Tabletop RPGs: Lego Heroica

It’s been common knowledge for a while that Lego are going to be selling an adventure game and model kits combination called Heroica from August 2011. The premise behind the series of four kits sounds great, as Lego has long been used to encourage kids to roleplay among themselves. It may, therefore, be helpful in nudging kids in the general direction of RPGs. Consequently, providing a simple, in the box, rule set to encourage seven-year-olds to try adventure gaming/ RPGs sounds like a winner.

Details were sketchy at the time of the original press release, but some of the gaps have been filled by the prices and descriptions now shown on Amazon UK. The series includes:

Castle Fortaan

The Goblin King and his horde have captured castle Fortaan. Infiltrate, recover the Goblin King’s battle plans and do a runner with the Helm of Protection.

304 pieces/ £19.99

Waldurk Forest

Beat up on the Dark Druid’s monsters and rob him of the Chalice of Life. “Use all your skill and power,” probably tells us much of what we need to know about the Heroica rule set.

225 pieces/ £14.99

Draida Bay

More goblins; busy starving the local populace. Slay the Goblin General and his evil minions before skipping off with the Crystal of Deflection.

101 pieces/  £9.99

Caverns of Nathuz

There’s a Golem Lord busy using the Sceptre of Summoning for what it was made to do. Guess what? Yeah, kill the monsters, dismember the Golem Lord and pocket the sceptre.

217 pieces/£14.99

All of which left us looking at a long list of pros and cons, which has been shortened and sorted:

Pros

• Lego is a hugely popular brand and the kits should sell well in the gift market
• Heroica offers a basic introduction to the mechanics of RPGs
• Kids with large collections of standard Lego could use the rules with scaled up Lego layouts
• Kids are likely to enjoy Heroica as a shared family game

Cons

• Almost £60 or $90 can buy a lot of other RPG, Lego or boardgame entertainment
• The £60 or $90 price tag for a full set makes it a luxury toy that’s not going to be available to a lot of families
• Better results can be gained with standard Lego and very basic RPG ‘rules’ made up on the spot or borrowed from any number of free RPGs
• There’s a hefty dose of ‘win-mentality’, ‘slay and shop’ thinking in Amazon’s online descriptions
• Unless Lego offer an extended rule set for use with all Lego, there’s nowhere to go in terms of roleplaying
• The contents of the kits don’t appear to quite live up to the lavish box art

Taken together these points suggest that, when it comes to introducing RPGs to new players, Lego Heroica is likely to be more of a stepping stone than a ladder. The glossy presentation and simplistic, combative gameplay may, therefore, spark an interest; but  little more.

Put another way, players looking to introduce others to RPG gameplay involving mystery, discovery, exploration, intrigue, characterisation, (and any of the other finery of complete RPGs), are going to need to look elsewhere sooner rather than later.

Which brings the topic to a thoroughly familiar conclusion. Tabletop RPGs are all about shared gaming, and the style of shared play, (along with the support of fellow players), has more to do with encouraging new players than the choice of game system. There are many, free and inexpensive, RPGs which are suitable for introducing RPGs to new players when placed in the hands of a thoughtful or considered GM. Must post a list of some of them soon.

Of course, we haven’t lost our love of Lego. Just seems like a better idea to spend the extra and buy THIS instead.