Observations Of The Hyperborea rpg and It's Uses With OSR Campaigns

 Reading through the Hyperborea rpg third edition one may think it's simply an updated & nuananced 'B/X with bits of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons thrown in Sword & Sorcery' retro clone. And while this is easy to do. It's a big mistake because of the fact that 'The Hyperborea Player's Manual' is so closely plugged into the Hyperborea campaign setting. 

Hyperborea rpg third edition is one of the best incarnations & refinements to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition along with B/X Dungeons & Dragons. There are a ton of reviews of the 3rd edition of Hyperborea. Tonight I wanted to focus on the several adjustments and differences that have come into play at the table top level of play: 

1. The monk class refinement is actually workable and completely redefined. This allows the monk to be playable. 
2. In Hyperborea the main classes are highly effective and well suited to actual play. 
3. The PC's actually work very well together as a highly effective unit or party. 
4. Adventurers are in high demand because of the setting and crucial to survival of a community. 
5. The Sword & Sorcery aspect of Hyperborea is turned up to eleven. 
6. Actual working refined alchemy rules! 

What makes Hyperborea really nice is the fact that you can actually run classic adventures and turn them into an actual working OSR campaign. And this is something that we've done time and again at Casa De Fabiaschi. 
And one of the things that I love about the play of Hyperborea is the PC's testing thier mettle through the fires of adventure. 
If they survive the experience of course. 

What makes the Hyperborea rpg different is the range of survival options that it brings to the table for PC's and this is baked right into the game. Leveling means going out into the greater world and surviving it as an adventurer. Time & again this has been a theme in our OSR Sword & Sorcery table top games.