I backed the kickstarter for this roleplaying game, and I think it might be the best vehicle to capture the feel of the Swords & Sorcery pulp of Burroughs, Howard, Leiber and de Camp. A combination of Old School Rules and pulp theme delivers a thrilling game.

Those familiar with Dungeons & Dragons will feel right at home within the rules. Skills and saving throws use the SIEGE engine, developed by Troll Lord Games for Castles & Crusades back in 2004. The classes and races are reduced from the full set, an excellent thematic choice. This game will reflect a time of swordsmanship where sorcery was an untrustworthy thing - and often evil.

This book contains all the materials needed for play. The first half is for the players, covering character creation and extensive thematic backgrounds. It also contains a fascinating list of spells - "Xai-Tang's Evocation of Unsullied Soles" provides basic levitation, but dripping with pulp theme.

The second half of the book contains the game master section, with more rule details for combat and carousing, healing and hirelings. Also in this section are enemies, monsters and magical items. The rules wrap up with a timeline and gazetteer of Earth as it was known during a forgotten age - details of Atlantis, Lemuria, Hyperboria and Tartarus.

One of the better things about Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was the appendices, containing adventure ideas and additional thematic options. The best of these was Appendix N "Inspirational Reading", faithfully recreated and extended in this volume.

In summary, this is an excellent system for capturing the theme of swords & sorcery, built on a solid foundation of the SIEGE engine and classic rules. I look forward to running a game for my friends soon.