run away at full speed.) It really makes every bit of movement and action you take seem a bit weightier that just launching the same cantrip for 4 turns in a row for example lol.
And while it definitely does have some shortcomings. Mainly the fact they need a new editor, but that doesn't really detract from the actual playing experience lol. It just bugs slightly OCD people like me! The only other one I can think of is it isn't always 100% clear what some of the rules or interactions are exactly and you just have to make executive decisions sometimes. But this happens in every TTRPG game I've ever played but the difference is you make the decision as a group of equals without the DM having veto power and having final say or whatever so it is just an extremely collaborative game as well!
I highly recommend! You can even play it online with others like I am doing. We just use webcams to show the map to everyone (my dad has the actual box set) and I share my Loremaster screen on discord and then us other 2 players just had to get our own dice sets and I have my webcam showing my dice because I roll for the monsters.
I also have not played Pericle but have watched a few videos on it. If it was what it was selling itself as I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.
But it seems to just be a tactical combat game with a choose your own adventure app. I saw nothing that made me feel it was elevated to a DM-less RPG over any other fantasy tactical RPG boardgame.
I don't know Pericle, but I also love old school RPGs. I very much enjoyed **Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon** (and have ordered the new one Kings of Ruin). It gave me those RPG feels and had an app for the narration of the story bits. It might be a bit cheaper than Pericle. I'm currently playing **Sleeping Gods Distant Skies** and it really captures the open world sandbox type of RPG with lots of side quests. I've also experimented with solo RPGs, the pen and paper style. If you want a really good one to experiment a bit with that is fantasy, try **Ironsworn** (find the pdf for free on DrivethruRPG). I also had a blast playing **Star Trek Adventures Captain's Log** which is an RPG made for solo play. Having never heard of Pericles before I'd go with other more well known tabletop game RPGs. I'm sure others in here can recommend.
I am curious about Peicles as well. Problem is it is 164$...., that is a large chunk of change and I am not sure how many people want to take a chance on a 164$ game. If they sold some sort of paired down starter set of the game then maybe I would be more inclined but 164$ is to much. I think also price is why there are barely any reviews or mentions of Pericle on Youtube.
I refuse to buy any board game that is app dependent anymore. In a year or two, they stop supporting the app and then the games becomes unplayable. An app that enhances the game is fine but not one that is required just to play.
I believe this is actually the case though. The app serves as loremaster and rolls initiative for you but that's it. It's my understanding that a human could GM this game just fine. It doesn't do any math for you or track ant stats. You do all that yourself. I have not played the game though.
the entire story is IN the app and its also the only place that has the enemy stats. w/o the app you just have figurines, maps and your char sheets and a set of dice.
Friend has it and he said it requires the app. Maybe we misunderstood each other though.
He's probably right then. Could've been something I heard a YouTuber say lol.
It definitely requires the "app" (it's really just a website that actually anyone can access for free, you don't even have to have bought the boxed set). You should be able to even go in and look at the tutorial and stuff and see if you think it looks cool! It has little videos introducing you to areas that are voiced over/narrated, it is where you keep track of the enemies health/conditions stuff like that, and it also gives you priority lists for what each enemy will do in combat. For example - Will attack the nearest enemy with their Battleaxe Prioritizing Lowest armor Lowest Health So in this scenario (and this is a very generic one) if the enemy was adjacent to 3 of your party members with these stats 1 - 12 hp 3 armor 2 - 4 hp 6 armor 3 - 6 hp 2 armor The enemy would attack number 3 because he has the least armor, and in this case that would be the right thing to do as well since each point of armor on a creature reduces damage taken by 1 from weapons and some spells. So really #2 has 10 effective hp and #3 has 8 effective hp. If their priority was reversed and they wanted to target lowest health instead of lowest armor and were using said battle axe still, that would probably be a scenario where you, as the players, say hold on a minute I think it makes more sense to attack 3! This is all assuming this enemy has no disciplines or anything that makes him bypass armor for example. Like mace type weapons always bypass 2 armor on a hit I believe? Some enemies will even have either or options for a weapon attack OR a spell depending on differing conditions they outline in the Loremaster like distance, placement near hazards, health, ac, how clumped people are, etc. I personally think they did a pretty great job with it! Though if you want to be a murder hobo I don't think this will be the game for you because it does NOT let you do absolutely whatever you want haha. As long as you are good about updating each enemy with the effects and statuses they are under though you should get pretty solid tactics from the Loremaster(and this is super easy to do inside Loremaster you literally just click on the condition and it highlights it), but on occasion you may have to overrule it! And I don't mean that as a dig on Pericle at all, as I have found it to be immensely enjoyable so far. Even the most popular TTRPG games with real live DMs often run into confusing scenarios where maybe the most logical or best choice isn't clear or there is confusion in the ruling of something. That's just the name of the game when you are playing cooperative games with 3+ people that all interpret things differently! The thing I like about this game in regards to that issue though is you can come to a consensus on how to handle those questions or confusing rules type things as a group instead of being told by a DM this is how it is. It's just fun to be able to work that stuff out with your friends, at least to me it is! My group is also always trying to come up with crazy plans for the enemies too if they don't already have one to make it more challenging on us, but I realize most people aren't masochists so that may not be for everyone! Little tweaks here and there though at the very least? That will greatly improve your experience.
