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Pros: Slasher Flick brought to full color. with tons of new bonus features including 100 pregens and a full "film".
Cons: No bookmarks, less than impressive table of contents and index.
Check out my review at: http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2010/09/tommys-take-o
n-slasher-flick-directors.html
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Slasher Flick is a rules-light roleplaying game meant to emulate this horror film subgenre. The Director’s Cut is a nicely formatted version of the original rulebook, with some bonus material.
The rulebook is 170 pages and a pretty quick read, with good writing and organization. There’s occasional almost cartoonish art and lots of sidebars giving hints and rules advice. The pdf is not bookmarked, and there is a smattering of typos throughout.
The system is very streamlined and meant for fast play. Each character has four attributes (Brawn, Finesse, Brains, and Spirit) associated with a die size (d6, d8, d10). Task resolution requires rolling four of the appropriate dice; success requires matching numbers. Characters also have qualities that grant or take away situational extra dice, and the GM can also add/remove dice based on the task’s difficulty.
There are several innovative mechanics to emulate the slasher genre. First, players have both primary and secondary characters. The latter are less developed and die early and often. Second, players get “genre points” when their characters do something appropriate to the slasher flick genre – including death. These act like action points in other games.
Third, the killer is not treated as a normal character but more as an element of the story. He (or she) has no attributes. Each player’s goal is to accumulate 8 survival points during a “kill scene” by making appropriate checks – fall to zero and the character dies. A killer is very difficult to defeat, and the expectation that only one or two characters will survive is literally built into the game.
The rules are very brief, so there’s lots of additional material, including an enjoyable analysis of the tropes and plots of slasher flicks. There’s very useful advice for convincing players to go along with the genre and a long section for GMs on creating and running stories. There is a complete adventure (although I found it a confusing one). Finally, the Appendix presents a host of character templates – like “Brash Punk Rocker” and “Curious Archaeologist” – that are ready to use out of the box.
The creators of Slasher Flick set themselves a difficult task, to emulate a genre in which almost all the characters are meant to do stupid things and die. There are a lot of clever ideas in here for making it work. Nevertheless, the game forces you to stick pretty close to the tropes in a somewhat heavy-handed way, and there’s a bit of a sense of railroading there.
Overall, I think the unusual mechanics and structure would be fun for a one shot or two (especially a campy one), but – like the films themselves, at least to me – there’s little room for variation in the plots, so it wouldn’t sustain a long-term game. I did especially enjoy the advice and analysis of slasher flicks, so it is definitely a good read.
Note: I received a free review copy (in pdf form) of this title through DriveThruRPG.com.
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Quick. Easy. and Free. Exactly how I like demos. This is a great introduction to the great Cartoon Action Hour Season 2 game. You can play this demo as soon as you get it and know almost everything you need to know about the game.
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o a while back I picked up a game I had been wanting for a while; Cartoon Action Hour. I had heard a lot about it, how it was perfect for umlauting cartoons like G.I. Joe and Transformers and even He-Man and Thundaar. Well I'll be honest, I didn't watch many of those cartoons as a kid. I know of them, yes, and I watched episodes here and there, but my preferences were running much more to fantasy and slowly into horror and cartoons were not a good source for that then. But I wanted to get this game to see what the big deal was and to see if it could in fact do all these different kinds of stories. So I bought it.
Well. It lived up to the hype.
Cartoon Action Hour: Season Two (CAH:S2) is an updated version of the earlier Cartoon Action Hour. You don't need the first game obviously to play this one, but it does come with conversion notes. Both were written by Cynthia Celeste Miller of Spectrum Games, a name that often comes up when people talk about Genre Emulation and Indie Games. Her other efforts were "Slasher Flick" and "Wild West Cinema", both games I also know of, but don't (yet) own, and like CAH, both come highly recommended. In addition to doing the writing for this game she also did all the layout, and she is also a drummer in a metal band, Slaygound. That is pretty cool if you ask me.
