Francesca Viganò
Before we begin to analyse SAKE in this review, we would like to thank the author Rainer Kaasik-Aaslav and Seventh Son Publishing LLC for sending us this huge modular roleplaying game.
If you would like to purchase the product after reading this review, you can find it on the DriveThruRPG store for $75 (approximately 75 euros), which includes both the physical and digital copies. If, on the other hand, you are only interested in the latter, it is available on the same store for $33 (about 33 euros).
Game Overview
SAKE (Sorcerers, Adventurers, Kings and Economics) is a roleplaying game of more than 500 pages, structured in modules to provide the broadest and most consistent gaming experience possible.
The content is structured in six main chapters, each of which defines a specific module for each element in the creation and management of the game world. For ease of reading, the text features a coloured legend highlighting not only game terms but also setting terms, spells and technical information.
Also available (in digital format) with the purchase of the volume are the character sheets, those for Domains, Military Units, Dungeons and those for the Game Master.
SAKE is set in the Astean World, divided into three empires, each of which claims to be the one and only true Astean Empire. Structurally, all three empires are constructed more or less similarly. They are pseudo-feudal federations consisting of numerous lineages that are relatively autonomous in their internal and external affairs. The manual is particularly generous in presenting the setting, which draws heavily from Eastern imagery.
Character Creation in SAKE
The first chapter of SAKE’s large volume is devoted to character creation. Generally speaking, it is the narrator (together with the group) who defines, depending on the plot to be played out, how many Attribute points and how many EXP points the characters will have when they are created. For example, very young characters with no particular experience or education will have 4 Attribute points and 20 EXP points; craftsmen or samurai will have 8 Attribute points and 60 EXP points. If a player wishes to add more Attribute points than agreed at the start of the game, they may do so by spending 30 EXP for each additional point.
Character creation begins with the assignment of Attributes, the designation of ranks in skills and the choice of abilities. Finally, the character’s personality traits must be defined.
Character Building Details
SAKE characters have 6 Attributes that define physical and mental abilities: Body, Speed, Precision, Soul, Intellect and Instinct. Attributes are designed to have a value between -10 and +10. Ordinary people have values of 0; a character with +6 will be inhumanly skilled in that field. It is therefore recommended not to exceed +6 and not to go below -2 in scoring.
Once you have established the scores in Attributes, you must distribute the EXP points into Skills. Each skill grade costs the equivalent in EXP, so grade 2 in Athletics costs 2 EXP and so on up to grade 5. After this level, each additional grade will continue to cost 5 EXP. For example, if we wanted to give our character +6 in Athletics, it would cost 1+2+3+4+5+5=20 EXP.
Another important element of character creation is to define the character’s Personality Traits and Principles. Personality traits can be generic, such as “honest” or “calm”, or more specific, such as “pacifist” or “vegetarian”.
In conclusion, character creation involves final touches. These include equipment, statistics such as Reflexes, Movement Speed, Spell Resistance and Willpower.
A Faster Method to Create Characters
Since the character creation process takes a few hours, it can be made easier by choosing an archetyphical character. This type of character is built with 8 Attribute points, 100 EXP for skills and abilities and 100 GD (gold coins) for equipment.
There are seven archetyphical characters proposed in the manual. Specifically, we find: Azure Warrior (a kind of magical warriors), Bird-Whisperer (experts in wild places), Body of Geulades (warrior priests), Merchant Sailor (merchant navigators), Samurai Bureaucrat (warrior bureaucrats), Shinobi (assassin spies) and Vagrant Priest (storyteller pilgrims).
Archetyphical characters are designed to be well-balanced, allowing them to handle a wide range of game situations.
The character consists of 9 sheets that can be easily downloaded, in editable format, from the link inside the digital copy of the book.
A Modular Roleplaying Game with Strategy Elements
SAKE proposes different types of adventures strongly linked to the experience one wants to have. The manual defines four Campaign Types:
- Domain Campaign: in which the characters are characters with important political roles.
- Merchant Campaign: in which the characters are merchants or pirates.
- Traditional Adventuring Campaign: includes more canonical types such as dungeon crawling, mysteries and political intrigue.
- Sorcery and Otherworld Campaign: based on sorcery and the afterlife.
In a Domain Campaign, characters are part of a clan, dynasty, group of samurai bureaucrats, temple leader priests or similar organisation. They have a shared goal and a domain over which they have authority. They work to protect and improve their domain, collecting taxes from the people who live there to finance these efforts.
If the choice falls on a Merchant Campaign, the characters will operate from a base, such as a ship or a trading post in a large city. They will then be driven by the desire to increase their wealth and influence. Adventures may take them across the oceans of the world. This type of campaign is even more extensive than the Dominion campaign because the characters will be able to travel anywhere thanks to their means of transport.
The Traditional Adventuring Campaigns, on the other hand, are more about the growth of characters who will start as simple adventurers and may, in time, become rich and famous heroes.
The SAKE Game Rules
For the handling of the mechanics, SAKE uses the classic set of 7 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10s, d12, d20), and in this part of the review, we will see why. Most of the dice rolls are related to passing character skill tests.
