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A Song Of Ice And Fire Roleplaying: Adventures In The Seven Kingdoms
The King is dead! Long live the King! Freed from the grip of mad King Aerys II, Westros emerges from a bloody civil war as Robert Baratheon attempts to bring a lasting peace to the Seven Kingdoms. In spite of the promises of justice and prosperity for all, this perilous time is marked by the political maneuvering of ambitious nobles and foul plots hatched in secret councils. Villains are rewarded for dark deeds and honest men are brought low for old loyalties. Conspiracies abound, the wind carries rumors of war, and the Great Houses struggle to find their places in this new regime. And all the while an ancient evil stirs in the far-flung reaches of the north. Green Ronin Publishing is proud to bring adventure gaming back to Westeros with A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published August 29, 2008
4 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Robert J. Schwalb
123 books40 followersRobert J. Schwalb, a writer and award-winning game designer best known for his work on Dungeons & Dragons, got his start in 2002 and has never looked back. He has designed or developed almost two hundred gaming books in both print and digital formats for Wizards of the Coast, Green Ronin Publishing, Black Industries, Fantasy Flight Games, and several other companies. Some of his best-known books include the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Player’s Handbook 3, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, Grimm, and Tome of Corruption. Look for Robert’s first novel in late 2011.
What does Rob have to say?
Fresh from my second go at college, all flushed and giddy for having graduated Magna cum Laude with special honors, I was ready to start writing fiction for a living. Reality didn’t waste any time intruding on my grandiose dream. The need for a steady job—beyond peddling liquor at the now closed Esquire Discount Liquors—became evident when the student loans clamored for repayment. Carpet, tile, and hardwood sales would be my future for a time. A friend ran a store in town and offered me a job. My previous careers had been selling men’s clothes, fast food, and then extended warranties. Flooring was none of these things so I jumped at the chance.
I was terrible. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I had a degree in English and Philosophy. Flooring customers don’t quite get pre-Socratics humor. I stuck it out though and supplemented my income by selling liquor a few days a week. I got to chat up the regulars at the liquor store who happened by for their thrice-daily pints of Kessler/Skol/Wild Irish Rose. It seemed my fate was to join many other Philosophy majors and do nothing with my training.
However, one night, I ran across Mongoose Publishing’s open call for book proposals. I thought about it for all of 3 seconds before working up my first pitch. A little under a year later, my first book, The Quintessential Witch, hit the shelves. When I wrote the Witch, 3rd edition rules for Dungeons & Dragons were still new and fresh. The d20 system was gathering steam and gaming entered something of a renaissance as companies were created just to feed the insatiable appetite for all things D&D. There were probably more companies than there were writers and thus it proved a perfect time to break into the industry.
Now I was no stranger to gaming. My Dad introduced me to board games when I was very young with Wizard’s Quest by Avalon Hill. Then I discovered Conan, Dune, Gor, the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and so on. My interest in fantasy kept growing so when my neighbor offered me Tracy and Laura Hickman’s Rahasia for a quarter, I happily paid. That little adventure changed my world forever. I didn’t have the rules and had no idea what I was doing. I was hungry and figured out enough from the adventure to design my first roleplaying game. “Passages” became popular in my class for a week or two. We’d play during study hall or recess.
My Dad noticed and when he went off to a publishing convention (he worked for a famous Bible publisher in Nashville), he talked with a TSR rep, who I imagine might have been Gary Gygax. My father told him that I was designing my own games, so the TSR fellow, in a deft and generous move, gave him a stack of books and adventures. I had everything but the rules of the game. Luckily, a trip to the bookstore and meeting my soon-to-be Dungeon Master Landon, put the Red Box in my hands and my first character in my imagination. Creating the character was far less interesting than talking about comics, yet when we broke out the dice the next week and played the first game, I was hooked for life.
This all happened at a time when conspiracy theories about Satanism gripped the nation. Certain members of my family bought into the hype and thought my soul was in peril. So I stepped into a much wider world of RPGs. I played everything I could. Top Secret, DC Superheroes, Gamma World,
What does Rob have to say?
Fresh from my second go at college, all flushed and giddy for having graduated Magna cum Laude with special honors, I was ready to start writing fiction for a living. Reality didn’t waste any time intruding on my grandiose dream. The need for a steady job—beyond peddling liquor at the now closed Esquire Discount Liquors—became evident when the student loans clamored for repayment. Carpet, tile, and hardwood sales would be my future for a time. A friend ran a store in town and offered me a job. My previous careers had been selling men’s clothes, fast food, and then extended warranties. Flooring was none of these things so I jumped at the chance.