CAH is divided into "Channels" and not Chapters or Sections. Clever huh. Channel 1 (which we didn't have in the 80's but that is ok) is the obligatory "What is role-playing" and a definition of the cartons we will emulating; the Retro-Toon. The book goes one to explain why the Retro-Toon, and not say toons of the 90's and more. For example this game really focuses on the black and white morality of the toons of the age. G.I. Joe was good and Cobra was bad. End of discussion. While you certainly could play a bit more loose with the morality of the game (the He-Man episode "The Witch and the Warrior" comes to mind as one where evil may not be so evil. BTW also written by Paul Dinni. Mr. Dini and I will be in "witch-aholics anonymous" together one day. ) I would say don't. That is missing the allure and appeal of this game. Miller takes a bit of time and page space to break down why and how these toons worked the way they did and I think that it would be an injustice to run the game differently. Not to say your game can't be "dark", but this is not World of Darkness nor is it even Buffy.
Channel 1 ends with the best overview of 80's cartoons I have ever read. Frankly I'd love to see more of this, but this is fine as it is. Nearly worth the price of the PDF alone. Well….sorta, it is good, but we still have the whole book to read.
Channel 2 is about creating the series. This is an important step away from the normal Player make Character, GM makes World process of many games. In CAH:S2 everyone has to work together (see that!), so the GM makes the world first, with of course input from the players. Then when the world is defined the players can start on their characters. What does making a world, or a Series, in CAH:S2 mean? Well typically it means what sort of show are you going to do? Will this be soldiers fighting a multi-national terrorist organization? Robots from another planet? A hulking barbarian in world where magic and technology collide? All these are possible and there is even a "Character Sheet" for the series. I liked this sheet and I can see using it to plan out say a Buffy RPG or Supernatural season; it is flexible enough to use in any game. I love it when I get something like that. Once that is done and the tag line is created ("A Real American Hero!" or "More than Meets the Eye!") then it is time to create our stars.
Channel 3 is Character Creation. Character creation is a point buy system based on a number of "Proof of Purchase Points", with the amount allocated set by the GM when she makes the series. Guidelines are given. There are no set traits a character has. Players need to come up with a concept and then they build that into a list of traits ranked 1 to 5 (or so). So a "gigantic transforming robot" might have the following traits: "Robot 1, Transform 3, Plasma Gun 3" and then something that makes him unique "Leader of the Transbots, AF 4". This unique feature or features is called an "Action Feature" and it comes into play later. Think of G. I. Joe, Snake Eyes was the Ninja with a Sword so his Action Feature might be "Sword master, AF 5" since he never talked that is a negative trait "Never Speaks, X2". Miller does provide a list, but is very much against providing one. The purpose of the character creation is to find out what the character can do.
Channel 4 is Rules of Play and it is pretty simple, but good stuff. I want get into all of it since that has been covered elsewhere, but I like the "Setbacks" and the return from "Commercial Breaks"; again something I could see using in Buffy or one of the Anime RPGs I have reviewed. The dice mechanic is based on a d12, so nice to see it get some love. Roll a d12 add the appropriate trait and that is it. Sometimes there is a target number, sometimes there is a contested roll. The mechanic is not difficult. In fact I think the best way now to do "Animated Unisystem" is swap out the d10 for a d12. You can add "Oomph" to a roll like Drama Points, or you can have an issue with one of your "Sub plots". For the Snake Eyes example there is the issue with his former master and his arch rival.
The interesting thing about this is, it is on the same level as BESM 3.0 or even OVA. Use one to get ideas for the other, or combine them all for an Anime fueled 80's style retro-toon of mammoth quality.
Channel 5 is for Game Masters. It has all cool new rules and ideas for this game. How to run commercial breaks, sub plots, allies, hazards and threats.
