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	<title>Comments on: Arete</title>
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		<title>By: escoconvile</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-6705</link>
		<dc:creator>escoconvile</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:34:03 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: Raistecreassy</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-6327</link>
		<dc:creator>Raistecreassy</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:24:16 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: Anonymous</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-4696</link>
		<dc:creator>Anonymous</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:02:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-4696</guid>
		<description>go fuck ur mother</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>go fuck ur mother</p>
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		<title>By: don</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-1082</link>
		<dc:creator>don</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:42:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-1082</guid>
		<description>Is there any way u can send me Arete to review maybe I can give some in put back to make a better game :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Is there any way u can send me Arete to review maybe I can give some in put back to make a better game <img src='http://games.dungeonmastering.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Aaron</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-44</link>
		<dc:creator>Aaron</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:09:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-44</guid>
		<description>RPGs are often about playing grand heroes – altruistic people who fight for what is right and just. Arete (pronounced Arr-e-tay) from Expy Games takes that and turns it on its head. Instead, you play as a Greek hero – someone who aren’t measured by their moral code, but by the magnitude of what they’ve done, the glory they have earned, and the wealth they have gathered.

I was given the opportunity to review Arete, and I decided what better way to judge a game of Greek mythology than by the same way that Heracles was, by trying to complete twelve tasks? It’s not a perfect metaphor, but it’ll do in a pinch, so I present to you: the Twelve Tasks of Arete!

1. Create less than moral heroes. They make it clear from the get-go that Arete is not for where characters can be judged for the morality of their choices, but by the magnitude of them. However, later on, it introduces a mechanic – blood guilt – that punishes players if they get too immoral. I understand why they would want to make sure that players don’t get too out of line, but it seems odd to have a mechanic that is contrary to one of the game’s primary purpose.

2. Give each character unique traits that make them stand out. Eh, Arete does competently in this area, but it could do better. There are some really cool traits that you can assign your characters, like “the Cursed Seer” or “Invulnerable”, but many of them are repeats of each other. For example, there are two (at different Power Levels) that let you sustain an extra wound, or two that let you re-roll one roll per session. A bit more variety here would definitely be a nice touch.

3. Invoke Greek mythology. The bestiary at the back contains information about a variety of mythological creatures and beings. Though stats are written off just as they are in Zombie Murder Mystery, there is more than enough to get your juices flowing and give you ideas on how to run a game in ancient Greece.

4. Inspire an interest in Greek mythology. If you weren’t interested in Greek mythology before this book, you certainly will be afterwards. The mythology is written in broad strokes, which could be seen as a weakness, but I like to see as a strength, causing people to go and seek out more information about Greek mythology. For those who need help getting started, there’s an appendix at the back with some recommended reading as well.

5. Be informative without being condescending. I mentioned before that I hate a scholarly approach to an RPG, but Arete takes that and rolls with it, using it as a strength rather than a way to seem intelligent. There is an occasion or two where, when discussing the morality of heroes (and gender in Greek myth), it straddles the line between informative and, for lack of a gentler word, pretentious, but it’s ultimately a minor issue.

6. Keep the players in mind. Each player has a long-term Mission and a short-term Milestone. The GM is advised to come into the game with little planning done, and create a mission based off of what the players want to do, instead of what the GM thinks would be cool to show them.

7. Keep the GMs in mind. That being said, this is not a game for the wary GM. Someone who wants to run Arete as the writer intends it to be run need to be fast thinkers and quick improvisers, as well as have an established knowledge of Greek myth. Otherwise, they might not be able to keep up with the players.

8. Make the players each feel like a hero. In Arete, when you roll the dice, you aren’t rolling to actually leap over the gorge, or talk your way past the guard. You’re rolling to narrate what happens when you try to do so. It’s a great way for players to add their own heroic embellishes to their story.

9. Keep battles quick and easy. The battle system in Arete is intended to go smoothly and quickly, and I think, unfortunately, it could get dull after a while. There are only four options per turn to choose from (save for artifacts and traits that confer other options), and I think in any extended combat, this would quickly get boring – keeping anyone from reenacting 300.

