Hollowpoint: a Dice Bag of Bullets

You know, Hollowpoint is really not a game that I thought I'd consider to be interesting. I'm not generally one for its motif of ultraviolence and devastation. On the other hand, I thought that The Boondock Saints was interesting for the way it portrayed characters who were driven to such extremes, and I can't deny the appeal of an action flick. Oh, and then there's the fact that I've thoroughly enjoyed Bee Train's anime Noir and Madlax, which were totally about people who killed other people (and how they dealt with that). Enter Hollowpoint, the game which gives you a splendid framework to build all sorts of stuff around, if you like.

A Wanderer's Romance: Quick Review

A Wanderer's Romance (henceforth abbreviated as "AWR") is something I talked about previously, in my free RPG post. I've had a chance to actually experience it in play, so now I've got a much stronger perspective on what the game does and how well it does it. Sneak preview: it does pretty darn well.

Assembling Action

We interrupt this normal broadcast of The Player's Side of the Screen to bring you a review of awesomeness...and perhaps an observation to help your gaming. I just saw The Avengers last night, one of the most-anticipated movies of the summer. And it was smashingly fantastic. I'm gonna embark on a spoiler-free review, along with some thoughts on action in gaming.

Fight the Power: A Review of "Misspent Youth"

WARNING: This RPG contains frequent instances of strong language, and is therefore NSFW. The review will follow usual blog guidelines, and be SFW.

Misspent Youth is a game about adolescent rebellion and sticking it to The Man. It's also a game that completely took me by surprise, doing things that I never even considered doing in a game. It's loud, authoritative, intense, character-driven, and even tragic. It's also a great example of a tightly focused game; instead of giving you the tools to make certain elements of drama happen (this is the case with roleplaying systems), it structures the game so that certain things just happen.

All Outta Bubblegum: A Brief Review and Design Thoughts

Link -- All Outta Bubblegum

Today, you're getting a look at something that, until about a week ago (shout-out to my friend Christopher for pointing its existence out to me), I was totally unaware existed. It's also possibly one of the most brilliantly simple game designs I've ever seen. It's ultimate balance, in a nutshell. Go, read it, and come back. There's really not a whole lot to read. This is literally the shortest RPG I've ever seen, and character creation is even shorter.

Fire and Flames: A Review of Burning Wheel

Ladies and gentlemen, Bagginses and Boffins, I proudly present to you a review of what I speculate will be the pride and joy of my RPG collection for some time. This certainly won't be the last time that I speak on Burning Wheel Gold, but I'll certainly try and sum up exactly what I think about the game. I'll also be trying a nice, easy, organized review format.

Player's Side Vlog: NaNo and Noir

I'm back, with an actual episode this time! I go off on a NaNoWriMo-related tangent, and then review Greg Stolze's "A Dirty World".

Recettear: An Item Shop JRPG's Review

In a nutshell, that's Recette for you. Cute, a bit airheaded, utterly adorable. I beat Recettear over Thanksgiving, though it's taken me this long to get down to a review of this simply delightful game.

The Basics
Recettear is a Japanese RPG released by Easy Game Studios, an indie Japanese game developer. It's been "localized" in America by an indie localization company, Carpe Fulgur. Localization is a form of loose translation that aims to take the original language's meaning and text and convert it into roughly equivalent dialogue that remains engaging and entertaining for the English gamer. And don't fret, purists: Carpe Fulgur worked directly with EGS to ensure that their intended meaning shone through to the localization.

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the story of a cute little girl (Recette) who runs a magic item shop, in order to pay off the monstrous debt left by her adventuring father. And if I told you how much that debt was at the start of the game, you'd likely faint. Don't worry; it gets easier to pay off as the days march on...just like how in any good RPG, you wouldn't stand five seconds against the final boss with the character at Level 1. As the game marches on, Tear (the fairy loan shark tasked with helping Recette pay back the debt) watches over your every step, and we gradually get to see more layers to her unveiled.

