Review: EON (Role-playing game)

10

Role-playing games are a completely wonderful form of entertainment, because nothing draws you into an adventure in quite the same way. At least for me. My ability to see everything in cinematic images creates epic situations and events that no other medium can quite match.

My favorite role-playing games have always been Mutant and Drakar och Demoner, largely because those were the games I played most when I was young. Playing role-playing games as an adult, with many irons in the fire and limited time, while trying to find others to play with, proved to be significantly more difficult than I had imagined. It took several attempts and months before I managed to put together some decent gaming sessions.

EON is also a role-playing game I have never played before, with rules I don’t know and a fantastic world I haven’t explored. Taking on the responsibility of Game Master actually made me nervous for the first time in a long while.

A world of grayscales

EON is a fantasy role-playing game that doesn’t try to polish away the dirt in the corners. It is a world where realism and the fantastic go hand in hand. Dragons, sorcerers, fantastic creatures, and gods are all there, but they never feel like fairytale props. Everything is anchored in a world that feels very alive and believable.

It’s grayscales all the way. No one is absolutely evil, no one is absolutely good. There are reasons why characters behave the way they do, their choices, and the consequences that follow.

EON therefore doesn’t feel like a Drakar och Demoner-clone or something that leans too heavily on The Lord of the Rings. It is more mature than that.

History and core rules

I must admit that I thought EON was a brand-new game. As I read up on it, I realized that the first edition was released back in 1996, and that the version I now hold in my hand is compatible with everything that came before it.

The rules have been streamlined, polished, and made faster to play, but without sacrificing the level of detail that I find, through reading, has always been EON’s strength. Since I consider these rules to be incredibly advanced, I can only imagine what they were like before they were “tightened up.”

Regelboken and Rollpersonen

First up is the 256-page thick Regelboken, where everything you need as a Game Master is found. The world is described in detail and all the rules you need are included here. There is also information on how to create monsters and opponents.

What is not in the rulebook is how to create a character. Therefore, you need the Rollpersonen book, which is 329 pages. With these two books and the special dice, you can begin creating your first adventures.

The books are well-structured and include examples for every new section. There is also basic information about what role-playing is. That’s good, but I can truly say that EON should not be your first role-playing game. It is a massive amount of information and rules to keep track of to be able to create your first adventure in a comfortable way.

Just creating characters for everyone took an entire gaming session, as I wanted to make sure everything was correct.

Character sheets and accessories

Character sheets can be downloaded or copied from the pages at the back of the book. They can also be purchased separately, which I recommend because they are sharper and look better that way.

EON has thirty years under its belt, and there is a wealth of accessories that make gaming sessions more fun. Bestiariet is a good example. It contains every creature you can imagine and then some. Each creature is illustrated and clearly laid out with descriptions and behaviors. The book is 317 pages and filled with information.

The most fun part during our sessions was describing the creature the players encountered. Because they lacked a frame of reference, they didn’t know how to fight it. If you play Drakar och Demoner and run into an orc, everyone knows roughly what it looks like and how to kill it. But when I presented them with a Vrakh, they immediately began to squirm; they had never experienced anything like it.

A good first adventure

One tip is to play the adventure Mellan tid och ljus, which serves as a good introduction to EON. As a Game Master, it is significantly easier to start with a ready-made adventure than to create your own.

Mellan tid och ljus is structured in a way that brings you into the world of EON both as a Game Master and as a player. According to the back cover, it should also work well for more experienced players, so it wasn’t developed solely as a beginner quest.

The learning curve and gaming experience

EON is not a role-playing game for those who want to pick something up quickly and just get started. It requires preparation and patience. There is a lot of information to learn before you feel reasonably confident as a Game Master.

Luckily, I played with patient friends who waited kindly while I looked up rules or double-checked something. The further into the game we got, the easier it became, much thanks to the fact that the rulebooks are well-made and logically structured.

A rich and mature world

EON’s world is rich and fantastic, and I really appreciate the more mature approach without it becoming silly or exaggerated.

EON has more detailed damage tables, more advanced defense mechanisms, more structured magic, and more modules for realism—fatigue, morale, disease, economics—than other role-playing games I have played.

Downsides and costs

Is there a downside then? Yes, sort of…

The learning curve is incredibly high. It took me weeks before I felt I had a handle on things, and even then, it turned out that I didn’t. It takes time to get into EON, both in terms of the world and the rules.

It also bothered me that two books are required to be able to play: Regelboken and Rollpersonen. Without them, you’re toast.

The PDF versions cost around 180 kronor each. The hardcover books are around 500 kronor each. Bestiariet costs around 600 kronor, the dice about 180 kronor, and Mellan tid och ljus around 300 kronor. So, it adds up to quite a bit fairly quickly.

Summary

In the end, I really want to recommend EON. Once I got into the rules and tables, it became an enormously rich experience. There was always something new to investigate and encounter.

The learning curve is, as mentioned, high, and that is the only reason the game doesn’t receive the “must-have” rating. EON is not for everyone. But for those who, like me, love that there is a flowchart for absolutely everything you might encounter, EON is a fantastic role-playing game.

Give it time. You will appreciate it more and more with each session. Unfortunately, it has been a long time since we were able to play, and I really long to return to Mundana.

Helmgast sent review copies for this test. Senders of material have no editorial influence on our tests.

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Review Highlights: Q&A

Passar EON för nybörjare inom rollspel?

Nej, EON rekommenderas inte som ditt första rollspel.

Vilka böcker krävs för att börja spela?

Du behöver både Regelboken och boken Rollpersonen.

Hur lång tid tar det att lära sig reglerna?

Det tar veckor att lära sig reglerna och världen.

Hur beskrivs spelvärlden i EON?

En vuxen, realistisk fantasyvärld i gråskalor.

Hur lång tid tar det att skapa en karaktär?

Att skapa rollpersoner kan ta en hel spelsession.

Finns det ett bra äventyr för att komma igång?

Äventyret Mellan tid och ljus är en bra introduktion.