The Reckoning: Initial Thoughts and Impressions

Solo One Shot with Engaging Combat

The Reckoning is a One Shot Solo TTRPG by Whiskey, Blood and Dust.

I grabbed a copy from Itch.io (link above) and jumped right in. PWYW and I thought the suggested price seemed worth it. This was my first Solo One Shot and I was not sure what to expect going into it.

I quickly found interesting mechanics that got my brain churning and thought it was worth sharing.

The artwork is so perfect for the genre and sets the tone really well. All original block print images created by Whiskey, Blood and Dust. Really top notch.

The first mechanic that jumped out at me was that reloading a weapon takes 2 rounds. I immediately thought “How will my PC mage that in the middle of combat?!” My basic thinking of the flow of combat is moving and a main action. A character can take one round to switch things up (change weapons, use healing item etc). That second round to reload causes one to think more strategically in combat and seems like an appropriate amount of time for that action.

Character creation was easy and straight forward. The Hit Points seemed high but I soon realized that it is balanced for the game. My character died in scene 4 (of 8 scenes). The choice in character stats is also balanced well. Any character will be doing well in one area which will cause deficits in others. This seems common in TTRPGs - but the fewer stats cause the deficits to be felt more. There isn’t one stat line that is easy to neglect (Charisma for most of my characters). I am looking forward to trying out another character or may even reset mt first character at the scene they died to try some creative tactics.

The game pushes players to be very creative with tactics. This is something I have not delved into much in my gameplay and liked pushing my thinking in new directions.

Finally, I think the mechanics are solid enough for general play - not only this one shot adventure. I do believe Whiskey, Blood and Dust has plans for more material.

Great game and I encourage anyone to try it.