It takes a rather unique approach among RPGs, of course. Much of your gameplay consists of buying and stocking merchandise to sell to adventurers, instead of being an adventurer on an epic quest. This rather tongue-in-cheek approach to the classic JRPG model is refreshing, and it makes for a fun take on the subject. It also makes for challenging gameplay, as eventually you have to balance all the little things which go into running a store. You have to keep track of customer preferences, to remember that those stingy little girls will love you forever if you give them selling prices near to the list price, or that the snobby rich girl is enough of a sucker to take goods at 140% of their base value.

The World of Recettear
If there's one thing I love about this game, it's the atmosphere. I know that some of you out there might have a dislike for the anime style, but I feel that it really truly works well here, especially being leveraged for the maximum cuteness level. It's sweet and likeable, bouncy and bright, rather like Recette herself. It's also an incredibly colorful style, just like the world found in the game. And by the way, it's a delightful example of memorable worldbuilding. The town which forms the basis of all the action in Recettear is populated by a great many distinct characters, and we meet them through brief cutscenes.

It's a method of storytelling that works well. You go to a location that's flashing (the cue for a cutscene), and you get a little scene with some of the characters in the world. It doesn't push forward an overall narrative, but rather has a sequence for each separate character thread. These little vignettes can range from the humorous (Charme the Lady Thief and her inebriated rambling in the Pub) to the heartwarming (Recettear thinking of Tear as a big sister) to the intriguing (hints at the backstory between the humans and the Fae), and they really help to flesh and pad out the game.

Thankfully, once the game ends, you get the option to continue playing in "Endless Mode", so that you can continue to unlock bits of story. There's plenty of stuff I have yet to run across, and the narrative explorer in me is intrigued. There's an entire character I have yet to really meet.

A Little Dungeon-Crawling
Recettear still does dip into dungeon-delving, because you can hire out adventurers to go delving for ingredients to make magic items with. This portion of the game is good and solid. It begins as remarkably difficult, and you have to watch your every step. Especially with those evil slimes. Eventually, especially when you sell better equipment to your chosen adventurer during the shop portion of the game, you can become enormously powerful, braving those critters with impunity.

The roster of adventurers is rife with variety: Louie the slow but reliable fighter, Charme the swift but fragile rogue, Caillou the frail but powerful mage, and quite a few others. In a rather brilliant stroke, the game makes you meet each adventurer, interacting with them before they let you hire them out. After working for that adventurer, you've got a good handle on just who they are.

The dungeon-crawling is optional, but I solidly recommend it as a part of the Recettear experience. The environments are rather cleverly designed, visually. Every dungeon is randomly composed out of the same basic components (square rooms and narrow halls), but the designers make each dungeon look different. One level is tunnels underground, while another is played out in Lothlorien-esque platforms and tree branches.

In Short...
Get the game. If you still aren't sure that it's your cup of tea, there's a very easy fix. At Carpe Fulgur's website, you can download what is probably the most extensive demo in existence. You get to play through an entire week of the game (the first week), with no other limits. You can play it through as many times as you want, save multiple games, and have all game features unlocked. It's almost a complete game in itself, and it's great as a glimpse of the foundations of Recettear. It keeps getting better from there.

Of course, now I'm headed off to work on stuff, including Paper Empires. Though I've also got an empire to steamroll over the world with in Civilization IV: Orbis (a mod of the Fall From Heaven II mod for Civ IV), and I've been playing Team Fortress 2 at night...which is great chaotic fun.

Gaming, ho!

The Only Cure is MOAR ROBOTS!

A review of Mecha RPG.
My previous post on the Quickstart Rules.
Mecha RPG is published by a house called Heroic Journey, who also did Bounty Head Bebop, an action RPG which took a lot of inspiration from a certain science fiction anime.

Metal and flesh live and die as one
Well, happy birthday to me! (For real, actually) It's time to review the PDF version of Mecha RPG, available at the above RPGNow link. I'd like to say, first and foremost, that this looks like a fantastic system to game with, particularly for fans of the mecha anime genre. It's possibly one of the best thought-out RPGs that I've seen in some time. It hits a sweet spot between rules and description, being a bit more "rules-lite" than most systems, but having enough rules to make an enjoyable game. It's also a very flexible system, because of this.

