RPGnet : The Inside Scoop on Gaming

How many systems can accurately model everything from a millionaire playboy-spy to a muscled uber-grunt? Well, a few... but how many of _those_ cost only $10? And provide an excellent beer-and-pretzels sort of Sunday afternoon game-on-short-notice adrenelin rush? I'd say we've limited the field to "Extreme Vengeance."

Getting a few facts out here, "Extreme Vengeance" is a modern-day action/adventure rpg. The players are actors playing action/adventure heroes (sort of like a focused version of "It Came From the Late, Late Show") trying to capture the arch villain while boosting their own ratings. Ultimately, its popularity they're after, and the more you please your audience, the more you can do.

So you can already tell the focus of this game is cinema, not realism. They make this clear by telling you 'no boring "Realism"' on the back cover. Inside, you find out that characters have but two stats: Guts, and Coincidence. Popularity is the coin for measuring your real success in the connected Scenes that make up the total Movie. The GM is the Director, as well as the arch villain and all the heavies, and also tracks the audience response. Grab your popcorn and I'll go more into the actual review part now.

Okay, I'll be up front. I liked this book. I got to borrow a copy for free to review, and (*gasp*) realized it would actually be worth paying for! Even though parts were annoying, I really enjoyed the concept and most of its executation (and with this book, they really mean "executation">) Chief on my list of good qualities were:

Downsides were:

Let's go through these backwards. The book has a Dan Frazier cover... and then replicates the cover along the margin of each and every page. The rest of the art is just kinda there. And this, of course, meant that the margins were big and space-wasting. I'd knock this book down a bit for layout as a result (in fact, I did knock it back for this, giving it an "average" result. Boo, hiss...)

The writing style is trying for flip 'n' hip, and it works... in spots. For the entire book, though, it was tough to get through, and parts fell flat. Again, this was a style issue, and I bumped it down to "needs work."

Fortunately, the writing itself got the concept across well. So I was tempted to give them a few more points because of this, but then my housemate browsed the copy and pronounced it annoying and hard to get through. This was a great pity, since I think it has a lot of good stuff... but it did seem to confirm the "Needs work."

So, stylistically, the writing is clear, concise, articulate, yet vagually annoying. So next week look at the concept,and the content. Except, let me digress on the price. This book is ten dollars-- I'm amazed, as I haven't seen many ten dollar games that were decent. I think this is a great trend (if trend it be), since $10 is just about what I'm willing to plunk down for a neat quick game.

And neat and quick this is. Now, I'm a content junkie-- give me great ideas that work and I'm pleased. And this book was very pleasing. The actor/character dichotomy has been used in several good games-- Hong Kong Action Theatre!, Theatrix, and It Came From the Late Late Show come to mind. With EV's focus on just one genre, this idea came through very clearly. The characters have one focus-- increasing emotional involvement to build the action to a greater climax so that their viewers are thrilled (is that just one focus? Never mind.) The metric of popularity is easy to keep track of, given a good Director, and the ease of getting from scene to scene (quick cut!) makes everything flow along nicely.

The analogy of a game as a movie is always a potent one, and this game would be a definite contender for a "gateway game", to lure non-role players into an afternoon session. Character generation is very simple (you can just tweak some templates if you want), the mechanics speed on by, and it minimizes hard-core rpg ideas like complicated stats, resolution tables, and other icky math things (yes, I can do math and no, I don't like to do it when I play a game.)

So we have a concept people can relate to (action movies), simple easy-to-pick up mechanics, and a ready-to-go adventure. The mechanics are easy and give good feedback (the Director lets you know how many new fans you pick up for each stunt or scene-- indeed, that is the only true measure of success.) Players are encouraged to role-play in a fun, over the top fashion-- failing and losing loved ones is seen as a big popularity boon, for example, as it allows the actor a chance to express their performance range in thoughtful, emotional scenes (that are soon followed by extreme violence, one hopes.)

It's silly, it's fast, it's fun. And, finally, they had an idea so brilliant it should be written up as its own article in some gaming magazine so 10,000 people will hear of it. "Adventures via Sim City", they could dub it. The idea is, since your cinematic romp is in a city, just buy some of the (likely heavily discounted) Sim City Collectable Cards, shuffle the bunch together, and voila! Instant backdrop!

This city-on-the-fly idea was so cool, I went out and bought a couple packs of Sim City cards. I now have a small village, and a big city, ready to go. This would work really well for Hong Kong Action Theatre! and Feng Shui fans, too. Heck, for $10, buy the book just for this one idea. It's like City Geomorphs (or, am I dating myself here?)

