I like that they have Quickstart rules because I have a real hard time with big lawn rulebook. I might just play the Quickstart game and slowly add things in.
A delightfully grim little game about reeling progressively more horrifying things out of the depths, managing your madness, and pushing your luck at sea.
Had it on the table recently with five friends—I really enjoyed the multiplayer experience, though it does run a bit long at that count. The solo mode is quite a different beast, but seems like a chill, low-pressure affair.
Beautiful artwork and a wonderfully quirky Innsmouth-meets-Cthulhu vibe throughout.
PS. Yes, I ate the creepy human that I dredged up from the depths… but it wasn’t enough for victory!
Awesome! I haven’t received my copy yet but am excited for it. I thought it’d be a good game for us to play with our 12 year old daughter.
Still running our League of Dungeoneers campaign. We hit level 3 but were not quite ready for the challenges of a bandit filled dungeon. We’re trying to run back out before we break anymore expensive gear.
love the Duck miniature… which brand is it?
He’s an etsy purchase. Seems a common model for 3D printing duckfolk as quite a few shops had him plus three others to make it a set of 4 similarly designed ducks.
thank you… ill check it out 
Have been tearing it up with an Argonian rogue and a Dark Elf sorcerer in the tangled wilds of Valenwood—leaving scorched footprints and the occasional baffled bandit in our wake.
Elder Scrolls plays a lot like Too Many Bones, only with the freedom to take your skill lines in any direction. The whole thing is wonderfully Skyrim, and truly—one can never have too much Skyrim.
The bookkeeping is minimal, the mechanics brisk, and the structure elegant: three robust sessions and the tale is told. It feels like a grand, sprawling adventure, but with the rare and welcome luxury of a visible conclusion.
Do you prefer it to TMB? Do you find one has more interesting choices than the other?
We held off on this because of having so much TMB already. But I often wonder if this one was the more refined game with greater narrative tie-ins.
Or if maybe the open progression with skill lines would decrease the feel of variation between games, as your characters wouldn’t be as drastically different. I mean, it seems unlikely you’d get really wild options like the Lab Rats offer where you switch between three characters… But perhaps that keeps the balance more in check too?
I think I started to like TMB better when I realized that what it was is Final Fantasy, but with a kind of minimal story. Most of what happens is your character is dropping into a fight and the enemy is dropping on the other side and then you use your abilities and wipe them out and gain power.
Once I stopped looking at it like some kind of narrative game in made a lot more sense.
I was late to the Too Many Bones caper and possess only Unbreakable + 40 Caves, along with a modest entourage of three Gearlocks. I’m no TMB authority, but I do enjoy making the little cogsworths tick.
Elder Scrolls characters are cobbled together from race (starting stats and a talent), class (your upgradeable “bones” actions), and a comprehensive set of skill lines. These fall broadly into combat, magic, and roguery—though even within a single line, there are subtle forks and peculiar synergies that reward the artful tinkerer.
As in TMB, you bounce from fracas to fracas via a loosely stitched narrative, but Elder Scrolls manages to evoke more of an authentic journey. Overland encounters may run a little lukewarm, but they string together a satisfying variety of battles.
Encounters come in three flavours:
It’s true you won’t find anything as wildly asymmetric as the Lab Rats—no juggling multiple identities mid-battle—but levelling up in Scrolls gives you so many choices!
All told, while I appreciate the clatter of Too Many Bones, I find myself more drawn to the sprawling grandeur of Elder Scrolls—less clockwork but decidedly more Skyrim. And really, one can never have too much Skyrim.
I wonder if one day I’ll throw all my TMB stuff up for sale in order to acquire the Elder Scrolls stuff instead. I do enjoy the wild asymmetry of TMB characters, but often find myself wishing all the parts that aren’t the tactical combat were a bit more robust and thematic. I think it’s what keeps it from getting to the table more often. That and my wife prefers the concept of Burncycle to it (despite it’s many flaws, especially if you try playing in campaign mode).
Though the more likely end result might be that one day I’ll just decide to grab this up and then have both! 
I’m trying out Kal-Arath this weekend.
Played a ‘go kill some rats’ style session just to get a feel for the combat and dungeon crawling.
Combat was quick and easy to manage though I think I’ll want to expand my dungeon crawl procedure a bit.
Next I’ll give the overland travel rules a try.
