The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Hollyworld by Greg Porter

Review by ed	-	edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk
15 pages, including three scenarios, a cover and a blank character sheet.
3 American Dollars and download costs.	-	From Hyperbooks Online
		http://www.hyperbooks.com/catalog/20054.html

This is a strange little game. A humourous little game, obviously intended to be "cheap and cheerful". Characters are actors in an action movie-reality world, not "Purple Rose of Cairo" or "Last Action Hero" type movie-reality, but one where they are either playing a part in a movie, or are trying to get work. However, movie-type incidents can still happen to characters outside the part. An actress might find her boyfriend kidnapped unless she performs reconstructive plastic surgery on a villain. The Actress isn't a plastic surgeon? That doesn't matter, she is in that film shooting NOW, next week she's a dogcatcher, no use threatening him then. But time outside acting is spent getting the next part, and the whole focus should be on either acting, or getting that part.

Yes, if you play a part, you have the skills that the character would have. For as long as you're playing that part. The "real world" shapes itself to Hollywood perceptions, if movie attendances are going down, then the PEOPLE must have disappeared. Probably kidnapped to Atlantis. Hollyworld doesn't really care, maybe there are bus-drivers working in Milan, maybe there aren't. If it doesn't affect Hollyworld it doesn't matter.

To complicate matters, as well as Producers, Agents and Accountants running Hollyworld, there are secret organisations (e.g The Idiot SF Writers Association) trying to pull the strings in their Illuminati-like way, as well as small organisations (e.g. Doberman's R'Us) trying become big players and all at the beck and call of the G.M. .

Generating your Actor is partly random and partly design. Firstly you roll for a character background, and that background will influence what skills you get and how far you take them.

E.g.

Bad accent

You come from some distant suburb of Hollywood like say Austria or Belgium or Australia. You get an automatic skill of +ld6 in Act Goofy but -1 Fame.

However if you have an idea Cunning Actor type then I'm sure a half-decent GM could fit it in.

Once the background is settled, then its time to do the numbers. There are four Attributes,

1.	Style	-	looks good and dazzling. Short term impression.
2.	Substance	-	conveys a "message". More lasting impression.
3.	Fame	-	Ability to turn things to your advantage if they have ALREADY gone wrong.
4.	Connections	-	Advantages you can TRY use to make things happen the way you want them to BEFORE you try and do them or before they have gone totally wrong.

and six skills. Act Tough, Act Smart, Act Goofy and Fight Tough/Smart/Goofy. As it implies, Act is for non-Combat actions, Fight is Combat, e.g. Fight Touch includes Melee weapons whereas Fight Smart includes devices such as bombs.

An actor spends points on Style and Substance (Fame and Connections have to wait until play) and buys levels in the six skills. The system is simple, decide whether you need Style or Substance (Usually by asking the GM [Producer]), add a roll based on your skill level in the appropriate Skill. Skill levels are D6 adds, or subtractions, the result of which is added to your chosen Attribute. This is compared to a Roll based on the difficulty or on the Skill of a person opposing the Actor.

E.g.

Brad Mineshaft is trying to persuade the director of the film that HE should be the focus of the scene rather than the rabbit partner they've given him for the Cop-Buddy Movie "Harvey and Me". Since a rabbit is cute, rather than bright, Brad tries to beat the bunny at his own game, and aims for STYLE. Putting his foot down and "Acting Tough" with a skill of +D6, he adds his style of 4 to a roll of 2 for a total of 6.

Unfortunately the Director is set on the Bunny stealing the scene, making this a HARED, oops, sorry HARD thing for Brad to Do (3d6 rolls 14) and Brad fails

Combat, and in action films there are always combats, uses the same system, and is meant to be fast and furious, and it looks like that it is, if the GM is prepared. Hollyworld combat CAN be fatal, so would be heroes have to know how far to push it. Perhaps it'd be better to accept capture rather than be killed out of the Big Script.

A player uses Connections to improve their chances in a skill roll, or to provide an unlikely coincidence or advantage just when he or she needs it. This is a measure of how much the Actor is owed in favours. If a sidekick or bit part player then the actor has not got much influence, and can expect to have many nasty, if not fatal, things happen to that character. A Star can make things happen his or her way. However once Connections are used, they are gone, until more are earned.

Fame is an overall measure of how much power and prestige the Actor has, and it is not lost if it is used. There are, of course, limits to how many times either can be used in a movie/adventure. Success or Failure is measured in the gain, or loss of Connections. Connections can be used to BUY Fame and also to increase Style and Substance.

Given that this is a game of Hollywood, rather than European Art House, movie "reality", that reality is not subtle, so there are "laws" of combat, characterisation and plot given to help G.M.s and players get the feel of the game. Such as "Bombs always have visible timers/detonators", "Roleplayers are young, deluded and outcast" and "All computers are compatible with each other". These help the GM get a handle on what he or she should be doing, but I'd like some more idea of what is thought of as happening outside of the film set.

Also the bigger the star, the more the movie looks after them, stars, for example, gain more protection from being hurt and, if actually hurt, recover faster.

The three scenarios given are pulp/action adventures, somewhat similar to some well known films. It is the assertion of the author that many big Hollywood fims can be summarised by a number of clichés, the list givenhas 31, such as "an extra is required to demonstrate how a weapon or monster works", and the record number of these clichés in a film is, apparently, 12 ("Goldeneye" or "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves"). All scenarios are divided into 6 scenes, ruled by Style or Substance. The provided descriptions are sparse, but this is definitely a game for a group with ability to think on their feet and free-wheel.

The author suggests that you rent some Hollywood Blockbusters, armed with his laws and check them off as you see them. This could be a good game in itself, first to spot one gets a drink

So, how is it, all in all. Well, it is certainly cheap, costing about as much as a pint of beer and not much to print, however it might be a very personal game. If you're not given to off-the–wall insanity, if you felt that "Toon" was sacrilegious somehow to "the soul" of role-playing then you're not going to enjoy this. If you want a system that can accurately replicate any movie genre, then this is true only in the broadest sense, the system demands the GM to be able to think quickly on his (or her) feet to keep the pace going.

Although the introduction and narrative seems to suggest that life outside the making of movies is important, it isn't, save in a couple of rolls like how big a part your agent can get you. The three scenarios supplied are all movie scripts, with no action occurring outside the film, somewhat belying the assertion that this ISN'T just like "Last Action Hero" gaming. In actual fact they might as well be, unless the GM decides to "stretch the envelope" and include that confrontation with an evil keygrip, or saintly mogul (obviously an alien, moguls are always evil). Although the designer says that 99% of people on Hollyworld are unemployed actors.

The layout is crisp and clear and uses some tricks of Acrobat for such things as pop-up help and, when printed off it looked just fine, despite being created for US Letter and printed on A4. The character sheet has a bit of grey for filling in details like names, which might have been better left as a box.

The bottom line is this, if you can handle quick thinking in a cheesy, clichéd movie world, then this will be a fun game. If, however, you were wanting a no-brainer for a night when you can't be bothered using your brain, then if your GM isn't on the ball, leave this alone until you feel up to it. And when you do, do play it, it is FUN!

Any questions about the game, mail me at edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)