[RPG]: Truth & Justice, reviewed by Fred (4/5)

[Tim Kirk]

Good review. You highlighted many of the games strengths quite well as what somemay see as weakness (high-trust!) good job!

[Denys]

Very nicely done playtest review. Keep up the excellent work.

- Ian

[Tim Gray]

Yeah, great review - though it could have done with a bit more proofing!

One thing I spotted - you seem to equate Failure ranks with mental damage, which is misleading. I think Failure ranks are just "temporary bad stuff". Damage in T&J isn't simulating real-world trauma - it's counting down until the story scene ends. As in comics, supers pound on each other and throw each other off buildings until, for reasons that aren't always clear, someone wins. So Failure is just being tripped up, embarassed, whatever, and disappears at the end of the scene.

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11609.phtml

Fred Furtado's Summary:

A Master [+6] emulation of superhero comics, an Expert [+4] pick up-and-play quality and a Good [+2] flexible system, but suffers from Poor [-2] clarity in a few cases.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11609.phtml) for more information.

[Fred]

Good review. You highlighted many of the games strengths quite well as what somemay see as weakness (high-trust!) good job!
Very nicely done playtest review. Keep up the excellent work.
Thanks, guys! I was afraid it was a bit long, but I thought it should be as complete as I could make it.

Tchau!

[Dan Davenport]

Thanks, guys! I was afraid it was a bit long, but I thought it should be as complete as I could make it.

Tchau!

I don't think it was too long at all, and I really dug the formatting. ;)

Seriously, great review. Highly informative and entertaining. :)

[Fred]

Yeah, great review - though it could have done with a bit more proofing!
Really? I did go through it with a spellchecker and gave it one last pass through before submitting. Damn! I hope it hasn't mad eit too hard to read.

One thing I spotted - you seem to equate Failure ranks with mental damage, which is misleading. I think Failure ranks are just "temporary bad stuff". Damage in T&J isn't simulating real-world trauma - it's counting down until the story scene ends. As in comics, supers pound on each other and throw each other off buildings until, for reasons that aren't always clear, someone wins. So Failure is just being tripped up, embarassed, whatever, and disappears at the end of the scene.
Yeah, in retrospect, I could have made that clearer. But I did explain it a bit in a correction I submitted to Shannon. You see, I noticed a glaring omission in my review and tried to correct it. I guess it didn't work. But here is the revised text, it should have replaced the last paragraph and playtest entry under the Chapter 2 section:

This system allows, as stated before, heroes of 'different' power levels to coexist in the same adventure without the lesser powered ones being rendered ineffectives. Although the system preserves part of the power curve -- if Batman tries to goes [i]mano a mano[i] with Superman, he's going to lose --, it also allows said heroes to affect the outcome of a battle in other ways. Btaman could try to trick Superman or make him doubt himself. Mechanically, this would be represented by regular rolls, but if Supes loses, he takes Failure Ranks. If the last son of Krypton accumulates enough Ranks to zero out, Wayne wins. Virtually any action a character performs can have an effect over a conflict. A ginat robot is rampaging through town? A well-placed bomerang will inactivate one of his arms. Big Bruiser has had a building dropped on him, but he is invulnerable? No problem, if he zeroed out, he is staying under. THis is a good emulation of Silver Age comic book reality.

Having said that, I still don't see how Spider-man could have beaten up Firelord, even if he was in a T&J game. :)

Playtest: Explaining the rules took less than five minutes. My players liked the idea of Qualities. They thought it avoided a problem that sometimes happen in systems with discrete skills, in that a player might forget to buy skills that are appropriate for the character's concept. The damage system, on the other hand, was considered a bit odd. However, it worked well during the game. The characters created for the playtest (you will see them belo) had their own schtick and were equally effective. They all had their share of screen time and I don't think any of the players felt shorthanded by power selection or underpoered compared to the others.

[chadu]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11609.phtml

Fred Furtado's Summary:

A Master [+6] emulation of superhero comics, an Expert [+4] pick up-and-play quality and a Good [+2] flexible system, but suffers from Poor [-2] clarity in a few cases.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11609.phtml) for more information.


Excellent review, Fred. Thank you!

(Be sure to mention it on the mailling list and the LJ community!)

