"Durandal" Quickstart Edition - Review [EN]

Durandal is a new RPG from Se7en Sagas, immersing players into a mythical reimagining of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, where history intertwines with legend. Designed by Rui Anselmo, Durandal uses diceless mechanics (borrowed from Dawnfall's) to prioritize strategic gameplay and narrative depth. Currently funding on Gamefound, the Quickstart Edition offers a comprehensive glimpse into this intriguing RPG.


Setting and Theme

Durandal immerses players into a vivid blend of historical realism and mythic fantasy. Set during Charlemagne's expansive campaigns, characters such as knights, clerics, scholars, and mystics engage in epic conflicts, moral dilemmas, and encounters with divine and arcane forces. This thematic tension provides fertile ground for profound storytelling and character-driven drama.


Diceless Conflict Resolution

Gameplay revolves around Effort Points (EP), with each character possessing a limited pool per session. Players secretly allocate EP to overcome hidden Difficulty Ratings set by the Game Master (GM), ensuring gameplay remains strategic and narrative-focused rather than reliant on dice.

[EDIT] Durandal’s diceless and blind bidding mechanics significantly increase narrative responsibility on the GM, demanding quick thinking, creative storytelling, and intuitive difficulty management. This design choice enriches dramatic tension but heavily relies on GM skill.
This note was added after publication to clarify why the game was listed as having "heavy reliance on GM narrative skills" in the "The Worst" section.

The blind bidding system introduces tension and uncertainty, requiring careful management of limited EP resources and emphasizing dramatic storytelling.

Notably, the Quickstart Edition includes free STL files for 3D-printable physical tokens to represent bidding tokens and EP, showcasing a mature approach to game design that combines form and function elegantly, although accessibility may vary based on players' access to a 3D printer.

The STL files also include versatile coin-shaped bidding tokens (numbered I-V) and practical Effort Clips for EP management directly on character sheets, as seen below.


Passions: Drama through Gameplay

Characters in Durandal are driven by their Passions: Virtue, Faith, Duty, and Temptation. Aligning actions with these Passions provides tangible advantages, enriching roleplay by rewarding players who authentically pursue their inner conflicts and ambitions, even at personal or narrative risk.


Stress and Endurance

Durandal employs a compelling Stress mechanic, tracking physical (Fortitude), mental (Resolve), and spiritual (Piety) endurance. Stress accumulation significantly impacts gameplay, adding layers of realism by highlighting the burdens of heroism and leadership.


Mass Combat and Heroism

Mass Combat in Durandal involves strategic management or frontline heroic feats, structured through engaging phases (Deployment, Maneuver, Combat, Aftermath). This system creates cinematic and strategic moments, enhancing player immersion and providing meaningful choices.


Sorcery and Miracles

Characters wield potent but risky powers through Sorcery (arcane knowledge) and Miracles (spiritual devotion). Both involve significant risks and potential consequences, deepening gameplay through choices that blend power with peril.


Artwork and Innovation

Durandal’s artwork primarily leverages Midjourney AI, enhanced by extensive human refinement—particularly evident in the significantly reworked cover art. Complementing this approach, Pedro Oliveira contributed fully human-crafted cartography and selected interior illustrations, while Rui Anselmo personally designed most character sheets and game tokens, blending AI backgrounds and borders with meticulous manual details.

Where Dawnfall boldly made a statement through provocative AI-driven design, Durandal signifies a maturation—carefully balancing AI potential with human craftsmanship. It's not this reviewer's place to judge the ethics of this approach; rather, it's the author's creative choice.

Nevertheless, Durandal clearly stands as an innovative piece, a forerunner of what might become a broader industry trend, even more so if the game were tailored explicitly for solo play.

The Best:

  • Strategic and tension-driven diceless mechanics

  • Rich thematic interplay between history and myth

  • Thoughtful, mature, innovative Stress, Passion and Effort systems design enhancing deep roleplay, supported by 3D-printable components

The Worst:

  • Diceless mechanics may limit flexibility, placing heavy reliance on GM narrative skills

  • Resource-management systems may introduce complexity for some players

  • Elegant 3D-printable components require specialized equipment, limiting accessibility

The Verdict

Pros:

  • Engaging, strategic, and narrative-driven gameplay

  • Rich thematic depth blending history and myth

  • High-quality artwork combining traditional and AI-generated methods

Cons:

  • Potential for uneven experiences depending on the GM

  • Diceless mechanics may not suit every playgroup

  • AI-generated content could be divisive for some players

Durandal presents a captivating RPG experience, combining strategic gameplay with rich storytelling and thoughtfully designed, innovative physical components. Whether you embrace its diceless mechanics, hybrid art style, or its creative integration of human and AI-driven elements, Durandal undeniably offers a unique and forward-thinking roleplaying journey.



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