Having had a brief flirtation with Cairn back a couple of years ago, I backed the Cairn 2nd Edition Kickstarter this time last year. The product was delivered yesterday, right on time, and it’s a lovely looking boxed set with some surprises (at least for me) inside. This post simply captures my first impressions and thoughts.

Cairn is the adventure game about exploring a dark and mysterious Wood filled with strange folk, hidden treasure, and unspeakable monstrosities. Character generation is quick and random, adventures are tense and reward careful exploration, and combat is frantic and deadly.

The first thing to point out is that Cairn 2nd Edition is freely available on DriveThruRPG as a .PDF, both the Player’s Guide and the Warden’s Guide. The first book is the core of the game, featuring character creation and the basic procedures for play; the second book includes tools, tables, and advice for running Cairn, with procedures to generate content.

Opening the boxed set, the first big surprise was the inclusion of not just one copy of the Player’s Guide but three! There’s also the Warden’s Guide, an Adventure Anthology, and an adventure named “Trouble in Twin Lakes” which seems to extend the Vald region – the default setting that Cairn offers in the main books.

It’s also good to see the boxed set includes the Warden’s Screen (pictured bottom right) and a pad of Character Sheets. Save for needing to rustle up 3D6, a set of regular polyhedral dice, and a D20 to play the game, you’re all set to get started! I am not sure what it is about the aesthetic of the books and cover art, but I feel it invokes a magical and slightly terrifying vibe.

Starting to read the Player’s Guide, I turned right to the back of the book first and read the two-page introduction to the Vald. Because I am most interested in exploring mysterious Otherworlds, I am always drawn to read the setting introduction. Curiously, it’s tucked at the back of the book but it is highly evocative and lightly sketched.

This speaks to the philosophy of Cairn and its design goals which was clearly spelled out at the front of the Player’s Guide. It’s a mix of jargon glossary for a particular play style and clear guide to players on how the game is intended to be used. This was useful even if I find some terminology triggers some cringing, but all sub-cultures have such slang.

The bulk of the Player’s Guide is character creation which, curiously for a game that says it’s classless, amounts to a load of “Backgrounds” which look an awful lot like character classes. I think the distinction is that these Backgrounds simply set up a starting point. You know, similar to the way that Classes set up a starting point in OD&D and Basic D&D.

I loved the feel of the books. The art is weirdly a mix of things dark things I like and cute stuff that I dislike passionately… but it works together to evoke a kind of fairytale-cum-horror feel that I am drawn towards. The Otherworld is largely implied and tickles the curiosity in my mind. This feels more evocative than most modern roleplaying games.

Cairn 2nd Edition is a game that I want to play, at least once. I think it would be a lovely game to play with relative newbies to roleplaying games. It speaks to many of the principles of play that I enjoy and evokes a style that makes me genuinely smile, not just on the inside. Intuitively, I believe that good (for the player) times will be had in the Vald.

Weirdly, and speaking analytically, I revolt from some of the rules-based decisions in the game. Unlike with Cairn 1e, this edition invites me to play with these rules anyway. I can’t explain why, but the style of writing and simple presentation draws me in to put aside analytical concerns and allow the magic of the game to work on my creative mind.

All in all, I am hungry to give the game a whirl. The inclusion of adventures is encouraging because I can simply grab those out and put them in front of players. Additionally, I was reflecting that this might be a good game for newbies and family members to try because the rules themselves will get right out of the way. Imagination and adventure will ensue!

Game on!