A Game of Thrones: D20-Based Open Gaming RPG

by Elissa Carey, George R.R. Martin, Jonathan Cassie

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself. A heroic fantasy of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and evildoers who come together in a time of grim omens. The first volume in George Martin's series.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Gaming

495 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[C.]

I REALLY want to get my hands on this game. I love Marin's characters and world, my friend Matt says the game is brilliant, and all the reviews of it are good, too. I'm a bit turned off by the D20 aspect, but I still want to see how it works; its nearly five pounds, so there is a LOT in this sucker. Of course, the nearly $100 price tag is as lot as well. Thus, the "to-read" shelf.

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a weird book, as it starts out as a really thorough primer on RPGs and fantasy fiction in general (I kid you not, there is an entire essay on the development of the fantasy genre,) before turning into a rule book. As a rule book, it's about as good as the d20 system would allow anything to be, so I've pretty much just skimmed through, having a greater fondness for d10 Roll & Keep, GURPS and the Cortex systems. It's honestly pretty hard to judge this book before the Song of Ice and Fire is complete, but it's given a very concise summary of the first book, and the artwork throughout is gorgeous. It actually makes for a pretty nice coffee table book.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, generous content and a fairly workmanship implementation of the D20 system with rules for political backstabbing. Sadly it only covers the first volume, later sourcebooks would have covered the new material. That said Green Ronin's sourcebooks could easily be adapted to this system if you prefer it.

[Ryan St george · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best OGL D20 product ever based on a fantasy series.