TRPG Player ga Isekai Saikyou Build wo Mezasu: Henderson-shi no Fukuin wo
Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World: Preach the Good Word of Mr. Henderson

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

I don't write too many reviews.
One reason would be because I have trouble defining objective criteria to grade on.

But occasionally, I encounter a work that I just have to write some generic stream of consciousness and hope I can get more eyes on the series.

Cue this story.

Let's get one thing out of the way:
You get exactly what it says on the box;
The MC gets a neat ability for his reincarnation, and uses broken skill interactions to become relatively OP.
Though, if we're comparing him to other OP isekai MCs, he is the weakest of the bunch, even 3 ... volumes into the story(At the time of writing this review, there are 2 volumes out, with the 3rd available for reading in weekly updates for anyone with a JNC sub).
Which is in itself quite a refreshing change.


Story(And World Building): 10
The story is a beautifully crafted love letter to TTRPGs.
The world building is truly next level.
Not quite Tolkein-esque, but much more effort has been put into this compared to your typical isekai.
Honestly, it made me think back to my days in school when I was reading Dragonlance books or the exploits of Drizzt Do'Urden.
It felt like a living, breathing world that existed before our MC came along, and will continue to exist after he's gone, rather than a simple stage backdrop that was created for the writer insert character to be "the best that ever was in".

Things are Expensive™ because we see that it takes effort and time to get the gold for them.
No one's going to be buying a set of Mythril plate armor and an Adamantine sword after gathering herbs for an afternoon.

While we're on the subject of gold, the economy itself is ALSO well researched:
Back when money was literally the number of coins in your pocket rather than numbers on a server, you could even have different currencies within the same country, because whoever was minting the money at the time decided to cheap out on the minting process.
Which is actually relevant to the story on multiple occasions, because the MC kinda-sorta gets scammed but in a legal way, since he is paid with legal tender, but the money isn't worth as much(Think negotiating a payment of 1000 dollars, and you expect 1000 US dollars, but are instead paid in Canadian Dollars).

In a departure of traditional isekai plots, beings like Goblins, Orcs, and other races that are typically mere fodder for the MC to farm money off of, are NOT inherently evil, and at least in the country the MC lives in, you can find them living among the other common fantasy races like dwarves, elves, and other beast folk.

The country the MC lives in is relatively progressive and modernized;
There's no institutionalized racism/xenophobia, and bathing is very much encouraged, and the crown even operates public bath houses that are free for the populace(it serves as a reveal that reincarnation into this world isn't something that happened only to the MC, but instead something that happens occasionally, and the reincarnators bring with them some advancements).

In a society without electronic communication, crime is always a thing, but at least in the country the MC lives in, criminals aren't something you can encounter by just stepping out of town on a bounty quest.
Crime is actually punished, and bandits would typically fight to the death rather than be caught alive, because the justice system assumes that any bandit that has a bounty killed at least 1 person, so bandits are typically executed.
And executions are gruesome specifically to discourage crime.
(Note: The executions are described in gritty detail, so those with weaker stomachs shouldn't be eating anything while reading this).

The fight scenes are masterfully written, with every swing and character action accounted for at all times.
And these fight scenes are also the embodiment of the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words".
A single fight that can take a couple minutes at most if re-enacted on a screen takes a double digit number of pages to resolve, and yet you only realize how long it took wen you go back and count those pages, because you were so immersed in the scene that you didn't even notice the pages moving.


Art(Illustrations and Prose): 9
The illustrations are...
It's a bit hard to explain, but they feel raw somehow, or incomplete.
Especially when compared with some of the art on Lansane's pixiv.
The prose otoh is just *mwah*.
The writing style might not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for details, so I enjoy reading how the MC is constantly thinking through things.
And like I've already mentioned in the previous section, the descriptions are top notch, and let you build a very clear image of the scene.
It applies to fights, scenery, monologues and dialogues.
The prose really does breath life into the world and characters.


Character: 9
Let's get the main character out of the way first:
Erich isn't your typical blank slate OP isekai harem MC designed to maximize read self inserting.
Erich is an established character who has his own goals, and will achieve those goals come hell or high water.
And if it means compromising on some other things?
Well, in Erich's own words:
"Go on, take my honor. Pride is cheap-especially mine."
He is also not Neutron-Star-Dense™ like your typical MC. He knows when a female character shows interest, and he is introspective enough to go "Hmm... Do I want her attention, or should I shoot her down?"
Again, a refreshing change compared to your typical isekai.

