Pyramid Review: Celtic Legends

Pyramid Review

Celtic Legends: Heroic Ages Role Playing Game

Published by Jeux Descartes

Designed by Stephen Daudier

228 pages, $24.95

Celtic culture is one of the more vibrant and dynamic settings for fantasy roleplaying games. It is one of the primary sources of the Bard character archetype, and numerous monsters that are now part and parcel of the genre. A few of the better known game companies, especially Steve Jackson Games and TSR, have examined this period with their GURPS Celtic Myth and Celts Historic Reference (for AD&D), respectively. Now developers from the other side of the Atlantic have entered into this arena.

Celtic Legends from Jeux Descartes is not a new game, having previously been released in Great Britain and Ireland, but it is just now making its American debut. The book is organized in a fairly standard manner -- first is a brief introduction to the setting, followed by an excellent introduction to roleplaying games, one that is recommended for anyone trying to explain the hobby to the uninformed. Next follows their treatment of Celtic culture, then character creation, event resolution, and a sample scenario, ending with charts, artwork, and a character sheet.

The strongest component of this book is the cultural background. The design team provides a great deal of information about the Celtic people. History, art, daily life, politics, warfare, and technology are all detailed. Celtic heroes and deities are introduced as well. They do this both through . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: October 29, 1999

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