Welcome back heroes of the mortal realms. Join us as we take a closer look into the Age of Sigmar Soulbound Starter Set. So arm yourselves, prepare your spells, and harness your mettle. Let’s get started!
REVIEW
Age of Sigmar Soulbound Starter Set Review
,What is Age of Sigmar Soulbound?
Going off the back of our Soulbound Corebook Review, this title by Cubicle 7 Entertainment is a table top RPG where you are the hero. A truly powerful one at that. As part of a binding you and your party have their souls intertwined. You all act as shining beacon of hope for those who need it. Tasked by gods of order, you now have the task of stemming the tides of the forces of Chaos, Death, and Destruction. By utilising a handful of 6 sided dice, you will throw your way to victory across the 8 mortal planes of existence in dice tumbling action and story rich indulgence. It is a perfect unison between tactile play and story-telling.
Looking a bit deeper, each player will control a character within the binding. The starter set provides a plethora of pre-made characters ready to jump into the game. More on those later. If you have the corebook you can craft and mold you own hero too. You character has a series of Abilities; Skills, split into Training and Focus, and Traits which can aid them during combat, social encounters, and solving problems such as puzzles or exploration. When tasked with one of these scenarios the use of 6 sided dice(d6) determine your rate of success or failure.
It is a very easy and simple system to learn and use. The Game Master(GM) asks for players to roll dice against a Test. The number of dice is determined by the characters attributes(Body, Mind, and Soul) and their Training in the relevant skill. To roll a Mind(Arcana) test for example, the player would roll dice equal to their Mind score and Training in Arcana. For example, a character might have Mind(3) and 1 Training in Arcana. This means they would have 4 dice to roll.
For the test itself, it is determined by the Difficulty Number(DN). Taking the above example, the GM might ask for a Mind(Arcana) DN4:2 Test. The 4 indicates the number you need to roll and the 2 means the amount of 4s you need to roll to succeed. The more dice you roll the better your chances. There are Feats and your Focus in the skill that can push your numbers high post roll too. Always ways to squeeze a victory!
To see an example of the mechanics in use, you can find our narrative preview game here.
What's in the Starter Set?
Now let’s jump into the starter set. And what a mighty starter set it is! As with most introductory products like these, it is designed to give you an easy, pick up and go experience to get you into the game as quickly as possible. This way, you can enjoy what the game has to offer and learn the ins and outs in little time at all.
In this package, dependent on whether you bought the physical or digital edition, you gain the following:
- The Faltering Light intro adventure. 48 pages of exciting exploration into ancient ruins beneath the city of Brightspear designed to teach as you play.
- A 64 page City Guide to Brightspear. This details all the weird and wonderful locations, characters, additional stories and adventures to keep the fun and immersion flowing.
- An introduction to the world of Age of Sigmar Soulbound. Great for getting the feel for the essence of the story you are plunging into.
- 5 pre-generated characters for your to play right out of the box. These character sheets have all you need to take on the role of that hero including their stats, goals, and equipment.
- Reference sheets for rules. These include aspects such as combat, spellcasting, and Tests.
- A wonderfully designed map of the city of Brightspear.
- Tokens to track the game mechanics of Soulfire, Doom, and Mettle.
- And if you have the physical edition, a set of 8 6-sided dice.
That is a fair amount of content! Again, this is dependent one the version you purchase. You won’t obtain the dice with the digital version. But, that can easily be rectified by using an online dice roller or even supporting your local game shop.
Our Thoughts
The starter set as a whole is a solid package. It has everything you need to pick a day with your friends, crack it open, and start playing straight away. Not only that but it details how you can expand your experience and even link the adventures to and from these ones. One specifically is the free adventure written by the marvelous Elaine Lithgow, Crash and Burn, which ties in smoothly! You can find it on their official store. No thought has been spare on providing a multitude of content for the players. Both paid and free!
When talking about the Faltering Light adventure, written by the awesome Jacob Rodgers, it is super rich in lore and detail for all players to sink their teeth into. From the get go, the party approach the shining city of Brightspear and the scene is set within the writing. Superb to read and enjoy as a group. Not only that, but the history given can be dependent on which characters succeed on a history test. A simple but involving detail. Love it!
Without spoiling too much of the adventure, it really does takes the party through many twists and turns in plot, combat, and exploration. Including random events which keep even the GM guessing. Throughout the adventure, the book teaches the players how to play with great scenarios whilst keeping immersion. There is also a fair bit of replayability where minor events and some major plot points can vary depending on what transpires, dice roll influenced or otherwise..
Moving on to the city guide and the map of Brightspear, and they are both stunning. The map is very detailed with plenty for the GM and players to reference from and get a feel for where they are. The city guide is 64 pages of deliciously written lore and mini adventures. With a plethora of writers all adding gleaming diamonds into the pot of indulgent enjoyment, the game gains many more hours of excitement. It’s a story that keeps on giving and the players can lap it all up!
Lastly, the pre-generated characters offer an archetype for everyone. With the up close and personal types, ranged types whether it be by arrow or by bolts of magic, holy support characters, or a technological jack of all trades. Each sheet also offers background into who they are and what they strive to be and accomplish. Pair that with the simple and easy to follow rules reference sheets and you definitely have a winner.
In Conclusion
The Age of Sigmar Soulbound Starter Set is a masterpiece in RPG first steps into a new world. Not only does it have all the content to play right out the box but, it teachers the players and GM how to play whilst playing through an amazingly written multi-session adventure. But, it doesn’t stop there. There is enough material for more stories to be told within a setting that has oodles of rich lore and fascinating characters. This all encapsulates simple game mechanics which allows games to start quickly and for the fun to keep on pouring!
Simply, this is must buy if you love table top RPGs. Whether you are a fan of Wahammer already, or fancy to sink your teeth into an epic fantasy, this is sure to bring many hours of dice tumbling enjoyment to the table without breaking the bank. Utterly fantastic, 10/10!
And that is your lot! Thank you for reading our review of the Soulbound Starter Set. Have you purchased the game so far? If so let us know what you think in the comments below. If you haven’t, what do you like the sound of? You can find more Soulbound articles here. Stay tuned for more news, reviews, and guides. Until next time, smile and game!
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