Today I received my physical copy of Love's Labour's Liberated. Written by Egg Embry, John McGuire, and Leland Beauchamp, the zine is a look at chivalry and love in 5E. Being a book of love, the authors dedicated to the special people in their lives. Four backers pledged at levels that let them dedicate to their loves, as well.
I have many positive things to say about this one, so I want to get the negative out of the way up front. The project is a month shy of being a year late. Egg and crew have apologized several times and I say later is better than not at all. A wonderful poem at the beginning dedicated to the project's supporters that is reminiscent of Puck's final monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The zine has a wonderful selection of art which was edited by Egg. This is is spread throughout the work and there is just the right amount. There is a nice introduction to the cover artist too. The authors discuss who the zine is for, consent in gaming, and sexuality in gaming. One of the extra's with the zine is the X-Card. This is a nice agreement among GM and players and while some might not see it as necessary, I think it's a nice addition to games. Now on to the actual gaming content.
The Cavalier of Love is a new fighter archetype that uses their devotion to protect those they love. I'm not sure of the overall balance, but it doesn't seem too crazy. The Enchanter/Enchantress is a new arcane tradition. While this seems like a weird addition to the game because there is already a School of Enchantment, it's pretty dope. This tradition relies on subtly and manipulation to get things done. While this sounds a bit malicious Merlin and Galadrial are examples of those that follow it's principles. The zine gives us four new enchantment spells and eleven magic items. We are also given six adventure hooks and one sandbox adventure for levels one to three.
There is some quality content in this zine. You can really tell that a lot of love went into it. Hehehe, see what I did there? All joking aside, this is a nice addition to any heroic 5e game and if copies become available to the public, I recommend you pick one up. I know I'll definitely be using it in my next game. he zine begins with
Thanks so much for reviewing the zine! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! :-D
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I'm going full Oscar speech here!
On top of thanking you, I want to thank the backers of this Kickstarter, those that contributed magic items and dedications, all of the artists (public domain and stock) who provided the artwork I got to edit and play with in this project (Isobel Lilian Gloag (cover), Jasper Beckx, Ludwig Deutsch, Felipe Gaona, Rick Hershey, Jerry Keyes, and Joyce Maureira), and my co-writers, John and Leland. Without all of them, this project would not have happened!