Product– Adventuring Family: A Family Therapy Role Playing Game

System- Adventuring Familyr

Producer– Adventuring Family Books

Price– $29.99  here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWMLDX1V 

TL; DR-A solid experience to help people communicate 98%

Basics– Hey, kids, are you ready for an adventure?!  Adventuring Family is a simple role playing game to help a family talk.  Let’s look at the system.

Basics- This is a d6 system.  Want to do a thing? Roll a d6 and add your attributes.  Hit the number?  Success!  Don’t? Failure. This is everything from magic, to combat, to asking for a discount at the bar.

Combat- Combat is simple too.  Every turn you can move and do an action.  Actions include things from spells to swinging a sword.  Again, it’s all d6 plus an attribute.  If you hit the target’s AC, damage!  The weapons do different amounts of damage, but the creature being hit reduces damage by their armor class.

And, that’s it…. This isn’t the world’s most complicated game, but that may not be the point…

Mechanics or Crunch– This game is simple in the best way. If you wanted the next RPG to sweep the world, then this won’t be it. The mechanics will be too simple for most adults if they spend hours each week reading RPG books.  But the mechanics are solid enough to allow a pre-teen to hop in and explore the world and have fun.  It’s streamlined and effective.  Characters have classes and levels that, again, are too simple for a 60 year old who played DnD before it was hard cover, but it would be the way for that 60 year old to get a grandkid into the hobby and to open up.  And that right there makes the mechanics solid.  4.5/5

Theme or Fluff–   Theme and approach are where this game will shine.  This is very important-this is a way to get serious topics into a conversation.  It’s like a movie where something crazy happens and then kids can talk to adults during or after.  It opens doors.  Now, just like the crunch, if you expect George RR Martin levels of intrigue, don’t get this one. The plot is very simple with a built-in campaign built around exploring different mental health issues like chemical dependence and eating disorders.  Yes, some morals are baked in because the goal is to help kids talk.  Also, the book spends time discussing common mental health issues in children and how to address them at the table and to get them involved.  The goal isn’t to be the one book you buy to help you work with your own kid with ADHD, but this is a way that you can hang out with them and be a team. Solid!  I am not knocking the writing; the simple nature of the game and the basic world and ideas make this approachable.  This isn’t the Tomb of Horrors, but it’s a way to get people to open up and bring them together.  5/5

Execution– This is a solid book, but has a few minor errors.  Something I really hate is when books don’t have pregenerated characters.  This isn’t a killer, as the process is to choose a background, choose a class, and maybe choose a subclass.  But, I’d like ready-made characters, so I or the kids I’m watching don’t have to think too much before jumping in.  Next, I feel the book is a bit too simplistic on the description of a few of the skills and abilities.  I would compare this to a hybrid of DnD 5e and Dungeon Crawl Classics.   DnD has built-in background, and DCC has simplicity.  The book just goes a bit too simple and doesn’t completely explain what skills go with what attribute and a few minor things.  This is not a killer, but it’s something the more hyperfocused might be mad about.  Also, the book is solid, but the monsters are not as fleshed out as I’d like.  The bad guys you can fight are Melee Bad Guy, Ranged Bad Guy, and the literal EVIL GODS OF THE WORLD!  It reminds me of the standard JRPG plot of Level One, Mission One: kill rats in your uncle’s bar’s basement; Level 50: fight GOD!  Again, not horrible as the bad guys have a sliding scale for their difficulty.  The book reads easily, is fun, and has good pictures to help the littles among us get into the hobby a parent or guardian loves too much.    4.5/5

Summary–  This game is a fun one.  If this was just a simple RPG, it’s just that, a simple RPG.  It doesn’t push any envelopes or revamp the entire industry.  But, it does help people talk.  I’d honestly compare this game to a beer.  You can absolutely drink beer all by yourself at a bar with no friends.  That’s ok, but the rest of us wonder if you’re ok.  A beer is best shared with friends.  A beer with the buds after work is there to let you socialize.  A way to get everyone together and talk.  That is exactly what this game does.  It helps kids find shared experiences with an adult and a way to open up and talk about it.  It’s also got digestible sections for adults to read through to help those adults understand a bit more about those kids.  Again, this can’t be the only book or source you get all the information regarding mental health from, but if this is the first place you start, that’s not bad!  If you have little ones and want a way to connect or build a connection into a few difficult topics, you need to check out Adventuring Family.  97%