Skill tests are made by rolling a d20 to which the Skill Level (Rank + Attribute) is added. Rank represents the character’s knowledge of a subject. If a character has no rank in a skill, he rolls d12 and adds the value of the attribute. The lower size of the die symbolises the character’s complete ignorance. For example, a person who has no rank in horse riding could easily fall off a horse.
Weapon skill determines the Attack value. Occasionally, the Skill Level can have a direct impact on the game without the need for a test. For example, the skill level of a craftsman determines their monthly income.
Skill tests are carried out in two ways: against a difficulty level (DL) or as opposing tests. While the difficulty level is pre-set by the GM and is a specific number that must be reached, tests are performed against the skill level of another character or NPC.
Rolling a 1 or a 20 on the dice does not automatically result in failure or critical success. For example, an excellent fighter can still hit an opponent if they roll a 1 on their attack roll and the opponent rolls a low Parry test. Rolling a natural 20 on any skill test (including Schools of Magic and Channelling), or Parry, Reflex, Spell Resistance, or Willpower tests, means you receive additional points by rolling two percentage dice and comparing the result to the appropriate table.
Review of Fighting in SAKE
In SAKE, combat is divided into 10-second rounds, during which each participant has one Action and one Reaction (which we will now go into in more detail in this review). The order of the actions is determined by a Reflex roll (d20 + Reflexes). If a character decides to delay his Action until the end of their turn, they will be moved to the end of the order of Actions for the entire combat.
Combat follows strict rules. An attack roll is made against a parry roll using the d20. If the attack and parry rolls are equal, or if the parry roll is higher, the attack is successfully repulsed. Another die is then rolled to calculate the damage, depending on the weapon used. Any damage is then potentially reduced by the target’s armour damage reduction, while some weapons (such as firearms) can pierce part of the armour defence.
The manual provides an extremely wide range of options for managing combat, such as maneuvers and encounters with creatures of different sizes. The combat rules within the manual are distributed according to the type of campaign you intend to run. For example, naval combat is found in the chapter dedicated to Merchant Campaigns.
Review of Sorcery in SAKE
Sorcery is an important but not fundamental element to play. SAKE can be enjoyed even without including this element.
Sorcery is a subtle force that does not visibly affect the physical world. However, it enables one to communicate with animals, heal, bring the dead back to life, travel to the afterlife, create magical objects, and subjugate the will of others. While these are powerful abilities, they are not visible to the naked eye. The GM can make the world appear relatively magic-free, even if this is not the case.
In-game, sorcery is divided into Schools of Magic. These are skills that players must purchase separately, and until this has been done, they are not listed on the character sheet. Therefore, magic remains completely inaccessible to a character who has not learned these skills.
However, possessing a magical ability is not enough. To cast a spell, you must spend Spell Points (equivalent to Willpower plus the Spell Points received when learning new spells) and roll against the specific Difficulty Level of each spell. Spells are similar to skills in this respect, in that they have certain requirements and allow for specific magical actions. Provided you have enough Spell Points, you can always use spells.
The Otherworld: an Important Element of the Game
In a witchcraft-related campaign, the predominant element is the Otherworld: a realm consisting of countless zones parallel to the human world. These zones can be tiny, such as a valley between two mountains or a single cave, or infinite, such as a desert or an ocean. Many areas of the Otherworld have or have had a ruler, and these rulers have created and modified their realm to suit their personal needs. These rulers, or gods, are omniscient and almost invincible within their Otherworld zones.
The storyteller decides how to use this part of the game. For example, it could be a supernatural labyrinth that transports adventurers to distant lands. In these realms, characters may encounter creatures and opponents with special characteristics and abilities, depending on their type. The manual provides excellent examples that you can use in your campaigns.
Review of SAKE Aesthetics
As you can see from the images in this review, SAKE‘s aesthetics are extremely functional, but certainly not the manual’s main focus. The choice of the colours is pleasant, and using specific ones to identify elements of the setting and of the rulebook makes navigation easier. I would also add that the digital version has internal links, enabling each topic to be explored in depth without having to browse the document manually.
The summary is extremely well structured, allowing you to select the content you need for your campaign in advance. This means that, once you have read it, you will be able to decide which elements to incorporate into your campaign in a targeted way.
The illustrations are the result of a combination of techniques by Rainer Kaasik-Aaslav. Vector illustration was used for the maps and pictograms, 3D rendering for the vehicles and weapons, and finally, AI. While not unpleasant, the ensemble is certainly not the highlight of this gargantuan project.
Conclusions of the SAKE Review
In conclusion, I would say that SAKE is not a product to be taken lightly. Although the text is sufficiently fluent, the reading is challenging. The layout, combined with the guiding colours of the text, makes it fairly easy to use as a quick reference.
In my opinion, an attempt has been made to create a rich and imaginative game world that can offer players long and adventurous experiences. The variety of different modes of adventure also ensures remarkable versatility, guaranteeing good replayability.
I admit that the large number of pages can be off-putting, even for the most enthusiastic storyteller. SAKE certainly isn’t a quick game to set up, and it requires the narrator to be very familiar with not only the rules but also the extremely structured game setting.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a game with good depth, many storytelling possibilities, a structured but non-original setting, and a rule system similar to those of some classic roleplaying games, then SAKE is definitely for you.