I was terrible. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I had a degree in English and Philosophy. Flooring customers don’t quite get pre-Socratics humor. I stuck it out though and supplemented my income by selling liquor a few days a week. I got to chat up the regulars at the liquor store who happened by for their thrice-daily pints of Kessler/Skol/Wild Irish Rose. It seemed my fate was to join many other Philosophy majors and do nothing with my training.
However, one night, I ran across Mongoose Publishing’s open call for book proposals. I thought about it for all of 3 seconds before working up my first pitch. A little under a year later, my first book, The Quintessential Witch, hit the shelves. When I wrote the Witch, 3rd edition rules for Dungeons & Dragons were still new and fresh. The d20 system was gathering steam and gaming entered something of a renaissance as companies were created just to feed the insatiable appetite for all things D&D. There were probably more companies than there were writers and thus it proved a perfect time to break into the industry.
Now I was no stranger to gaming. My Dad introduced me to board games when I was very young with Wizard’s Quest by Avalon Hill. Then I discovered Conan, Dune, Gor, the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and so on. My interest in fantasy kept growing so when my neighbor offered me Tracy and Laura Hickman’s Rahasia for a quarter, I happily paid. That little adventure changed my world forever. I didn’t have the rules and had no idea what I was doing. I was hungry and figured out enough from the adventure to design my first roleplaying game. “Passages” became popular in my class for a week or two. We’d play during study hall or recess.
My Dad noticed and when he went off to a publishing convention (he worked for a famous Bible publisher in Nashville), he talked with a TSR rep, who I imagine might have been Gary Gygax. My father told him that I was designing my own games, so the TSR fellow, in a deft and generous move, gave him a stack of books and adventures. I had everything but the rules of the game. Luckily, a trip to the bookstore and meeting my soon-to-be Dungeon Master Landon, put the Red Box in my hands and my first character in my imagination. Creating the character was far less interesting than talking about comics, yet when we broke out the dice the next week and played the first game, I was hooked for life.
This all happened at a time when conspiracy theories about Satanism gripped the nation. Certain members of my family bought into the hype and thought my soul was in peril. So I stepped into a much wider world of RPGs. I played everything I could. Top Secret, DC Superheroes, Gamma World,
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 25, 2021
Some interesting ideas and focus but the application is disappointingly crunchy. Best suited for gamers who already like a lot of crunch in their games.
MY GRADE: B minus to B.
MY GRADE: B minus to B.
May 25, 2010
With the upcoming HBO mini-series based on A Game of Thrones, there is buzz again about George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.
The other day, my gaming group tried out the quickstart rules, and I was quite impressed. At no time did I feel lost, or that I was just playing a generic fantasy role playing game. We were all members of the same house, a young lord, who has taken over the house at the age of 14; his uncle, the proud knight; his bastard brother who dreams of one day being the master of horse; the young squire, who has hidden her gender in service to her dream of becoming a knight; and so on.
So I picked up the rulebook. I have the ugly orange cover, but the rules are well done, and my original feeling that the game will ground you in a nobel house is born out. There is a chapter telling the players how to design their own house. Players will get to decide on building castles, towers, and other buildings to hold their lands. They will have to chose between devoting resources to defensive fortifications, political infulence, lands, law, population, military power, and wealth.
Like any role playing game, there is a chapter on combat. There are also chapters on intrigue and large scale warfare. Seduction, poisoning, lies, and the rest of the staples of court intrigue are covered.
The rules follow the books very closely. You can create a character like any of those found in the books. You can be a cripple who has had his third eye opened and can see through the eyes of his dire wolf like Bran Stark. You can be a nobelwoman who stays within the boundaries of her class and gender while striving to protect her house and family like Catelyn Stark. Or a dwarf (human) nobleman with a big mouth and bigger wit like Tyrion Lannister. And so on.
Besides gold and experience, the players also work for glory. Glory is a resource for their house, which can be spent to improve the house's fortunes.
The cover art is annoyingly bad, but some of the other illustrations are fine.
If you wonder about roleplaying in a fantasy world based on a series that is not complete, this game is set just *before* Game of Thrones.
Recommend for George R R Martin fans who are gamers.
The other day, my gaming group tried out the quickstart rules, and I was quite impressed. At no time did I feel lost, or that I was just playing a generic fantasy role playing game. We were all members of the same house, a young lord, who has taken over the house at the age of 14; his uncle, the proud knight; his bastard brother who dreams of one day being the master of horse; the young squire, who has hidden her gender in service to her dream of becoming a knight; and so on.
So I picked up the rulebook. I have the ugly orange cover, but the rules are well done, and my original feeling that the game will ground you in a nobel house is born out. There is a chapter telling the players how to design their own house. Players will get to decide on building castles, towers, and other buildings to hold their lands. They will have to chose between devoting resources to defensive fortifications, political infulence, lands, law, population, military power, and wealth.
