Post originally by Phil Masters at 2003-04-14 12:30:29
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Decent review. A couple of nitpicks...
>> She didn't get all of the possible GURPS genres by any means. <<
Yeah - I was egotistically slightly dischuffed by the absence of Arabian Nights characters...
>> I'm mildly astounded that the Espionage setting isn't covered. Two of the Archetypes, Spy and Saboteur, were made for Espionage. <<
...But to be fair, *Espionage* is not so much a setting book as a genre book. You can say that any Spy character in any world or period is by definition relevant to that book. Especially any modern-day ones.
>> Similarly, not every 'roguish' type could be covered given the space available. Some of the types I didn't see included "Carpetbagger", "Moocher*", "Injury Faker", "Embezzler", "Homeless", "Informant" and "Addict" <<
I'm not sure if it's stated clearly anywhere, but this and the other template books are designed to help in the creation of PCs, not minor NPCs. I guess that you *could* have a PC Injury Faker or Addict...
As for some of the others, the simple question might be whether different characters in that category have enough in common to make a template. What would a Carpetbagger template look like?
Though I did want a Femme Fatale template, personally.
Post originally by Black Powder at 2003-04-14 15:06:47
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>And the Civil War era Southern Belle Union Spy who is trained in the obsolete black powder weapons instead of the then common cartridge using guns. <
Black powder weapons were very common in the Civil War era. Metallic cartridges were developed and used in the Civil War, but black powder was still common. Of course, it is easy to get terminology confused when your black powder and ball came pre-measured in a *paper* cartridge. In short the Civil War era Belle spy is not in error on that point.
Post originally by Owen E. Oulton at 2003-04-14 17:10:41
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"The Template era of chargen started with Shadowrun for most intents and purposes..."
Not really. Star Wars (WEG) started the "Template era" 2 years earlier in 1987. Sure, you could interpret your "for most intents and purposes" qualification more broadly with another less prominent game, but Star Wars was a major game line, perhaps even more so than Shadowrun...
Post originally by EDG at 2003-04-15 02:51:09
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Just as a note, I'm getting a negative impression of the book simply from the *formatting* of this review; as I've stated elsewhere, the one-sentence-per-paragraph style may be the new black, and I myself use it occasionally, but to find it in use as the predominant formatting element in an article is jarring. Having said that, I haven't read GURPS Rogues yet in order to be able to respond materially to the content of the review, but Phil's point about templates is something that bears repeating.
(Actually, I do have one comment: again, not having read Rogues, I can't speak for the specific book in question, but there is a significant and salient difference between "high-quality art" and "art I like". Regardless of anyone else's personal tastes, if art appears in a role-playing game or supplement, *someone* thought it was of high enough quality to put it there. (Well, unless they were running perilously close to deadline, but I don't have any reason to believe that this was the case for Rogues.)
Post originally by Phil Masters at 2003-04-15 10:33:11
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Oops - I owe the book an apology. There is in fact an *Arabian Nights* character in the book. (I was confused by the index, which has an entry for "Arabian Nights" but not one for "GURPS Arabian Nights".)
Post originally by SD Anderson at 2003-04-16 20:34:41
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Black Powder wrote:
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>And the Civil War era Southern Belle Union Spy who is trained in the obsolete black powder weapons instead of the then common cartridge using guns. <
Black powder weapons were very common in the Civil War era. Metallic cartridges were developed and used in the Civil War, but black powder was still common. Of course, it is easy to get terminology confused when your black powder and ball came pre-measured in a *paper* cartridge. In short the Civil War era Belle spy is not in error on that point. </i>
The Colt Walker was available as of 1847. Specific to her background is a father who trained her to be able to defend herself in an emergency. In that context I'd expect him to have gotten her a pistol suited to that purpose. While it's possible he had an old dueller his grandmother used lying around the house, I think it far more likely he'd go get a new one suited for her that a) was easier by far to operate and fired more than once per reload.
Post originally by SD Anderson at 2003-04-16 20:44:12
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Art appreciation varies by viewer, true. But I think there is also a near unanamous consensus that SJG's game book art, particularly it's interior artwork, is not in the same league as many of it's competitors.
For templates the art should inspire players to WANT to play the character it represents. I don't think the art in Rogues really achieves that effect often.
Post originally by EDG at 2003-04-17 02:45:29
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SD Anderson wrote:
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<b>Art appreciation varies by viewer, true. But I think there is also a near unanamous consensus that SJG's game book art, particularly it's interior artwork, is not in the same league as many of it's competitors.</b>
I don't think I've <i>ever</i> encountered this opinion before, so I wouldn't call it "nearly unanimous".
<b>For templates the art should inspire players to WANT to play the character it represents. I don't think the art in Rogues really achieves that effect often.</b>
This goes back to liking or disliking the art. Whether or not you do so is subject to your own tastes and prerogatives, but it's hardly fair to assume that those tastes are universal.
That being said, I'm <i>not</i> saying that personal opinions have no place in a review; that rather invalidates the point of a review. Your personal judgment is what makes a review worthwhile, since I can gauge my own tastes against yours. What I <i>am</i> saying is that there's rarely a call for assuming one's own tastes are universal.
Having purchased G: Rogues at this point and flipped through it, I can say without reservation that I have little problem with the art. There are a few individual pieces that I think could have used more work - Jaledan Monteblanc's portrait on p. 83, in particular - but altogether I don't feel that it's low-quality artwork. I can see how others wouldn't like it, but I don't accept the blanket statement that it - and the rest of SJGames's artwork - is sub-par.
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