Land of Eem Core Rulebook

Mechanics (from transcript analysis)

• Attributes and Skills — The game has four core attributes (vim, vigor, knack, know-how) with associated skills. Modifiers are assigned to attributes, which then affect the skills. Players can tweak skills further.
• Backstory Generation — Charts are used to randomize elements of a character's backstory, ideals, flaws, personal quest, and relationships.
• Character creation — The process involves steps like choosing a concept, class, folk, assigning modifiers to attributes, tweaking skills, determining derived stats, selecting a homeland, proficiencies, gear, and developing backstory through rolling on charts.
• Class Abilities — Players choose class abilities as they level up. The Dungeoneer at level one gets 'Dungeon Crew' and 'Reconnoiter' abilities.
• Combat (D12) — Everything in combat is done with a D12 roll. Attack rolls are modified by enemy defense. Combat is not the focus of the game.
• Courage (Hit Points) — Courage is described as hit points. The Dungeoneer starts with 13 plus their vim modifier, resulting in 12 courage.
• Dread (Damage) — Dread can be physical and mental damage. Armor only protects against physical damage. The Dungeoneer starts with 1D8 dread.
• Folk (Ancestry) — Folk provide skill bonuses or penalties and modify stats. Humans are described as rare and unremarkable by some, with forgotten legends of a golden age.
• Homeland — Choosing a homeland grants proficiencies, starting equipment, and can affect character background. The Used-to-Be Forest is a desolate wasteland with a history of deforestation.
• Inventory — Inventory slots are calculated based on stats. Each piece of gear takes up a certain number of slots depending on its cumbersomeness.
• Proficiencies — Proficiencies add a narrative advantage, allowing players to roll at advantage (two D12, take highest) when performing actions related to them. The Dungeoneer has hunting and repair proficiencies.
• Quest Points — Quest points are used to augment die rolls or perform character abilities. Characters replenish quest points at the start of each session. The Dungeoneer has five quest points.
• Random Item Generation — Players roll on charts to determine random mundane items and starting gear. The Dungeoneer starts with a quiver, a gnome hat, and specific homeland equipment.
• Resource gathering and crafting — The game includes many materials that can be used for crafting various items, with different recipes for cooking, alchemy, and components.
• Travel Tests and Encounters — Travel involves making a test, with results leading to different types of encounters (perilous, dangerous, uneventful, discovery). The Book of Encounters expands on these with D100 charts.
• Underling — The Dungeoneer comes with an underling who cannot participate in combat and goes on break if they suffer dread. The underling Sammy is sneaky and gets a plus one in knack.

Video topics + discussion points

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Quotes (from this video)

• For the solo player, I think that money is very, very well spent because this is an awesome, awesome book of random encounters.
• So, if you want to play this as a solo game, you will have to bring some additional things to it.
• But, I think there is enough here to make that a pretty easy prospect.
• The focus of this game is on exploration and on discovery.
• It's relatively simple. You can just walk through those steps. There's hardly anything randomized, so you really can kind of create the exact kind of character that you want to create.
• And so playing a game of Land of Eem for me solo won't be so much in just random things happening. It will me it will be me going to these locations and experiencing them.

References (from this video)

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Mechanics (from transcript analysis)

• map exploration — Includes a huge, beautiful, hand-drawn hex map for exploration.
• World Building — Features a highly developed and interesting world.

Video topics + discussion points

No key topics recorded for this video.

Quotes (from this video)

• And in this video, I'll be discussing the best games that I played in 2025.
• And the golden torch award I am giving out to games that uh are just shining examples in the hobby. They are the golden torches and I think the game that I am awarding that to this year really really does deserve it.
• But my most disappointing was the uh the expansion for Talisman fifth edition, the co-op expansion. Man, what a disappointment.
• Those house rules created by Dragon Phoenix Games, which are the designers and publisher for Gathering Gloom, are great. they make the game how it should have been from the beginning.
• Wandering Galaxy was going to be my game of the year. It's a fantastic game.
• Conversely, my game of the year and the winner of the very very first Dungeon Dive Golden Torch award is shockingly just shocked me to like I couldn't believe that I am giving my game of the year to a Stonemer Games game uh from from uh from Jamie Stagmire and that is Vantage.
• It is so effortlessly easy to set up, to learn, to play. I mean, it literally takes about 5 minutes to set the game up and start playing.
• What I care about is having an experience of having a fun experience of exploration of discovery of mystery of of that kind of illusion of infinite possibility.
• And I can't think of another game that gives me that illusion better than Vantage does. It is absolutely truly the modern adventure game perfected.
• So, all right. Well, hey, let me know some of the best games you played.

References (from this video)

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