Like any role playing game, there is a chapter on combat. There are also chapters on intrigue and large scale warfare. Seduction, poisoning, lies, and the rest of the staples of court intrigue are covered.
The rules follow the books very closely. You can create a character like any of those found in the books. You can be a cripple who has had his third eye opened and can see through the eyes of his dire wolf like Bran Stark. You can be a nobelwoman who stays within the boundaries of her class and gender while striving to protect her house and family like Catelyn Stark. Or a dwarf (human) nobleman with a big mouth and bigger wit like Tyrion Lannister. And so on.
Besides gold and experience, the players also work for glory. Glory is a resource for their house, which can be spent to improve the house's fortunes.
The cover art is annoyingly bad, but some of the other illustrations are fine.
If you wonder about roleplaying in a fantasy world based on a series that is not complete, this game is set just *before* Game of Thrones.
Recommend for George R R Martin fans who are gamers.
August 11, 2010
A solid addition to the RPG library. I like the flexibility of the rules, which keeps all the stuff I like about d10 roll-and-keep (my preferred system) while eliminating ridiculousness like calling raises. Some of the advanced rules, like for applying bonus die from one trait to another, made perfect sense, too. Overall, a better system than the Game of Thrones d20 RPG, and one I'm looking forward to running correctly (I'm sort of winging it right now, but I think the players are really liking it so far.) May I also add how awesome the House construction rules are? They're so much fun, it's ridiculous, and wonderfully immersive, especially if used in conjunction with the Campaign Guide.
December 17, 2017
As someone who is at least a casual fan of the Game of Thrones series [1] and certainly a fan of tabletop role playing games [2], this book was tailor-made for a reader like myself, putting the popular fictional world of the series in a form that would not be particularly demanding for those who like to roleplay and imagine themselves as one of the noble houses within that complicated universe. This book, to its considerable credit, does manage to create a game engine for the universe that is compelling as well as simple in terms of its mechanics, something that will interest those who are interested in the story and who do not want to get bogged down in complications of a mathematical nature. If you want a game that forces you to think and craft a compelling story as well as immerse yourself in a world of intrigue where you are small fish in a big and dangerous pond, this game will definitely do the trick.
In terms of its contents, this book at over 300 pages is a challenging read unless you are familiar with tabletop role playing games as well as the Game of Thrones series. The book begins with a discussion on the history and worldbuilding of Westeros and then moves to the game rules and mechanics of various classes/archetypes. After that a short chapter on character creation follows before a longer chapter on abilities and specialties. A chapter on the destiny and qualities of various characters and specializations as well as a short chapter on houses and lands follows. Chapters on equipment, intrigue, and combat follow which flesh out the game and the way it is played before the author discusses a chapter on warfare giving a large-scale battle mechanic that is fairly rare in games of this type which are focused generally on the affairs of the small party and not massive and epic conflict. The rest of the book focuses on the role of the game master/narrator of this game with two starter campaigns, an introductory campaign about a journey to King's Landing that involves some conflict and a much longer and more complicated one on peril in King's Landing where the character's party have a dangerous and unseen enemy that wishes to destroy them without their knowledge and that involves a lot of the game mechanics as well as some quick-thinking role playing. The book ends with some reference tables, and index, and a sample character sheet.
It is pretty obvious what sort of target audience this book has, and as someone in that target audience I can say that I found this game and its mechanics to be pretty compelling. To be sure, I do not think it would necessarily be easy to get seven people with way too much time on their hands around a table for a period of quite a few hours to work out some of these longer campaigns who happen to be fans of fairly simple mechanics involving only d6 rolls as well as a lot of complicated intrigue that will test the abilities of the game master to give a stiff challenge that has the potential for a long series of campaigns where a party has to deal with powerful enemies. There will also be some discussion as to what characters are to fit which roles, as this game cares a lot about status and there will be some characters who are needed in various roles like maester, sept, merchant, heir to a noble house, and various knights and guards that will likely require the players to engage in some political savvy in real life as well as in the game. That's something that many gamers can appreciate.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
In terms of its contents, this book at over 300 pages is a challenging read unless you are familiar with tabletop role playing games as well as the Game of Thrones series. The book begins with a discussion on the history and worldbuilding of Westeros and then moves to the game rules and mechanics of various classes/archetypes. After that a short chapter on character creation follows before a longer chapter on abilities and specialties. A chapter on the destiny and qualities of various characters and specializations as well as a short chapter on houses and lands follows. Chapters on equipment, intrigue, and combat follow which flesh out the game and the way it is played before the author discusses a chapter on warfare giving a large-scale battle mechanic that is fairly rare in games of this type which are focused generally on the affairs of the small party and not massive and epic conflict. The rest of the book focuses on the role of the game master/narrator of this game with two starter campaigns, an introductory campaign about a journey to King's Landing that involves some conflict and a much longer and more complicated one on peril in King's Landing where the character's party have a dangerous and unseen enemy that wishes to destroy them without their knowledge and that involves a lot of the game mechanics as well as some quick-thinking role playing. The book ends with some reference tables, and index, and a sample character sheet.
