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Leverage Roleplaying Game
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$14.99 |
| Average Rating:4.7 / 5 |
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Pulse para agrandar |
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I rave about this game every chance I get. I'm getting ready to run a game at a large event, as well as starting up my second campaign season. Starting out as an expert in your field, rather than a level 1 fighter with a crappy sword has a lot of appeal. The rules are easy for players to pick up and complex enough to give the Fixer (GM) many opportunities to challenge the players.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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To get things straight off my chest, I'm a huge fan of Leverage the TV show, and a hardened RPGer. However I'm not much of a fan of the Cortex system, I have The Cortex main rules and the Serenity game but really I think the Savage World system is better. This game has changed my view of the Cortex system, all the stuff I never really liked has been stripped away and we have a lean, mean system that reflects the TV show very well.
The system has been modded to perfectly emulate the concept of a crew pulling heists. Plot Points which I never thought were covered in enough detail in previous games, get more detail and involve the players more.
Attributes range from d4 (bad) to d12 (amazing), as do the five skills (yes five skills! Leverage breaks a crew into 5 specialists and the game follows suit). Everything is kept lean yet there is still plenty of dice rolling to stop your hands from getting bored.
MW have also produced plenty of supplements to expand characters and also provide much needed campaigns to get a Gm started, all I of which I can recommend.
My advice, get your players to watch a few episodes first, let then them go rob some bad guys.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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I discovered the 'Leverage' television show through the roleplaying game and as a matter of due diligence thought I should watch a few episode to understand the context, mood and feel of the game. Now, after digesting four seasons, it's time to come back to the RPG. In many cases, it is impossible to fully appreciate an RPG based on an intellectual property with only one of the two creative outputs - and 'Leverage' is no exception. I think that without an appreciation for the television show, you'll find it very difficult to grapple with some of the storytelling tools presented.
From the outset, I had high hopes for the game. I own 'Serenity' and 'Smallville' and have taken enthusiastically to not only the Cortex system, but the underlying philosophy of MWP's game design. Their games are designed to be played as a team, co-operatively, with fun being explicitly the responsibility of everyone at the table. Players are encouraged to identify when scenes allow others to shine, and to help everyone at the table achieve their full potential. 'Leverage' mentions in the character creation section that should players chose to create characters in isolation, the game will feel more like a group of 'prison inmates' than a team game; and I couldn't agree more.
Anyone familiar with Cortex will have few surprises along the way - although it leans more to the simplicity of 'Serenity' than the more complex 'Smallville'. Players select one character archetype - Mastermind, Grifter, Hitter, Thief or Hacker (each archetype embodied on the screen each week) and then assigning dice types to each to determine priority. There are the usual Assets, Distinctions, Talents and the like which round out the character and it does appear to be quite simple to design and make a character. However, as there isn't a static list of traits (with the exception of Distinctions) players are encouraged to design descriptive traits for their character.
The balance comes in with the sidebar explaining that all traits should have a negative and positive side - and the other players and the Fixer (the name given to the GM) should determine if they are unbalanced or too broad. For example, in the TV show Nate (the resident Mastermind) has the trait 'Drunk'. Whilst this does have very negative connotations, it does mean that Nate could use the trait to assist in the roll to impersonate a drunk, or even name exotic alcoholic beverages. On the flipside, the Fixer could use it as a temptation to derail Nate whilst on a job.
Plot Points are included here too, and make for an interesting interplay between Fixer and players - essentially giving characters a kick-back when something bad is invoked against them, and then being able to be spent on certain perks during the game. Character advancement is relatively simple, with characters spending 'Jobs' (ie, one story) to purchase advances. Conversely, a character can simple leave the log of Jobs on their character sheet. By doing so, they can call into play experiences from previous jobs to give them either a boosted roll, or an attempted one, if they have an relevant experience. For example, if a character needed to ski down a mountain slope during one Job, they could recall the experience in a later Job to either give them an extra dice in the roll, or (if they don;t have a relevant skill) invoke it to get a roll.
