Product– Scalemail Quickstart

System- Scalemail

Producer– Earl of Fife Games

Price– FREE here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/534210/scalemail-quickstart-guide?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– Numenera and Final Fantasy had a 5e baby! 97%

Basics– Off to adventure!  Scalemail is a new RPG on kickstarter.  Let’s break it down and look at the pieces.

Base mechanic- Scalemail plays like most of your D20 spinoffs with one big difference.  You roll a d20 and try to hit a number called a DC.  But, instead of adding a static bonus, you roll a different die and either add or subtract from the d20.  The D20 is called a chance die and your other dice range from a d4 to a to d12.  These are your mod dice.  Each attribute you use has a modifier die which range from no dice to a d4, d6, d8, then a d12. If the attribute is negative, you subtract the die instead of adding it. 

Combat- Combat in Scalemail is very much in the vein of all D20 systems.  You roll the chance and mod dice with steps for surprise.  And then from high to low you go!  Each turn you get a major and a minor action.  Major is attacking and casting spells.  Minor is moving or opening doors.  Simple!  Where the hard Numenera comparison begins is with how contests are decided.  You attack?  Roll the dice.  You defend?  Roll the dice.  Both are against a static DC on the monster you are attacking or defending against.  Damage is equally as fast.  You beat the DC?  Do a heart of damage.  You beat by five?  Do two hearts of damage.  A goblin has 1 heart, and an orc might have two.  Most heroes have three.  Simple and fast.  You have more armor?  You get higher value dice to roll defence.  Simple and fast.

Magic-Magic works like Final Fantasy and 5e cantrips.  You have some spells where you can that you can keep casting forever.  These are simple spells that don’t do impressive things, but might ping a goblin off the rocks above you.  The more impressive spells might need mana.  Most spells don’t require more than one mana, and you might start with three.  You cast the spell, and if it succeeds, you spend mana when the effect happens.  Again, its a chance(d20) and modifier(attribute die) roll.

Ok, off to my thoughts.

Mechanics or Crunch– This game feels like a lot of the other games I’ve played.  But, I enjoyed those too.  This is a blending of the characters doing things of Numenera, the simple addition of 5e, and the mana based magic of Final Fantasy.  I love all those things, so I like what’s here! 5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The quickstart comes with a story, maps, and even multiple characters.  The Scalemail book doesn’t have massive lore drops in the main book.  It’s more focused on mechanics.  But the story has an interesting world to play in.  It’s not the most comprehensive world that can exist, but Its got some fluff to draw the characters into a story.  It’s characters are also interesting enough to make me want to know how those people came into existence.  Scalemail might not have a ton of worldbuilding in the quickstart guide, but I’m intrigued by what’s here. 4.5/5

Execution– It’s free.  That right there is enough reason to download.  But, it’s free with maps, multiple characters, and a book that gets you playing in about 10 minutes. is enough to make this a solid project.  Check this out!  And the kickstarter for the PDF alone is $15.  You might not get out of McDonald’s for that much. 5/5

Summary–  This is a fun product.  It’s got simple mechanics that play fast.  It’s got interesting, if generic, fantasy appeal.  It’s got amazing production for a free product, and the real product is much less than I’ve spent on takeout.  I want a bit more of the world, but this is a taste of what will be in final.  So, I think this is something you need to check out quick!  97%