The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Crimson Cutlass

In this game Rahm and Hilmer take their "Free-style"/"Quick & Dirty" game system to it's maximum extent. Three 5"x8" perfect bound books, accompany a homemade tarot deck, in this boxed set published in the 1989 edition (original edition was published in '79). The box is decorated with colored line art of low quality, and conveys the swashbuckling subject matter of the game. The books are well bound, card stock covered, with the same line art of pirates burying treasure, and are identified one their covers only as "Book One", two and three. This three-book format is standard for Better Games. Book one contains all of the rules, book two provides for creating scenarios and three handles encounters. All of the interior art is sketch, line art of low to average quality, but appropriate to the general theme of the game.

The scope of the campaign possibilities extends way beyond pirates and musketeers. The rules extend into large-scale military engagements on land and sea. As with other Better Games products, characters are described by traits, which they either possess in excess of normal or are just considered average. For Crimson Cutlass the traits are: Dashing, Cunning, Stout, and Lordly. From these traits, players select backgrounds (Soldier, Commoner, Aristocrat, and Noble) and from their background they choose skills (fencer, briber, goldsmith and equestrian for example). Skill level advancement is achieved by completing a number of ignobles during adventures, as in Better Games' other products. These are intended to promote good role-playing and include things like; personal risk, tale-worthy experience, savoir-faire, duels, and profiteering. All this and rules for resolving every possible scale of conflict are contained in the first book. The Spanish tarot deck (home made cards included) provide nearly all of the randomization and nearly everything is available randomized.

I find Better Games' character creation and task resolution systems innovative and original, but almost too different for the average player. For me, the greatest value of their products is in the Scenario and Encounter books. Within these pages are table after table of randomized story lines that can be used to create logical and comprehensive adventures for any game system in the genre. Especially if you are not one for long drawn out and complicated adventure sequence resolutions, these tables will whisk you through the adventures without loosing excitement or suspense. Whenever you are at a loss for a sidetrack or random adventure encounter, 5 minutes with these books and a story unfolds in playable detail.

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

Crimson Cutlass
Author: George Rahm, Joseph Hilmer Category: game Company/Publisher: Better Games Line: “Free-style”/”Quick & Dirty” Page count: 100/104/140 Capsule Review by Papyrus on 06/06/00. Genre tags: Historical Diceless sponsored by <script language=javascript src="http://adforce.imgis.com/?addyn\|2.0\|185\|166753\|1\|6\|KEY=key1+key2+key3+key4;loc=700;"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://adforce.imgis.com/?adlink\|2.0\|185\|166753\|1\|6\|KEY=key1+key2+key3+key4;loc=300;" target=_top> <img src="http://adforce.imgis.com/?adserv\|2.0\|185\|166753\|1\|6\|KEY=key1+key2+key3+key4;loc=300;" border=0 width=125 height=125></a> </noscript>	Crimson Cutlass In this game Rahm and Hilmer take their "Free-style"/"Quick & Dirty" game system to it's maximum extent. Three 5"x8" perfect bound books, accompany a homemade tarot deck, in this boxed set published in the 1989 edition (original edition was published in '79). The box is decorated with colored line art of low quality, and conveys the swashbuckling subject matter of the game. The books are well bound, card stock covered, with the same line art of pirates burying treasure, and are identified one their covers only as "Book One", two and three. This three-book format is standard for Better Games. Book one contains all of the rules, book two provides for creating scenarios and three handles encounters. All of the interior art is sketch, line art of low to average quality, but appropriate to the general theme of the game. The scope of the campaign possibilities extends way beyond pirates and musketeers. The rules extend into large-scale military engagements on land and sea. As with other Better Games products, characters are described by traits, which they either possess in excess of normal or are just considered average. For Crimson Cutlass the traits are: Dashing, Cunning, Stout, and Lordly. From these traits, players select backgrounds (Soldier, Commoner, Aristocrat, and Noble) and from their background they choose skills (fencer, briber, goldsmith and equestrian for example). Skill level advancement is achieved by completing a number of ignobles during adventures, as in Better Games' other products. These are intended to promote good role-playing and include things like; personal risk, tale-worthy experience, savoir-faire, duels, and profiteering. All this and rules for resolving every possible scale of conflict are contained in the first book. The Spanish tarot deck (home made cards included) provide nearly all of the randomization and nearly everything is available randomized. I find Better Games' character creation and task resolution systems innovative and original, but almost too different for the average player. For me, the greatest value of their products is in the Scenario and Encounter books. Within these pages are table after table of randomized story lines that can be used to create logical and comprehensive adventures for any game system in the genre. Especially if you are not one for long drawn out and complicated adventure sequence resolutions, these tables will whisk you through the adventures without loosing excitement or suspense. Whenever you are at a loss for a sidetrack or random adventure encounter, 5 minutes with these books and a story unfolds in playable detail. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)