The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Anybody who has seen my past reviews or my posts on Usenet knows that I am a fan of Guardians of Order and their games. The reason is clear. From their very first product, Big Eyes, Small Mouth(BESM), a small press, semi-pro, fan-based production, Guardians has made good, solid games which play smoothly and capture the flavour of what they attempt to capture the flavour of.

Dominion Tank Police(DTP) is no exception to this. The second of Guardians' licensed product lines (the first being The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book), DTP keeps up the fine Guardians tradition of publishing easy, high quality role-playing games. It also keeps up the fine Guardians tradition of doing a licensed game the right way. Anyone else who wants to published a game based upon a license should pay very careful attention to Guardians' methods.

What is DTP about?

DTP is based upon the anime OAV Dominion Tank Police currently available from Central Park Media. Set in the year 2010AD (and thus in danger of becoming humourously anachronistic in very short order), the OAV depicts a bleak future of environmental collapse using a mixture of over-the-top comedy and slightly-less-over-the-top drama. The OAV, as seems to be usual in anime, is based upon a manga, in this case Dominion by the famous Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed and others).

The premise is that in Newport City, social order has broken down so badly that there is a serious crime committed roughly once every 36 seconds. In response to this breakdown, the Tank Police, essentially a group of ultra-violent-lunatic-thug-police-officers driving tanks, was created as the last line of defense against the hi-tech criminal gangs which were threatening to tear the city apart. One of the many questions asked by the OAV (in a humourous fashion) is "does the cure hurt more than the disease?" The question is never really answered....

The DTP game book sets out to provide a good, solid game for playing in the Dominion Tank Police OAV (and not the manga nor the second OAV -- licensing can get pretty strange!) setting. It does this by providing:

game mechanics for actual play;
source material to help run games in the OAV setting;
tips on how to run games in the OAV setting.

The game mechanisms provided are, at their core, the Tri-Stat System of BESM with modifications. The main system is almost identical except that, as in Sailor Moon attributes can go to level 6 instead of maxing out at 5. Over and above this, however, is the addition of two major new subsystems.

One of these new subsystems is a small variation of the mecha creation rules contained in Big Robots, Cool Starships(BRCS). Those familiar with the BRCS rules will instantly understand the DTP version (the only real change is that the DTP rules don't include full rules for cybernetic bodies). Those not familiar with the BRCS rules will take about fifteen minutes to figure out the rules in DTP.

The other new subsystem is an added-on skills system, designed to have variation between characters at the lower levels. Where the mecha rules operate by, in effect, adding a subsystem to the Owns A Big Robot (here called Owns A Big Mecha) attribute from BESM, the skills system operates by providing bonuses to the default stat rolls used in action resolution; the higher the skill, the better the bonus.

How well does it do what it sets out to do?

Overall it does what it sets out to do admirably. The new rules are simple, fast and have minimal impact on the game mechanics. They are obviously still Tri-Stat System rules, but they add a lot to the game.

The mecha system, for example, is a sub-system based on the Owns A Big Mecha(OBM) attribute. Every level in OBM gives some Mecha Build Points(MBP) to the character. Multiple characters can pool MBP to get one jointly owned mecha (much like Leona and Al do in the OAV itself). The MBPs are used in a subsystem which feels very similar to character creation, but which builds a mecha instead. Thus anyone familiar with BESM/DTP character creation can apply similar procedures to build vehicles, etc. as well. This is an excellent example of how to design a game. David Pulver deserves whatever he's being paid by Guardians and a bit more besides!

The skills system is similarly integrated. (I also suspect that it is a preview of the next BESM supplement: Hot Rods and Gun Bunnies.) Basically every character is given a base number of skill points (usually 20) with which skills are purchased in the range of levels 1-6. An attribute, Highly Skilled, can add more skill points to the mix (10 per level). Skills are purchased similarly to attributes with the addition of "specialties" -- essentially single skill levels in very narrow subsets of a skill's coverage. Again, purchasing skills is natural to anyone familiar with the basics of making characters. Applying skills is simplicity itself. When making the stat roll for a task, if a skill applies to the task, that skill's level is applied as a bonus to the roll. If a specialty applies, a further -1 bonus applies. As with the mecha system, the skill system extends the core Tri-Stat System rules naturally and are easily learned and applied. Why can't everyone write rules like Mr. Pulver?

