RPG Review - Hunters of Alexandria by Paul Mitchener

Hunters of Alexandria by Paul Mitchener, 2015, 111 pages.
A Swords and Sandals Roleplaying Game. D101 Games.

D101 Games: Hunters of Alexandria

This is a sweet little RPG by the incomparable incalculable Dr. Paul Mitchener with an added scenario by publisher Newt Newport.

The game is set in Roman Alexandria in the year 753 after the foundation of Rome. That's 1 AD to you and me...well, to me anyway; you might be more of a CE person. Anyway, the book is set in ancient Alexandria when it is a thriving city under Roman rule. The conceit is that all the players are part of an organization called The Venatores (or Hunters, if you're like me and have a North American education and didn't learn some cool words in Latin) and your job is to seek out and trouble-shoot supernatural threats to the city and empire.

And why not? Roman Alexandria is chock full of larvae lamiae, lares, and lycanthropes, not to mention more exotic things that have creeped in from nearby Aegyptus, like ghouls, sphinxes, and sha.

The book offers a capsule history of Alexandria, a gazetteer of places in the city, some sample characters, a who's who of the city, factions for the PCs to rub up against, some scenario outlines, a full adventure, and all the rules you need to play. Rules are a modified version of fate, but you don't need a copy of fate to play. The game is light enough that you can pick up and play with minimal preparation, and it can do this because you, yes you, can fill in all the blanks you need from your own imagination of what a Roman city is like. Setting the game in Roman Alexandria is actually a brilliant stoke, because it's just exotic enough to give a sense of wonder, and yet familiar enough to make playing there easy.

As good as it is, I do have a few small quibbles with the book. It really could use another pass through an editor or proofreader, though the errors are not significant enough to impede one's enjoyment. And the included scenario, although it does an excellent job of making use of the core text and bringing the setting alive, will need to be given some thought before running it to smooth out some structural inconsistencies – for example some scenes are connected by threads so silky I think the players will easily miss their connection, and the ending will need to be given some thought as none of the 4 possible resolutions presented actually deals with what I think the the most likely outcome. Lastly, there is some questionable advice in this scenario – it's a mystery and the text advises you not to give the players advice when they get stuck (even when the scenario writer doesn't provide enough clues). If you follow this, you may well end up in one of those embarrassing situations where the game grinds to a halt because nobody knows what to do next, and you'll be forced to write a Gumshoe system knock-off - and nobody wants that.

I'm happy to be able to recommend this game. It's short. It's sweet. It's fun. The hiccups in the scenario are easily overcome. And you all need more ancient history in your gaming life than you currently have – stop mumbling, you know it's true! Duo pollice!