Mecha RPG, to summarize, is all about emulating the Mecha genre of anime. Big robots, big stories, serious may be more or less present, depending on if you're talking Gundam or Super Robot Wars. The rules in this game allow you to do it all, by providing a loose framework that still contains enough game on its own to support the roleplaying. It's a fantastic match that still carries the theme while allowing for setting and story flexibility. You could run a steampunk game with giant clanks, a game of mortals riding primordial elemental golems, or a science fiction life-or-death struggle over resources on an asteroid, featuring biomechanical powersuits...and the system would fit.

Presentation
In my opinion, there's one or two slip-ups here and there, design-wise. I'm not a big fan of the table of contents, but it does do its job. I'm not sure why, but the font can also be a tad hard to read at times. The overall design of the book, though, is good. It uses a two-column format, with a simple design aesthetic. The two-tone header and footer do a great job of giving a subtle "tech" feel, as does the choice of header font. Tables are also well-placed. The game art comes in a few different styles, but is all well-done. Diagrams are used to simplify the concept of the "bullseye battlemap", the abstract system used for combat depiction, and character portraits are sprinkled about the three settings provided with the book.

The rules are intuitively structured, as well. They begin with a section on character creation, saving the game rules details until later. Following that is a basic outline of the game rules, then the structure of play, and finally an extensive section about combat. After that comes a few miscellaneous rules, including the rules for advancement, and then the section for the GM. I'll speak more on this later, but it's one of my favorite parts of the book. Finally, Mecha ends by outlining three different settings: Revolution Deity Godblind (a blend of science fiction and mythology), Steel Gunner (a science-fiction series in the middle of a war), and Special Research School (a high school where everyone has a mecha...oh, and mecha football).

The Rules
There's not much I can add to what I've said earlier on the Mecha rules. Using a simple dice pool system, Mecha delivers quick, snappy action. What I'm also very impressed with is the non-combat mechanics. Mecha suggests a very freeform approach to roleplaying, but it doesn't remove the rules. Roleplaying nets you specific advantages in the big fight for each episode, as well as moving the plot along. Those specific advantages are what the rules determine. Mecha knows where the rules belong, and it uses that to its advantage.

The play structure is perhaps my favorite part. Like a series might do, the game instructs GMs to give each player their own scene in turn, concluding in a scene for the GM, and then the episode-concluding fight scene. It goes on, however, to suggest that many players will want to combine scenes, and it encourages this as well. The play structure is well-suited to the medium, and it's a great framework to keep the plot moving.

The GM Section
I felt like this section deserved its own part of the review, simply because I was so impressed. One of the best parts is that the GM also receives advice outside of his section, such as the advice given to players for roleplaying outside of their set scene. Where this shines, however, is in the GM advice section. Simply put, there's been a lot of thought and work put into it. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot.

For those who have little familiarity with the genre, the book devotes a full three and a half pages to explaining the theme, structure, and common tropes of mecha anime. In very helpful detail, it gives lists and a very structured explanation of how these shows tick. Following that, there's seven and a half pages of discussion regarding how to run a game, covering a huge amount of topics, from "How to Start a Fight" to "How Did the Characters Meet?", a section complete with random rolling charts.

This section, which has been described as one generated from personal experience, has a very personal and instructive touch, and covers many bases that a GM might otherwise overlook. In eleven pages, the book provides a concise yet thorough help that will be invaluable to anyone wanting to run a game of Mecha. Combined with the rules system, it's a critical success.

The Settings
I couldn't let this review go by without talking about the settings given. Mecha RPG outlines three different settings, giving a concise feel to the world, as well as to the major antagonists and players on the scene. Then, for each one, it lists basic rules and special rules. Finally, it gives the GM advice on how to tell a story in the setting, using "Story Stages" to outline a potential progression of events in the world, allowing the GM to drop players in at any point.