The source material is not quite as impressive. Unlike the Sailor Moon(SM) game, in which the rules formed maybe a quarter of the book, the rest being mostly source material, this book gives about half rules and half source material. There are two reasons for this.

There are more rules for DTP than there are for BESM/SM. The added rules are simple and fast, but they occupy lots of space.
There isn't as much to write about for the setting. Because of bizarre licensing terms, the game can only be about the 4-episode OAV. The material from the two manga series and the second OAV isn't present.

This isn't much of a problem, however. First, the material which is provided is of high quality. There's still a lot to work from. Second, enough background is provided that it would be trivial to add information gleaned from the other sources.

The final category of information is the usual "how do I play in/run a campaign in this setting?" material. The tips provided are solid (although sometimes a bit too boilerplate for my tastes). The best advice provided is in the category of changing the setting so that players who "know" the "one true way" of the setting can be legitimately brushed aside.

What is the production quality like?

Good. The layout is crisp, clean and easily followed. Organization is very solid; I had no difficulties finding anything I looked for while I flipped back and forth through the book. There's a sizable index which never failed me when I looked up a term. (I didn't have to do this very often because of the good organization, so take this with a grain of salt.) The front and back covers have some very nice Shirow paintings (at least I think they're his -- the style is very familiar). The inside is littered with good black-and-white stills taken from the OAV. There's also a 16-page section of full-colour, glossy plates with more stills taken from the show. From beginning to end this book could be used as a style sheet for properly licensing a game. The only thing that annoyed me about the production was the by-now-ubiquitous advertising grafted onto the back of seemingly every game supplement made these days.

Summary

Although a very small disappointment as a resource book (and hence the lowering of the substance rating), this book belongs in the hands of any of the following:

Fans of anime, especially fans of the Dominion Tank Police OAV.
Fans of BESM looking for a skills system to add to their games.
Anybody who wants to see how to do a licensed product correctly (a real rarity in this industry).

