Core Book review – A storytelling adventurer’s dream system

The prosperous kingdoms of the Great Age ended long ago. The remnants of the past are mere memories held in the ruins, scarred by the darkness that laid them low. The hope of the once prosperous kingdoms were lost. Yet something stirs in the distant reaches of the land, calling to the greatest adventurers and the simplest of townspeople. Is it the lost greatnesses beckoning to return to the world? To answer that question, you must search through Legend in the Mist.

Legend in the Mist is the brand new rustic fantasy RPG setting from publisher Son of Oak and is created by Amit Moshe. Legend is built upon the system introduced by its predecessor, City in the Mist, but with a new setting and narrative focus. In many RPGs, players will create stat based characters that they take on high fantasy adventures full of monsters and dungeons and all sorts of crazy adventures. In Legend, stories can take place in those settings, but the system is more suited for the stories that come out of everyday adventurers and their daily lives. The system focuses on the story the characters want to tell and the different life conditions each character brings with them. Most of this is done through the form of narrative tags used to bolster or hinder the actions and the decisions they make in the game.

The Core Book of Legend in the Mist is divided into two volumes. The first guides players through a tutorial and How to Play as well as character creation and the secrets of magic. The second volume focuses on the narrator, or gamemaster, and how to lead players through adventures, pre-made items, characters, and encounters, as well as a beginner adventure to lead players through. The players can also get a separate Action Grimoire that can serve as inspiration for players looking for specific actions, narrators looking for new ideas for their stories, and players making the leap from more classic RPGs use the new system in familiar settings.

Core Concepts

The heart of Legend in the Mist is the tag-based system. Everything in the world is defined by the descriptive tags that make up every character trait, item, ability, condition, status, and nuance in the game. Each tag will grant or take away power from actions executed in different encounters. 

Players will make decisions on how to proceed through the story with their characters based on who their character is. In some instances, they will have to roll 2d6 (two six sided dice) adding their power through tags that fit the scenario or taking away power based on circumstance penalty or negative character traits. A 10+ is a success, 7-9 is a success with consequences, and 6 or less is a failure with consequences. Players can gain statuses, both positive and negative, from these encounters that -if maxed out at six- can hinder a character’s progress or help them overcome bigger challenges.

At its heart, Legend in the Mist is all about the story. Players craft their characters by choosing tags that look into the depths of their mind, body, and soul. A headstrong village boy may get himself caught up in a reckless pursuit of a vegetable thief without care for himself or the consequences of his actions. A wizened old farmer relies on his knowledge of his past adventures to parlay with a strange traveler moving through town. A young woman must face the perils of the forest to collect medicine for her dying mother on the far side of the mountain. The way the players embody these characters and their story is what makes the game shine.

Character Creation

When creating characters, players will use a series of hero cards, theme cards, and tracking cards instead of an overall character sheet. The members of the party will form on a fellowship card. The backbones of the characters are the 20 available themes.

Themes are broken down into the three “might” categories of Origin, Adventure, and Greatness. Origin deals with the humble and everyday heroes whose spheres of influence are their family and their town. Adventure deals with the heroic and notable who seek out danger and challenges in the wild. Greatness covers those who shape the world, maybe in politics or maybe the influence of many. The game encourages most players to begin in the Origin realm with opportunities for greatness to come throughout the game. 

Each theme category comes with its own set of power tags and a weakness tag. These can be improved throughout the game as your player overcomes weaknesses or the theme is used in such a way as it gains more power tags. Each theme also comes with a quest, a goal, belief, or personal journey related to the theme. Completion or abandonment of these tasks can lead to advancement in the form of new theme sets or losing an aspect of who your character is.

Volume 1 of the core book does a fantastic job giving players ideas and outlines for their character building. Themes are applied to different character types and subgroups. Do you have a curious origin personality with power traits such as “all in my notebook” or “deep thinker,” but with a weakness of being really annoying? Are you a blacksmith with a skill in “shoeing horses” and “recognizing branded metalwork” but a weakness of “no forge for miles.” How you create your character will directly affect the posture they take in various situations.

Players can also use magic in the game that can be crafted to pretty much any way a player wants. The core manual outlines eight different magical traditions with different ways to play a magic wielder complete with theme kits full of useful tags. Players could be the local apothecary who grows in their knowledge of tinctures and concoctions as they experience the world or a sorcerer who uses powerful magic but suffers the effects of harnessing so much power. Theme kits help players who want an origin in simple magics all the way up to greatness magic for the experienced magic user.