CU

[Fred]

I don't think it was too long at all, and I really dug the formatting. ;)

Seriously, great review. Highly informative and entertaining. :)
Serious praise coming from Dan "My name is Davenport. I review games". :) Thanks. I have a new appreciation for all the work you do on your reviews. My former review, the TINS one, was shorter because the product was also shorter. I can only imagine what's like reviewing some of the more lengthy books.

As for the formatting, I think you came up with a nice structure. I especially like the italics to identify playtest-related comments. And, as you know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. :)

Tchau!

[Fred]

Excellent review, Fred. Thank you!

(Be sure to mention it on the mailling list and the LJ community!)

CU
Thank you. :) I already sent an e-mail to the list, but I don't hang out at the LJ, so you might want flag it over there.

Tchau!

[Civil Savage]

Thanks for the review.

One question: how hard is it to keep track of the games unconventional damage? It seems like GMs and even players might find it a little tricky. I looked at the character sheet and had trouble imagining how I'd keep constant track of all my levels. Did this go smoothly in playtest?

[Brand_Robins]

Thanks for the review.

One question: how hard is it to keep track of the games unconventional damage? It seems like GMs and even players might find it a little tricky. I looked at the character sheet and had trouble imagining how I'd keep constant track of all my levels. Did this go smoothly in playtest?

Very. My group sets up our character sheets so that they have a little "damage bar" next to the attribute, and then just underlines the current (post-damage) level of the attribute. When you underline an X, you're out. Takes no longer than taking wounds in most systems, and just a touch longer than counting HPs.

[Fred]

Thanks for the review.
You're most welcome. :)

One question: how hard is it to keep track of the games unconventional damage? It seems like GMs and even players might find it a little tricky. I looked at the character sheet and had trouble imagining how I'd keep constant track of all my levels. Did this go smoothly in playtest?
Without some sort of table or "damage bar", as Brand put it, it really would be difficult to manage it. My players used the character sheets and didn't complain about it. When I was preparing for the playtest, I initially wrote up the villains as I do in Unisystem, but I sson realized that keeping track of all their Qualities would be problematic, so I included a little table after each entry where I recorder the downgrading. It worked well.

Tchau!

[MalteseChangeling]

I've been thinking of stealing an idea from Capes and having players set up index cards for each of their Qualities and Powers. They would then put a certain number of poker chips or counters on each card, representing their ranks. When a rank took damage, the counters / chips would be reduced accordingly. Once a card was blank, we'd know that the character had zero'ed out.

Best,

Rob

[Tim Kirk]

I just wrote down on scrap paper my traits then would write it's current value next to it. That worked fine.
.

[pawsplay]

So how is the penumbra defined?

[Brand_Robins]

<a href="http://www.brand-publications.spaceanddeath.com/rocktandj.pdf">Here is an example character sheet</a>* from the game I'm currently running.

See the bottom left box? I do those for important NPCs, usually about 4 per page, (or 2 to 3 major NPCs and one liners for a half-dozen minor NPCs) and just run from that. It's pretty simple once you set it up like that to just underline and erase as you go.

*Warning, this is a large file, and it isn't the full size version either so the image masks may look wonky on your screen. The character will also be familiar to those who've played Church and State.

[Fred]

So how is the penumbra defined?
The player talks to the GM about what he wants and they reach an agreement. That's one of the 'high trust' bits in the game, since one player's idea of what super-agility (for example) does may not be exactly the same as others. Player A will want bonuses to attack, defense and movement, while Player B only wished the first two. B might feel he's getting less for the same buck and rais ethat as an issue, even though his character's concept does not include super-movement. This might come up with players that are used to point-buy systems, although that's the case with my players and they were fine (the character concepts didn't overlap, though).

Tchau!

[tbryant23]

Thanks for the review.

One question: how hard is it to keep track of the games unconventional damage? It seems like GMs and even players might find it a little tricky. I looked at the character sheet and had trouble imagining how I'd keep constant track of all my levels. Did this go smoothly in playtest?


Would it be possible to use differently colored dice, with the face-up side signifying the current value of the levels for each element associated with that color? Does anyone do this?

[adamsmith]

I think the current character sheet is pretty ordinary, and not enormously user-friendly.

