Providence Main Rule Book

The genres of Fantasy and Super Heroes are mixed in the world of Providence, an RPG that has the catchphrase "Learn to be a hero again."

The world known as Providence is a jungle realm spread across the interior of a sphere but geological instabilities have cracked the jungle floor, flooding the land with an ever-increasing amount of water. The world is a prison, and that is how it's supposed to be. The inhabitants of Providence are descendants of a mass penal colony, sent to Providence due to a failed crusade. Now, the people struggle to find the gates that will lead them back home and discover how to use them.

The cities of Providence are unique in that they are built upward rather than outward, due to the fact that most characters in Providence have wings or glider membranes and, thus, the ability to fly. Which brings us to the caste system: Pure, Blessed, Gifted, Fortuned, Redeemed, and Fallen.

Pure are those who have full wings. They and the caste below them are the only members of society who are taught how to use magic (see below). Blessed are those who don't posses full wings - theirs are smaller and don't work as proficiently. As a result, they don't fly to well. Members of this caste are occasionally taught magic, and are usually advisors, generals, etc. Gifted are those born with Shard abilities (see below), which is one of the few ways to move up in the caste rankings. This caste is the only one delineated by ability instead of appearance. Fortuned do not posses wings. Instead, they have a membrane that connects their arms to their torso, allowing them to glide. Redeemed have wings or glider membranes that no longer work due to an injury, atrophy, or birth defect. These people are used to work the menial functions in life (soldiers, field hands, etc). Finally, the Fallen are those who do not have wings, and are regarded as outcasts.

The population of Providence is also divided into two categories: the Seraph (those who possess feathered wings) and the Iblii (those who have leathery wings). After that, they are also separated into family classes called Troupials that are based on appearance and general function. Examples of Troupials are Bat, Dove, Gargoyle, and Dragon, with many more to choose from.

The basics of a Providence Character are the four aspects: Characteristics, Skills, Traits, and Magic (powers and spells).

There are ten Primary Characteristics that represent the physical, mental, social, and magical attributes of a character, like Coordination, Intelligence, and Strength. They range from -3 to +3, with the average human having a 0. There are also from two to three secondary characteristics, such as Agility, Memory, and Might.

Some characters may have magical abilities (called Wird). A character who has natural, Wird-enhanced abilities is called a Shard. A person who can cast spells is a Spell Caster. Shards are inherently more powerful than spell casters, but spell casters are more flexible in their field of expertise.

The Providence RPG uses the Creative System, which makes use of the d10. The number of d10s you use depends on the level of Skill a character has and their relevant Characteristic. The total may be more or less than two dice. However, only two dice are rolled; having more or less than two dice gives a modifier to the roll. For each additional d10 you have you get a +2. Fewer than two dice gives a -2 for each d10 less than two.

Example: If you have Characteristic Strength 3 and have to make a Strength roll, you would have three dice total. Roll two dice and modify your roll by +2. If you only had Strength 1, you would roll two dice and modify your roll by -2.

Alongside the basic system is a more advanced optional set of rules that can attain a greater degree of realism. Unfortunately, this optional set also brings with it a lot of math.

The Good: The system is easy to learn - with the advanced optional rules requiring some time to get used to (for example: The Modified Target Number is when the number of dice the opponent has is doubled and added to the target number [usually seven]). Plenty of examples pepper the creation and system sections of the book. The layout is very good - the pages look like old parchment and the text has no typos that this reviewer noticed. The binding is also quite professional.

The Bad: The art ranged from good to awful. The game uses a lot of number crunching which can bog down play for both novices and experienced players. And having information separated into two books (the second being the Providence World Book) has its advantages and disadvantages - one is left with the feeling there's something missing in the Main Rule Book. Finally, do we really need 26 total characteristics?

The Verdict

This game is a decent blend of fantasy and super-heroics - worth looking at. Try it, and see if you can learn to be a hero again.