Review Roundup

[Tobias]

[PlotDevice]

Sedition!
Jackals & Hounds
Revolution

is all that is left without commitment... yes?

If I get time after finishing the 24 hour reviews I will give a go to one of them... but that is at best an infirm maybe...

[Emily Care]

I've got Jackals & Hounds downloaded & anticipate having some time on Friday to work on a review.

Only two more! Anyone for Sedition! or Revolution?

best,
Em

[adgboss]

I am looking at Sedition! as we speak.

Should have something by tomorrow or Friday onit.

Sean

[Emily Care]

Review of Jackals and Hounds, by Sean Hillman

Historical Period: Fourth Dynasty Egypt, 20th Century US, 27th Century Planet Narmer

Ingredients: Invincible (Hounds moniker "Invincible Children" ), Accuser (alien race in future setting), Companion (time-frame spanning companion or resource)

Rules Constraints: Custom cards (Hieroglyph cards)

****************************************************

In Jackals and Hounds, you take the role of immortal entities called Hounds which are time-transcending Personas that inhabit host Avatars in three time periods, ancient Egypt, contemporary US and a colonized planet in the distant future. The Hounds are highly evolved, sentient forms of the life energy of the universe fighting to bring humanity to enlightenment. They face their adversaries, the Jackals, who also span space and time, fighting over the fate of humanity in all three time periods concurrently. The GM plays the Jackals and other adversaries. The Hounds have allies called Companions--beings or objects that exist in all periods, that aid and assist them in their fight.

Each player controls one Hound Persona that inhabits three different Avatars, one in each time period. 18 points of Power and 30 Skill points are distributed to the Hound, split up among the different Avatars. When a conflict arises between characters, a Contest ensues. In a Contest, a four sided die is rolled and the value is added to an appropriate skill or power, and if a special ability from a card is available, that may be added too. Each d4 roll causes Fluctuations in the Hound's Power level in that time period, adding or subtracting from it based on the number rolled. The players may support one another in a Contest. The lead player involved is the Pharoah and the supporting players are Princes, adding values from a related skill or by sacrificing a point of Power in the same time frame. Scenes are introduced by the GM or by a player who "steals" the scene by introducing a new scene in a different time frame, giving a conflict to be resolved, and describing where the scene takes place and who is present. The number of scenes that go in favor of the Jackals or Hounds are tallied to create a Balance of Power, giving bonuses to the leading side.

Jackals and Hounds has many interesting ideas in it. The triple time stream is fascinating, and it is easy to imagine creating truly epic play interweaving between these periods. The three settings hold sufficient conflict and each have a contrasting flavor: the ancient egypt game is described with a fantasy feel, the contemporary setting for straight super play, and the future setting is science-fiction. There are many tantalizing loose ends, however, that need to be tied up in order for the game to be truly playable. What does the GM roll in a Test? More needs to be detailed about the creation of skills and abilities, and how they may be used interchangeably with power. How does an extended contest function? When is it determined to be resolved? How does it interact with the Pharoah/Prince rules? The scene framing suggestions would be better placed earlier in the rules. The GM advice hits on some important issues: how to be impartial when needed, yet also create appropriate adversity. These sections could be fleshed out. The cards are in process, of course.

Jackals and Hounds is a good beginning. There are some great concepts here that deserve to be developed. The mechanics need to be completed and tweeked, but seem the approach seems fine. I look forward to seeing what Sean does with it.

best,
Emily

[Emily Care]

[blankshield]

Heeeeeeeeeere's Myrmidon!

Apologies for the long delay between "promise of review" and "actual review". I'd really been hoping to get a playtest in, but the fates conspired against me.

The Good

My initial interest in Myrmidon was sparked by Evan choosing the same base historical period as I had for Blood and Bronze. After reading (ok, skimming) the stuff posted during the contest, I was very intrigued. This looked like a really interesting twist to the Doomed Warrior/Highlander/Battle through History theme, and it made me mondo happy, because that's received generally fairly poor treatment in RPG's to date.

The snippets of prose throughout are well-placed and well written to tease you into reading further; I don't know if it was Evan's intent or not, but they also do a good job of making me want to know how the game produces that kind of scene; if it's an accident, it's a happy one, because it's rare prose that makes me want to read the rules, and not just the next bit of prose.

Partly due to the use of highly visual components, partly due to well chosen terms (draught, decant, motive force, etc), the text is dripping with symbolism. It's very evocative, drawing me in and making me want to run this almost as a LARP, or a very prop-heavy TT game, with ornate cups and thick, richly coloured cards on a velvet tablecloth. The text makes me want to see this game, which is one of the reasons I was really pushing to get a playtest in before I wrote this.