10. Don’t leave players entirely at the mercy of the dice. In those situations where the players are just having a bad run of dice, Arete has Divine Favor, which gives the players limited access to the power of the gods. By rationing these, the GM can also help set the mood for the campaign, from a grittier myth, to one filled with great, Herculean feats.

11. Have a clearly organized, well put together ruleset. The organization of the book seemed a little off to me – first starting out by describing the Greek hero, then moving on to the resolution mechanics, and then back to talking about the characters. Also, the transition between the latter two was a bit abrupt. Finally, when discussing Divine Favor and Blood Guilt, the author first discusses Aristeia, a special state that can be accessed through use of Divine Favor, before moving on to Blood Guilt, and then describing Divine Favor. This felt awkward, and although it shouldn’t reflect on the game itself, it stood out to me when I was reading it. Additionally, there were a few minor typos, but those can be easily fixed in future editions of the PDF.

12. Stand out in a sea of RPGs. Arete feels a little bit like it was inspired by Mouse Guard – it uses a success-based d6 pool, and the “Milestone/Mission” idea seems similar to the “Goal” mechanic in Mouse Guard. However, the unique context and narration system help in otherwise stand out from the crowd.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was given a free PDF of Arete to review.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>RPGs are often about playing grand heroes – altruistic people who fight for what is right and just. Arete (pronounced Arr-e-tay) from Expy Games takes that and turns it on its head. Instead, you play as a Greek hero – someone who aren’t measured by their moral code, but by the magnitude of what they’ve done, the glory they have earned, and the wealth they have gathered.</p>
<p>I was given the opportunity to review Arete, and I decided what better way to judge a game of Greek mythology than by the same way that Heracles was, by trying to complete twelve tasks? It’s not a perfect metaphor, but it’ll do in a pinch, so I present to you: the Twelve Tasks of Arete!</p>
<p>1. Create less than moral heroes. They make it clear from the get-go that Arete is not for where characters can be judged for the morality of their choices, but by the magnitude of them. However, later on, it introduces a mechanic – blood guilt – that punishes players if they get too immoral. I understand why they would want to make sure that players don’t get too out of line, but it seems odd to have a mechanic that is contrary to one of the game’s primary purpose.</p>
<p>2. Give each character unique traits that make them stand out. Eh, Arete does competently in this area, but it could do better. There are some really cool traits that you can assign your characters, like “the Cursed Seer” or “Invulnerable”, but many of them are repeats of each other. For example, there are two (at different Power Levels) that let you sustain an extra wound, or two that let you re-roll one roll per session. A bit more variety here would definitely be a nice touch.</p>
<p>3. Invoke Greek mythology. The bestiary at the back contains information about a variety of mythological creatures and beings. Though stats are written off just as they are in Zombie Murder Mystery, there is more than enough to get your juices flowing and give you ideas on how to run a game in ancient Greece.</p>
<p>4. Inspire an interest in Greek mythology. If you weren’t interested in Greek mythology before this book, you certainly will be afterwards. The mythology is written in broad strokes, which could be seen as a weakness, but I like to see as a strength, causing people to go and seek out more information about Greek mythology. For those who need help getting started, there’s an appendix at the back with some recommended reading as well.</p>
<p>5. Be informative without being condescending. I mentioned before that I hate a scholarly approach to an RPG, but Arete takes that and rolls with it, using it as a strength rather than a way to seem intelligent. There is an occasion or two where, when discussing the morality of heroes (and gender in Greek myth), it straddles the line between informative and, for lack of a gentler word, pretentious, but it’s ultimately a minor issue.</p>
<p>6. Keep the players in mind. Each player has a long-term Mission and a short-term Milestone. The GM is advised to come into the game with little planning done, and create a mission based off of what the players want to do, instead of what the GM thinks would be cool to show them.</p>
<p>7. Keep the GMs in mind. That being said, this is not a game for the wary GM. Someone who wants to run Arete as the writer intends it to be run need to be fast thinkers and quick improvisers, as well as have an established knowledge of Greek myth. Otherwise, they might not be able to keep up with the players.</p>
<p>8. Make the players each feel like a hero. In Arete, when you roll the dice, you aren’t rolling to actually leap over the gorge, or talk your way past the guard. You’re rolling to narrate what happens when you try to do so. It’s a great way for players to add their own heroic embellishes to their story.</p>
<p>9. Keep battles quick and easy. The battle system in Arete is intended to go smoothly and quickly, and I think, unfortunately, it could get dull after a while. There are only four options per turn to choose from (save for artifacts and traits that confer other options), and I think in any extended combat, this would quickly get boring – keeping anyone from reenacting 300.</p>
<p>10. Don’t leave players entirely at the mercy of the dice. In those situations where the players are just having a bad run of dice, Arete has Divine Favor, which gives the players limited access to the power of the gods. By rationing these, the GM can also help set the mood for the campaign, from a grittier myth, to one filled with great, Herculean feats.</p>
<p>11. Have a clearly organized, well put together ruleset. The organization of the book seemed a little off to me – first starting out by describing the Greek hero, then moving on to the resolution mechanics, and then back to talking about the characters. Also, the transition between the latter two was a bit abrupt. Finally, when discussing Divine Favor and Blood Guilt, the author first discusses Aristeia, a special state that can be accessed through use of Divine Favor, before moving on to Blood Guilt, and then describing Divine Favor. This felt awkward, and although it shouldn’t reflect on the game itself, it stood out to me when I was reading it. Additionally, there were a few minor typos, but those can be easily fixed in future editions of the PDF.</p>
<p>12. Stand out in a sea of RPGs. Arete feels a little bit like it was inspired by Mouse Guard – it uses a success-based d6 pool, and the “Milestone/Mission” idea seems similar to the “Goal” mechanic in Mouse Guard. However, the unique context and narration system help in otherwise stand out from the crowd.</p>
<p>FULL DISCLOSURE: I was given a free PDF of Arete to review.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Tyson J. Hayes</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-42</link>
		<dc:creator>Tyson J. Hayes</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:09:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-42</guid>
		<description>Personally I’ve never thought of playing a Greek style campaign before, but after reading this book I’m definitely interested in adding this into the mix. The rules that Nicolas DiPetrillo uses to create a hero in Arete are fascinating.   To him, Excellence (Ideally) = Honor = Deeds + Glory + Prizes.  This school of thought varies from the typical Hero = kill everyone + take their loot.  The dynamic emphasizes glory and deeds instead of the just destroying all those who oppose you.

