The Quests of Brin The Barbarian

Every once in awhile, I come across a set of rules that I cannot wait to get on the table - so it was this morning when I read The Quests of Brin The Barbarian by Maudlin Jack Tar, based on the works of Eric and William Knowles.

This is a short and splendid set of rules for very low figure count games with tremendous old school fantasy flavor. It evokes for me a very 1970s proto role-playing game feeling and looks capable of reproducing the exploits of Conan, Thongor, and other loin clothed adventurers, as well as those of the armored knights in dungeons variety.

I have quite a few fantasy figures - mostly unpainted, of course - in 15mm and 28mm, metal, plastic, and paper (I love paper fantasy flats). They don't get much love, lately except when my son breaks them out. This set of rules will change that. In 54mm, I have knights and Saracens, and some of the monsters in 28mm work just fine as opponents in this scale, too.

Unable to resist the allure any further, and wanting to keep the encounter above ground, I threw down the only grid surface I had handy that wasn't a dungeon tile  (a two-inch grid, but treated as 1 inch for the rules), grabbed a Britain's knight and some Deetail Saracens (playing the role of thieving brigands in the country-side) and set to it.

The tools of adventure!
And I apologize profusely for misspelling Maudlin Jack's name!

The battle was tense - as our hero was incapable of rolling higher than a 1 for initiative. Fortunately, he was a bit handier with his weapon than his attackers were with theirs. In the end, he was victorious, although badly wounded (reduced to but 4 SP, after starting with 15) - hopefully he'd reach the nearest inn before he was set upon by some other foe, be they beast, man, or monster.

Maudlin Jack just added sorcery rules (that update is how they came across my radar) but I have not had a chance to try them. This evening, however, I will break out the 28mm figures (I don't have suitable 54mm wizardy figure) and have a go with them.