Sapiens: Shamanic Science Fantasy (in your garden) – Geek Tribes

What is this jdr?

In the distant future we, the Ancients, have disappeared, giving way to the Sapiens. Six species each with three variants are playable. Humanoids dog, snake, bird, deer, insect and fish. The choice of the original ecosystem, the social structure of education, the relationship with spirits and shamanism will type your character just as much.

Progression is managed by evolution, in the biological sense. Here, no levels of desesque but mutations of the body and the flesh. Obviously the acquisition of knowledge and contacts is not left out, their importance being preponderant.

As the game world is unusual to say the least (somewhere between Würm, Shaan V1 and Okimba), it is very nice to see that a doorway (the “what we play“ -as a function, not the “who we play“ of identity) is clearly paused.

The characters are in charge of combating the disturbances and imbalances of the cycle of vital energy, the latter being caused by situations such as wars, famines, tortures and the like, when it is not a question of health problems. magic order.

Important things to note!

The game subtitle “shamanic” is not usurped, we are far from a selling point. The cultural and academic references that supported the mood of the game are of high quality. The playful concepts and levers mobilized to transcribe this mystical aspect into play are fine, subtle, ambivalent, playable and without ever falling into esoteric verbiage.

The diversity of playable areas ranges from tribal wilderness to urban living rejecting old beliefs. Particular care has been given to the management of biomes, the climatic impact, the creation of specific resources, more or less adapted social structures, the relationship to the spirit world. It is rich and complete by being thought to be used in game, we avoid the symptom of a captivating but useless school presentation.

Sapiens is not moralizing. There are no good guys or bad guys. Each group has its reason for being and for acting as it does. Whatever you do, you’re still someone else’s monster.

The classic heritage and the aspiration to novelty.

Book in A4, soft cover, 184 black and white pages with beautiful illustrations. Simple rules requiring five six-sided dice, a solid description of the universe, and half-open secrets. Professional, clean, mastered, classic.

A little less already if we know that the author does not want supplements to deepen the secrets, it is an artistic choice. Hints and options are given to the GM, but it’s up to him to choose and let his imagination run wild by listening to the dreams of his players. It’s a fun philosophy, the game plants the seeds, but it’s up to you to water them. It’s perfectly fitting with the spirit, the theme and the message of the game!

Finally Sapiens is played without a screen, again it is a choice aimed at lowering the barriers between players and leader. In the same spirit, the aspect of mutual aid and collaboration between players is mechanically supported by the system, reinforcing the atmosphere of mutual aid between the characters. The ultimate characteristic of Sapiens is to encourage its practitioners to play outside. It sounds silly, it isn’t. For my part, our games were played in the grass, in the shade of the trees, with dogs, cats, cows and horses as witnesses. It was a hell of an experience. This use of the real environment around the game to strongly influence the feeling of the game is an element forgotten by 99.99% of the players (the excellent Macadabre uses it for example).