The presentation of the crunchy bits and style of play are handled eloquently. The game is rules light, and can be explained in couple of minutes.  The rules exist to handle one thing, the rights to narration.  State your intent, roll some dice and if the player wins they dictate the action.  If they lose, the GM does, simple as that.  What comes out of it is a collaborative story that is built by the person who is telling the story at that time.  Myths change and evolve through iteration and repetition. This game is like those myths an ever evolving game of telephone.  This subtle change in focus allows the players to participate in the ongoing narrative instead of shouldering it all on the GM.

Character generation is done on a point buy system; you start out with a number of points that determine your abilities, traits, and magical equipment.  The number of points is decided upon by which power level the game is being played at.  Once the point allowance has been decided upon divide up your points and go earn your honor!

What took me by surprise is the combat.  It’s so fast it’ll make Savage Worlds look like it’s moving at a snail’s pace.  Combat is divided in three steps.   Determine the order in which your going (done on the first round only), attack, than defend.  Repeat until one side is dead.  Conflict resolved!  The healing system is simple-which I love-after battle you heal, simple as that.  When you’re dead, you’re dead.  On a rare case a spirit can be brought back but it will require going and battling Hades which is something that most heroes are not likely to win.  So make sure to bring a couple of spare heroes!  Yet, this doesn’t detract from the game.  The fragility of the heroes only provides a way to get players to think outside the box and try to circumvent challenges through cleverness.

Cleverness will be needed; if the players are to survive they will need their wits about them to reach the next level of power.  Which surprise me that something so rules light would also include a form of character advancement; even the author himself at points seemed surprised that anyone would want to play an ongoing campaign instead of a handful of one off sessions.  However, advancement is as easy as play, when the character finishes his mission he goes up to the next heroic tier.  Which seems simple enough, and advancement is left up to the GM how fast the characters reach those tiers.

My only complaint about the book is the lack of bookmarks in the PDF, during the process of the review I found a couple of times where I’d have to jump back to the table of contents to find what I was looking for.  There were a few spelling errors and formatting mistakes but they were minor at best and will be fixed in future releases.

