The Inside Scoop on Gaming

First a disclaimer: I am listed as a contributor I this book, but only because I am part of the DC Heroes Mailing List and had participated in discussions of the rules contained herein. I did not write any part of this work, nor am I forcing cash payments out of the author or publisher in exchange for my review.

Some background: this is a rules-supplement book for the Blood of Heroes/MEGS/DC Heroes system. It is a compilation of all the rules fixes and modifications proposed over the last four or so years on the very active DC Heroes mailing list. So this is about as much of a grass-roots generated book as you're likely to see in the gaming industry any time soon. That alone wins it some mad props from me.

I tend to seek three key elements in any game: artwork/layout, world setting, and system mechanics. As this is a supplement, it doesn't have much in the way of world setting (although it does introduce the Guardians, interesting characters with a sense of lots of history behind them and power levels that don't give me an aneurysm just thinking about them. Do they fit well into the universe established by Pulsar in the original BoH gamebook? There are some tenuous connections, but really they could be dropped into any super hero world setting).

Artwork/Layout: This has been the area of greatest criticism of the book thus far, and in my opinion rightly so. I don't know if they used different processing techniques on the images, but many of them look like pencil sketches and don't reproduce well in the book. They look kind of fuzzy. Some of them are very cool, and the more I look at some of them the more they grow on me, but they still are the weakest element of the book. The art does not add to the material, but I don't necessarily think it detracts horribly either. Fortunately they've put out the call that they're looking for more artists, so the calibre of work should go up for future projects.

Layout wise, the book is a great improvement from BoH. It was their first time through - I'm willing to cut the guys a little slack (especially if I ever want to write for them - god forbid I ever make a typoe :-). Just about every review of the original Blood of Heroes product was required to comment on the egregious number of typos and layout flaws. I've only found a couple of errors (Two Dimensional is a Mental Power now, but still links to Dex?? Oops.) and no where have entire chunks of text been mislocated or overlaid by other text, as happened with frustrating frequency in the characters section of the BoH book. Other than putting the map for the adventure on a reference page at the back, the layout is nice and smooth.

System Mechanics: This, frankly, is what we're all buying the book for boys and girls. And any of you with your name in that big honkin' list on the title page will immediately scour the book for your particular contribution (I found mine under Mental Freeze and Paralysis, thanks to my write-up of the character Painkiller from Black Lightning that I did back in '96!)

If you always thought that there wasn't enough detail in MEGS, this book is definitely for you. On my first read-through my head was a little woozy from all the detailed minutia, particularly in the dissection of Weaponry and Martial Arts abilities. I'm not saying it's overwhelming, it's just not how I like to run my games (I did most of a session last night without ever consulting the tables). Separation of Married into Dependant and Debt (HA!), big sidebars on the difference between Confidant, Buddy and Pet and whatnot. Breakdowns of irrational Attractions/Fears/Hatreds and Vulnerabilities by rarity for the bean counters out there. How to use Dex, or APs, or Accuracy skill for AV of powers. And a whole chapter on custom designing powers that I have yet to brave. Lots and lots of detail.

And then there's the fixes. Tons and tons of fixes. Some are good, some are still iffy (I can now hit my player who has Two-Dimensional! Yay! But I doubt this will settle the Great Superspeed Debate - how the power affects Init is still somewhat unclear to this thick headed writer). But overall, you take what you want and can ignore the rest. All these rules are optional add-ons. The thing that makes me sad is that I have to constantly flip back and forth between the Sidekick and the regular book to see whether such and such a power has been modified, clarified, or entirely replaced in Sidekick. Other than a book with an actual index, my greatest dream (YOU HEAR THIS, Pulsar?) would be a 2nd (5th?) edition BoH that merges the two into one big, complete compendium. Don't know if anyone else would buy it, having only recently bought BoH (or relying on old, dog-eared copies of 3rd edition) and Sidekick, but I would. In a heartbeat. That's $30 in your pockets from this chump, guys, all you have to do is deliver.

But I digress...the new powers and skills and whatnot are very nice too. Of course, I started a campaign 2 weeks before getting the Sidekick, so my players don't have any of these neat powers, but the villains will. Some very problematic powers have been cleared up nicely with these fan-fixes (the whole Time Control power from the BoH rules was problematic in its first version and has been greatly improved here). And how did we ever live without Dismember as a power (lets you remove other people's body parts and control them - and yes, I have already written up a villain with that power!).

Bloodsuckers Live!: How could I go away without saying something about this wonderful little bonus to the Sidekick! Gods below, this looks like a lot of fun. Would it play well? That would really depend on the players. Strong role-playing ability, not hack-n-slash, is required here, and the desire to have a not very serious time. Lots of charts for interrogating people, stats for all the different folks you might meet at a gaming/sci-fi con (and all Gamers have Socially Inept as a Drawback...heh). And actual rules for a mock Masquerade LARP, which we MUST do in and around the actual vampire larping at GenCon (I can't wait to give some Goth Chick an Atomic Soul Suck or whatever it is called!).

