Cartoons in the 80's were never this much fun! If you are looking to battle evil with your own paramilitary organization, or explore distant worlds as a giant space robot, Cartoon Action Hour has you covered.
Post originally by Cynthia Celeste Miller at 2003-05-02 15:53:57
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First off, thanks for the review. It was very well thought-out and fair. Anyway, I'll be quoting parts of your review here so I can comment.
>Aside from these few quibbles, the art is
>appropriate to the contents.
I'm so very glad you picked up on this aspect. Some folks have knocked the art, saying it was mediocre and so-so. I think many of them miss the point that we intentionally had the artists draw in the style of the action cartoons of the '80s. And that style isn't as sophisticated as some of the art in other games.
The retro-toons featured very bold, yet functional art in many cases. We wanted that to show in the art for CAH.
>The example for a Body rating of 4(4) >is "World class power lifter". The example >for 4(5) is "can lift mountains". That is >quite a gulf for a constant cost in >character points. This is one of the points >where it is very important for a GM to have >a firm hand in the character creation >session.
Ya might wanna take another look at the book. 4 = "World class power lifter", not 4(4).
>This leads to a tortoise and hare >situation, where the tortoise has Super >scale speed, and the hare has Normal scale. >The pursuing hare moves far in excess of >anyone else, yet the tortoise simply ambles >along, with an increased chance of eluding >the hare.
Good points all around. Rest assured that detailed pursuit rules will be included in "Cartoon Action Network" (coming Fall 2003). This will tidy things up more and provide more structure to chase scenes and such.
>While this may sound ridiculous on the >surface, there is an option for an Animal >Companion to have sentience. In short >order, a character could have a >geometrically larger chain of ever >increasing power level Animal Companions >that encompasses more animals than >currently exist, eventually reaching a >point where they have infinite Special >Character Points. Preventing this is up to >the GM and the players.
While I certainly see your point, I want to stress the importance of your last sentence there.
This was our main obstacle when we were creating the SA rules. It is abusable. This problem is inherent in pretty much any system that enables you to create your own powers (etc.). Ultimately, the designer has to choose versatility or a power-gaming resistance. In this case, we opted for the former and included a sidebar that stressed the importance of the GM looking out for abuse.
>Another problem is where the Parry rule >directly contradicts itself. At the >beginning of the section, it states that >once a parry is declared, no attacks are >possible for the parrying character, >although any other number of attacks may be >parried. The last paragraph, however, >allows for an immediate attack at -2, if >the parry was successful.
Ouch! An error. The sentence at the beginning is incorrect. Characters can make further attacks.
>Additionally, weapons that don't have the >Vehicle Class modifier do only 1d12 in >damage, rather than the 2d12 of Vehicle >Class Weapons, further limiting the odds >that a lucky shot from a small pistol will >utterly destroy a heavy tank.
In the retro-toons, non-heavy weapons hardly ever scratched heavy vehicles. Usually, the heavy vehicles were brought into a scene to be intimidating. Pistols and such would bounce helplessly off them. In most cases, it took dedicated weapons (LAW Rockets, torpedos, etc.) to deal with them effectively.
>An excellent resource for these shows is >Yesterdayland, which only gets mentioned >once.
Agreed. We should have emphasized Yesterdayland more. Unfortunately, since the time of printing, Yesterdayland has died. I'm not sure why, but it's true. Very, very sad indeed.
>The last couple of pages are the Designers' >Notes, which provide an interesting peek >into the creative process that went into >Cartoon Action Hour. However, this could >have been condensed into a forward for the >game, or an afterward. Which isn't to say >the forward by Mr. Jason L Blair isn't >appropriate. Simply that these comments >would have been better place in such a >location.
I have to disagree here. Jason's foreward quickly geared the reader up for the book. I think it accomplished that nicely.
My designer's note section (not Eddy's) was long. And while it may or may not be interesting to read, it would've interrupted the flow of reading the book if placed at the beginning IMO. Too long and not designed to make people say, "Sweet! Let's start playing now!"
By the time the reader reads my notes, they'll have presumably read through the rest of the book and are winding down a tad. Something longer wouldn't make it seem disjointed.
>and other parts that don't have a mechanic >at all, such as the effect of carrying >equipment.
Honestly, I didn't think a rule for this would be necessary in a retro-toon RPG. =0)
>These combine to make Cartoon Action Hour >seem to be trying to appeal to a beer and >pretzels gamer, while still maintaining a >detailed structure for dedicated role->players.
Never really thought of it as a beer and pretzels game. I attempted to appeal to dedicated role-players looking for something a bit more loose than other, more serious-minded games. But not so loose as, say, Toon.
>Next time, a tour of Iconia, the included >setting for Cartoon Action Hour!
Looking forward to it, Stormbringer. And thanks again for the great review.
Post originally by Eddy Webb at 2003-05-03 10:14:10
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Thanks for the review! A couple of more points:
>>While this may sound ridiculous on the >>surface, there is an option for an Animal >>Companion to have sentience. In short >>order, a character could have a >>geometrically larger chain of ever >>increasing power level Animal Companions >>that encompasses more animals than >>currently exist, eventually reaching a >>point where they have infinite Special >>Character Points.
Cindi has a very, very valid point about the importance of not abusing the rules. A second point in this case is very specific - CPs can be converted into SCPs, but nowhere does it say that SCPs can be converted into SCPs. If you wanted your jaguar to have a parrot pal, that would have to come off of his lump of SCP points, not a second run through the table.
>Ouch! An error. The sentence at the >beginning is incorrect. Characters can make >further attacks.
I think it was meant to be "no further actions", with the counter-attack being an exception. It (and the CP/SCP point above) will be part of the errata and FAQ I'm compiling. :-)
Post originally by Johnny McKenna at 2003-05-05 08:27:32
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I'll agree: a good, thorough, and balance review. The game, by the way, is definitely worth picking up. I will agree that the free-form nature of the special powers does leave it open for a high amount of abuse. After reading the book, it seems to me that once the game has begun, the GM is there merely as a guide, not a rule enforcer. A strict and firm GM is needed, however, during character creation.
It's interesting to see just how many rules in the game don't sit well with many gamers at first, then you realize that the game is reflective of the cartoons it's based on. When was the last time He-Man worried about how much gear he was carrying?
I was to especially thank the creators for the "Further Viewing" section. It brought back a flood of memories. I remember watching about 90% of the shows mentioned at least once, even such under-viewed fare as Blackstar (I still have a Blackstar action figure somewhere).
Once I get enough people to play a "series", I'm sure it will be huge fun. Thanks for the review and thanks for the game!
Post originally by Norbert Franz at 2003-05-23 16:34:49
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> I was to especially thank the creators for > the "Further Viewing" section. It brought > back a flood of memories. I remember
> watching about 90% of the shows mentioned
> at least once, even such under-viewed fare > as Blackstar (I still have a Blackstar
> action figure somewhere).
Me too!! Absolutely, John Blackstar is standing tall and proud on one of my bookshelves, incidentally he's standing there only inches away from a volume of Byron's poetry and the Collected Works of William Shakespeare. That's actually true.
You see, I have developed this constant blending of the trivial and the sublime...
Anyway, since you just mentioned it, Blackstar was one of those series where I must say the action figures looked a bit better than most of the cartoon.
(I am still looking for a Warlock dragon in mint condition, people! *g*)
Though Overlord's flying fortress was a nice touch, and would have been a great asset to any cartoon boss-villain.
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