All illustrations are taken from the Jordenheim press pack unless otherwise noted, reproduced with permission from WRKS games.

It has always been my opinion that of all the pantheons, the Norse are the most suited to application within a superhero campaign. The Greek deities are too whimsical, the Romans too arrogant; the Norse are the most level-headed in many respects. What’s more, the Vikings had a sense of the rule of law that the others lack, and while any modern lawyer might find the forms unfamiliar, they would recognize the principles. The same is true of the government, in many respects.

On top of that, you had the established rivalry between Thor and Loki which naturally lends itself to larger-than-life situations, tailor-made for a superhero context.

When first I brought the Norse into my superhero campaign, I had a number of sources to draw upon.

• First, but by no means foremost, were the Marvel Comics. While some inspiration came from that source, it was by no means my primary reference.
• Second, and a far stronger reference, was the first story in “The Incompleat Enchanter” by L Sprague DeCamp and Fletcher Pratt. In particular, I liked the relationship displayed between Thor and Loki in that story.
• Third, and a more visual reference, was a DC comics story which featured a villain pretending to be Thor. The hero of the story was the relatively little-known Sandman (and Sandy, the Golden Boy), and the art was by the Legendary Jack Kirby. I drew on this for the look of my Thor, after throwing in clothing a bit closer to the Marvel style.
• Fourth, and a large source of inspiration, was “To Reign In Hell” by Stephen Brust. To paraphrase and redirect the tagline of that book, “The Norse know the prophecies of Ragnarok, in which Loki betrays them and is killed. Loki is no idiot. There is a discrepancy here that needs to be explained.” The answers that I found to that discrepancy lay in the characterization from the first source.
• The final resource on which my initial view was drawn was the original AD&D Deities & Demigods. The look of my Thor in particular was the “Thor” of the DC comics dressed in the Armor shown in this volume.

As the campaign progressed, I added more resources, which subtly revised the initial creations.

• The “Asgard Saga”, a two-part story spread through the X-men and New Mutants annuals one year, which delved a little deeper into the mythology and provided key visual reference for Asgard itself.
• A translation of the original Norse myths into a single epic story in modern English prose, “Myths Of The Norsemen” by Roger Lancelyn Green.
• A science-fiction novel, “Project: Millennium“, in which genetically-engineered replicas of the Norse Gods (with high-tech analogues of the mythological Norse arms and equipment) are pressed into battle against a vast human army based on the military forces of Richard III for the entertainment of aliens.

(All the above links are to copies of the books in question for sale on Amazon).

Over the years, Asgard and it’s fate have loomed as an ever more-central element of the campaign, and with each such deepening, I have invested more and more effort into gathering resources and enlarging my understanding of the foundations of both mythology and the people who believed it, the Vikings.

It was against this background that I reviewed “Journey To Ragnarok”, a series of 5e adventures built around Norse Mythology (reviewed in Goody and Project Roundup April 2017: Ten Goodies To Back or Buy) and “Yrisia’s Nightmare”, an adventure for Pathfinder and 5e D&D (in Yrisa’s Nightmare and other goodies) a couple of years earlier.

From which you may surmise that I’m always on the lookout for a good RPG interpretation of Norse mythology. Today, I’m going to tell you about another one, Jordenheim by WRKS games. This is a game system and setting, and revolves around the rise of a new religion, Khristianity, which threatens the supremacy of the Elder Gods. Jordenheim consists of four major regions, Norge, Suomi, Danmark, and Sverige, each with its own history, thriving cities, rich culture, customs, and trade. These regions co-exist with the Shroud, a realm created but abandoned by the Elder Gods, filled with magic, mythical beasts, and adventure.

I’ve had a copy of the core rulebook and press pack waiting for review for some time now – delayed first, because it wasn’t yet available to the general public, and second, by my desire to do as good a job as it looked like it deserved.

Between these two reasons, I’ve been waiting for three months to tell you about it! So let’s get started, before the Fimbulwinter takes us all…

Metaconcept & Background

Jordenheim started as a game universe by Kosala Ubayasekara to underpin the development of computer games by WRKS Games, but “Kos” loved the results so much that it was decided to import it into his other love, Tabletop RPG Gaming.

That meant that he either had to adapt it to a published game system like D&D or to find a bespoke solution. In researching their options, he came across one by a long-time friend, Dan Cross. The result is a simple but subtle RPG designed for 2–5 players plus a GM. While there are some gaming groups larger than this out there, that profile should match the majority of groups.

Metastructure

The Core Rules is the first volume in a planned 3-volume set, but is designed to be a standalone product. There’s very little information on the other two volumes and their intended content, but that’s worth bearing in mind if something seems inadequately covered.