Overall Arete is cleverly constructed and fills a niche in my library that I didn’t even know was needed.  I look forward to crafting a new mythos with my players in the ever evolving story that is Arete.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Personally I’ve never thought of playing a Greek style campaign before, but after reading this book I’m definitely interested in adding this into the mix. The rules that Nicolas DiPetrillo uses to create a hero in Arete are fascinating.   To him, Excellence (Ideally) = Honor = Deeds + Glory + Prizes.  This school of thought varies from the typical Hero = kill everyone + take their loot.  The dynamic emphasizes glory and deeds instead of the just destroying all those who oppose you.</p>
<p>The presentation of the crunchy bits and style of play are handled eloquently. The game is rules light, and can be explained in couple of minutes.  The rules exist to handle one thing, the rights to narration.  State your intent, roll some dice and if the player wins they dictate the action.  If they lose, the GM does, simple as that.  What comes out of it is a collaborative story that is built by the person who is telling the story at that time.  Myths change and evolve through iteration and repetition. This game is like those myths an ever evolving game of telephone.  This subtle change in focus allows the players to participate in the ongoing narrative instead of shouldering it all on the GM.</p>
<p>Character generation is done on a point buy system; you start out with a number of points that determine your abilities, traits, and magical equipment.  The number of points is decided upon by which power level the game is being played at.  Once the point allowance has been decided upon divide up your points and go earn your honor!</p>
<p>What took me by surprise is the combat.  It’s so fast it’ll make Savage Worlds look like it’s moving at a snail’s pace.  Combat is divided in three steps.   Determine the order in which your going (done on the first round only), attack, than defend.  Repeat until one side is dead.  Conflict resolved!  The healing system is simple-which I love-after battle you heal, simple as that.  When you’re dead, you’re dead.  On a rare case a spirit can be brought back but it will require going and battling Hades which is something that most heroes are not likely to win.  So make sure to bring a couple of spare heroes!  Yet, this doesn’t detract from the game.  The fragility of the heroes only provides a way to get players to think outside the box and try to circumvent challenges through cleverness.</p>
<p>Cleverness will be needed; if the players are to survive they will need their wits about them to reach the next level of power.  Which surprise me that something so rules light would also include a form of character advancement; even the author himself at points seemed surprised that anyone would want to play an ongoing campaign instead of a handful of one off sessions.  However, advancement is as easy as play, when the character finishes his mission he goes up to the next heroic tier.  Which seems simple enough, and advancement is left up to the GM how fast the characters reach those tiers.</p>
<p>My only complaint about the book is the lack of bookmarks in the PDF, during the process of the review I found a couple of times where I’d have to jump back to the table of contents to find what I was looking for.  There were a few spelling errors and formatting mistakes but they were minor at best and will be fixed in future releases.</p>
<p>Overall Arete is cleverly constructed and fills a niche in my library that I didn’t even know was needed.  I look forward to crafting a new mythos with my players in the ever evolving story that is Arete.</p>
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		<title>By: Steve</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-26</link>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:58:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-26</guid>
		<description>I would be glad to review &quot;Arete&quot; for the site! Just shoot me a copy for review purposes... :D</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I would be glad to review &#8220;Arete&#8221; for the site! Just shoot me a copy for review purposes&#8230; <img src='http://games.dungeonmastering.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif' alt=':D' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: admin</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-25</link>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-25</guid>
		<description>@Neraeos: Expect review to trickle in over the next few days. Check back later this week.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@Neraeos: Expect review to trickle in over the next few days. Check back later this week.</p>
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		<title>By: Neraeos</title>
		<link>http://games.dungeonmastering.com/arete/#comment-24</link>
		<dc:creator>Neraeos</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:33:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://games.dungeonmastering.com/?page_id=323#comment-24</guid>
		<description>I really want to see some reviews on this product; based on the introduction, the author has a greater grasp on greek heroism than is depicted in most other greek-based products. Let&#039;s see &#039;em!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I really want to see some reviews on this product; based on the introduction, the author has a greater grasp on greek heroism than is depicted in most other greek-based products. Let&#8217;s see &#8216;em!</p>
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