Friday, January 15, 2016

Review & Commentary On The Seven at One Blow Rpg System From Kabuki Kaiser For Your Old School Campaigns

There are games with a degree of  old school comedy and a sort of dark fairy tale vibe to them; then there is the Seven At One Blow rpg. This game thrives on a dark comedic mess for an OSR retroclone system meaning that the system runs like a well oiled machine but it takes PC in very strange directions. This game takes every trope from D&D & turns it on its ear. This is a dark and very funny game on many levels. You play the ordinary guy whose thrust into a terrible and dark adventure, will you survive? This doesn't mean the game isn't fun by any means. This is a 'Pay What You Want' OSR retroclone gaming system.
This game is perfect to play a pick up game as a beer and pretzels game on the weekend but its one that takes full advantage of those 80's comedies and 90's survival  horror movies that plugs into the dark fairy tale aesthetic;
"A survival horror comedy plug and play hack compatible with everything OSR, that you can play right off the bat.

SEVEN AT ONE BLOW is an OSR RPG hack in which the characters are always ordinary people cast into extraordinary situations. Because of this, the world is insanely cruel, and even the lowest monsters are creatures which seem to come straight from horror movies, possibly teenager action-horror movies. That would probably be the end of it if the characters weren't so lucky. They have this luck on their side, a perpetual beginner's luck that will help them escape the most desperate straits and let the situations explode into nonsensical hit and miss heroism."



Try and imagine being in one of those classic fairy tale cartoons or movies. Now try to imagine that you as an ordinary person are trying to survive against the darkness of a D&D adventure with a twist. This is a dark comedy game with its heart and soul dedicated to having your PC's having a good time. They have several systems in the game such as luck, and other minor abilities that can aid you in surviving. The systems here are perfect for the sort of mucking about with things that are best left to adventurers and the like. Since they're not available well you and your lot will have to do. Everything is complete here from PC generation to fully realized to a setting sand box adventure straight out of the gate. This is a perfect game to get kids into an adventure campaign  with some cartoon hijinks deep into world of high weirdness. This game excels at pre code cartoon weirdness and its fully compatible with other OSR games. Which means you could effectively run Tomb of Horrors with this game system with a little conversion.


Here's what I love about Seven at One Blow, everything is right between the covers from PC set up to fully scored characters out the gate and it includes a great little sandbox adventure setting to boot. Also its compatible with  Castle Gargantua for a whole campaign settings worth of adventures. What I really love about this game is that there wasn't a Kickstarter, endless internet commercials for it, or a ton of repeat OSR marketing. It has been simply published and its gloriously dark, fun, and works on so many levels.


Want to play a game where your PC's are classic cartoon characters but cast in the roles of butcher, baker, and candle stick maker trying to survive against a witch, hag, vampire,etc. This is the game to use. The systems are well laid out, the play very intuitive, and the game design is sharp. Seven At One Blow comes just in time for the grim days of 2016 as a breath of funny and terrifying fresh air. Grab this one, I highly recommend it.

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