River Horse The Dark Crystal Adventure Game - RPG Hardcover Book, 290+ Full Color Pages, Role Playing Game

Beautiful illustrations throughout. Excellent book for any fan of the film.

I try to go into these sorts of things not expecting anything, but as someone who has been an RPGamer half my life... one does expect a book labelled 'Adventure Game' or 'RPG' to actually be a core rulebook that gives you enough information to write your own games and campaigns.This book is not it, sis.This is an Adventure-in-a-Box game, where 90% of the 6x9" (yes you read that right--this book is TINY) book is devoted to a single one-shot adventure, which I wouldn't want to GM because there's not enough information given to GM it!!! There are some adventure seeds, but in my opinion they kind of assume you're going to make most of it up, without giving you the tools necessary to do that effectively. If I were going to make it up THAT much I wouldn't have spent $42 on the book, guys!!Pros:- there IS a map (i was looking forward to the map) of Skarith, as well as smaller maps of 26 smaller areas within Skarith. This actually makes up the bulk of the book.- there is slightly more Lore about all the uRu & Skeksis, including where to find the ones that aren't seen on screen (such as SkekLi).- there is a bit more Lore about the gelfling clans and it's laid out very clearly.- The art is full colour and the paper and binding are really lovely.Ish:- There are a handful of bits of information that are actually exciting and seem to at least *try* to be further adventures--there's an exciting lair for SkekTek, for example--but again, there's never enough information given to DO anything with this. It's hard to explain how frustrating it is, the whole book is written like a teaser on the back of a book, if that makes sense.Cons:- NO INDEX >:C- Very disorganised, it took me two hours to figure out 'Vliyaya' was the in-universe magic system, and if I hadn't been an experienced fantasy RPGer I wouldn't have figured it out at all.- The book is so small it's hard to use as reference.- The character sheet is very pretty but completely unusable.- You are railroaded into being a Gelfling. This is incomprehensible to me, because of course I'm used to fantasy games with at least 3 species to choose from.- Thre are no suggested names for various clans of gelfling--no suggested names in the character creation AT ALL. Luckily Emily from FantasyNameGenerators has a gelfling namegen, but seriously??? Y'all makin' us rely on Emily??- There is nothing on the podlings. NOTHING!!! They are barely mentioned, which is such a frustrating thing because Hup was such a huge character and because we KNOW the language is fully formed. I was really hoping this book would have more about the podlings and their language!- Almost nothing on the skeksis that you can't already find elsewhere, AND they're sort of used interchangeably as all-purpose heavies. You're basically not really given the tools to make them more than one-dimensional Symbols and while that works for a story, it doesn't work for an RPG at all.- There is anti-Roma racist stereotyping with the Sifa clan. It's 2022 guys, what the hell.- Everyone and everything is pretty one-dimensional. There's a lot of room to expand on things but they just didn't for some reason, and made the book smaller so it looks thicker.Overall, this is pretty disappointing. I'm glad for the maps but I didn't really get any information that is going to add to my already-running D&D game with Dark Crystal. I certainly didn't expect the book to physically be so small--I was expecting it to come with a map I could hang up, not a map that is just the dust jacket. This certainly doesn't have replayability, so strictly speaking it's not entirely worth the cost, to me. You're paying for an art book that compiles all the information from the books and comics, and the maps, and one (1) one-shot adventure that is pretty inflexible. I kind of wish they'd just let WotC make a proper RPG.

I wasn't sure what to expect but now that I've read through the book I am truly looking forward to sharing it with my friends. I think it will make for rich alternative game. The rules seem simple enough with the golden rule of common sense clearly stipulated in it And the information that shares of the and the information it shares of the world gives the potential of rich and detailed game play. I do recommend getting the Dark Crystal Beastry though. Its not mandatory but couldn't hurt to have on hand.

I grew up mesmerized by the film. For 30 years I have imagined adventuring through Thra (only recently did I learn it's name).1. This book is beautiful, it perfectly captures the soul of The Dark Crystal.2. The game play is simple YET fun. I've GM'd it with my kids and a group of adults and it was equally fun. It's as simple of a TTRPG as they get.3. The adventure is intriguing and captivating. It's easy to form a narrative around the region specific events with what's given.I am overjoyed with this in every imaginable way.

An impressive tome, with beautiful illustrations, a great deal of lore about the Dark Crystal world, and interesting adventure ideas. The rules though, well, not my cup of tea. Very uninspired and bland. Nothing about the mechanics feels particularly 'Dark Crystal'. There is also the popular, 'everything uses a D6 except where it doesn't'. Not a fan of that. Using all the fun, many sided dice just because they exist is kind of silly. The game could have just been D6 and it would've been fine.A wonderful sourcebook and adventure guide for running an RPG in the world of Thra but I recommend adapting it to your favorite game system.

Other RPG creators should play this. Nice hand-holding for beginner GMs while providing experienced GMs groundwork for creating their own campaign. I disagree with other reviewers claims that it doesn’t include enough info for adventures outside the provided story.

I found this product and really loved the idea of it. It's such a beautiful book that matches the theme of The Dark Crystal. Plus you get an entire adventure game as well!Sadly River Horse's quality is seriously lacking. My copy came with the ribbons really messed up, plus way too much glue coming out of the top of the book, and the book badly smashed on every corner and the spine since it came in only a plastic bag. Quality control is a must River Horse.It would be a good idea to put a book this expensive in a box as well since this site now only ships in plastic bags, causing significant damage to the product.

This is a beautifully made book with everything about the world of dark crystal and how to adventure in it. The book itself has a velvet like cover, three bookmarks to hold all your places, and the dust cover is a map of the world.