The Inside Scoop on Gaming

_Waste World_
designed and written by Bill King
published by Manticore Productions, Limited. Prague, Czechoslovakia.
reviewed by Paul Edson (armaros@aol.com)

This showed up on my local store's shelves recently, and I, being the RPG-aholic that I am, bought it simply because I hadn't seen it before. I haven't yet tried to play or run this, so my mechanics comments will be brief and probably unenlightening...

I'll keep this short: A far future post-holocaust world which has suffered from massive entropic weapons which cause strange mutations, bio-engineered plagues, an information virus which turns computers and robots into raving exterminators of all organic life, and a Galactic interdict which has trapped some rather unpleasant aliens on the planet along with the humans and "post-humans." The world is now primarily an arid waste. The principal power source is a substance called Drakonium, which grows in crystalline form, but seems to be somewhere in the gap between plant and mineral.There are five remaining Metrozones, each of which has a distinct culture, each of which seems to despise the others.

Basically, this setting has everything one could want from a seriously twisted post-holocaust world, and a bit more... Big guns, cybertechnology, bioengineering, big guns, aliens, powerful rival factions, powered armor, big guns, random mutations, nasty critters, and big guns. It's well enough written, however, that one doesn't tend to notice how over the top it is at first. The rival metrozones really ARE distinctive, and each has a pretty legitimate way of life they feel obligated to preserve. There's a good bit of fiction, and it seems to give one a grasp on how characters would actually ACT in such a world, and focuses more on personal conflicts than on combat. Only one qualm, really. Seems every word with a hard "c" sound has replaced that "c" with a "k" by this point in the future. We have Konvoys and Sandkrawlers. This bekomes a minor annoyance by about 20 pages in.

Task resolution is easy. Roll a d20, add skill + characteristic, add or subtract other modifiers, and if the roll is greater than 10, you succeed.Combat works almost the same, and damage is based on the number of successes made on the roll (how far above 10) and a multiplier for the weapon type. Combat is fairly deadly. The system is simple, even a bit TOO simple, overall, but it would work fairly well, I think.

WasteWorld would be a dream for munchkins if there wasn't a strong GM at the table, but with the proper caution, I think it could be a good deal of fun. And yes, I think it would be possible to play a convincing and effective character with minimum combat skills.

Oddly enough, for a book published in Prague, this is head and shoulders above most of the recent stuff I've read in terms of proofing and general copy editing. No index, though, which is a shame.

To sum up:

Setting: Good, even if Mr. King tried to include everything under the sun.

Rules: Okay, if a bit prone to min-maxing. I'd make the base success chance 12 instead of 10, myself.

Production: Good.

Art: Variable, but most is pretty evokative and none is distrakting.

Writing: Good. Really hate the "k" thing, though...

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Waste World
Author: Bill King Category: game Company/Publisher: Manticore Productions, Ltd. Reviewed by Paul Edson on 04/29/97. Genre tags: none	_Waste World_ designed and written by Bill King published by Manticore Productions, Limited. Prague, Czechoslovakia. reviewed by Paul Edson (armaros@aol.com) This showed up on my local store's shelves recently, and I, being the RPG-aholic that I am, bought it simply because I hadn't seen it before. I haven't yet tried to play or run this, so my mechanics comments will be brief and probably unenlightening... I'll keep this short: A far future post-holocaust world which has suffered from massive entropic weapons which cause strange mutations, bio-engineered plagues, an information virus which turns computers and robots into raving exterminators of all organic life, and a Galactic interdict which has trapped some rather unpleasant aliens on the planet along with the humans and "post-humans." The world is now primarily an arid waste. The principal power source is a substance called Drakonium, which grows in crystalline form, but seems to be somewhere in the gap between plant and mineral.There are five remaining Metrozones, each of which has a distinct culture, each of which seems to despise the others. Basically, this setting has everything one could want from a seriously twisted post-holocaust world, and a bit more... Big guns, cybertechnology, bioengineering, big guns, aliens, powerful rival factions, powered armor, big guns, random mutations, nasty critters, and big guns. It's well enough written, however, that one doesn't tend to notice how over the top it is at first. The rival metrozones really ARE distinctive, and each has a pretty legitimate way of life they feel obligated to preserve. There's a good bit of fiction, and it seems to give one a grasp on how characters would actually ACT in such a world, and focuses more on personal conflicts than on combat. Only one qualm, really. Seems every word with a hard "c" sound has replaced that "c" with a "k" by this point in the future. We have Konvoys and Sandkrawlers. This bekomes a minor annoyance by about 20 pages in. Task resolution is easy. Roll a d20, add skill + characteristic, add or subtract other modifiers, and if the roll is greater than 10, you succeed.Combat works almost the same, and damage is based on the number of successes made on the roll (how far above 10) and a multiplier for the weapon type. Combat is fairly deadly. The system is simple, even a bit TOO simple, overall, but it would work fairly well, I think. WasteWorld would be a dream for munchkins if there wasn't a strong GM at the table, but with the proper caution, I think it could be a good deal of fun. And yes, I think it would be possible to play a convincing and effective character with minimum combat skills. Oddly enough, for a book published in Prague, this is head and shoulders above most of the recent stuff I've read in terms of proofing and general copy editing. No index, though, which is a shame. To sum up: Setting: Good, even if Mr. King tried to include everything under the sun. Rules: Okay, if a bit prone to min-maxing. I'd make the base success chance 12 instead of 10, myself. Production: Good. Art: Variable, but most is pretty evokative and none is distrakting. Writing: Good. Really hate the "k" thing, though... Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)