Without more detailed information on the other volumes, this review will focus only on the Core Rules as a standalone product.

Structure

The 141-page PDF consists of six chapters plus 2 appendices:

• World Primer – history, calendar, creation, the power of faith, culture, geography, ‘The Shroud’
• Character Creation – backgrounds, character classes, advantages and disadvantages, combat prep, equipment, gender & age
• Abilities & Feats – traits, skills, feat list (instant & maintainable feats plus feats by class)
• Combat system – basics, time structure, initiative, action order, surprise, movement, standard attacks (blades, magic, archery, brawling, etc), defense pools, saving throws, combat options
• Magical Powers – the origins of magic, anomalies, sources of magical power, the Pantheon, spell casting, spell structure, spells by deity, elder spell powers lists, Khristian Miracles
• Game Mastering – character advancement, rewards, opponent & NPC development, magic, ‘full-fledged NPCs’, equipment & magic items
• Appendix 1 – GM’s guide & combat example
• Appendix 2 – Jordenheim pronunciation

Unlike some PDFs (and this is a bigger trick than it might seem at first), the page numbers in the contents list (from which the above summary was derived) match the page numbers within the PDF. The chapters and major sections are also bookmarked, but there are subsections which are not – for example, you can’t locate or go directly to the introduction from this built-in index. Instead, this matches the breakup stated in the table of contents.

Most of the time, this won’t be a problem, but it does mean that there’s more to Jordenheim than meets the eye of those descriptions alone. For example, scattered through the book are a number of tips for those brand-new to TTRPGs – and that makes this an excellent primer for those new to the hobby. I’ll have more to say on that in a later section.

Art

Art is by Florian Herold and Dominik Derrow with contributions from Cornelia Booysen. It generally isn’t framed off, placing the illustrations inline. To some extent, that limits the utility of this as a source of illustrations. However, it contributes to the sense of unity between illustrations and content to a far greater extent than might be expected; you often get the (quite deliberate) impression that the art has been painted directly onto the “page” that you are looking at, with the page “texture” underlying the image.

In addition to the art provided in the press kit, I’m including a partial screen capture from the high-res version of the Core Rules to show you what I mean:

This isn’t always the case, however; some art has a squared off background in a more traditional manner, rather than bleeding into the page. It is the presence of these examples that reveals the power of the more-frequently utilized approach; they are almost jarring in comparison.

That said, the press-kit has standalone versions of many pieces of the art, so the prospect of an “art pack” being made available if enough people request it is definitely non-negligible. Or one of those “later volumes” might be an art-book. Or WRKS may add a fourth volume.

The art itself has a soft, almost watercolor feel to it, fairly reminiscent of the art in Ysira’s Nightmare, but some of the techniques are strongly indicative of oil paint – and both might be the result of skilled digital artwork! This gives it a very atmospheric flavor that contributes to a “storybook” feeling.

I’ve scattered a number of representative pieces of eye candy through this review, but these are all smaller in size than the versions in the book, or cropped to fit the layout used by Campaign Mastery. Either way, what you are seeing here is only a hint of the content within the book.

Setting

At first glance, Jordenheim will look familiar as a location to most people and especially to Europeans. Okay, to most gamers – we tend to be more aware of other countries than the run-of-the-mill citizen. But that’s a whole other matter; let’s not get side-tracked. This is, however, not quite the Scandinavia of our world. Here, the Norse Mythology is closer to the truth, the gods are real, magic is real, and the monsters of the Norse Myths are real – and all of this has a profound effect on the history of the region.

Beside this text, I’ve presented a massively-reduced version of the Jordenheim map and a 75% scale extract from that map to provide both an overview and a sense of the style.

In Jordenheim’s cosmology, the universe is divided into two principle realms that co-exist spatially – the mortal world of Jordenheim itself, and the Shroud, more properly titled “The Shrouded Realm”, a place of magic and myth where the Gods and Alfar dwell.

This is not explained until the 36th page of the core book, even though it is really hard to make any sense of the repeated references to the Shroud in earlier sections without understanding it.

The mortal realms

Jordenheim is divided into four principle regions: Norge, Suomi, Danmark, and Sverige. Each is presented in ample detail to give them verisimilitude, with detailed geography, climate, ecology, culture, principle cities, economies, and histories. At the same time, there’s a lot of blank space around the edges of these pre-defined locales for the GM to make each region his own.

None of the choices made give a sense of being capricious; the geography influences the other aspects of each region in believable ways, the ecology influences culture and commerce, and so on. Together, they provide a believable foundation upon which to build.

