Beasts, Men & Gods
Beasts, Men & Gods is a 1980 role-playing game published by The Game Masters.
Gameplay
Beasts, Men & Gods is a game in which a fantasy role-playing system features character creation, magic, and combat. The character creation system introduces paired attributes—such as Strength and Constitution—that share a randomized base roll, ensuring related traits remain logically balanced. It also distinguishes between fixed Hit Points and level-scaling Stamina, allowing for realistic damage thresholds while accommodating skill-based survivability through dodges and parries. Magic is governed by a Mana Point system and organized into distinct Schools, including religious traditions, each with specialized and general spells. This structure prevents incongruous spell access across different magical affiliations. Spellcasting involves level-based costs, concentration mechanics, and risks of failure or backfire. Combat operates on a percentile system with a streamlined hit location mechanic. Damage is absorbed first by Stamina, then by Hit Points, with missile attacks bypassing defensive maneuvers. The rules include detailed tables for critical hits, body-specific injuries, and dynamic combat events like tripping or weapon breakage.
Publication history
Beasts, Men & Gods was written by Bill Underwood. Underwood later published an updated version of the game in PDF format.
Reception
Bill Pixley reviewed Beasts, Men and Gods for Pegasus magazine and stated that "Beasts, Men and Gods handles the three basics of fantasy role-playing systems, Magic, Character Creation, and Combat, far better than many other systems on the market today. In one book, all a person will ever need to run a campaign is available. The only problem that the rule set has is that an example adventure would be useful to starting adventurers. | can say that | heartily recommend the system for fantasy role-playing."