I've made up custom one for my players. This is a pretty small gripe, though; this has become my supers game of choice (and I've tried em all!*)







*I may not have tried really obscure games that were released in the early 80s and which never saw widespread release. Otherwise, I stand by my hyperbole!

[Tim Gray]

"Having said that, I still don't see how Spider-man could have beaten up Firelord, even if he was in a T&J game. :)"

Character 1: Medium power, one of company's flagship characters, with a strop on
Character 2: Medium to high power but unimportant

Firelord gets upgraded a bit if anyone can actually remember him using the Power Cosmic. His main function was to look a bit rubbish, really. (BTW, the way Spidey did it was to flip out cos his life totally sucked and bounce all around Firelord hitting him from every direction till he fell down. IIRC Captain America had to bring him out of the red mist.)

[Tim Gray]

this has become my supers game of choice (and I've tried em all!*)

*I may not have tried really obscure games that were released in the early 80s and which never saw widespread release. Otherwise, I stand by my hyperbole!
I challenge your hyperbole! See below!

[Fred]

Would it be possible to use differently colored dice, with the face-up side signifying the current value of the levels for each element associated with that color? Does anyone do this?
I think this would be a bit confusing, since the number on the die woldn't have any relationship to the Rank or its number. You would be adding another step into translating the Rank to the die number.

Tchau!

[Fred]

Character 1: Medium power, one of company's flagship characters, with a strop on
Character 2: Medium to high power but unimportant
Actually, my comment was focused on the fact that even in T&J, Spider-man wouldn't be able to physically kick a former herald of Galactus' ass, who probably has some degree of invulnerability and/or super-armor.

Unless, of course, the GM found it so cool that Spider-man was flipping out that grante him a few 'bad ass' Upshifts. :)

Tchau!

[Tim Gray]

Actually, my comment was focused on the fact that even in T&J, Spider-man wouldn't be able to physically kick a former herald of Galactus' ass, who probably has some degree of invulnerability and/or super-armor.

Unless, of course, the GM found it so cool that Spider-man was flipping out that grante him a few 'bad ass' Upshifts. :)
Pah. Spidey has both Super-strength and Super-agility, giving him the ability to keep dealing small amounts of damage whilst being extremely hard to hit. He might have been stunting Super-speed off Super-agility somehow. T&J is designed for exactly this sort of thing.

Anyway, as I said, Firelord was only a nominal herald. Galactus just let himself go when the Surfer moved out.

[adamsmith]

I challenge your hyperbole! See below!

Damn you, Tim Gray, for puncturing my inflated sphere of self-importance!

[Blackberry]

I think the current character sheet is pretty ordinary, and not enormously user-friendly.

I've made up custom one for my players. This is a pretty small gripe, though; this has become my supers game of choice (and I've tried em all!*)

Do you feel like putting that on a web site somewhere?

[Blackberry]

Without some sort of table or "damage bar", as Brand put it, it really would be difficult to manage it.

Would it? I don't have a copy of the game yet, but wouldn't it be pretty simple to just note it next to the Quality? If you have a +4 Quality, and you take damage, just write "+2" next to it. Is that very difficult? I'm able to keep track of END, STUN, and BODY in HERO with continuous tallies; I'm able to track which spells I use and how many Hit Points I have in D&D; writing "+2" seems amazingly easy compared to that.

[Fred]

Would it? I don't have a copy of the game yet, but wouldn't it be pretty simple to just note it next to the Quality? If you have a +4 Quality, and you take damage, just write "+2" next to it.
Yeah, I don't see a problem with that. It all depends on how organizaed you are. My problem is that I GM, so usually I have to keep track of more than one character. The table make smy life easier.

Tchau!

[tog42]

One question: how hard is it to keep track of the games unconventional damage? It seems like GMs and even players might find it a little tricky. I looked at the character sheet and had trouble imagining how I'd keep constant track of all my levels. Did this go smoothly in playtest?

A friend of mine came up with the perfect solution for this; put the character in a plastic sleeve and use whiteboard markers to mark of the damage. You then simply wipe it clean!

As a GM I just have it as "Quality or Power: +4 / +2 / +0 / -2 / --" and mark off as needed.