The Shroud

The Shroud is as significant a place as the mortal realms in total within this game setting. The geography in parts mirrors that of the world “below”, as though the Shroud were a superimposed reality coexistent with the normal world – and this is the authors’ intent. In some parts of the world, the connection to the Shroud is more tenuous than in others, a function of belief in the underlying cosmology on the part of the residents.

Flora and Fauna also mirror those of the mortal realm, though the mirror is that of a fun-house – creatures of the Shroud can be larger and stronger, and may have abilities that their lesser representatives lack.

Elsewhere, there is less similarity between the two worlds. In essence, eight of the nine worlds of Norse Myth are condensed into this one existence, existing as regions or as sub-dimensions of the Shroud.

This simplifies a number of the mythological elements structurally, and defines a more concrete relationship between the traditional cosmological elements that is frequently absent in the source material. At the same time, it permits the Supernatural elements of the game to be distinct in each of the human regions, adding to the distinctiveness of those realms. From a superficial review I immediately had a number of ideas of how to incorporate this material into my own version of the Nine worlds!

I might argue that the structure of this part of the game-book might have been better served defining the Shroud at the start, and then incorporating each of the sections on its’ properties into the specifics of that region – so that “The Shroud in Sverige” becomes part of the “Sverige” entry – but there is also utility in this arrangement in that it highlights the differences between the two planes of existence. There is a certain majesty conferred upon the Shroud as a result that might be worth the price of the initial confusion that results from a direct reading of the content. But 30-odd pages is a long time to wait for an explanation of something fundamental to the setting.

Overall Impressions

I could drench this section in superlatives quite easily, but such things, if over-used, lose their impact. Suffice it to say that a superficial review conjured up ideas for at least half-a-dozen adventures with no effort whatsoever – and that’s before the machinations and troubles of the Gods and their enemies are taken into account.

One factor that might weigh heavily against this as a game setting in the eyes of many is that PCs are expected to be human (though other races do exist and half-bloods are possible).

A note on the mythology

Jordenheim draws heavily on parts of Norse myth that are often sanitized or ignored by other gaming sources, for example the origins of the Gods (which bear some resemblance to the origins in Greco-Roman mythology of their deities – just substitute “Giants” for “Titans” and the commonalities are impossible to ignore). That should be regarded as an added bonus to anyone valuing this as Norse-related source material, and is worth special mention.

At the same time, this is material of a more mature nature than that usually presented in RPGs – modern teens should have no problems with it, but it might not be entirely suitable for children (which is the reason for that sanitizing in the first place, i suspect). So that’s something else to bear in mind.

Game System

Characters are constructed using a points-buy system. The basis of a human character is 30 points. A cultural package based on the region from which a character derives costs 8-12 of these points, while a character class will cost 10-12 more. That leaves 6-12 points which can be spent improving abilities conferred by these packages or adding additional capabilities to the character. To spend more than this (and most characters will want to do so), a character can take disadvantages which provide additional construction points. There is an initial cap of 4 character points in disadvantages, so this provides only a small scope for added enhancements. Furthermore, disadvantages “acquired” in the course of play, or worsened, earn the character no points.

It takes a while before you notice that there are no stats at all in the usual sense. The system clearly operates on the premise that ability enhancement from better characteristics is indistinguishable from enhancements from skill and training, so why bother differentiating between the two?

This pattern of simplification is a constant theme throughout the character construction section, more frequently implied than overt.

Many of the abilities have costs higher than a character is likely to be able to afford at character creation, which immediately informs that experience rewards take the form of both monetary gain and additional construction costs.

The game system employs a full suite of dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12 – at least) – with the die size used for a particular check a function of the number of ranks in the class ability in question. The implication is that this is a “roll a target or higher to succeed” game system. For any task of fixed difficulty, the chance of failure therefore declines with each additional level in a noteworthy fashion.

For example, let’s say a 4 is needed for success. 1 rank (d4) has a 25% chance of success; 2 ranks (d6) has a 50% chance of success; 3 ranks (d8) has a 62.5% chance of success; 4 ranks (d10) has 70%; and 5 ranks (d12) has 75% chance.

Notice that the increase from one rank to the next earns a progressively smaller improvement, if these assumptions are correct. Balancing that is that at each rank, you gain access to the potential for success at more difficult tasks – if a target number is 7, then one- and two-rank character need not apply; they cannot possibly get a result that high. Success only becomes possible with three ranks or more – possible magical assistance excepted.