All that being said:
The Bad

The game is confusing to read. There's a lot of very specific terms, and while the terminology guide in the back helps a lot, it's not enough to overcome the sense of "Is that a new term? Did he use it before? What is it doing here?" Closely related to this is that a lot of terms are used before they are explained, which doesn't help, I'm afraid.

It's very complex; while there is a well-earned kudos for managing to use all of the ingredients and restrictions, this isn't a case where it made for a better game.

It can't quite make up it's mind whether it's a collaborative storytelling game or a more traditional kind of GM/player split. The seperate mechanics for different phases of the game feels disjointed, like there's two different games welded at the hip.

The Verdict

I'd really love to play the game that's hiding under all those rules. Like I said up at the top, it looks like it could be a really good twist on the Highlanderesque theme, and that's long overdue for a good treatment.

This feels a little bit like it ran away with Evan trailing after it, trying to keep up with the cool ideas.

Given some serious work, there's a hell of a game in there, and even in this first run through, enough of that shows through that I'd really like you to punch through and get it done. For purely non-selfish, good-for-the-hobby reasons, of course.

My recommendation? Put this aside and lock it up where you can't easily get to it. Mail the key to a garbled address in another country and pay for insurance and return postage. While you're waiting, get obsessed with playing a game that is the polar opposite of this. Like Monopoly, or Elfs. Play enough other stuff that these mechanics are driven from your mind, then completely ignoring mechanics write down exactly what you want a session of play to look like. About this time you should be getting the key back in the mail. Savagely scratch out everything in the rules that doesn't directly contribute to your transcript of play, and build up from what's left.

thanks,

James

[adgboss]

Sedition! Review
Game by Carrie Bernstein

Review
By Sean Hillman (adgboss)

First Impressions: Simply stated: Wow! I was very impressed by the scope of this game and the historical background included. Carrie seemed to be picking up the challenge of using as many of Ingredients as possible and succeeded fairly well though some fit better then others. I can see this being a game played after hours at Cons, or when people go for coffee at midnight to the local Starbucks. Sedition! is definitely a story teller’s game and rewards players who can spin a few yarns or who might themselves be outsiders like the Wobblies and Hobos portrayed in the game.

Use of Ingredients: Several of the ingredients make it into the game of Sedition!. The historical period used is 1917-1919 United States, during the time the US is getting involved in World War I. This was particularly interesting as Sedition! shows an aspect of this time period that rarely, if ever, makes it into Historical texts or conversation.

Carrie uses all of the actual ingredients in Sedition!. Accuser, Invincible, and Companion are used as roles that a player can take on during a game. Entomology takes on an almost mystical scientific effect where the bugs are seen as oracles for both good and bad fortune. It seems mystical to me in any case though I suppose it could be pure hard science. Finally, Wine acts as a talking stick. Taking the stick signifies that the player wants to take over the narrative or at least pass it off to someone else.

The limitations used in Sedition! seemed to be pretty well chosen. There is no character sheet as player’s take on various roles which had pre-defined ideas associated with them. Whether intended or not I feel this adds the anarchic feel of the game. The Playing cards and Hand Signals seem to work together as a sort of player to player communication. Again this seems perfectly in tune with the atmosphere of the game but I am not sure what happens if someone mis-communicates their meaning. Colored seem to help set the tone of the narratives as well as register a special event: the arrival of an Antagonist in the story.

Basic Gameplay: Players take on the roles of these Hobos, Wobblies, and other colorful characters in the time period around America’s entry into WWI. One of the players begins the game with a phrase: “Fellow Workers and friends…” and then sets the scene for the beginning of the story. From this point the other players pick up the thread, take the story in a new direction, and possibly run into an Antagonist or two who act as agents of Order in some manner or other. Antagonists can be added into the story in any way the narrator sees fit. I get the impression that these stories can be happening now or be stories told the from the perspective of memory. Characters can die in this game though there is nothing specifically stated how this would occur or be adjudicated.

Impressions & Questions: My main concern about Sedition! is that it needs (like many of our games) to be a bit more fleshed out as far as rules. Actually it would be more accurate to say that I do not think Sedition needs more rules, just to fully explain what is already there. I think too many rules would certainly ruin the flavor of the game. Without question, Sedition! is a very rich game and it depends heavy on the time period. This can be a hindrance to those unfamiliar or uninterested in this historical period although I think everyone has a fair idea what Hobos do. Would I want to play Sedition!? Absolutely. Even in its current kind of rough state I think it creates a game where GM-less play is possible and indeed probably preferable. It just needs its few guidelines sharpened up a bit. It may be also be the first game I have ever seen where the Appendices have more pages then the rules. 

Sean
Edit: Like a dummy I forgot to add the Game Author's name, sheesh... all ok now

[PlotDevice]

Rounds of applause to all reviewers! WooT!

And not a moment too soon... Six weeks are up very shortly....

Warm regards
Evan

[Tobias]