Appendix 1 (dropping the style for a bit. Was UHF 1 too obscure?) We are given three complete series to run as our own with stars, enemies and even faux 80's television histories. "Warriors of the Cosmos" fills the Thundaar/He-Man void, "Strike Force Freedom" is the obvious nod to G.I. Joe and "Transbots" is about, well, Transforming Robots. With all the bases covered here (more or less) GMs should have not problem creating their own series.
What Else? Well there are conversions for Cartoon Action Hour 1. The bickering between the evil Kargorr and heroic Bravesteel is entertaining; very much in the vein of Space Ghost Coast to Coast I felt.
All in all this is a crazy fun game. Easy to learn and play. Some thought has to be put into the series and then the characters to get the full feel, but there are plenty of characters and series in the book. Plus this is a game that screams for splats. Do a series bible up, list some potential traits, add some ready to run characters with histories, put it all in a PDF and there you go. I am surprised with the flexibility of a game like this the Miller has not included some sort of Open License for it.
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As a long time player and game master of Boot Hill, a fan of Deadlands, and more recently, a fan of Aces and Eights, I have to give major kudos to Wild West Cinema. Spectrum Games has taken the Wild West genre and simplified it into a clean, fast engine with a cinematic style that puts you right in the middle of a Spaghetti Western. You'll almost be able to smell the thin coat of greasepaint that's turning caucasian actors into Indians, hear the annoyingly-goofy laugh of your side-kick with a silly name, and taste the harsh bite of homebrewed whiskey from the local saloon just before the rest is poured into your gunshot wound so the doc can sew you up. If you're sick of over-complicated mechanics trying to realistically portray the grit and grim of the Old West and just want to have a roarin' good time, I strongly recommend this game! One of the finest examples of what small press can produce.
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Initially, when I saw the preview of this game, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I kinda liked what I saw. Now that I have the actual game, I DO like what I see, though it could use some work.
Mechanically, this game closely resembles Feng Shui, with one negative and one positive dice being rolled, and their combined result being added to your ability, which in turn is compared to the difficulty or opposing ability. Pretty basic.
Overall, I'd say this game fits its intended genre pretty well. No real complaints when it comes to that. Mecahnically, too, it works pretty well. You could get a game running pretty quickly without much trouble.
My only real quibble involves the editing and art. Aside from the cover, which was pretty cool, the interior artwork was...well...uninspired. And the text could've used another round of spellchecks and grammar checks. There were many points while reading the game where I had to put the book down for a minute, remind myself that I wasn't an English teacher any longer, and went back to reading.
Still, overall, this was a good game.
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If Aces and Eights is the John Ford of tabletop westerns, Wild West Cinema is most certainly the Sergio Leone of the genre.
I swear, the dice rolling even has reverb!
Using the F.A.S.T. system, author Dave Bezio has bottled the cinematic western in a fun, easy-to-learn, and player-driven mechanic that is sure to please.
What most appeals to me is the flexibility and freedom Wild West Cinema offers. If I wanted, I could run large tables, small tables, or even one-on-one sessions with no worries whatsoever; the cinematic nature covers all bases.
Despite a few questionable game terms used (which, admittedly, is all a matter of opinion) Mr. Bezio manages to capture much of what I loved about westerns and gaming in the first place.
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For a preview, this doesn't really give you much...unless you happen to recognize the game system it closely resembles - FENG SHUI!
...and that is not a bad thing. If Spectrum Games can bring the magic to the old west that they brought to 80s cartoons, then consider me SOLD!
...did I mention I love the old Feng Shui game system? And Clint Eastwood? Combining the two can't go wrong.
Still, this is a short preview with little aside from the most basic of mechanics, so we will have to wait and see.
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"Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2, Going Japanese" is not the product that I had hoped it would be. Though it is filled with 43 pages of information (discounting the cover and title page), the information provided is dominated by series information. 34 pages of series information, the same amount of series information found in the core product.