Class abilities are structured into skill or trait ‘trees’, with a primary ability defined as the ‘trunk’ of the tree. This is not a superficiality; the availability of some class abilities is determined by the chosen primary ability. The more ranks you have in branches of your unique tree, the greater your character’s overall effectiveness – determined by adding together the maximum possible result on the relevant die roll. 1 rank = d4 = +4 to the total; 2 ranks = d6 = +6 to the total; and so on. Spending character points outside the tree thus increases a character’s breadth, but there is an automatic imperative to refocus on the core aspects of the character’s class.

A lot of the game system appears to function in this way, burying important game mechanics where they aren’t immediately obvious. This keeps the game mechanics relatively straightforward (though you still need to read them closely), but it also means that it would be really easy for game mechanics tweaks to have unintended and possibly game-breaking consequences.

That said, there are a number of very interesting and innovative approaches in these game rules. Even if you can’t translate them directly to another game system, studying them will definitely further your understanding of game mechanics.

Layout Issues

It was while reading through the early sections of the character creation chapter that layout issues within the core rulebook became a problem for the first time. To illustrate the problem, here’s another screen capture, one that shows the presentation of specifics of the first three ability ranks:

It’s really hard to see where one passage of text ends and the next starts – it’s a wall of text that is hard to interpret.

This isn’t usually a problem with Jordenheim, but in this particular section they have dropped the ball just a little bit. It would have been relatively easy to fix:

All I’ve done is broken the sections up with a little space in between them and done a quick-and-easy bolding of the identifying text of each section. This makes it immediately obvious what relates to what – and what doesn’t.

But this is a relatively minor quibble.

Overall, the game mechanics appear to have a subtlety and richness that is buried beneath a relatively simple surface and should make for good game-play – once you get used to the rules. But the character construction system would need to be read very closely before any attempt is made to run the system – this isn’t one of those cases where you can figure things out on the run, not very effectively, anyway.

That in turn should deliver on the promise of a “fast-paced rule set”.

Paper background by Mike

Combat

The concept of the ability tree doesn’t show it’s real importance until you start working on the combat capabilities of a character. When you get to step 4 of the character construction process, you find that the total of the maximum values of the abilities within your ‘tree’ is your hit points.

Defense comes in two varieties – passive and active. Active is accessed with actions like parrying, dodging, and so on, while passive is always there. Armor and shields offer straight damage reduction.

That means that a character who is trying to defend himself is better protected than an identical character who is not, but no matter how skilled the character may be, his protection will eventually run out if attacked for long enough. It’s easy to see combat between near-equals taking the standard strategic form of “defend until your attacker misses, then attack until you miss, repeat until one of you goes down”.

When you actually get to the combat section of the mechanics, however, you find that the mechanics are actually more sophisticated than this makes them seem.

There is no “to hit” roll in this game system; instead, the attacker rolls dice to determine a potential for damage to be inflicted and compares that directly with the value of the defense raised by the target. If the total is higher than the defense, then the armor’s damage reduction value is deducted from the remaining attack total; if there’s anything left, then both the active and passive defense pools employed by the target are reduced. If they get down to 0, the target is rendered unconscious; if it falls to a negative value based on the class level of the character (4, +4 per class level). So higher level characters are harder to kill, but in a completely separate way from their combat capabilities.

This avoids the compounding of combat effects that makes D&D level gains such a non-linear power progression, while still making a 3rd level character better than a 2nd level character.

Overall, the combat system is more complex than it initially appears, but – like the rest of the game system – has a deceptively simple surface.

The Magic System

The rulebook definitely scores some bonus points from me in this area. Characters gain very few spells in comparison with other systems, but there are a wealth of useful ones available – and those are different for each source. On top of that, there is another tier of spells that can only be obtained through adventuring. The result is that every mage is a different proposition, and no mage can be so universally powerful or skilled that they make other character archetypes redundant.

There are other nuances – spells don’t automatically last more than a single round, but can be maintained with a roll – one that is more difficult with increasing spell power. There is also a maximum extent to this extension of duration according to the character’s rank in the core ability of mages, “Devotion”, which comes from the character’s class level.

All told, the system is simpler than that of D&D or Pathfinder, but no less sophisticated, and avoids all the pitfalls that seem inherent to the magic systems within those games.

It’s when you look at the list of spells associated with each Deity that the same layout issues arise as discussed earlier, though in slightly lesser form. In a nutshell, there isn’t enough distinction between the name of a spell and the name of the deity that grants that spell. Sure, you can figure it out in a second or two – but it looks like one long list, not multiple shorter lists.

Publisher

WRKS games aims to be a publisher for independent game producers, a platform for publication, as they describe it. Their business model is to take a small flat fee from each copy sold, currently £1. If you’re interested, visit www.wrks-games.com.

They are London based, friendly, generous with their time, and professional. Exactly what an independent “studio” should look for in a publishing partner.

