Warren

Arguably the most popular horror role-playing game is Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium Inc. First published in 1981 it was an instant classic. Based on the stories of American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft it blended the evocative setting of 1920’s America with otherworldly mind-shattering cosmic horror. You play ordinary people investigating the plots of the Cthulhu Mythos, Gods and monsters with unfathomable evil intent acting through their insane cultists to reclaim our planet. In this game you can expect your characters to be driven incurably insane and die hideously on a regular basis. Most monsters cannot be killed directly. Instead, you must you apply your wits and learn arcane knowledge to combat them which invariably drives you insane. The rules system is percentage based and brings with it the infamous sanity system, where you mind is eroded by exposure to the multitude of horrors you encounter during your investigations. Lose a few points of Sanity and go temporarily insane, lose the lot and you’ll spend the rest of your life in a sanatorium. It’s a brilliant and original concept. Combat is fast and deadly backed by a comprehensive skills system. Hundreds of scenarios and supplements have been released allowing you to set the game in any time. There is more background to learn in this game and it might not be to everyone’s taste if you dislike frequent character deaths. A brilliant starter set includes rules, several investigations, pre-generated character sheets and dice a great introduction to the game.

The Bladerunner role-playing game markets itself as a “Neon Noir wonderland that will take your breath away.” Does it succeed? Mostly, with a few caveats. The product line comprises a 234-page hardcover rule book, a starter box set containing a condensed rules book, a case file, a set of eight customised dice, four pre-generated character sheets, a large map of LA, a deck of 70 illustrated cards showing initiative counters, NPCs, chase events and an envelope containing all the clues the players will amass during the adventure. Finally, there is a three-panel GM screen and a set of four customised dice. As you’d expect from Free League the production quality is excellent with copious illustrations throughout depicting the grim and futuristic setting of the Bladerunner universe. In fact, these are some of my favourite illustrations from across their product range. The front and end papers show a map of central Los Angeles broken down into sectors, which has been left intentionally vague to encourage the Game Runner (read GM) to add their own locations. It has a nice atmospheric feeling with stark neon yellow lines depicting major roads and buildings. A concise table of contents breaks down the book's nine chapters. You’ll have no problems getting to the pages you need, especially when there’s a comprehensive index included in the back. Each chapter begins with an evocative two-page illustration and a short quote from the films. Chapter One begins with a brief overview of the game followed by a short history of the Bladerunner universe. My overall impression is one favouring the look and feel of the Bladerunner 2049 film, rather than the 1982 one, however this is a good thing as the sequel introduced us to life outside the city and expanded the lore which is essential if Game Runners wish to create their own case files. This is not to say you can’t recreate the 1982 movie just that time has moved on and the 2049 movie felt more inclusive in the role humans and replicants played. The chapter depicts a graphical timeline from the 1980s up to 2037 when the game's default timeline is set. It charts the rise of replicants and their eventual fall after the murder of their creator at the hands of a nexus-6 in 2019. The Tyrell corporation went bust following the release of the Nexus-8 replicants which went rogue, causing the “Black out”, and sending LA back to the dark ages, wiping out the internet and most electronic records. An event briefly alluded to in Blade runner 2049 and a plot device to keep the current locations of rogue N-8’s off Bladerunner’s radar. Wallace Corporation scooped by the company only to be scooped up by the Wallace corporation whose enigmatic CEO, Niander Wallace cured world hungry before reintroducing his own Nexus-9 Replicants into the world as the benevolent, compliant saviours of humanity. His long-term goals are left vague with the Game Runner deciding if he’s a force for good or evil. Or just a narcissist egoist with a god complex. The game is set in 2037 with Nexus-9’s available as Bladerunner’s. Chapter Two is creating your Bladerunner, who can be Humans and Nexus-9 replicants. You start by choosing from one of the seven archetypes available which determine your role in the game. All have key attributes and skills, a speciality and some cash. You can even roll your appearance and name randomly if you wish. A Bladerunner’s starting capabilities are determined by their “years on the force”, the more time they’ve served the more they’ll have to spend on their attributes, skills, specialities, promotion points and cash. Nexus-9 replicants have only been around for a year so they start as rookies. Each Bladerunner has four attributes: Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Empathy, like in Free League’s other games. Here, they have a letter denoting their level rather than a number which is how replicants were rated in the films. They range from A to D and each letter corresponds to a die type. A is a D12, B a D10, C a D8 and D a D6. Skills are handled in the same manner and when