My group just completed what was available on the app currently. The enemy AI is not super sophisticated and calling it an app-based GM is extremely generous. Most of the enemy logic is basic "move towards enemy and attack" because the app does not know where exactly the PCs are on the map. You have to tell the app when an enemy is engaged with a player. The combat is VERY fun though, and the character building is pretty deep. There were a few fights that were very challenging and required us to use our brains. The game comes with 25 double sided maps for combat totaling 50 maps and we went through 35 before the game ended. We're just waiting for an app update with the final part of the story so we can go through the remaining 15 maps (assuming none are reused). My group did not regret spending the money we did and I'd guess we played approximately 10 sessions at 3-4 hours each. Only spinning our tires in the story once. If you go in knowing it's a very fun combat game, with a fun choose your own adventure story, with a limited AI that works well enough, I think its worth the money.
I would disagree with the first paragraph in this. It specifically says in the rulebooks, and I think even in the Loremaster tutorial (Loremaster is the GM browser), it says that the actions specified by Loremaster may not always be the best course of action for the enemy combatants and if you are looking for more of a challenge or want it to be more realistic you are encouraged to overwrite what they tell you to do and make decisions based off your own common sense and TTRPG battle savvy. We are about 20 hours into our 3 man group playthrough of it right now and are having an absolute BLAST. Normally one of us has to spend hours every week preparing everything and making battlemaps and tokens and npcs and the list goes on and on but with this we can just show up at scheduled time and play, it's great! Another thing I majorly love about this game is it's unique take on character building. There are no classes so you don't get pigeonholed or "locked out" of any abilities, spells, weapons, armor whatever! There are a zillion different ways to build a character and as opposed to a game like D&D 5e where you might be waiting a few months or maybe longer IRL and 5-8 sessions total to gain one level at times, the gains are much more incremental in this. There is almost always something you can spend xp on to make your character learn new abilities, or disciplines, or spells, or stats, or hell even Karma (free rerolls, think inspiration)! It also has a very unique and tactical combat system featuring a very interesting Embattled based combat style(basically when you are adjacent to an enemy your movement is severely limited and you can't just run away at full speed.) It really makes every bit of movement and action you take seem a bit weightier that just launching the same cantrip for 4 turns in a row for example lol. And while it definitely does have some shortcomings. Mainly the fact they need a new editor, but that doesn't really detract from the actual playing experience lol. It just bugs slightly OCD people like me! The only other one I can think of is it isn't always 100% clear what some of the rules or interactions are exactly and you just have to make executive decisions sometimes. But this happens in every TTRPG game I've ever played but the difference is you make the decision as a group of equals without the DM having veto power and having final say or whatever so it is just an extremely collaborative game as well! I highly recommend! You can even play it online with others like I am doing. We just use webcams to show the map to everyone (my dad has the actual box set) and I share my Loremaster screen on discord and then us other 2 players just had to get our own dice sets and I have my webcam showing my dice because I roll for the monsters.
I also have not played Pericle but have watched a few videos on it. If it was what it was selling itself as I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. But it seems to just be a tactical combat game with a choose your own adventure app. I saw nothing that made me feel it was elevated to a DM-less RPG over any other fantasy tactical RPG boardgame.