Last year for our birthdays Rumi and I got a gift certificate for Uncles Games. We were lazy and didnt actually spend it until early this year. What we chose was a theme heavy game: A Touch of Evil.
Ever since Liberty or Death for the Super Nintendo I have been very interested in the American Revolution. I have read books and watched shows related to it whenever possible. We had a few other choices, but I was pleased when this game was our choice.
This game takes a lot from other similar games. Some portions of the mechanics are almost completely stolen from Arkham Horror. It comes with a soundtrack, which is a Flying Frog trademark. Yet, in many ways it is its own game.
Where it really shines is in the presentation. The box and components are all top quality. The art, while a little cheesy, is very consistent and does an excellent job of portraying the mood. The cards also do an excellent job of telling a story.
What the game doesnt do, is play very well mechanically.
Rolling for movement comes off as arbitrary. The cards are quite numerous, which also lends to the luck factor. Combat is just dice rolling as well. If there are too many players it can really drag.
But if you can get in to the mood, it can be fun. Every time we have played I keep seeing a great game living just below the surface.
The Good: The look. Man, it looks good and consistent.
The story. The game does a good job of telling a story. Stuff fits together and makes an interesting plot.
The Bad: Length. It can take forever to play.
Strategy. There is little.
Luck. The game is very arbitrary.
The verdict. If you like theme laden games, its a great one to have, especially in the horror theme.
Homebrew: During our last session we tried a variant where we allowed everyone to move up to 6 spaces on their turn instead of rolling the dice. Anything that increases movement still works, so the drifter can move up to 8. This reduced the game length and increased the fun (and strategy) dramatically. It made a huge difference for us.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
One Week Later
Its been over a week since I last wrote, partially because of my Long Beach vacation. It was good, though there certainly could have been more gaming on my gaming vacation. On the bright side, we did play some new games like Mr. Jack.
But that will not be todays review. So far I have done mostly board game reviews, its time to again delve into RPGs. Todays subject: Deadlands.
In the beginning, Deadlands was a surprise Shane Lacy Hensley pulled on his friends, who thought they were going to play in a historical game, but after they all 'unluckily' died in the same battle, they found themselves the recipients of unlife.
And so, the weird west was born.
I have a love hate relationship with the setting. I really enjoy immersing myself a setting, yet I find it hard to relate to something that finds a way to try and be as crazy in all respects as possible. Lets not just have the undead. How about throwing in a host of crazy monsters, magical rock powered steampunk and magic powered by beings from another dimension?
I ran a Deadlands campaign last year, and it was one of the best games I have ever run. Yet, to do so required a careful attention to the world, and moving the setting backward in time a couple of years. For my taste I had to minimize the steampunk aspect and concentrate on the horror. Not only that, but the horror was just below the surface, the kind of things rumors were made of. No sane person admits to its existence.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
The system itself is pretty good. Characters are made by drawing cards and using them to assign numbers to a collection of stats. These each had dice (d4-d12) assigned to them and a number of each from 1-4. Each action has a target number, generally from 3-11, and the appropriate dice are rolled, highest number determining success or failure.
In the game as written, it works pretty well. As long as everyone plays old west guys who shoot people with guns. As soon as you get a brawny guy with d12 strength and a sabre, things go all to hell.
Why you ask? Well, a good rifle does 3d8 (keeping all dice). That aforementioned sabredude rolls a collection of d12s for strength, keeping the highest, then 2d8 for the sabre, keeping both. This is added for damage. Its pretty easy to do a lot more with a melee weapon than a gun.
Outside of that, the system works fast and fun. The initiative system, using cards and counting down, is good. The skills are decent and there is a good collection of edges and hindrances.
What really makes the system shine are the chips. Each character earns them through play, and they can be used to reroll, cancel damage or roll a new die and add it to the last. This allows the GM to go all out with the danger, and still have little chance of character death. They can spend their chips to save themselves. Players get to experience danger, yet without a bunch of messy damage that somehow miraculously heals after 3 days.
The good: Old west settings are fun.
The chips. They can be as flexible as you, the GM, are creative.
Character creation. Its fun to draw cards and assign them.
The bad: Character creation. Drawing cards often leads to overpowered characters.
Melee combat. As previously mentioned.
The verdict. Read it, try it. Savage Worlds is based on it, but has somehow lost a lot of its soul. Deadlands is an excellent game in many respects, but its also a fragile one. Be ready when you use it.
But that will not be todays review. So far I have done mostly board game reviews, its time to again delve into RPGs. Todays subject: Deadlands.
In the beginning, Deadlands was a surprise Shane Lacy Hensley pulled on his friends, who thought they were going to play in a historical game, but after they all 'unluckily' died in the same battle, they found themselves the recipients of unlife.
And so, the weird west was born.
I have a love hate relationship with the setting. I really enjoy immersing myself a setting, yet I find it hard to relate to something that finds a way to try and be as crazy in all respects as possible. Lets not just have the undead. How about throwing in a host of crazy monsters, magical rock powered steampunk and magic powered by beings from another dimension?
I ran a Deadlands campaign last year, and it was one of the best games I have ever run. Yet, to do so required a careful attention to the world, and moving the setting backward in time a couple of years. For my taste I had to minimize the steampunk aspect and concentrate on the horror. Not only that, but the horror was just below the surface, the kind of things rumors were made of. No sane person admits to its existence.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
The system itself is pretty good. Characters are made by drawing cards and using them to assign numbers to a collection of stats. These each had dice (d4-d12) assigned to them and a number of each from 1-4. Each action has a target number, generally from 3-11, and the appropriate dice are rolled, highest number determining success or failure.
In the game as written, it works pretty well. As long as everyone plays old west guys who shoot people with guns. As soon as you get a brawny guy with d12 strength and a sabre, things go all to hell.
Why you ask? Well, a good rifle does 3d8 (keeping all dice). That aforementioned sabredude rolls a collection of d12s for strength, keeping the highest, then 2d8 for the sabre, keeping both. This is added for damage. Its pretty easy to do a lot more with a melee weapon than a gun.
Outside of that, the system works fast and fun. The initiative system, using cards and counting down, is good. The skills are decent and there is a good collection of edges and hindrances.
What really makes the system shine are the chips. Each character earns them through play, and they can be used to reroll, cancel damage or roll a new die and add it to the last. This allows the GM to go all out with the danger, and still have little chance of character death. They can spend their chips to save themselves. Players get to experience danger, yet without a bunch of messy damage that somehow miraculously heals after 3 days.
The good: Old west settings are fun.
The chips. They can be as flexible as you, the GM, are creative.
Character creation. Its fun to draw cards and assign them.
The bad: Character creation. Drawing cards often leads to overpowered characters.
Melee combat. As previously mentioned.
The verdict. Read it, try it. Savage Worlds is based on it, but has somehow lost a lot of its soul. Deadlands is an excellent game in many respects, but its also a fragile one. Be ready when you use it.
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