you attempt a skill check you roll the relevant attribute and skill with a result of 6 or higher on each die a success with a 10 or higher a critical (2 successes). I found this confusing. There is a disconnect between cross-referencing a letter with a number. You’ll soon get used to it, but I don’t see why they couldn’t use a numerical system in the first place. Your Health rating determines how much damage you can take, and it’s not much so don’t expect to last long in a fire fight. Replicants are hardier than their humans as counterparts. Finally, resolve is your tolerance for mental stress. Next up is your key memory, a neat idea, where you design a memory, whether it’s real, or in the case of replicants an implant which represents your personality. It can be used in game to restore stress and help you earn humanity points; a kind of experience point award for being human. I like it. Your key relationship is created in the same manner and is used by the Game Runner to create events in the game during downtime. Determine your starting cash, signature item, gear, appearance, name and address and you’re done. I found character creation to be quick and fun. Chapter Three describes the game system. There are twelve skills linked to your four attributes and a thirteen linked to the vehicle you happen to be driving, which is a neat touch. The core mechanic is: roll your attribute and skill dice with a 6 on a die being a success. Should you be lucky enough to roll a 10 or more (only on a D10 and 12) then you score two successes. That’s it. One success is normally all you need extra successes allowing you to perform something above and beyond such as completing the task faster or scoring extra damage in combat. Should you fail, you can push your roll though there’s risk of taking health and resolve damage. Replicants can push twice and only suffer mental stress they fail. The rules cover group skill checks to speed up play and advantage/disadvantage where you either remove the lower die or add one. Opposed rolls are uncommon outside combat and the game benefits because of it. It’s a quick, intuitive system with my only caveat the disconnect between letter and number referencing I mentioned earlier. Chapter Four is combat and chases. Combat is deadly, you might be able to take one or two hits before you’re rolling on the critical table. You can only die through critical hits, but you’ll rake them up soon enough if you’re not careful which illustrates the lethality of Bladerunner universe. Combat is handled in a concise manner with a few options to take once the guns are drawn. The chapter ends with the chase mechanics. Basically, if you or your opponent flees a chase ensues, which can be on foot, in a car or in the air. Each side chooses secretly from a list of possible actions to be revealed simultaneously. To add a random element the Game Runner selects an obstacle which can help or hinder depending on whether you are fleeing or pursuing. It works well though it’s much nicer to use the chase cards from the starter set than read out from a table. Chapter Five is a guide to Los Angeles in 2037 and its inhabitants who haven’t been fortunate or rich enough to escape to the off-world colonies. Lifestyle is determined by how high up you live in the mega-buildings, below one hundred and you’re scum. Five hundred plus and you're one of the super-rich unreachable in their decadent penthouses. The city is supposedly run by the authorities and protected by the police, but make no mistake, it’s the Wallace Corporation that runs the whole show, such is their power and influence. And, as a Bladerunner, don’t ever make the mistake of accusing them of anything you’re in for a long fall. City life, culture, food, drugs, sex, and survival are covered before a brief look at LA’s sectors. These have been left intentionally vague to allow the Game Runner to expand them, though I suspect there will be a future LA sourcebook release. I would have preferred more locations to avoid improvising during the game. This chapter could have been improved with more locations and NPC’s to populate them. Chapter Six briefly looks at the powers that be with the Wallace Corp ruling the roost and way below them the LAPD. The UN is covered though they have been relegated to a ceremonial role. There’s a look at the evolution of replicants and their miserable lot in life. A short chapter. Chapter Seven is all about the LAPD and its divisions, internal politics and a Bladerunner’s place in the scheme of things. The LAPD building towers above everyone in the city, except Wallace Corp with state-of-the-art surveillance to spy on the citizens swarming below. Esper cameras are everywhere recording everything, with all the accumulated data instantly accessible from the LAPD’s all-powerful Mainframe. A fleet of spinners sit ready for Bladerunner’s to fly across the city to work their cases, along with a vast resource of weapons, technology, and personnel. Though you’ll need clearance from Deputy Chief Holden or a handy bribe to acquire the rarer items. Wallace Corporation is covered next with their record libraries and memory labs. Want to know what implants a rogue N-8 has? Here's the place to visit. Your street level assets are briefly discussed, your reputation on the LAPD and the mean streets, standard police procedures and how to work a crime scene. Chapter Eight is all about gear. There are some great illustrations covering storage devices, weapons, vehicles, medicine and the LAPD’s mainframe and crime lab. You can even have a synthetic augmentation installed if you’re brave enough and can afford it. The Bladerunner’s