Disclaimer: I was provided a free digital copy of this game in exchange for an honest review.
The Bone Age is a gonzo, science-fantasy OSR game created by Bill Edmunds, who is also the author of Red Mists, another game I’ve reviewed. When I say gonzo, I mean that the whole setting is a wild and crazy mix of various sci-fi and fantasy elements, like barbarians riding on dinosaurs, and aliens growing more of themselves in vats. I’m not normally a fan of this type of setting, but I found enough unique and interesting elements in The Bone Age that I’d be willing to try run or play in a one-shot to try it out. Still, the gonzo aspects may make or break your enjoyment of and interest in this game.
Setting
The beginning book lays out the premise of the game’s setting. The planet, Kalsentia, is primeval in its harshness and humidity. It also seems to have its own will or spirit that lashes out at those who try to destroy or exploit it. One alien species, the Eure, have two competing factions that use their magitech either to enslave or to protect the primitive human civilization on the planet respectively. A third species, the Invaders, have recently come to the planet and are bent on destroying the other species as well as wreaking havoc on their surrounding environments. This results in a violent response from the angered planet, with destructive natural disasters becoming more and more frequent. Between magitech, primitive cultures, mutant animals, and dinosaur mounts, the setting provides a fresh take on the gonzo fantasy genre.
Mechanics
The Bone Age uses a familiar d20 roll-over system. The game’s six stats will be familiar yet different from the traditional fantasy stats many gamers grew up with: Agility, Constitution, Instinct, Intelligence, Strength, and Will. Your scores in each of these stats provide you with a target number (TN) for ability checks, as well as modifiers for skill checks. XP is awarded for critical successes/fumbles, attuning to regions, and deliver a killing blow to an enemy with greater HP.
All PCs in this setting are various types of humans. When creating your PC, your biggest choices will be your PC’s Culture/Subculture, Tribal Role, and Class. Your culture influences your appearance, homeland, stat modifiers, and provides you with a special ability. Your Tribal Role will provide you with some starting gear as well as another special ability; certain tribal roles are only available to PCs of specific cultures, while others can be taken by PCs of any culture. Finally, your Class will give you some basic stats like your starting HP, armor/weapon proficiencies, number of starting mutations, skill TNs, and starting number of attuned hexes.
The setting is represented in the book by a hex map with various terrains and points of interest. This allows groups to engage in a fairly traditional hex crawl across the continent, playing out campaigns of warring species and factions on a wild planet. Perhaps the mechanic I found most fascinating in the game was the idea of “Attunement.” Characters can perform checks within each hex to attempt to “attune” to their surroundings. Successfully attuning to a hex allows a PC to take a +2 to Alertness and Stealth checks, and +1 to all other checks; it also allows characters to reroll a check if they get a Nat 1, but if the second roll is also a Nat 1 then they lose attunement to the hex and may suffer a fumble if applicable.
As with most OSR games, The Bone Age has a lot of great random tables thematic to the setting. Random Minor Mutations can change your appearance and physical characteristics. Major Mutations modify your stats and may give you special abilities. There are planetary “Retributions” you can roll based on the terrain/biome of a hex. You can even design your own poisons with the help of a random poison generator.
The 20 monsters and opponents provided in the bestiary are very flavorful and appropriately gonzo for the settings. The stats are simplified to make managing encounters as quick and easy as possible. There is even a table in some of the entries that lists potential mutations or variations a particular type of monster might have. Despite the somewhat small selection of creatures, my biggest disappointment with the bestiary is that no guidelines are provided for creating your own monsters that can fit thematically into the setting. OSR is famous for its DIY attitude, but when you have a setting as unique and gonzo as The Bone Age, I think it wouldn’t hurt to provide readers with some advice.
Final Thoughts
The Bone Age looks like a very fun, wacky setting for a group to use for their adventures. I’ve never been a big fan of gonzo settings, but this one has a unique enough flavor and some cool mechanical ideas that I think merit a closer look even if it’s not normally your thing. I imagine a campaign of The Bone Age could provide many hours of enjoyment. If hexcrawls have become a bit stale for you, then the Attunement rules from The Bone Age may provide you with exactly what you need to make them more interesting. The character options will give you plenty of variety to make fun and interesting characters that fit into the larger setting. Overall, The Bone Age delivers a solid OSR experience while incorporating ideas and mechanics from modern game design. It’s definitely worth a look.
Do you have thoughts or questions about the article or suggestions for future content? Leave a comment below or drop me a line at jtdimino@d20radio.com.
J.T. Dimino
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