Running this game will require a good working knowledge of the structure of an episode of the television show, as I mentioned before. The players and the Fixer are expected, during the game, to look for Flashback Scenes that can be used to wrap up the Job, or progress it. An example might be a scene where a character rifles through the Marks' desk drawer, and finds a gun and some paperwork. They might photocopy the paperwork whilst playing the scene, but during a Flashback Scene state that they also emptied the gun of bullets. When the Mark is waving his pistol at the team, the player announces the Flashback Scene to frame the action of pulling the six rounds out of the jacket pocket as a frustrated Mark tries to fire an empty gun. I would imagine that this aspect of the game will take a little time before it is run smoothly by all at the table. The main piece of advice that I'd give here is that the mechanic is present to advance the story and make for some really cool scenes - it is not designed as a carte blanche 'auto-win' and should be never used as such.
Overall, I loved the game and look forward to putting together my first Job. As my group have the knack of turning any game into one about teams, this will suit them perfectly. There is plenty of advice for the aspiring Fixer (being a Shadowrun fan, I'm looking forward to actually being called a Fixer), including a wide range of random tables for generating Marks' attributes, motivations and the reason for the Job. I have since noticed that MWP have produced an introductory module ('The Quickstart Job' at $1.99) and I'll definitely be investing in it to give me an example Job before I start to design my own. Given the pricing of 'The Quickstart Job' I'd consider it a no-brainer.
This leads me to my only gripe and that is the lack of the near-ubiquitous 'module in the back of the book' that we see with most core rulebooks. MWP did an excellent job of including one in the recent 'Marvel Superheroes RPG' which set the tone well, and helped to introduce players and GMs alike to the game. 'Leverage' would have benefited from this too.
The writing style is very light, is conversational in tone and does a great job in explaining all of the concepts on the first pass. All of the art is taken from the television show, and is used quite sensibly - it is always apparent why a particular still was used on a given page. I've printed out my PDF copy, and on greyscale it was not a great drain on my ink cartridge.
Despite the lack of intro module, I'll still give this five stars. From the group approach to making characters, the high-end narrative style of the game, and the fact that it forces all characters into the limelight at least once per Job makes this a winner. I can imagine in the near future that my group will be enjoying a 'Leverage' marathon on our DVDs, followed by a really fun game. I can't wait to see what more this product line has in store, and this type of product constantly reaffirms MWP as a high-quality publisher of gaming titles.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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While heist stories really aren't my thing, I wanted to see what Cortex Plus could do on the action side of things.
The game is solid. Each character is based on a combination of Traits (think Abilities in typical fantasy games) and Roles (how good they are at the different jobs in the team). This is a little too much like classes for my tastes, but it works here and they have some great discussion on how a character fits into a team with different mixes of Roles.
There are two things about this game that really shine, to me. The first is the Recruitment Job. It takes place at the end of character creation and is meant to help build the characters, who have been individuals until this point, into a working team. Each character gets a moment to shine and all the other players get to witness that.
The second part is the Experience system. I absolutely love the way it's done, here. Each job gets a title and that title is listed on the "Record". During game sessions, a player can make a Callback to a specific job, having a quick flashback to a lesson learned and then explains how that lesson helps them get out of the predicament in which they find themselves. And it gives a bonus! And you can spend these jobs for permanent increases to your character! This is actually my favorite part of the system.
If you like Heist stories, I suggest you give this game a shot. It's solid and looks like it really supports what a Heist is about.
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Ok, Leverage is basically a mix of spy-fiction and crime-drama (from the criminal's perspective), basically Robin Hood in a modern setting.
The Cortex system works with a mix of simplicity and complexity. The dice rolls and rules are simple and fun, though the character creation takes longer than I'd like, and if someone's gone from the group or joins the group later you'd better have a pre-made character or a lot of time (and maybe cell phones, though most people already have those).
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The Good: It's Leverage. Like, almost to a "T"...and if Smallville was too "indie" for you, this one is a bit more traditional.
The Bad: A couple of wonky and borderline contradictory spots in the writing. The lack of index is going to suck on the print product, but isn't a huge issue for the PDF.
For a full review, please visit: http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2010/11/tommys-take-o
n-leverage-roleplaying.html
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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