signature weapons and spinners are beautifully illustrated in full page spreads. There is a small range of weapons and gear available for purchase outside your standard issue equipment and the chapter finishes off with civilian gear and the ubiquitous shopping kiosks, stores, cafes, clubs, and vendors scattered throughout the city. Chapter Nine is for the GM only and addresses how to run the game. It states up front that this game is different, your investigators will be searching for clues. How you go about this and which resources you use are entirely up to you but remember you’re on the clock. A day is broken up into four shifts and a spinner can fly anywhere in one shift. The players are encouraged to split up to speed up the investigation, something most RPGs are loath to suggest. But it’s essential here if you want to finish the case before time runs out and something bad happens. Bladerunner’s can share information instantly and upload clues back to the LADP. They can also choose to withhold information to protect someone to earn humanity points which are used to increase skills or follow the letter of the law to earn promotion points which buy skill specialities, specialised equipment and can be traded-in for money. The game strikes a balance between what it means to be human and a Bladerunner with the moral ambiguity that’s brings. There are suggested downtime events when your Bladerunner is off the clock. Where they recover health and resolve, interact with key relationships or experience random encounters in the city. The chapter ends with a lacklustre case file generator. Just a series of random tables to determine the who, what, why, when, and where of a crime which feels like an afterthought. For a game that empathises investigation above all else I would have expected more, with a fully flesh out case file a welcome addition. There’s a comprehensive index and that’s it. Overall, I’d give the game an eight out of ten. Superb production quality, good writing and solid game mechanics. I would have liked more background information on city locations, NPCs, and an introductory case file for perspective. Game Runners so they can run the game without too much creative effort. Otherwise, a solid game recommended for those wishing to experience a noir-themed game of criminal investigation and who wish to explore what it means to be human.

I love the Fallout video game series, a heady mix of humour and post-apocalyptic horror. Where you genuinely care for your character and those you meet wandering the wastelands. The Fallout tabletop roleplaying game by Modiphius Entertainment is their attempt to capture the feel of the video games (particularly Fallout 4) and place it in the hands of the GM and their players. It’s labelled as the “Post-Nuclear Tabletop Role Playing Game” and is available from Modiphius’ website for £45 ($58.37). Presented as a hefty 432-page tome, it has a striking cover depicting a close-up of a Vault 111 dwellers suit. The production quality is excellent throughout and is printed on high quality paper with a yellow ribbon bookmark in contrast to the blue cover. The book is sturdy enough to stand up to prolonged use. So far so good. The game uses the 2d20 system of which there is now a proliferation; Star trek Adventures, Achtung! Cthulhu and DUNE Adventures in the Imperium to name a few. The book is broken down into twelve chapters with an accompanying two-page illustration to set the mood. They book has a concise and easy to digest writing style, for which I’m grateful considering the page count. The front and end papers show a “Please Stand By” black and white television announcement screen though I would have preferred a map of the wastelands and the Commonwealth. In fact, there are no maps anywhere in the book which is disappointing and a missed opportunity. Visual aids to the setting are always appreciated by a GM and players. A short introduction explains the game’s setting before telling what you need to run it: This book, dice: d20s and d6s, character sheets (there’s one in the back of the book), tokens (ordinary poker chips will do), paper and pencils. Oddly there is no introduction to role playing in general, so I’m assuming this game isn’t aimed at beginners. Chapter One dives straight into the 2d20 rules system explaining how the dice are used and the concept of generating a target number against which you must roll equal to or under on each d20 to generate successes. Those familiar with d20 systems will have to realign their thought processes as a “1” is a critical success here and a “20” a complication. The usual concepts of opposed and assisted skill checks are covered along with group checks to save time. The d6’s are primarily rolled to determine the damage you inflict with a weapon. It’s not the standard 1-6 result either, a 1 and 2 inflicts that amount, 3s and 4s are nothing with a 5 and 6 inflicting a single point each and an effect. Effects let you trigger specific weapon qualities which are covered in chapter four: equipment. So, more page flipping. Player characters have two additional resources available to them: Action Points and Luck. If you generate more successes than you need when making a skill check you generate Action Points which are used to roll extra d20’s for future checks, obtain information from the GM about the current situation, reduce the time a skill takes, take additional actions in combat and dish out extra damage. It works well but requires some bookkeeping. Hence the need for tokens of some sort. You can only ever have a maximum of six at any time to be used by the whole players group. Luck is an attribute like