The Age of Vikings Companion is a much appreciated addition to the Age of Vikings ecosystem. It provides additional player character options, powers, and tools for the GM to expand the campaign world.
GenCon provided me the opportunity to purchase and briefly look over the new Age of Vikings Companion. It provided three items I think are indispensable to a GM, and two more that I did not realize I needed, but will find invaluable.
First, new hero options are always appreciated. Character creation is arguably one of the most exciting parts of any TTRPG. Additional options are never disparaged. While there is no additional background histories to be rolled, the foreign heroes and mythic races are already anticipated by my players. Introducing rules for Byzantium, English, Irish, Scots and others immediately attracted some players who wished to have additional options for both centering their homeland and a different world view. The mythic options (no spoilers!) are quite fun. I had hoped that players would receive guidance on how to create mythic player characters and I am not disappointed. They are not for all campaigns, but if it works for yours, it will be an appreciated addition.
The additions to religion are arguably the greatest change in my opinion. Additional uses for devotion points, favored traits when calling upon your deities, rules for conversions to other religions including Christianity provide guidance for player characters and create exciting NPCs who can lean into the mythical aspects of the game and the setting. These additional uses of devotion points were added immediately into my ongoing campaign and the players loved it. In the final chapter of the campaign, a savvy use of one of these new powers changed the encounter and weeks later, everyone is still on cloud nine. I would say these additions alone make the companion a worthwhile investment.
Finally, the expanded bestiary gave some guidance and filled in some gaps where I sometimes was not quite sure what kind of monster I wanted and ended up creating my own. The expanded bestiary includes several iconic monsters and a few unexpected ones.
Final Thoughts...
I did not expect the community building chapter, but after reviewing it, I cannot imagine continuing my game without utilizing this feature. It is very well thought out and well crafted. It provides a campaign base for the players to interact with the community in a more organic and deeper fashion. The roleplay opportunities from this are greatly appreciated.
Finally, I did not expect the additional adventures provided by the companion, but I think having some pre-made adventures to help new GMs learn the system and create ideas for their own saga worthy stories are an unexpected yet beneficial addition.
I highly encourage anyone who wants to expand their campaign for Age of Vikings to consider purchasing the Companion.