Aside from the cover, title page and 34 pages of settings, there are nine pages of genre related information. Within those nine pages, I found only two mechanical twists to the core game: how character advancement may be modified and vehicle design rules. One is a paragraph long; the other is a sidebar.
If you are looking for an expansion filled with series information to inspire you, the supplement may work for you. However, I expected a little more proofreading and different content, such as alternative Bonuses or Restrictions, other uses for Oomph or a delineation of power scales that expands on what is found in "Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2."
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"Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2" is a well written role playing game. 58 pages of rules followed by 34 pages of three different settings and the remaining six pages are miscellaneous materials including a character sheet and conversion notes. I think the author did a remarkable job keeping the rules concise while still conveying the focus of the game.
Players use "Proof of Purchase Points" (effectively character points) to generate traits that best represent their character. To avoid paralysis, there is a variant rule that includes a focused method of character creation. The game mechanic is very simple and intuitive; there are two methods for resolving combat with an additional faster paced variant also included.
"Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2" is a complete, concise game. For those that prefer free-form traits over pre-defined character generation in a game system that can be condensed to 29 double-sided pages, this game is great!
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Pros: A lot of nice little options to add for a Giant Transforming Robots style game. Detailed breakdowns on making different kinds of GTRs, many of which went over my head as I've never been a big fan of the genre. Modifiers introduced to specifically facilitate such characters.
Cons: As a generic sourcebook, there's nothing to see here. The modifiers might be usable in another game, but they take up a single page, and $8 isn't worth one page.
Overview: If you like GTRs and CAH, buy this. If you don't like GTRs, there's nothing to see here. The supplement is pretty much what it says on the proverbial tin. $8 is a LITTLE steep for this book, since its really just 9 pages of content, but those 9 pages are pretty text heavy.
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Pros: Another affordable, optional mini supplement for CAH. Horror wasn't a huge deal in 80s cartoons, but present enough to warrant mentioning. This book covers the obvious (gore and death), while also providing a nice checklist of horror locations and suitable badguys. A Ghostbusters-but-not-really setting rounds the book out, and is incredibly useful because of the stat breakdowns over various monsters for use or inspiration in your own games.
Cons: Not much, really.
Overview: While the supplement does hit the common sense stuff again, the price is more than justified with the stat writeups for various monsters for use in eyeballing and making your own beasties in the game. The horror guidelines are very useful for getting the feel without crossing the line. Very nice product for CAH.
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Pros: An affordable mini-supplement that caters to subject matter that is wholly optional in Cartoon Action Hour. A nice, She-Ra-esque mini setting is included.
Cons: Nothing huge. The setting is mostly bare bones and the rules are common sense (no sex in the 80s cartoons, obviously).
Overall: Probably the most superfluous supplement I have read for Cartoon Action Hour. Not BAD, just really not necessary. I would have liked to have seen an expanded setting to properly compliment Warriors of the Cosmos from the main book.
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Pros: A fully realized \"movie\" adventure for Slasher Flick, if you want to run the game but don\'t feel comfortable making your own. A lot of nice little plot elements, and options for twisting the movie around to your pleasure, either because you don\'t care for the default, or because you would like to re use it.
Cons: Again, the art is a strike against it. My initial thoughts for Horror Island were higher before I read Bloodbath Hotel, which I feel eclipses it.
Overall: It is a nice adventure, feeling familiar without feeling like a complete ripoff of anything. That said, if you must buy just one Slasher Flick adventure, Bloodbath Hotel is the better of the two. However, if you like Slasher Flick and can buy both, this is still a worthy purchase.
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Quick overview: Optional rules for Slasher Flick. If you like Slasher Flick, well worth your $2. If you don't, then stay away. That simple, pretty much. As a $2 mini supplement for the game, however, its great, but hardly essential. I'm going middle of the road with this rating due entirely to the fact that its useless if you're not into Slasher Flick, and incredibly optional if you are. Very well written, though.
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