any other which allows players to shift the odds in their favour. I find it strange that the first chapter covers the rules and not character creation as almost every TTRPG I’ve read starts with this. It’s confusing to read something in the rules at the beginning of the book which isn’t explained until character creation two chapters later. An example being how you must beat a target's defence rating before being told how to calculate it. Chapter Two is combat and again having this precede character creation is confusing. The rules are straightforward enough following a standard system where characters take turns in initiative order and are allowed a Minor and Major action. Minor actions include aiming, interacting with the environment in some fashion, moving, and taking chems, something you’ll be doing a lot of if you want to survive the rigours of the wasteland. Major actions include assisting another PC, melee, and ranged attacks, defending yourself, administering first aid, sprinting and any other other skill tests you might want to perform. Following this the actual combat mechanics are explained in detail, with hit locations, range, and damage which come in the forms of physical, energy, chemical and radiation. Combat is lethal, especially without some form of protection. Radiation damage can cripple your character and critical hits and injuries can quickly kill. The system uses a descriptive range category with PCs in zones relative to their opponents. You can move across the battlefield quickly, especially if you take your major action to sprint. The chapter concludes with the various environmental conditions you will encounter in the wastelands. A short, concise chapter. Chapter Three is character creation. Your character’s attributes are denoted by the S.P.E.C.I.A.L acronym standing for: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. They each have a minimum value of 4 and a maximum of 10, though certain perks can raise them above this. If we cast out minds back to Chapter One a successful skill check is determined by adding your attribute score to your skill score and rolling equal to or under that value on a d20. Luck isn’t associated with skills, rather it allows you to alter the circumstances in your favour by spending luck points with a starting amount equal to your Luck attribute. There are seventeen skills covering everything you're likely to need. They range in value from 0 to 6 and each one is associated with a specific attribute to determine your target number when you make a skill check. They are all a short descriptive paragraph, its default S.P.E.C.I.A.L attribute and an amusing accompanying picture of a comic vault dweller in a snappy blue-and-white uniform utilising said skill. You select any three skills as tag skills, areas of expertise which allow you to generate more successes if you roll equal to under their value when making a skill check. Have a Small Guns skill of 3 and it’s tagged? If you roll 3 or less on a d20 then you generate 2 successes, if you’re lucky enough to do the same on the second d20 then its four successes. You then choose from one of six origins: Brotherhood Initiate, Ghoul, Super Mutant, Mister Handy Robot, Survivor and Vault Dweller. Their backgrounds and histories are covered, with each one giving your character a specific trait. Pick the Vault Dweller for example and you’re pretty much immune to disease. The next step is to choose a perk, specific advantages which will give you an edge. Most of them have requirements which must be met such as a minimum attribute value or character level. Some can be taken multiple times, others only once. I counted ninety-four, and they all seem useful. Characters have six derived statistics: weight allowance, damage resistance (physical, energy, radiation, and poison), defence, initiative, health points and melee damage and are simple to calculate. After all this you choose your gear as determined by your origin and you’re ready to enter the wastelands. Chapter four covers equipment and it’s the longest at 103 pages. Most of it is taken up with descriptions of all the weapons you could possibly lay your irradiated hands on. It begins with explaining the standard currency: caps from Nuka Cola bottles. Their availability, rarity, how to haggle for a better price and bartering. Encumbrance is mentioned and kept simple. Weapons have damage effects such as Burst fire, damaging cover, and stun, then they’re broken down into four damage types: Physical, energy, radiation, and poison. Weapons also have qualities. They might be accurate, easy to conceal or unreliable. If we cast our minds back to Chapter One when you roll a 5 or 6 on your damage dice these qualities are triggered. This is a lot to remember, especially in the heat of battle so expect your first fights to take longer as you acclimatise to the rules. There is a huge selection of guns on offer, everything from pistols and energy weapons up to the Fat Man mini nuke launcher. We have melee weapons, grenades, and mines. Next up is armour and if you expect to survive in the wasteland, it’s a must. Armour is rated by damage resistance ratings against physical, energy, and radiation-based attacks. Get hit by a bullet and your physical resistance is applied, a laser then it’s energy resistance. There is a large selection including power armour such as the T-45 and 51 variants. Armour and weapons can be modified in a multitude of ways if you have the caps and pass a skill check. The chapter rounds out with all the irradiated food and drink you will find in the wasteland and their effects. There are Chems which come in the form of