Cant remember many other games you had so much praise for. I have to mention: Gumshoe teached me how to GM Fantasy and Investigations after 12 years of active Roleplay. Before I only mastered Heist-Games like Shadowrun where I could build a City-sandbox, because these where the only ones i didnt railroad my players. Im still completely speechless...so little effort to turn an all time bad GM into a somehow good one!
Actually, Kev created Eversink. Emily contributed a multitude of details and genius on the economy and society, but ‘Sink was originally built for one of Kev’s D&D campaigns. As one of his players, yes, it was play-tested heavily.
@@himurogentoku7117 Thanks! I feel really lucky by how the game is being received. We had a longer-than-usual development period (thanks, pandemic!), and the extra playtesting and writing time paid off.
This was a great review. I was enthralled with this game when I first saw it, and have been dying for someone to cover this extensively. I do have two notes that I'd like to preface, as they weren't mentioned in this review and I think they are vital to understanding some of the games strengths. 1. Sorcery can actually be used outside of combat, there is a section detailing that Sorcery can be used in lieu of other General Abilities to accomplish a task (i.e. using sorcery to scale a wall instead of Athletics). 2. Each General Ability can be used in combat with a creative enough suggestion. It's addressed in a sidebar detailing how one player used the Preparedness ability in combat to create a flashback where some friends of theirs set up an ambush to dump pig manure on any pursuers. It's a really creative system that allows non-combatants to contribute immensely to a fight.
I was one of the playtesters. I LOVE this game. Ran a wonderful 15+ episode campaign. I never use settings verbatim, but I used Eversink. The only major change we made and it came up in the fiction, is that the Thieves Guild faction was really looked down upon, despised.... common folk hated them. Why? Because the goddess Denari is all about mercantilism, right? And a good deal is one where both sides get something that they want. Thieves take and they don't give anything in return. That is a bad deal in the goddess's eyes and therefore in the eyes of all the common folk. It did make me think that Thieves Guild game, with the above set up, would be more like a rebellion, a resistance against a capitalistic society. Could be really interesting. Good review! Nicely done, I will subscribe and like!
I just played this for the first time a week or two ago and have to say that the fights were much more fun than I had expected from a Gumshoe RPG. Session one was mainly fighting off pirates, but we are about to dive into the intrigues of Eversink.
I really do like this system for a game that feels more like a classic sword and sorcery story than a traditional RPG delivers. This isn't because D&D and the like are bad, they have evolved into a particular style that can be quite fun, but this game is built to deliver something straight out of a fantasy short story or novel and I am really digging it.
I would have emphasized The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch more prominently. Eversink is very much inspired by the Locke Lamora series, and I would go so far as to recommend the first novel as a primer for playing this game. Great tip to reduce the size of the PDF.
@@DaveThaumavore People who would like to play Swords of the Serpentine or Blades in the Dark RPGs should check out Lies of Locke Lamora for inspiration!
Thanks for this. The issue with key rules being hidden in blocks of text is something I've noticed in other GUMSHOE games. It's especially bad in Night's Black Agents. Good to hear that Pelgrane are learning a bit, even if the problem is still there to an extent. I really need to get this to the table, and your review is certainly a motivator!
Finally got my hands on this after ages hunting around for it in Canadian stores. Yes, I'm one of those stubborn dead tree people. This game is incredible. I knew it might be a gold mine when I saw a bunch of people keep recommending it on the RPG subreddit, and I can definitely see why. Alas, it does seem to be flying under the radar as there is really very little SOTS content on RU-vid or anywhere else.
I love Swords of the Serpentine (and Gumshoe/Pelgrane Press in general) and it is great to have this overview. I have watched and recommended it multiple times, and will again.