Playing The Story

As characters go out into the world, they will encounter small and large challenges, different people and creatures, and maybe even a conflict or two. When these things arise, the narrator will establish the scene. This will include what is happening where the heroes are, the stakes of the encounter, and any challenges. Then the players will respond with their actions.

The players will describe what they want to do in the given moment. Intervene when some thugs are hassling another traveler or create a distraction? Attack the beast or try to convince them to leave you alone? Depending on the action, the narrator will execute a simple outcome, using their knowledge of your character to determine success or failure, or they will call for a quick or detailed execution of the action.

A quick roll allows players to add any power tags that relate to the action they are taking. The narrator can veto any tags that wouldn’t fit and assign any weaknesses that may apply from the character’s repertoire or from the encounter itself. Players will then execute the 2d6 dice roll, adding or subtracting their tags, to determine the outcome. A detailed roll allows players to spend power on successful rolls to affect the current encounter. This could be reducing an enemy’s will to fight or recovering a lost tag.

Success with Consequence and Failure rolls will give the player set-backs. These could be status conditions or the loss of certain tags. You go up against a bear and fail, so the head strong teenager loses his “bravado” tag that he used to power up his attack. Players can also take a reaction roll and use tags to attempt to lessen the effects of a consequence. Encounters and other story elements can grant players temporary tags such as items, allies, and temporary statuses that, once used, are taken away from the players.

The narrator has numerous tools at their disposal to help create and tell the story of the campaign. Volume 2 of the core book outlines each aspect of an encounter and how to create a series using the “mountain” framework. This framework helps outline different paths characters can take, what theme kits they should have in their arsenal, and what dangers they might face. The narrator also has outlines of how to break out of the molds outlined in the player core concerning magic, and how magic may interact with the world they are building. Multiple examples of creatures, destinations, events, items, and other useful story tools are littered throughout the second half of the core book for narrators. Also in Volume 2 is a tool called the Oracle. The Oracle was created for co-op and solo adventures through the system, but can also be used when a narrator needs help with a decision. The Oracle has a series of tables that players can pose questions to gain answers by rolling 2d6 and comparing the results to the tables. Even yes or no questions can be posed to the Oracle with clear yes or no answers, unless you roll a 7-9 in which it’s complicated…

Overall Thoughts

Legend in the Mist had me fascinated the moment I opened the book. The first thing you are greeted with is a beautifully illustrated graphic tutorial that teaches you the basics of what Legend in the Mist is. A sort of choose your own adventure, players are taken through the story of a young man sent on a quest, asked to make choices, and directed to the outcomes of those choices based on the tags your character has in their arsenal. Each encounter has branching paths and players are taken through the different rolls and tests needed to understand the flow of the system.

Creating a character is limited by your imagination. The book provides some guidance on how to choose tags and even some thematic builds, but the tags that you introduce to your character can be as unique and creative as your mind lets you. As you play through the game and get a hang of the system, there are deeper ways to use the tags such as narrative shields or gaining extra feats. When a player succeeds, the way they describe their success becomes part of the narrative and potentially prevents future consequences. Players can even combine tags to become more powerful!

On top of the beautiful artwork laid out in the tutorial, the rest of the core books are infused with illustrations that pull you into the rustic setting. The hues of red and orange of the trees, mixed with the shadows of the forest, and the depths of the landscapes, feel like they pull you into a crisp autumn adventure. The art throughout the book was created by Alejandra Pinal, Mariusz Szulc, Mark Hretskyi, and Zach Causey and the whole team should be commended for their work.

When I started reading the system, and diving into all it had to offer, I was a bit discouraged that I wouldn’t be able to get a group together and play through the system. The end of summer is filled with last minute trips and preparing to go back to school! That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I found the Oracle System in the back of the book and tested it out on the premade adventure in Vol. 2. The Oracle doesn’t write the story for you, but it helps guide you towards decisions you potentially might skew to your favor. Once settled in, you figure out what is the best action for the story being told versus what can I do to inflict maximum damage to this enemy.

I’ve had Legend in the Mist stuck in my head for days now and I’m trying to pinpoint what aspect I’m intrigued by the most. The fact that it feels so accessible? The open-ended story telling aspect of the system? The fact that I could create any character I want from an apple picker to a warrior? There are so many things to like about Legend in the Mist, I cannot wait to tell the stories rattling around in my head. Heck, this may actually be the system that gets my wife to try a little tabletop roleplaying. 

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