''Adventurers of the North — Kalevala Heroes'' (''ANKH'') is a Finnish role-playing game published by Nelospelit in 1988. It was highly derivative of other roleplaying games and despite its Finnish cultural details, was not a commercial success.

Description

''ANKH'' was written by Pasi Janhunen and illustrated by Janhunen and cartoonist Petri Hiltunen. The design and gameplay of ''ANKH'' is similar to the original ''

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'' game, with some elements borrowed from ''

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''. A review in the Finnish role-playing game magazine ''Sininen Lohikäärme'' compared the game system to that of ''

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''. To provide a Finnish flavour, the game is set in the Finnish

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

, and some of the characters and monsters are taken from

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and the

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...

, the national epic of

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. Possible character classes include hunter, blacksmith and sage. The contents of the game box included three rulebooks and dice. Designer Pasi Janhunen said he had "sunk incredible time and, when necessary, equity" into the game, and that he planned to create expansions and adventures for ''ANKH '' as well as a separate board game. However, the game was not a commercial success, and no further material was published.

Reception

In the 1994 book ''Roolipeliopas'' (''Role-playing Guide''), Lauri Tudeer recalled that ''ANKH'' "was disappointing compared to the advertising campaign." In their 2007 book ''Roolipelikirja'' (''Role Playing Book''), Jukka Särkijärvi and Kaj Sotala believed the game design's reliance on other role-playing games explained its lack of success, but thought it might have some value as a collectible: "''ANKH'' may not contain very innovative game design, but it is an interesting curiosity for collectors."

References

{{reflist Fantasy role-playing games Finnish role-playing games Works based on the Kalevala