I get the impression that their primary focus is still on computer games, so this basic business model may vary with respect to RPGs – you can sell 100 computer games to every copy of an RPG supplement and the latter will still be considered a success relative to the former, and that changes the dynamics and viability of the business model.

If they care enough about a product, this may not make a difference to them, but don’t take the low flat fee as sustainable outside the computer game market, and don’t assume that it will apply if you pitch an RPG product to them.

Click the cover to buy Jordenheim

Physical Reality

Jordenheim comes as a PDF in two formats – a low-res version for digital use and a high-res version for printing. Both contain 141 pages, not counting a front cover (separate digital art in the review version).

How useful is it?

Now, we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty. There are five ways to measure this, each with a different standard to meet.

As a standalone product

I would rate Jordenheim as good-to-excellent in these terms. It has a unique flavor and sufficient depth that – as a self-contained product – it would certainly justify purchase – if you are at all interested in what it offers.

As an introduction to RPGs

The superficial simplicity of the mechanics make it a good choice, and the richness of the mechanics under the surface mean that it would be playable by a wide range of ages. But I have to deduct points in this category because the background material is hard to separate out of the product and demands a level of maturity that leaves it a less-suitable for children.

For ages 13-adult, I would consider it excellent for this purpose, with enough depth that players can explore it for quite some time. For those younger, depending on the individuals, it might be poor-to-good.

In terms of mechanics, it would be a lot easier than D&D or Pathfinder.

As a game setting

This basically ignores half the product, and some of the depth as a game setting comes from the character differentiation produced by the game mechanics. So detrimental would this deficit be that as a game setting alone, without the mechanics, I would rate it as mediocre but inspirational.

Replacing the mechanics would be possible, but would not be true to the flavor of the setting. The two strands of content supplement and enhance each other; the game setting is far stronger with the game mechanics than without them.

If I restore the mechanics to consideration, even if they are to be translated into some other game system, the value of the core rules as a game setting rises to excellent – if you are interested in doing something with Norse Mythology.

As a game system

It would certainly be possible to rip out the incorporated game setting and just use the game system, though it would be a lot of work because the two are so tightly integrated. You would need to generate a lot of material for your chosen game setting using the material provided as a template.

That said, I like the mechanics – a lot – and it might be worth the effort. I can see a swashbuckling Robin Hood campaign, or an Arthurian campaign, working well with this game system – if you’re willing to do the campaign prep to make them viable. Heck, a Barsoom campaign would probably work, too, as would a Middle-Earth campaign. Or an Arrakis campaign. Or… well, I think you get the point.

So many of the answers to the standard design questions relating to RPG mechanics that are employed in Jordenheim are different to those I’ve seen anywhere else that if you’re into game mechanics at all, this is a product that you have to check out.

As a gaming resource

Finally, as a resource / supplement to add to others, Jordenheim is excellent. The focus on elements of the Norse Mythology that are skimmed over or ignored completely by other products makes this a useful building block with no substitute.

Value For Money?

I’ve been building up to the most difficult questions of all: is Jordenheim value for money?

£24.99, the asking price, is roughly AU$44 or US$32. As usual, the Canadian Dollar is very similar in buying power to the Australian Dollar.

A typical game supplement costs about AU$75 for a hardcover of about 200-240 pages. This is shorter, so a proportionate decrease in that price-tag gives a comparison value of AU$48.

In other words, the cost is roughly comparable to what you would pay for a physical game supplement of comparable size.

Of course, not all costs scale to page count in a linear fashion – there are all sorts of overheads that are all-or-nothing, and all sorts of other variables. What’s more, the costs involved in the production of an electronic-only product are completely different to those of a physical product – see my 2012 article, Value for money and the pricing of RPG materials (Part 1, Part 2).

My Gut reaction is that if the specific content is of interest to you – a different magic system, differentiated spell lists by deity, differentiated feats and abilities by archetype/character class, a different game setting, a different combat system, or Norse Mythos reference material – then the quality of the work makes the price-tag acceptable, if not attractive. That takes in a very large swathe of the RPG community, so overall the answer is probably “Yes, this is value for money – just barely”. The more of those boxes that Jordenheim ticks for you, the more confident you can be in that answer.

Buying Jordenheim

You can buy the Jordenheim RPG Core Book for £24.99 from the WRKS online store.

More Information

Still need more convincing? Well, you can find out more about the Jordenheim Core Book at the Jordenheim page of the WRKS website.

Jordenheim has a distinct flavor all it’s own, and the more you read from it, the more that flavor sucks you into its world. Do yourself a favor and put it on your Christmas wish list – or decide that you just can’t wait that long.