Revolution Deity Godblind is a dystopian sci-fi fantasy setting, where humanity dwells in the Living City, ruled by the enigmatic and tyrannical "Seven gods". The techpunk elements are well-done, and this setting promises a good number of interesting questions, although it's not as fleshed-out as the others.

Steel Gunner Destiny Tomorrow is a science-fiction setting about a civil war within a solar system, about rebels against an empire. This isn't the cut-and-dry Rebel Alliance versus Evil Empire, however. The lines of good and bad don't really extend to the individual soldiers fighting in the war, and that's where the nuances lie. Dragging in supernatural elements, the setting promises to make an intriguing story.

Special Research School is nothing but fun, a setting focusing on a high school with mecha. Students pilot their own mecha, and can partake in activities like mecha football and non-mecha school dances. The high school is quite fleshed-out, and written with a lovely tongue-in-cheek tone at times. The cast of the high school is greatly colorful.

In Summation
Mecha RPG gets two big thumbs up from me. The system is flexible but flavorful, and the GM Prep section is fabulous. I would not hesitate to recommend Mecha RPG to anyone looking for their giant robot fix, or for an RPG experience unlike most.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review: Dominion--a really fun card game

So, now that the semester's over, it's time for some...well...time to shift gears for me, which includes now having time to blog again! Having some free time to myself, I had the unexpected opportunity to play a game called Dominion. After only two games of it, I'm incredibly impressed by not only the pacing but the strategy of the game.

The Overview
When it comes down to it, Dominion is a sort of CCG (Collectible Card Game), but with a unique twist. In Dominion, each player builds their deck during gameplay, from a common pool of cards of many different types. There are 25 different kinds of action cards (called "kingdom" cards), and each game features 10 of those cards, each with their own stack to pull from. Each card changes the rules of the game, and has a specific cost. Along with the action cards are money cards (used to buy things) and point cards (all point cards in your deck are scored at the end of the game).

On your turn, you already have five cards in hand. You have one action to take, and one purchase to make, although some cards can increase those numbers, such as the incredibly powerful Village card (lets you draw a card and take two more actions). You can purchase additional money cards, additional kingdom cards, or additional point cards, placing all purchased cards in the discard pile. When you end your turn, you discard your hand and draw five more cards.

Cycling Like the Tour de France
"Wait!" you may say. "Discard them? What kind of game is this, will all that discarding?"

The answer lies in what is perhaps the strongest mechanic of the game: its heavy emphasis on card cycling. When you run out of cards in your draw deck, you shuffle the discard pile, and then reconstitute your deck from that. In other words, even though you're discarding any cards you buy, and you're discarding your hand, you can expect to see those cards soon. Because you're drawing five new cards every turn (and then discarding them all, decks will cycle quickly, especially when you throw in card-drawing actions and actions which discard cards from your deck.

This is a beautiful aspect of the game. The feel of burning through your deck again and again is one of the funnest parts of it. It's great to get to the end of your deck, and to shuffle your deck, which has by now grown a little from your purchases. Cycle well, and you'll keep getting the cards you need.

Other Cool Stuff
This is also one of the few games which elegantly balances the question of victory points. Here, victory points help you win in the end: whoever has the most of them wins. Unfortunately, victory points also take up space in the deck, and do nothing. So, if you want more victory points, your actions will also be limited, and you'll risk being outpaced by people who generate more money, and are able to quickly buy cards worth lots of victory points.

Player interaction here is not as obvious, with the exception of a few fun cards like the Bureaucrat, but it's still there, particularly because all of the players are competing over limited resources--and when three of the 10 Kingdom Card piles have been depleted, the game ends (alternatively, when the Provinces, victory cards worth 6 points each, are gone). What strikes me as the most interesting is how each player dynamically builds their deck to respond to the other players' decks. Instead of independently built decks clashing against one another, the decks are heavily interwoven.

It Looks Pretty, Too
What can I say? The game is also very well visually designed. The template on the different cards is actually quite similar...but the colors are remarkably different. Victory points are green, money is yellow, and events are gray, except for the single defensive event (Moat), which is appropriately blue. This lets you on a glance gauge the state of your hand, balancing it between actions (which do stuff, but which can't always be done), money (which you need to buy stuff) and points (which are worthless in your hand).

