All Age of Vikings products strive to include material useful for all game groups, and the Age of Vikings Companion is a strong contender in this regard.
Here’s what’s inside:
- Heroes from Far and Wide: Options for non-Icelandic heroes, for players who want to try something different. These also serve as excellent guides to new heroes or nonplayer characters that might join an Icelandic group of heroes while going Viking away from Iceland. This includes much-requested rules for mythic races to add a strange and supernatural element to the game.
- Faith and Power: New rules for religion and expanded uses of Devotion and dedication points, allowing heroes to perform even more magical displays of their faith. Included are additional Norse gods and gods from other pantheons. Rules for joining new religions, converting to Christianity, or choosing to forsake the gods entirely.
- Home Maker: A community builder, giving your heroes a complete and well-rounded community to be part of, defining nonplayer characters, their roles, their attitudes towards each other and towards the heroes.
- Monsters and More: An expanded bestiary dramatically increases the types of supernatural creatures the heroes might encounter while in Iceland and abroad, and a widened roster of nonplayer characters means that the gamemaster can have a ready stock of them for any occasion.
- Where to Start: A complete starting area in Eastern Stronghold Fjord, with descriptions of its inhabitants, points of interest, the local goði, and the power dynamics, and a map with places where the heroes might claim their own homes.
- A Call to Adventure: A variety of scenarios, from quick and easy one-shots with a clear goal, to an episodic campaign involving a Viking captain and crew on their doomed voyage across the seas in search of gold and glory!
In short, the Age of Vikings Companion lives up to its name in all the best ways. More than an afterthought to Age of Vikings, it’s an essential expansion, with material to enhance gameplay for every player and gamemaster, for every campaign or one-shot.
