Reviews

Douglas Bramlett reviewed Æternal Legends over at Flames Rising. He said:

The game has been constructed so that the mechanics integrate pretty well with the setting - your traits are directly linked to what you can do and define what your character is in some ways. Or, turned around, the character you decide to play determines what traits you should have.

Chris Challice gave Æternal Legends a Style 4/Substance 4 in his review at RPG.net, where he said things like:

A solid first edition game. It does need some polish around the edges but even so playing it is a blast. I'd recommend it to any group that yearns to experience a light hearted urban fantasy.

Patrick O'Duffy gave Æternal Legends a Style 3/Substance 4 in his review at RPG.net, where he said things like:

An exceptional urban fantasy RPG, that dares to embrace and celebrate the conventions of the high fantasy genre while delivering an intelligent gaming experience.

Ed Grabianowski reviewed Æternal Legends at Robot Viking. He said:

Aeternal Legends is an RPG by indie publisher Mob United. It takes familiar fantasy tropes like orcs, elves and magic fireballs and lays them over a modern setting with pollution, politics and cable TV. It’s a great idea for an RPG (it’s not a bad idea for a series of novels, either, I hear). Frankly, I’m surprised we don’t see more of these types of RPGs, and I’m really surprised we didn’t see a flood of them in the last five years or so.

What People Say

We see plenty of great commentary on discussion boards, especially RPG.net, even when people aren't comfortable writing a full review. People say things like:

I summarized it to my group as "a good-parts blend of Changeling: the Dreaming and Harry Potter, seasoned liberally with Gnosticism and filmed as a Hong Kong action movie".

CLAVDIVS on RPG.net.

Thanks to this thread, I ordered the print and PDF package from IPR this afternoon. I'm really enjoying the book so far. I've read through nearly half of the PDF in one sitting (which is unusual for me, as I usually only do that with a hard copy). I'd have probably finished it too, but I had a date to go out to dinner. I'm looking forward to running the game.

Doc_Chronos on RPG.net.

It hits a bunch of things I like ...

Historically-inspired magic
Ars Magica/Mage-like free-form magic system
Powerful PCs whose moral choices matter
Gives me a reason to play gnomes and dwarves
Humans are thier own race, not just another race but without attribute bonues/penalties

Another thing I like is its modern setting. I've read about other indie RPGs which were well done, but they tend to pick niche settings I'm not interested in. Even if I'm not going to play the game, ÆL gives me a setting I'd enjoy thinking about... which really is what I want in an RPG.

Logomachist on RPG.net.

Æternal Legends is interesting because it reminds me of Clinton R. Nixon's game Paladin, only it's not so minimal in mechanics. In Paladin, and AEL, the focus of the game is the character's beliefs, and how they must stick to them no matter what to get ahead. Conviction of beliefs fuels the magic in this game. Compromising your beliefs, or simply turning your back on them, is the path of the Darkside, and turns you into a villain. While you get more magical ability on the Dark side of things, it compromises your log-term ability to grow. plus, you add to the apathy, cynicism, and despair in the world. Keep in mind, however, that just because you uphold your beliefs doesn't mean your beliefs are worth of being upheld: there are many of those who uphold the Sphere of Strength (a Sphere being a weird cross between a philosophy, an archetype, and a character class) who believe that "Might makes right." They will uphold their belief in that, and consequences be damned.

So, the good guys (the PCs and those aligned with them) don't always do good things, and legitimate disagreements can do more damage than the Dark side can.

Poster #15672 on RPG.net.