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WHAP Deluxe Pulp Adventure System

~~$8.00~~ $5.50

Average Rating:1.8 / 5

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WHAP Deluxe Pulp Adventure System
Publisher: Peryton Publishing by Chet C. [Verified Purchaser]	Date Added: 07/11/2012 08:51:56

Have to agree. Poorly written and overpriced. Playable, barely, but why bother when there are so many alternatives which are superior? BRP, of course, comes to mind, but there have been so many GOOD pulp RPGs, why bother with such a weak entry? At best, incomplete and hacked out over a weekend. This has been scrubbed from my tablet.

Rating:

[1 of 5 Stars!]

WHAP Deluxe Pulp Adventure System
Publisher: Peryton Publishing by Eric A. [Verified Purchaser]	Date Added: 05/14/2010 10:32:57

Full Disclosure: I am a long-distance friend of the Peryton Publishing crowd. While I may have a little personal bias, my correspondence with Tom developed originally from my playing this game at Gen Con (2009) and enjoying it, so I think I can still offer a fair review.

WHAP's mechanics are based mostly on primary attributes that you roll randomly and "inherent skills" derived from combinations of the primary attributes. The core mechanic is to roll against a target number by adding one of these attributes or inherent skills to a pair of dice (six sided - this is all six-siders). There are also perks, secondary skills, "and whatnot" mentioned to flesh out the character, but not much is said about this beyond a page of instructions and one example. The concept is explained clearly enough, but I'd like to see a little more detail for guidance. The business of cobbling together the inherent skills seemed strange to me at first, having never played a game that does this, but in actual play the math is already done and the derived stats make everything relevant in a fun, unobtrusive way.

The game is full of little touches that you might not notice until you start playing it. For example, you might see that a weapon has a 3d+2d damage rating. Why not just say 5d? Because the ASTRO rule lets you keep going if you roll all the same. This gives you a situation where some weapons usually do a fairly typical amount of damage, but then have an increased potential to be surprisingly deadly. The authors would probably have done well to toot their own horn on things like this, but I guess if it works at the table that's all you need.

WHAP loses one star because, like I said, there are spots where it could use more hand-holding and cheerleading to get new readers excited about the rules. It's still a very nice package with good rules and a lot of pulpy attitude and I can tell you from experience both as a player and later as a GM that, in actual play, it delivers.

Rating:

[4 of 5 Stars!]

WHAP Deluxe Pulp Adventure System
Publisher: Peryton Publishing by Hamilton R. [Verified Purchaser]	Date Added: 05/12/2010 22:05:35

WHAP is a bare-bones, almost no "flesh" quasi-ruleset for playing pulp action adventures that would date from the 1860s to the 1930s. This is a short, 50 page book that is severely over-priced. When I downloaded the product, it didn't even come with the cover (seen here). I don't know if the PDF is only a part of the printed work, or if it is, in fact, the whole enchilada. Whatever it is, this game feels like it is unfinished and headed on the wrong track, mechanics-wise.

RATINGS: Is it ...
1) Straight-forward? Yes, but that's done by accident - not design. There isn't enough typing, background info, explanation, or story-line present to cause any kind of deviation from the subject.
2) Easy to Teach? No: this game uses formulas of addition, mixing and matching abilities / attributes, to produce calculated secondary attributes. This method is not "going the extra mile"; it's "going in the wrong direction".
3) Easy to Play? Not really: the results are gleaned after reading formulas - not after reading dice or reading the GM's reaction.
4) Appealing? Yes, the idea is appealing, and the cover art seems promising (on the computer, reduced in size). However, close examination and reading the rules will kill any pre-conceived joy.
5) Functional or Creative? Neither: in my opinion, this game, this game book, this rule set is not finished. It's not even out of the gate.

I am not happy with this purchase. Peryton Publishing needs to drop back and punt on WHAP ... or, send it to the side-lines for good.

Rating:

[1 of 5 Stars!]

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