The instructions on the cards are very simple to read, combining symbols with keywords, and the special abilities on each card are delineated differently enough to make it an easy read. Oh, and did I mention there's a pretty good bunch of art, too? The game just plain looks really nice.

In the End
I wanna play this game again. It rocks. Nothing more can really be said. Oh, and did I mention that it would make for an interesting combat mechanic?

Giant Robots! Dice! OVERDRIVE!

It was the other day that I was on RPGNow.com, browsing their free materials. Well, I stumbled across a little shiny thing. Something that's been at the back of my RPG mind is a system that properly emulates action anime. All that I've seen so far doesn't really deviate from the standard RPG model of "You have your core stats, they govern how good your character is, and you have skills and abilities." In other words, the only thing anime about the system is the setting. You could port the system over to any other setting, and it might even fit better.

Then I found MECHA: the RPG.

It's only in quickstart form, since the full game is coming out sometime in the future. But so far, it's a lovely piece of work. The system melds together the conventions of mecha anime, a brand of Japanese animation about giant robots that get piloted by people. It's fun. And crazy awesome. This system does a really good job of emulating it, too.

Core Mechanic
The simple mechanic of task resolution is elegantly simple: your core attribute determines a dice pool (of d6s) that you roll. There's also a related skill. Any dice you roll beneath or equal to the level of the skill are successes. So, you have both the base attribute and the related skill interacting in a clean, simple way. I like it, like it a lot. The fact that the core mechanic is so snappy and clean, with very little math involved, is something which lends well to the anime feel.

There's also Overdrive, which can be earned on any roll where you score at least 5 successes. Overdrive is the "crank it up" resource to give characters more oomph. On top of Overdrive is the possibility of a Cut Scene: when you roll at least 8 successes, a rare happening, you get what I can only define as a "Crowning Moment of Awesome". You get an extra action, and it's your character's moment of Cool.

Gameplay Structure
What also intrigues me is the structure itself of a gameplay session. As they explain, you play games as collections of "episodes". Each episode is supposed to take half an hour. That's right. Half an hour. Just like an animated show on TV. This also means that you can pile lots of episodes into one night of gaming, or keep it short and play a couple.

The other cool thing is that each episode is divided into Personal Scenes and Conflict. In the first half of an episode, characters get Personal Scenes, aka character interaction and development scenes, which give benefits that come in handy for the second half. That's when you bust out the mecha, and sock it out. It's a nice back-and-forth of character and action that I think works quite well...and it's very true to the genre.

Combat
This is the real meat and potatoes of the genre, it's all about mecha blasting each other and beating each other up. In a nutshell: giant robots + explosions = win. Think Transformers, but with smaller robots, and with way better human interaction. Combat is streamlined and fluid, using the same attribute + skill mechanics as the rest of the game. Damage is another nice point: you take one point of damage for a successful attack, and you have to make a "Stability Roll" against the damage you've taken, or else become incapacitated. Tacked on to damage is knockback, which is very important in the course of combat.

Combat here is a bit of a maneuvering game. Using a "Bullseye" map, the system abstracts location and movement, making combat into a tactical game rather than a simulation. Given the somewhat abstract nature of location in anime combat, along with the high mobility of mecha, this works really well. The aim of both sides is to capture an "objective", located in one sector of the bullseye. So, this is going to be a big game of "hit and knock around the enemy". Bash and smash, with tactical maneuvering. I like the sound of this.

What I Haven't Seen
There's one little bit of the game that I have yet to see, and that's social conflict, character conflict. There's nothing about it in the quickstart, and it's unclear if it'll be included in the full rules. I'm going to assume you could work something together using Personal Scenes (more specifically, social scenes), though. RPGs like Mouse Guard could offer some very valuable insight into how to stat together conflicts like this.

In conclusion, though, this system looks to be very good. Check out the free quickstart rules at RPGNow.com (*points up to link*)...since it's free, it can't hurt. ;)