It also would be a great mine of ideas for people playing in more conventional SF role-playing settings.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Dominion Tank Police: Role-Playing Game and Resource Book
Author: David L. Pulver Category: game Company/Publisher: Guardians of Order Line: Tri-Stat System Cost: $19.95 Page count: 168 ISBN: 0-9682431-2-6 SKU: #04-001 Capsule Review by Michael T. Richter on 08/24/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Comedy Anime Asian/Far_East	Anybody who has seen my past reviews or my posts on Usenet knows that I am a fan of Guardians of Order and their games. The reason is clear. From their very first product, Big Eyes, Small Mouth(BESM), a small press, semi-pro, fan-based production, Guardians has made good, solid games which play smoothly and capture the flavour of what they attempt to capture the flavour of. Dominion Tank Police(DTP) is no exception to this. The second of Guardians' licensed product lines (the first being The Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book), DTP keeps up the fine Guardians tradition of publishing easy, high quality role-playing games. It also keeps up the fine Guardians tradition of doing a licensed game the right way. Anyone else who wants to published a game based upon a license should pay very careful attention to Guardians' methods. What is DTP about? DTP is based upon the anime OAV Dominion Tank Police currently available from Central Park Media. Set in the year 2010AD (and thus in danger of becoming humourously anachronistic in very short order), the OAV depicts a bleak future of environmental collapse using a mixture of over-the-top comedy and slightly-less-over-the-top drama. The OAV, as seems to be usual in anime, is based upon a manga, in this case Dominion by the famous Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed and others). The premise is that in Newport City, social order has broken down so badly that there is a serious crime committed roughly once every 36 seconds. In response to this breakdown, the Tank Police, essentially a group of ultra-violent-lunatic-thug-police-officers driving tanks, was created as the last line of defense against the hi-tech criminal gangs which were threatening to tear the city apart. One of the many questions asked by the OAV (in a humourous fashion) is "does the cure hurt more than the disease?" The question is never really answered.... The DTP game book sets out to provide a good, solid game for playing in the Dominion Tank Police OAV (and not the manga nor the second OAV -- licensing can get pretty strange!) setting. It does this by providing: game mechanics for actual play; source material to help run games in the OAV setting; tips on how to run games in the OAV setting. The game mechanisms provided are, at their core, the Tri-Stat System of BESM with modifications. The main system is almost identical except that, as in Sailor Moon attributes can go to level 6 instead of maxing out at 5. Over and above this, however, is the addition of two major new subsystems. One of these new subsystems is a small variation of the mecha creation rules contained in Big Robots, Cool Starships(BRCS). Those familiar with the BRCS rules will instantly understand the DTP version (the only real change is that the DTP rules don't include full rules for cybernetic bodies). Those not familiar with the BRCS rules will take about fifteen minutes to figure out the rules in DTP. The other new subsystem is an added-on skills system, designed to have variation between characters at the lower levels. Where the mecha rules operate by, in effect, adding a subsystem to the Owns A Big Robot (here called Owns A Big Mecha) attribute from BESM, the skills system operates by providing bonuses to the default stat rolls used in action resolution; the higher the skill, the better the bonus. How well does it do what it sets out to do? Overall it does what it sets out to do admirably. The new rules are simple, fast and have minimal impact on the game mechanics. They are obviously still Tri-Stat System rules, but they add a lot to the game. The mecha system, for example, is a sub-system based on the Owns A Big Mecha(OBM) attribute. Every level in OBM gives some Mecha Build Points(MBP) to the character. Multiple characters can pool MBP to get one jointly owned mecha (much like Leona and Al do in the OAV itself). The MBPs are used in a subsystem which feels very similar to character creation, but which builds a mecha instead. Thus anyone familiar with BESM/DTP character creation can apply similar procedures to build vehicles, etc. as well. This is an excellent example of how to design a game. David Pulver deserves whatever he's being paid by Guardians and a bit more besides! The skills system is similarly integrated. (I also suspect that it is a preview of the next BESM supplement: Hot Rods and Gun Bunnies.) Basically every character is given a base number of skill points (usually 20) with which skills are purchased in the range of levels 1-6. An attribute, Highly Skilled, can add more skill points to the mix (10 per level). Skills are purchased similarly to attributes with the addition of "specialties" -- essentially single skill levels in very narrow subsets of a skill's coverage. Again, purchasing skills is natural to anyone familiar with the basics of making characters. Applying skills is simplicity itself. When making the stat roll for a task, if a skill applies to the task, that skill's level is applied as a bonus to the roll. If a specialty applies, a further -1 bonus applies. As with the mecha system, the skill system extends the core Tri-Stat System rules naturally and are easily learned and applied. Why can't everyone write rules like Mr. Pulver? The source material is not quite as impressive. Unlike the Sailor Moon(SM) game, in which the rules formed maybe a quarter of the book, the rest being mostly source material, this book gives about half rules and half source material. There are two reasons for this. There are more rules for DTP than there are for BESM/SM. The added rules are simple and fast, but they occupy lots of space. There isn't as much to write about for the setting. Because of bizarre licensing terms, the game can only be about the 4-episode OAV. The material from the two manga series and the second OAV isn't present. This isn't much of a problem, however. First, the material which is provided is of high quality. There's still a lot to work from. Second, enough background is provided that it would be trivial to add information gleaned from the other sources. The final category of information is the usual "how do I play in/run a campaign in this setting?" material. The tips provided are solid (although sometimes a bit too boilerplate for my tastes). The best advice provided is in the category of changing the setting so that players who "know" the "one true way" of the setting can be legitimately brushed aside. What is the production quality like? Good. The layout is crisp, clean and easily followed. Organization is very solid; I had no difficulties finding anything I looked for while I flipped back and forth through the book. There's a sizable index which never failed me when I looked up a term. (I didn't have to do this very often because of the good organization, so take this with a grain of salt.) The front and back covers have some very nice Shirow paintings (at least I think they're his -- the style is very familiar). The inside is littered with good black-and-white stills taken from the OAV. There's also a 16-page section of full-colour, glossy plates with more stills taken from the show. From beginning to end this book could be used as a style sheet for properly licensing a game. The only thing that annoyed me about the production was the by-now-ubiquitous advertising grafted onto the back of seemingly every game supplement made these days. Summary Although a very small disappointment as a resource book (and hence the lowering of the substance rating), this book belongs in the hands of any of the following: Fans of anime, especially fans of the Dominion Tank Police OAV. Fans of BESM looking for a skills system to add to their games. Anybody who wants to see how to do a licensed product correctly (a real rarity in this industry). It also would be a great mine of ideas for people playing in more conventional SF role-playing settings. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Dominion Tank Police: Role-Playing Game and Resource Book

What is DTP about?

How well does it do what it sets out to do?

What is the production quality like?

Summary