If you’re looking for entertainment during lockdown, why not check out Legends of Avallen? It’s a tabletop roleplaying game which doesn’t even need dice, so we spoke with its creator, Deren Ozturk, to find out more.
Jim Miles: I know you from the Japan Magic: the Gathering scene! We were both teaching English and jamming Magic a few years ago around the Nagoya area. Since returning to the UK I gather you’ve made a game? You sent me the rules and I had a good read, but perhaps you could tell us about it in your own words.
Deren Ozturk: Thanks for asking me for this interview Jim! So, Legends of Avallen is an indie tabletop roleplaying game about humble townsfolk rising up to become legends on a mystical island inspired by Celtic mythology and Roman-occupied Britain. You can find out more on our website. We also have a free rules summary available to download now, a starter adventure being released soon, and we will be launching a Kickstarter later in the year!
J: Having read the rules summary, I found it more intuitive and less overwhelming than 5th Edition D&D. Presumably this was intentional? What do you see as the key differences between your system and the D&D that most people are used to?
D: That’s two big questions! I’ll try to be brief.
Firstly I’m glad the increased intuitiveness was so apparent—it is definitely intentional! One of my primary design goals for Legends of Avallen is to make it approachable for people who have never played a roleplaying game before. I want to help introduce people to the hobby.
There are a number of key differences from the more familiar tabletop systems, which should be evident right away. For a start, you begin the game not as an adventurer or great hero but a humble townsperson. The character creation is deep but takes less than 5 minutes, with no prior knowledge of RPGs or fantasy tropes necessary.
The first thing players do is select their character’s profession; while not everyone might know what a Paladin or Warlock is, it’s safe to say that most people understand what Blacksmiths and Shepherds do. More heroic archetypes familiar to veterans, like Warriors and Mages, become available later, but only after the players have context within the world-lore and gameplay to make informed decisions for their characters. Systems and character options open up to the players as they progress, rather than front-loading it all.
As for the key differences, one of the biggest is that the heart of the system actually uses conventional playing cards instead of any type of dice—
J: No dice? SACRILEGE!
D: I know, I know—I and most of my playtesters never questioned the marriage of TTRPGs and dice, until one clever playtester suggested the idea after she saw what I was trying to do with my mass of d6s. Playing cards are easy to pass around face-down, visibly symbolising a pool of possible advantages a character accrues through the duration of a challenge. They are also more accessible and less intimidating than a full set of polyhedrals, which aligns perfectly with my core philosophy of an approachable game.
J: Indeed. Jokes aside, it does seem like an interesting system and it fits with the design philosophy. I play a lot of card games so for me the idea of using a deck of playing cards is very neat. I like imagining that I could even be game master (GM) for this on a family holiday with relatives and just a dusty deck of playing cards. Is that broadly within the realms of possibility for the game?
D: That’s exactly right. Play LoA with your grandparents!
J: Are there any other really dramatic differences between this and the “traditional” D&D environments?
D: Sure…another big one for us is emphasising creativity and teamwork in a way I haven’t seen many other games do. For example, when fighting a dragon it’s much more effective for a group to set up one character to land a single, key strike instead of everyone trying to chip away at it little by little by themselves.
J: Ooh, I like that. I’ve really enjoyed moments when I’ve coordinated a combination of attacks with other players in campaigns I’ve played. I love that LoA is designed to enable and reward that kind of experience. How about for GMs, though? What kind of experience can they expect from running LoA?
D: It’s an important goal for me to make LoA approachable for GMs too. The nature of the game encourages GMs to set up scenes in which the players can get creative and we will have tools and guidelines to help make that happen. Here are some fun things we have planned to help GMs: a mix-and-match monster maker so you can easily get imaginative with your foes, Fate Cards that can be used with any scene to add tension and risk, and scene templates that let you add your ideas over a variety of scenes including chases, wilderness survival, and political debates.
The lore of Avallen encourages a lot of GM creativity too—for example the Celtic myth of the Otherworld is a big part of the setting. The players will get to adventure into this mystical world of the Fae, and this is where the GM can introduce reality bending effects like visions, anti-gravity, time dilation, and portals.
J: Nice. I really enjoyed the blog post about the art direction and Celtic inspiration, especially fairy circles and the like. What made you choose that particular theme for Legends of Avallen?
D: Thank you, we have an excellent team of artists! The stuff they are producing is really grounded but also wondrous. As for the Celtic theme for the setting, I live in Wales. I’m surrounded by Welsh language in a Celtic landscape everyday. I am really inspired by Welsh history and the bardic traditions of old, and also invested in periods of history where very different cultures clash. Rome’s stint in The British Isles amongst the insular Celts and the vast differences in their world views is ripe for interesting stories, especially when you make the mythos of the Celtic Otherworld a reality. It excites me and I’m sure it excites others too! There’s not much on the market for Celtic RPGs.
J: Indeed, it seems like a new niche and I hope it does well. Any message to people interested in the RPG?
D: I would encourage them to join our mailing list on our website, www.LegendsOfAvallen.co.uk, to get early access to stuff and to download the free rules document linked above. We’re going through a tweaking phase right now before we release the starter adventure and finalised rule document for the Kickstarter, so if you have any thoughts or feedback, we would love to hear it!
Legends of Avallen is in open-beta with the starter adventure due soon and a Kickstarter campaign coming Q3 2020. A future Disposable Media entry will give an in-depth report on how it played last month, when Deren ran an adventure for Jim and two other players.
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