drugs, stimulants, and medication. Books and Magazines which provide a temporary perk and a miscellany of items such as: Bobby Pins, First Aid Kits, Multi-tools, and the Pip-Boy. A comprehensive and pretty much exhaustive chapter. Chapter Five is survival. It provides the GM with optional systems covering fatigue, hunger, thirst, sleep, exposure, and disease. Scavenging rules include random loot tables when players search an area. Crafting and repairing gear are briefly described, then there’s lists of recipes you can cook up and chems you can concoct. The chapter is rounded out with an extensive list of power armour, robot, and weapon modifications. Chapter Six details the corporations of pre-war America approximately 200 years prior to the game's setting. We’re given a brief rundown on fourteen corporations, covering their business before the great war and what’s left on them now. All the favourites from Fallout are here: Red Rocket, General Atomics, and the ubiquitous Nuka-Cola. And while their corporations are gone, their legacies live on in ruined warehouses and deserted buildings dotting the landscape. Who knows what you may find lurking inside their hidden depths? There are over a dozen brief quest seeds provided to form the kernel of an adventure when the players explore and I for one am grateful for their inclusion. They are a great help to the beleaguered GM when improvising encounters, and it’s easily my favourite chapter. Chapter Seven discusses the government vaults which were constructed to protect its citizens from the bombs and eventual fallout. How they were advertised and what they became are two separate entities. While some were sanctuaries away from the horrors of war, many were clandestine centres for secret government experiments on those poor individuals who desperately sought refuge inside them. The doors to these facilities closed on October 23, 2077, with many poorly equipped and under-engineered to handle the flood of people. Some became prisons where mutants were actively created through experimentation or as genie pigs for devices and techniques destined for commercial release once the radiation had fallen to acceptable levels. Five vaults are described with Vault-Dweller player characters coming from Vault 111 after having been cryogenically frozen for two centuries. There is advice on what each might contain and how to incorporate them into your campaign. There are a couple of random vault encounter tables, some plot devices and two plot seeds. A short but informative chapter. Chapter Eight concerns the Commonwealth, the games setting. Multiple locations are described in detail. We’re given vaults, industrial plants, airports and even a UFO crash sight. Interspersed here and there are some simple quests to complete. It’s essentially a sandbox of ideas for encounters, with more than enough to keep your players occupied. Some generic locations are listed towards the end of the chapter such as Bunkers, factories, and Settlements. They’re only given a paragraph each, so they’ll have to be fleshed out. What’s really missing are maps. I don’t expect one for each location, but a few would have been welcome. There aren’t any so you’ll have to download some from the internet or sketch your own. The chapter ends with two random encounter tables and some commonwealth metaplots. Chapter Nine is gamemastering. How to manage the rules, setting skill difficulties, handling Action Points and opposed rolls. There is guidance on safety and consent, important issues in modern, inclusive gaming, especially for online play. Advice is given on conveying the Fallout experience, what makes it unique with its grim settings and dark humour. We’re on to designing quests and adventures then how experience is handled in the game. You gain levels and receive a small award upon doing so but nothing like D&D where your power levels can go through the roof. Here gaining a level means an incremental increase in the form of a health increase, increasing a skill by 1 rank and gaining a single perk. Chapter Ten in the game’s bestiary and the second longest at sixty-four pages. All manner of creatures are presented and given a short description with their relevant game statistics. Each one has a level so you can match it up to your PCs without overwhelming them or making an encounter too easy. There are Animals and Insects, Mutated Humanoids, Robots, Super Mutants, Synths, Turrets. The Brotherhood of Steel, Raiders and Wastelanders. Most have an illustration to show your players. Chapter Eleven is a short sixteen-page introductory adventure without giving the plot away its serviceability and should provide a couple of evening’s entertainment for beginning characters. Chapter Twelve are the appendices with a comprehensive index and a colour character sheet. And we’re done. Overall thoughts and my final review score: A valiant effort to recreate the tone and feel of the computer game, with a plethora of character and equipment options. Is it perfect, no, is it a good game, yes. What can be done to improve it? Well, the inclusion of maps as I mentioned before and some thorough editing as I did pick up some typos on my initial readthrough, nothing too glaring, but still off-putting. But nothing an erratum can’t fix. This is not a game for beginners to role-playing or game mastering as it’s a complex system. But if you’re prepared to invest the time and effort then this will be a unique role-playing experience. Not many games can pull off a darkly humorous post-apocalyptic setting, but Fallout manages to do it in spades. I give Fallout the Role-Playing Game a final review score of 7 out of 10.