Overall: Is it worth my $20? Unless you have slavishly saved, edited and filed every posting to the DC Heroes mailing list for the last 4 years, I say yes (and having access to the Archives doesn't count - trying to find a specific rule in there is like looking for a needle in the Marianas Trench. From high orbit. Around Venus...) The fixes alone are worth it for me, and I think it makes the system as a whole more complete and more playable. Does it turn MEGS into Champions by including too much detailing in character creation and combat and such? Well, my players say MEGS is already too complicated and that they don't need this. But the options are there for the players that like that sort of thing, and can be ignored by those who don't. I say get it.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Sidekick Supplement
Author: Joshua Marquart Category: game Company/Publisher: Pulsar Games Line: Blood of Heroes Cost: $20 Page count: 184 ISBN: 0-9665280-1-8 Capsule Review by Christopher Tatro on 07/27/99. Genre tags: none	First a disclaimer: I am listed as a contributor I this book, but only because I am part of the DC Heroes Mailing List and had participated in discussions of the rules contained herein. I did not write any part of this work, nor am I forcing cash payments out of the author or publisher in exchange for my review. Some background: this is a rules-supplement book for the Blood of Heroes/MEGS/DC Heroes system. It is a compilation of all the rules fixes and modifications proposed over the last four or so years on the very active DC Heroes mailing list. So this is about as much of a grass-roots generated book as you're likely to see in the gaming industry any time soon. That alone wins it some mad props from me. I tend to seek three key elements in any game: artwork/layout, world setting, and system mechanics. As this is a supplement, it doesn't have much in the way of world setting (although it does introduce the Guardians, interesting characters with a sense of lots of history behind them and power levels that don't give me an aneurysm just thinking about them. Do they fit well into the universe established by Pulsar in the original BoH gamebook? There are some tenuous connections, but really they could be dropped into any super hero world setting). Artwork/Layout: This has been the area of greatest criticism of the book thus far, and in my opinion rightly so. I don't know if they used different processing techniques on the images, but many of them look like pencil sketches and don't reproduce well in the book. They look kind of fuzzy. Some of them are very cool, and the more I look at some of them the more they grow on me, but they still are the weakest element of the book. The art does not add to the material, but I don't necessarily think it detracts horribly either. Fortunately they've put out the call that they're looking for more artists, so the calibre of work should go up for future projects. Layout wise, the book is a great improvement from BoH. It was their first time through - I'm willing to cut the guys a little slack (especially if I ever want to write for them - god forbid I ever make a typoe :-). Just about every review of the original Blood of Heroes product was required to comment on the egregious number of typos and layout flaws. I've only found a couple of errors (Two Dimensional is a Mental Power now, but still links to Dex?? Oops.) and no where have entire chunks of text been mislocated or overlaid by other text, as happened with frustrating frequency in the characters section of the BoH book. Other than putting the map for the adventure on a reference page at the back, the layout is nice and smooth. System Mechanics: This, frankly, is what we're all buying the book for boys and girls. And any of you with your name in that big honkin' list on the title page will immediately scour the book for your particular contribution (I found mine under Mental Freeze and Paralysis, thanks to my write-up of the character Painkiller from Black Lightning that I did back in '96!) If you always thought that there wasn't enough detail in MEGS, this book is definitely for you. On my first read-through my head was a little woozy from all the detailed minutia, particularly in the dissection of Weaponry and Martial Arts abilities. I'm not saying it's overwhelming, it's just not how I like to run my games (I did most of a session last night without ever consulting the tables). Separation of Married into Dependant and Debt (HA!), big sidebars on the difference between Confidant, Buddy and Pet and whatnot. Breakdowns of irrational Attractions/Fears/Hatreds and Vulnerabilities by rarity for the bean counters out there. How to use Dex, or APs, or Accuracy skill for AV of powers. And a whole chapter on custom designing powers that I have yet to brave. Lots and lots of detail. And then there's the fixes. Tons and tons of fixes. Some are good, some are still iffy (I can now hit my player who has Two-Dimensional! Yay! But I doubt this will settle the Great Superspeed Debate - how the power affects Init is still somewhat unclear to this thick headed writer). But overall, you take what you want and can ignore the rest. All these rules are optional add-ons. The thing that makes me sad is that I have to constantly flip back and forth between the Sidekick and the regular book to see whether such and such a power has been modified, clarified, or entirely replaced in Sidekick. Other than a book with an actual index, my greatest dream (YOU HEAR THIS, Pulsar?) would be a 2nd (5th?) edition BoH that merges the two into one big, complete compendium. Don't know if anyone else would buy it, having only recently bought BoH (or relying on old, dog-eared copies of 3rd edition) and Sidekick, but I would. In a heartbeat. That's $30 in your pockets from this chump, guys, all you have to do is deliver. But I digress...the new powers and skills and whatnot are very nice too. Of course, I started a campaign 2 weeks before getting the Sidekick, so my players don't have any of these neat powers, but the villains will. Some very problematic powers have been cleared up nicely with these fan-fixes (the whole Time Control power from the BoH rules was problematic in its first version and has been greatly improved here). And how did we ever live without Dismember as a power (lets you remove other people's body parts and control them - and yes, I have already written up a villain with that power!). Bloodsuckers Live!: How could I go away without saying something about this wonderful little bonus to the Sidekick! Gods below, this looks like a lot of fun. Would it play well? That would really depend on the players. Strong role-playing ability, not hack-n-slash, is required here, and the desire to have a not very serious time. Lots of charts for interrogating people, stats for all the different folks you might meet at a gaming/sci-fi con (and all Gamers have Socially Inept as a Drawback...heh). And actual rules for a mock Masquerade LARP, which we MUST do in and around the actual vampire larping at GenCon (I can't wait to give some Goth Chick an Atomic Soul Suck or whatever it is called!). Overall: Is it worth my $20? Unless you have slavishly saved, edited and filed every posting to the DC Heroes mailing list for the last 4 years, I say yes (and having access to the Archives doesn't count - trying to find a specific rule in there is like looking for a needle in the Marianas Trench. From high orbit. Around Venus...) The fixes alone are worth it for me, and I think it makes the system as a whole more complete and more playable. Does it turn MEGS into Champions by including too much detailing in character creation and combat and such? Well, my players say MEGS is already too complicated and that they don't need this. But the options are there for the players that like that sort of thing, and can be ignored by those who don't. I say get it. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Sidekick Supplement