Honestly an amazing read. I'm going to run a game with it soon, and I imagine it'll be a blast! On a bit of a tangent note Robert E. Howard was actually a self-identified feminist (for what that meant at the time), and his female characters are often much more than just damsels in distress waiting to be rescued. They're often as competent as Conan himself, and every bit his match. Or they provide an interesting foil to his barbarous ways with more civilized insights. Howard's use of fey and sensual descriptions of them was in large part a function of how pulp magazines at the time published. If you got your story on the front page you got a bonus, and they almost always featured a front page story with a delicate damsel in need of some heroing, because, well, sex sells. So Howard made sure his female characters were described as being sexy (usually only once when we first meet them, or when their looks are important to the goings-on) because my man wanted that money! Really other than Frost Giant's Daughter I think most of Howard's works have aged pretty gracefully in regards to their depiction of the fairer sex.
Our goal was that if something got mentioned in the setting it had to be usable as a plot hook (and Dave noticed!), and that we'd give people insight into the design process and why we made the choices we did. I first saw this in 13th Age and I loved it. This iteration of the GUMSHOE rules is particularly hackable to other genres and settings, but people can't do that unless they understand designer intent.
This game sounds really well done with a ton of lore. I would love for you to do videos on the setting! Also, could you do a video on the Gumshoe system?
Noted on the setting. As for Gumshoe, I covered Nights Black Agent and now this one. I think I’ll continue to cover the system on a game by game basis.
Yeah, the full pdf is huge. But when I bought it I could download a file called "Swords_of_the_Serpentine_text_and_art_only" which removes the color plates (the borders and faux-wrinkled-paper texture) from behind the text, which brings the size down to 22 MB.
I wish there was an additional Bestiary for this awesome system, like for 13th Age (maybe with more example traps too). Over the years it's become easier to think up stories on my own, but I've come to appreciate pre-made foes. I'm currently pondering playing a more city-centered Paizo AP in this system, but a few more monsters/adversaries wouldn't hurt.
Great review. I'd love to see an even deeper dive into the City and actually even more on the mechanics. Definitely a book that's moved onto my "hmm I just might have to get this list".
@@DaveThaumavore Awesome. Between you and Questing Beast, I really get the best breakdowns and reviews of rpg material. Very insightful and helpful for making a purchase decision. BTW I've always been kinda on the fence in regards to Gumshoe but this review might have pushed me over the edge.
@@DaveThaumavore For me, it's you, Questing Beast and Seth Skorkowsky. Thanks to you, I can hear about all kinds of different RPG adventures and systems. This helps me survive the times when I don't get to run or play in RPGs. Oh, and I'd also like to hear more about the city of Eversink!
I would love to know more about this game. I had never heard of it before and you put it on my radar. It does seem perfectly suited to play Lies of Locke Lamora (like it was designed to play that sort of game). Please do a dep dive on Eversink and if you ever do play the game, I would be interested in your thoughts.
A year late but great review! I borrowed this book from a friend sight unseen and was blown away by it. Are you still planning a video on Eversink? Have you gotten a chance to play/run the game yet?
Thank you so much for reviewing Swords of The Serpentine, Dave. I am intrigued by the game too. I would love to hear your insight about the Eversink City.
Actually, I really do like a GUMSHOE system for detectives and now when WotC started to be a pain in the ass I thought about transferring an adventure games for gumshoe also. and wow they already have something for me.
@@DaveThaumavore Yeah I totally get it. I want to play it, but I don't even know when to find time to run more than the one 2-3 hour D&D session 3-4 times per month next to a full time job and other hobbies. And then there is if the group even wants to play a new system. Maybe in 3-5 months when we are done with Course of Strahd there will be time and space for something different. :)
DCC Lankhmar is great Sword and Sorcery as well and the setting is way better. Also DCC has his roots in real D&D (unlike 5E, rooted in WOW) a system y prefer over Gumshoe
Question: are all the Gumshoe rules included in this game or do I have to get another book to play this one? How well does it teach how to run/play a Gumshoe system?
Sounds like a really interesting game, and certainly different from dungeons & dragons. Would love to sync my teeth into that well fleshed out setting.
