[RPG]: Squadron UK, reviewed by Olivier.Legrand (3/5)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12248.phtml

olivier legrand's Summary:

A masterful adaptation of the superhero genre.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Dan Davenport]

Fantastic review, Olivier! This is precisely the kind of detailed analysis I like to see in a review.

(One minor note: for some reason, you have spaces in front of most of your end-of-sentence punctuation.)

[Eric E.]

The question I didn't see answered is, If I already own Golden Heroes (I do), is there any reason for me to purchase this game? SqUK sounds like it is the original game, just renamed. What reason do I have to purchase this aside from supporting the game?

[Mikeythorn]

I really enjoyed this review as well. Great job!

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

(One minor note: for some reason, you have spaces in front of most of your end-of-sentence punctuation.)

I vaguely recall being taught at school that the correct way to punctuate was to leave a space between the last word and "?" or "!" (not that you should ever use "!" anyway), but no space between the last word and a full-stop. I was certainly careful to do that in all my early essays, at least until I realised that no-one really seemed to care about that particular rule anymore.

[Olivier.Legrand]

Originally Posted by Eric E.

The question I didn't see answered is, If I already own Golden Heroes (I do), is there any reason for me to purchase this game? SqUK sounds like it is the original game, just renamed. What reason do I have to purchase this aside from supporting the game?

Yes, it's still the same game at, say, 90%. But there ARE a few differences between SqUK and the original GH rules. Here are the most obvious ones I've found :

- Several subtables for determining superpowers (Force Field types, Cybernetics etc) have been replaced by lists of possible choices (which is better IMHO)

- Health powers are now divided between 'major' and 'minor' ones : 'major' powers (those which can directly affect all combat situations, ie fast recovery and regeneration) cost 1 power roll , while minor powers (all the others) are available by pairs (ie each grade of Health = 1 major power or 2 minor powers); the advantageous background Immortal also grants you a single free minor health power

- Reactions can now have several grades (a modification which I really did not find necessary or very 'convincing' - but you can easily ignore it)

- the specific Field Manipulation types presented in GH are now replaced with a much more general set of guidelines

- the Strength power still gives you 1d10+10 extra Strength points at grade 1 but each subsequent grade now gives only 1d6+6 (which is probably a good thing)

- Skills are now distinguished between 'major' ones and 'minor' ones - just like health powers (ie 1 power roll = 1 major skill or 2 minor skills, major skills being the ones which can directly affect combat : Gymnastics, Stealth and Hide in Shadows - as I noted in the review, I was not convinced by this, especially since there are only 3 major skills, all of which could have been treated as powers in their own right - and as in GH I still don't see the point of distinguishing Gymnastics and Agility 1)

- Upgrading powers cost 1 power roll to go from grade 1 to grade 2, then 2 power rolls from g2 tp g3 and so on. Now to be honest I don't remember if this was already the case in GH - I seemed to recall that it used a simple 1 power roll = 1 extra grade, but I may be mistaken (perhaps I misinterpreted the GH rules back in the 80s)

- A few things have disappeared, like the Position of Power advantageous background and the 'bounty hunter' option.

There are probably a few other alterations and minor changes here and there. SqUK also includes many brief "designer's comments" scattered over the rules.

Great review! Unfortunately, SUK (what an unfortunate acronym!) is still stuck too much in the bad part of '80s game design. It seems to have a chart for every power, and there's a lot of exception-based rules, which drive me nuts.

[mrouleau]

Cool... I think that point-based character design has pretty much either reached its pinnacle or run into a dead end (depending on how you look at it.) It's interesting to see a game which seems to ignore game design "advances" of the last decade or so, and which approaches the super-hero design "problem" in an unusual, but workable way.

(BTW: there's a free 32 page basic game available for free, link on the SQUK website.)

[eatspider]

Thanks for reminding me of this little gem!!

I played this once in the late eighties. Loved it but noone else did so never played it again.

Downloaded the free demo, will try to pursuade my group to give it a try. If succesful will definitely be getting the full version.

I remember the things which I thought were so good at the time were the different types of defences; armour class ( or equivalent ), hard and soft force fields, damage dividers, dodge bonus, outright immunity to certain attacks.
Probably all stuff that Champions had done before but to me at the time it was all new.

Now the parts that strike me as really cool are the Personal Status/Detective points rules and especially the DUP approach to character advancement.

Thanks again for the great review and heads up on a forgotten treasure!

[Tim Gray]

Originally Posted by mrouleau

(BTW: there's a free 32 page basic game available for free, link on the SQUK website.)

That's at RPGNow Edge too, but in the Free Stuff category rather than the Superhero one.