Side characters:
There is 1 best girl in the series, and she has 8 legs to embrace you with.
There are of course, other side characters, but going into too much detail will inevitably end with spoilers.
Just trust that even the characters that have cookie cutter personalities based on a trope or two have enough filling to blur them around the edges.


Enjoyment: 8
This story has some wish fulfillment elements, which are even more obvious upon a second(or third) reading.
Schuld very clearly decided to take his own likes, decided there's nothing to be ashamed of, and rolled with them to create this story.
It's very clear that he enjoys TRPGs, likes monster girls, and prefers dominant and/or muscular women.
I happen to share those proclivities, so it checks off pretty much every box for me.
Why did I dock points then?
Well, there's 2 reasons:
1) I'm not too big a fan of the "harem" tag, but since it's so bloody common, I learned to live with it and not judge something too harshly if it has that tag.
2) The actual reason I docked 2 points is right there on the cover of volume 1.
The best girl is a loli.
She is such a well written character, but Schuld had to go and ruin her by making her race biologically stop aging at around 10.

Overall: 9
Really, the worst thing about this story is the fact that the best girl is a loli.
It's like we're presented with a perfectly marbled A5 wagyu steak, and then told that it is cooked to medium.
Bleh.
Blasphemy!
A travesty.

I truly enjoyed the read.
Hell, there were multiple sequences where the story managed to make me say "God I wish that were me."
That's an actual achievement, since I never once caught myself thinking that in the past.
But I can't, in good conscious, give it a 10, because I don't understand why the literal best girl has to be a loli.

So 9 it is.

This review is only based on my first impressions after reading the 2 first volumes ! 3 and 4 are out since then, and each one is a real improvement. My impressions of this serie went from something interesting to one of my favorite novel, so don't think too much on some of what I say in this review.


Sometimes reading a book purely based on it's cover really do end up nicely. I would not go as far as calling this an hidden gem, but it definitely is really underrated, or well, kinda not even rated at all currently.
The story base is pretty simple ... ; The author is a tabletop rpg fan, and wanted to share his sessions experiences, story ideas, tastes, fetishes even, through an absolutly not self insert protagonist getting isekaied. This also imply that the "system" the story go with is similar to the tabletop rpgs he's used to, instead of the usual Dragon Quest cospaly, with levels, stats, and skills. It is a much more personalized one, allowing the protagonist to evolve in more creative ways. Not a world changing thing, but definitely a nice touch.
It is pretty obvious that said author didn't have many writing experience just by seeing the style and the weird directions things sometime go. It's not to the point we can get lost, but it does feel bad to have many scene get suddenly cut, for exemple. Yet, this weird style successfuly convey what it need, and is part of what make this story have an unique and surreal atmosphere. The way some scenes are described really add a lot as well, and even something as simple as a second moon or the way magic work will feel impactful in many ways.

Art : 9/10
Here's the other important point participating in the above named atmosphere. The illustrations are amazing, and really give some flavor to many scenes. My favorite moment of the story so far merely is the introduction of one of the character, near the end of tome 1. But not only the way she show up is hella cool, but her illustration simply is perfect. It's an obscure reference right there, but the visual and overall atmosphere kinda gave me the same feeling as some Liar-soft visual novels.

Story : 7
The story is simple yet perfectly enough to do the job, and show a few very good ideas. Same could be said about the world building, it seems basic but has every needed details to make it a proper world, and some distinctives additions that make it unique.

Character : 7
Characters are fleshed out as well. The protagonist thinks well, the harem do it's best to not be too superficial (it still kinda is, not gonna lie), and I really liked that even antagonists get their proper story, chapters from their point of view, goal, etc. It might sound basic, but really, not that many stories bother with that as much.

Enjoyement & Overall : 7

It's a flawed novel in many way, again to me the worst was to have many scenes get interesting then suddenly cut and ignored to get to the next chapter. But it still was a very enjoyable read. I definitely recommand it.

ps : The author might have a bit of a monster girl fetish, don't worry even if you don't understand it's fine. Probably.
ps2 : 7 might seems weak to some MAL users but is very good for my standards