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Training Guide<\/strong> Learn more about Shield Maidens here<\/a> Training Guide<\/em> has funded via Kickstarter; this review is for a preview copy of Training Guide<\/em>.<\/p>\n Shield Maidens<\/strong> is an inclusive fantasy cyberpunk game set in a land of Norse mythology (i.e. Yggdrasil but propelled along a timeline that goes beyond the mythology told throughout history the book refers to as neo-Viking). Players take on the role of the female\/transgender\/non-binary shield maidens… which to me seem like a badass cyberpunk version of Valkyries, pitted against the forces of the Empire of Fenrir. The game is unapologetically pro-LGBTQIA+, trans-positive, pro-feminism, and anti-fascism and pure awesomeness! Training Guide<\/em> is effectively the player’s handbook of the game and includes an overview setting guide (not a full gazzetteer; just a setting guide). It is literally all a player ever needs to play the game.<\/p>\n One of the trends I love in the tabletop role-playing industry is seeing publishers push the envelope of settings and concepts to areas that either never existed before or never received as much attention. Shield Maidens<\/strong> is one of those RPG; it takes Norse mythology and the tree of life and answers the question “What would happen a couple thousand years later?” You get some badass tech, an incredibly oppressive governing body, and the neo-incarnation of the Amazonian\/Valkyrie warrior! What can go wrong? Actually, judging from the potential adversaries in this game, I guess a total party kill could happen… but we won’t worry about that (at least the events leading up to it would create many memories). And don’t overlook the setting; Yggdrasil is nothing like you would think with a healthy cyberpunk facade. Take a city and build another city atop of it where an underground is built-up that harbors any manner of mutated lifeforms.<\/p>\n Training Guide<\/em> is a cautious book that only gives you enough to be excited about the game and the setting along with all the mechanics you need to become a PC. The setting guide gives you the high-level, almost textbook-like details of the setting. This includes a look at the different worlds, locales important to the players, and the inhabitants (good or bad) one may encounter. From here, you launch into all the mechanics – character creation, rules for throwing the dice and resolving conflicts, cyberpunk goodness, some amazingly cool weapons, and the a great delve into what it means to be a shield maiden. The artwork is amazing, the layout and formatting are perfect, and book itself covers everything I would think important to the players. This may seem like a n0-brainer, but when you create a setting and mechanics that have never been seen before, the reader\/player cannot visualize what’s being described based on previous experience… because there’s nothing like it that I know of. This means the book not only needs to explain things, it needs to help you visualize the setting for all games to come.<\/p>\n The mechanics are powered by a simple 2d6+modifier, roll-over target number system. The modifier is based on an attribute and skill, very similar to a skill tree that you would see in video games. Nothing revolutionary here, but it’s simple enough to prevent you from getting bogged down in mechanics. I have a feeling the GM guide will focus on role-playing over rolling dice to keep the story moving along. We’ll have to wait and see… :)<\/p>\n If you’re looking for something new, then really don’t look any further. Check it out! Although you’ll have to wait until it’s released as this is a preview… Sorry! If you’re a fan of Shadowrun, Star Wars, or Warhammer 40k, I also suggest checking it out for a similar experience but with a new, exciting theme!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Training Guide Training Guide is a core rulebook for the Viking cyberpunk RPG Shield Maidens, written by Alison Cybe and published by Mongoose Publishing. By […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1935,169],"tags":[3521,26,4653,4654],"class_list":["post-55331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-reviews","tag-headline","tag-mongoose-publishing","tag-shield-maidens","tag-viking-cyberpunk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTraining Guide is a core rulebook for the Viking cyberpunk RPG Shield Maidens, written by Alison Cybe and published by Mongoose Publishing.
\nBy Aaron T. Huss<\/em>
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/5f6e2ecaf8d90ebc827688eb87db7047bf2258ce1cfcac5892e5697ad628b8c7.jpg\")
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\nFind other Shield Maidens posts here<\/a><\/p>\n