It is pretty obvious what sort of target audience this book has, and as someone in that target audience I can say that I found this game and its mechanics to be pretty compelling. To be sure, I do not think it would necessarily be easy to get seven people with way too much time on their hands around a table for a period of quite a few hours to work out some of these longer campaigns who happen to be fans of fairly simple mechanics involving only d6 rolls as well as a lot of complicated intrigue that will test the abilities of the game master to give a stiff challenge that has the potential for a long series of campaigns where a party has to deal with powerful enemies. There will also be some discussion as to what characters are to fit which roles, as this game cares a lot about status and there will be some characters who are needed in various roles like maester, sept, merchant, heir to a noble house, and various knights and guards that will likely require the players to engage in some political savvy in real life as well as in the game. That's something that many gamers can appreciate.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
November 28, 2024
5/5: An easy read.
This is a pretty good RP book due to the fact that it literally has easy, digestible information about everything from The Reach, the Arryn family, to The Wall itself. Anyways, I kinda knew everything, so I did skim a bit. Nonetheless, it was a good read. If you need basic information on Westeros, Essos, etc. this is the book I would recommend - in addition to George's Known World book guide.
- Constant Reader
This is a pretty good RP book due to the fact that it literally has easy, digestible information about everything from The Reach, the Arryn family, to The Wall itself. Anyways, I kinda knew everything, so I did skim a bit. Nonetheless, it was a good read. If you need basic information on Westeros, Essos, etc. this is the book I would recommend - in addition to George's Known World book guide.
- Constant Reader
February 25, 2025
What a great system! Interesting. Sort of complex, but at least it's different.
September 8, 2025
I like the idea more than the systems the game presents.
July 1, 2012
So, its a well thought out, and well written system. I have the pocket edition, and thats why it gets 3 stars instead of 4. The pocket edition apparently has extra rules in it compared to the original, however, they also forgot to put in the poison cost table (I had to pencil them in from a PDF version of the original) and they didn't include the stats for The Others in this edition either, so I had to print off a copy of them from the PDF of the original. Character creation takes a while, but makes for well defined characteristics, while leaving enough room for roleplay without it being restrained by stats. Having a separate character sheet for the noble house the players belong to is a cool idea, and its fun making the house and its history with the players. Its a good way of forging the players into a unit that works together. (though looking at some of the characters that my players have made, I'm expecting poisonings and knives in the dark within 3 sessions, and thats just on each other)
I ran my first game of this last night, and it went well. Some of the PCs managed to get into an argument with Robb Stark and Jon snow, and that was fun. Especially as the guy playing the house heir revealed himself to be a complete shit in regards to bastard borns, which was fun. He impressed me with the level of vitriol and bile he managed to get into his voice while the argument went on, to be honest.
anyway, hopefully this game will go well. I'm still getting my head around the intrigue and combat rules, but I'll get there, and it should be fun.
I ran my first game of this last night, and it went well. Some of the PCs managed to get into an argument with Robb Stark and Jon snow, and that was fun. Especially as the guy playing the house heir revealed himself to be a complete shit in regards to bastard borns, which was fun. He impressed me with the level of vitriol and bile he managed to get into his voice while the argument went on, to be honest.
anyway, hopefully this game will go well. I'm still getting my head around the intrigue and combat rules, but I'll get there, and it should be fun.
June 22, 2011
Have been stoked watching Game of Thrones Season 1 on HBO. So much so that I decided to read this RPG book and run a game for my pals. There is a great multi-page overview of the history of Westeros, which was awesome. The rule system is interesting and tries to strike the balance between focusing on the intrigue/conspiratorial elements of GoT, while also allowing combat and epic battles. Hoping I'll get to play it soon!
October 4, 2010
Small and portable, with all of the errata incorporated into the rules. Very nice.
November 18, 2013
A really cool idea for a roleplaying setting. I hope to run a campaign in this setting sometime in the future.
January 8, 2016
Great system. Put's you into GRRM's Westeros. The system really adds to the sensation and suspension of disbelief while playing or Narrating the game.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews