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I get a lot of games to review. Considering that I am only one person, this is why we feature only one game a week, if we're lucky. For this reason, I try to highlight only the best of the best.
However, this means that a lot of otherwise very good games get left out. So, this week I want to highlight some of those games and supplements. They may not be superlative, but they're damn good, and worth buying. So I want to highlight several such games this week, all at once, in a slightly abbreviated review format.
Monkey Ninja, Pirate, Robot: the Roleplaying Game
Length: 64 pages
Price: $8.00 (PDF)
Publisher: Atomic Sock Monkey www.atomicsockmonkey.com
The Skinny: You play a monkey, ninja, robot, or pirate, duelling against each other and the invading aliens, while seeking sweet, sweet uranium. There are rivalries between the different factions (monkeys, ninjas, robots, and pirates), but everyone hates the aliens, which can serve as a unifying element for a mixed group.
Minus: While the basic idea of the game is funny in a sort of surreal way, the mechanics themselves, being largely generic, don't exactly support or encourage comedy to any real degree.
Plus: That said, the mechanics are the excellent PDQ System, first seen in Dead Inside. Added to the core is an excellent "mojo" system, which amounts to a very interesting reward system. Mojo comes in "flavors" -- defeat a pirate, and you might get some pirate mojo. While mojo can be used for a variety of things, including increasing attributes, only majo of a particular "type" can be used to increase your character's Type (monkey, ninja, robot, pirate or alien), so if you collect enough pirate mojo, you can become a pirate even if you weren't one previously. So it's possible, by defeating enough opponents, to become a combination robotic ninja pirate monkey with alien DNA. (Using alien mojo has additional side effects, connected to the alien agenda.) Flavored mojo is mostly gained through duels, or "challenges", which game-mechanically are just a formalized extension of the standard PDQ confict rules. Another way to get mojo is, of course, to acquire sweet, sweet uranium.
Oh, and the art has a stick-figure nature that fans of Kingdom of Loathing will love. I know I did, though your milage may vary. White Wolf, this is not.
The Breakdown: After an introduction, Chapter 1 covers "the Basics" -- what you can play, and how challenges work. Chapter 2 is chargen -- pick a Type, a goal, some Qualities, roll some random starting mojo, and go. This is pretty standard PDQ stuff, as it Chapter 3, which really just goes over the lion's share of the PDQ system, including the expanded mojo rules. Chapter 4 covers the mysterious aliens, and Chapter 5 is an excellent GM advice chapter. Chapter 6 rounds out the game with a sample adventure involving alien-influenced ninjas. Short, sweet, and to the point.
Motocaust
Length: 50 pages
Price: $10.00 (PDF)
Publisher: Ronin Arts www.roninarts.com
The Skinny: So, did you think that Car Wars was a little too complicated, or didn't have enough zombies? Then this game is for you. An asteroid hits Earth, sort of ending the world, and releasing an alien virus that creates "necros" (read: zombies). The world becomes more Wild West and anarchic, but not too much so -- very Car Wars, actually. (Any world where cell phones still work isn't exactly 100% anarchy in my opinion.)
Minus: In some ways, it's a little too simple. And what is there is very "standard" -- roll under Attribute + Skill on 2d10. Yawn. Health is represented by hit points, for crissakes. There's a very lite class system that reminded me somewhat of Cyberpunk 2020, but overall the whole thing reminded me of Car Wars, and sometimes not in a good way.
Also, and this is just a personal thing with me, but I AM SO FREAKIN' SICK OF ZOMBIES. Really, people, find a different form of cliche undead.
Plus: The art for this game is amazing. 'Nuff said.
On a more substantive note, I spent a good portion of the game thinking "solid, but unimpressive" and then I hit the section on car creation. This reminded me of Car Wars, but in a good way, and it was a lot easier to deal with than Car Wars. Plus we're talking fast, gasoline engines here, no electric fuel cells.
But most importantly, aside from determing the speed, maneuverability, and firepower of the car, there is also a statistic for "Flash" -- that is, how good the car looks. A lot of the game revolves around running cargo, and those with cool-looking cars get the best jobs, actual firepower or no. A very nice touch to the game and it acknowledges an element of the genre that's important.
However, I became really impressed when I hit the last section of the game, on vehicular combat. Rather than the wargame approach of Car Wars, the game uses a very clever narrative system using ordinary playing cards, designed to produce sudden reverals, dangerous escapes, and cool stunts. This section, alone, makes the game worth the money, in my opinion.
The Breakdown: The game's organization is very bare-bones -- a lot of knowledge (say, of zombie cliches and RPGs in general) is assumed. Despite being very lite, this isn't a game for beginners for that reason. On the other hand, this means its very "compressed" -- everything you need, no more, no less. There's an introduction, some opening fiction (which is very fond of the word "fuck", if you care about that sort of thing) and then a quickie introduction to the world. This is followed by chargen, the vehicle creation system I mentioned earlier, and then the system proper -- task resolution, combat, and the aforementioned vehicular combat system. That's all there is -- very streamlined. But it's all very focused, and they seem to have the attitude 100% down pat. Good stuff.
On the Hoof: d20 Riding Beasts
Length: 12 pages
Price: $2.50 (PDF)
Publisher: Cognizant Chance www.cognizantchance.com
The Skinny: Exactly what it says on the tin, as it were. This is a collection of unusual riding animals written for the d20 system.
Minus: If you were expecting something more than a bare-bones listing of creatures, then you're going to be disappointed. That's all there is here. Some of the entries are a bit overshort, in part I suspect because the author seems to be limiting himself to one page per creature. Sometimes the author stumbles a little on syntax, though never enough to make an entry unclear.
Plus: While a lot of people might be turned off by it, I really liked the simple look and feel of this product. The art is all public domain, but nice looking and well-chosen. In general, the look and feel reminded me very much of the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Monual -- Necromancer Games should take note.
Although many of the creatures are variants on real-world beasts, they're clever variants, and there are some real gems, like the Autumn Mound (a ridable ooze), the Hellbender (a salamander with Dimension Door), and Wizzeltop's Demiphant (the result of Gnomish experimentation, 'nuff said).
Also, it needs to be said: Cheap. I mean, what you can get in gaming for $2.50 anymore?
The Breakdown: Eleven creatures. That's 22 cents per monster.
vs. Monsters Deluxe Edition
Length: 82 pages (half size)
Price: $7.00 (as a PDF)
Publisher: Ronin Arts www.roninarts.com
The Skinny: It's a twisted, Tim Burton kind of world, with a Town and a Village with no real names. You're a monster hunter. You hunt monsters. Need I elaborate?
Minus: This is pretty standard stuff -- no serious innovation here. It even tells you (albiet with perhaps a drab of sarcasm) that if you need to understand how to play RPGs, you need to play D&D first. As far as innovation goes, it does use a deck of cards instead of dice -- draw a number of cards equal to your Attribute, and compare the highest against a target number -- but it's not much different than (in essence) reolling a bunch of d13s (if such a thing existed). But nothing to write home about, although the cards do give it some flavor.
Plus: Flavor, however, this game has in spades. It's an excellent example of what you can do with public domain art, excellent layout skills, and an attitude. While I didn't find the game innovative in terms of mechanics, I found myself drawn in despite myself. It has a... light touch. It conveys an certain attitude that makes me want to play this game. It's very tough to describe, but it's worth the $7 in order to experience it. I hate to put it this way, but trust me on this. This game is charming.
The Breakdown: The author's charming attitude starts on page one, even in the credits, and in the foreward and introduction. The game then plunges right into the "world" of the game, which amounts to a Town, a Road, a Village, a Forest, and some Mountains that seperates the character's little world from the Unknown. After this is character generation, which is very streamlined but filled with cute little digressions, which fits the game quite well. After that is a peppy section on equipment, followed by the mechanics. After that is a charming (I must stop using that word) section entitled "Unnecessary Complexities" which covers all those things that you see in a lot RPGs like called shots that people expect but are hardly needed. After that is a gamemaster section, and a very intersting listing of monsters. That's it. That's all the game needs, really. It's worth the $7 for the description of "the Misters" (a particularly nasty form of monster that blends into society surprisingly well) alone...
Who Loves Octavia Pranddishaw?
Length: 23 pages
Price: $1.00 (PDF)
Publisher: Factions
The Skinny: This very minimalist supplement that details the Pranddishaws, people escaped into the real world (or, at least, the game world the PCs are in) from a very bad comic novel. The transfer has made them delusional, homicidal, and mysteriously difficult to catch when it comes to crimes.
Minus: This supplement is very no frills. No art, no cover, nothing. Hell, it doesn't even have credits -- I'm not sure who wrote it. Which is a shame, because...
Plus: ...It's a wonderful supplement. Many modern-day RPGs, like Over the Edge and Unknown Armies (and to a lesser extent, games like Mage: the Ascension or In Nomine) rely on the surreal. But it's tough for a GM to come up with all that color on demand, and it's nice to have an outside source of ideas. The Praddishaws are a well-written plot seed with a variety of uses and potential origins. I honestly wish I knew who wrote this so I could encourage them to write more.
And for only $1, you honestly can't go wrong here. Even if you don't use it, it's worth $1 for the read. I think the anonymous author has really undersold himself (herself?) here.
There's an element of black humor to everything, while somehow remaining deadly serious. Very deftly done. Man, I really want to know who wrote this...
The Breakdown: What you get is a description of the Praddinshaws and how they work in the "real world", a description of the fictional novel they come from, and some different possible explanations for their existance. Short, simple, to the point... yet full of possibilities.
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