Forbidden Lands - BETTER THAN D&D? | REVIEW 

No game has inspired me more than Forbidden Lands. It's as if Lord of the Rings were done by Ralph Bakshi or Heavy Metal magazine. It looks very classic at first glance but as you dig in you start to see how twisted and unique everything feels. I've been a diehard collector of all their books every since I fell in love with the first.

forbidden lands is indeed a gem of a game. I have long been looking for a system that could make me narrate the exploration of a sandbox world well. I played it as well with kids (10-15 years old) and they liked it a lot, certainly better than their past experience with dnd 5e...

5th is D&D in name only. It hasn't been D&D since it was called AD&D (1st ed). I like Forbidden Lands a lot. I like the 'non heroic' driven aspect of it. The lore of the setting is great too. The over all design is a nice change.

I've been running this for uh, maybe 9 months now and we are loving it. Entire sessions spent in the wilds dealing with random encounters, a sense of learning the world together as we go... Even when we make little progress in a session we have a great time 😄

Your reviews are the best ones I've seen on youtube, please keep going!!!

My group and I fell in love with the game. The twist on the classic fantasy lore is amazing

Forbidden Lands is one of my favourite games to run. It doesn't really need much prep since so much of the story is emergent from the dice rolls, just like an OSR game. It has some similarities to Genesys in the dice mechanics, but you don't need specialty dice to play. It doesn't pull any punches though. If your characters do really stupid things without a ton of the game's meta-currency (Willpower), they're toast. However, if you plan correctly and attend to your resources, your characters can do incredible things. Highly recommended.

Forbidden Lands, you've had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

I love the animation! Also it's an amazingly condensed presentation of the system. I've only run FL a little but few years back but we did get a fun spell casting mishap. It might have been the first spell ever in that system and it ended up popping in a very nasty demon with tentacle arms, stag antlers and a glowing hot stomach where lost souls could be seen squirming through the skin. I used the random demon generation the game.

Uhh seems a little like Vaesen mechanically, which makes sense, because Free League. Since I'm learning Vaesen rn it'll be easier to learn this, because it sounds really nice.

Great vid, agreed it's a flawed gem and like you I love it, nonetheless. What really sold me on it was the dice pool mechanic and the ability to push rolls, the journeys system and the ability to place adventure sites as you go. By design, you're making your own version of the game as you play. Well worth getting The Book of Beasts to add new monsters, along with 36 more random encounters and solo rules that were developed by Matt Kay of 3 Skulls Tavern fame.

Great and funny video, loved it. We're actually midway through the Raven's Purge and it's been great so far.

lol Once I heard of the Speak with Animals mishap in the other video I just KNEW I had to check this one out!

Love this game. Good video format. Cheers! Keep up the good work!

Looks like a great game. I love these mechanics.

Now *that's* a good, *useful* review.

Well, that's another system I'm eager to try after wrapping up my last 5e campaign ever :v

I have the game and am excited about it, but it seems to be a bear to run. So many tables. So disorganized of a manual. So much lore that frankly just gets in the way. I greatly dislike premade settings, no matter how interesting, because it's such a huge chore to learn it all and keep it in mind.

Great review!!

I love your videos!!

Travelling was always my least favorite part of DnD and I ignored all of the travel rules at my tables. This sounds exhaustimg for my DM-style honestly. Not my cup of tea I fear. I don't even make my players keep track of non-magical arrows or bolts.

I'm currently playing in a FL game and I find the travel/survival mechanics to be clunky and the book really hard to reference. The item tables aren't even in alphabetical order! I didn't find the dice pools to be very fun either. The only thing saving the campaign is that half of the people are fun to be around.

Great and funny video

I love the system, I just wasn't a fan of the setting. Works great for the new Twilight 2000 game though.

As always I love your style…. But I can tell this one isn’t for me (the forever GM and rule book whore). I love the idea of having this huge world to explore, but the description of the day system sounds like it would be a little stop-start for my liking. I’d give it a go as a player though. As an aside, are you following Quinns Quest? It’s a newer RPG review channel from an ex-presenter from Shut Up and Sit Down, and it’s real good

Any chance on reviewing Savage Worlds???

In FL (and many other games which are not D&D) you can, kind-of, become a "Conan". You can become a "hero" (if not morally, then in a more "classic" meaning) - you can become much stronger and more skilled, in truly impactful degree. Better gear also can greatly impact your chances. But, the point is, you do not just get a ton of "aytch-pee" that will keep your behind out of fire, and you can't just swordfight a giant. Conan didn't survive and succeed just by swinging his sword (and other armaments) harder.

Yes it is better than 5e, but it aint great. I think better from Free League is Into the Odd, though the "new version" Electric Bastionland is more interesting and has the best GM advice. I prefer Dolmenwood and Hyperboria myself.

Fascinating. I was watching this and wondering what I could add to my D&D campaign. If you could be convinced to make a video about what mechanics would be great to add to D&D, I would love to watch it! I'm especially interested in the base-building mechanic--I want my players to have a base, but can't quite figure out a way to make that happen

Played Forbidden Lands for the first time last night. What can i say, i prefer it to D&D, i never liked that game hahaha So boring. Instead the combat in Forbidden Lands doesn't make you sleepy, you feel involved even if it's not your turn! all those dice rolls wow! amazing. Plus the best part is that i don't have to make maths in this game, it's so simple!! Finally!

I think I might enjoy adding similar Survival mechanics to other game systems ... Savage Worlds fairly leaps to mind ... but I don't think I have any interest in a game where the base rules are just an advertisement for the setting. That's just a d!ck move.

I just read through it. The constant advertisements are annoying AF and indicate that this is the kind of company that will 100% set up a "Pay to Win" structure if they thought they could get away with it. This is the same company that did the latest Star-Wars and if you don't know, that game is stuffed with hidden costs like $20 dice that each player will want/need two sets of to avoid the clunk. Coding the dice numbers in the rulebook with symbols is trash. I really don't think FL wants you to actually play their games so much as buying their stuff. Shame, they could make a good product but their greed ( not always a bad thing ) is obvious, toxic and obviously toxic. They would do what WoTC tried to do in a heartbeat if they had the power. This is not a game company, it's just a company.

Very Cool, maybe i should've read this before building my own game.... hm feel free to check us out if yer bored.... cheers