Okay, I've admitted I got a free copy and yet I keep saying "buy this book." Just how good was it? After reading the book, I spent an hour just trying to figure out a way to keep the free copy instead of sending it along to the next reviewer who was supposed to get it. Ideas included:

As it happens, my moral quandry was resolved because the publisher was kind enough to send 4 copies-- 2 for reviews, and 2 for prizes. Yahoo! I can keep my copy! And I can still invent a really easy contest on RPGnet! So I did, and the full scoop is at our contest 3 page.

The short form is: Write up a letter on why you think you should get one of the two prize copies, but write it in the style of an action-adventure hero. The most humorous entries will be plunked up onto the web, and the two best will get a free copy of the game! What could be cooler?

If you don't win, and you like self-referential humor and over the top cinema games, buy this book or eat hot lead. End of story, roll credits.

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

Extreme Vengeance
Author: Tony Lee Category: game Company/Publisher: Archangel Entertainment Reviewed by Sandy Antunes on 06/16/97. Genre tags: none	How many systems can accurately model everything from a millionaire playboy-spy to a muscled uber-grunt? Well, a few... but how many of _those_ cost only $10? And provide an excellent beer-and-pretzels sort of Sunday afternoon game-on-short-notice adrenelin rush? I'd say we've limited the field to "Extreme Vengeance." Getting a few facts out here, "Extreme Vengeance" is a modern-day action/adventure rpg. The players are actors playing action/adventure heroes (sort of like a focused version of "It Came From the Late, Late Show") trying to capture the arch villain while boosting their own ratings. Ultimately, its popularity they're after, and the more you please your audience, the more you can do. So you can already tell the focus of this game is cinema, not realism. They make this clear by telling you 'no boring "Realism"' on the back cover. Inside, you find out that characters have but two stats: Guts, and Coincidence. Popularity is the coin for measuring your real success in the connected Scenes that make up the total Movie. The GM is the Director, as well as the arch villain and all the heavies, and also tracks the audience response. Grab your popcorn and I'll go more into the actual review part now. Okay, I'll be up front. I liked this book. I got to borrow a copy for free to review, and (gasp) realized it would actually be worth paying for! Even though parts were annoying, I really enjoyed the concept and most of its executation (and with this book, they really mean "executation">) Chief on my list of good qualities were: 1) A bizarre take on character motivations. 2) A focus on drama and cinema instead of rules and dice. 3) Really fast stripped down mechanics. 4) Finally, a use for those free "Sim City" cards I kept getting in magazines! 5) The price! Only $10! Downsides were: 1) Really big margins sucking up valuable text space, 2) Bristling macho writing tone got a bit tired after the first two chapters, and 3) If I had to read the author raving about the bookcover's "great Dan Frazier art!" one more time, I'd vomit. Let's go through these backwards. The book has a Dan Frazier cover... and then replicates the cover along the margin of each and every page. The rest of the art is just kinda there. And this, of course, meant that the margins were big and space-wasting. I'd knock this book down a bit for layout as a result (in fact, I did knock it back for this, giving it an "average" result. Boo, hiss...) The writing style is trying for flip 'n' hip, and it works... in spots. For the entire book, though, it was tough to get through, and parts fell flat. Again, this was a style issue, and I bumped it down to "needs work." Fortunately, the writing itself got the concept across well. So I was tempted to give them a few more points because of this, but then my housemate browsed the copy and pronounced it annoying and hard to get through. This was a great pity, since I think it has a lot of good stuff... but it did seem to confirm the "Needs work." So, stylistically, the writing is clear, concise, articulate, yet vagually annoying. So next week look at the concept,and the content. Except, let me digress on the price. This book is ten dollars-- I'm amazed, as I haven't seen many ten dollar games that were decent. I think this is a great trend (if trend it be), since $10 is just about what I'm willing to plunk down for a neat quick game. And neat and quick this is. Now, I'm a content junkie-- give me great ideas that work and I'm pleased. And this book was very pleasing. The actor/character dichotomy has been used in several good games-- Hong Kong Action Theatre!, Theatrix, and It Came From the Late Late Show come to mind. With EV's focus on just one genre, this idea came through very clearly. The characters have one focus-- increasing emotional involvement to build the action to a greater climax so that their viewers are thrilled (is that just one focus? Never mind.) The metric of popularity is easy to keep track of, given a good Director, and the ease of getting from scene to scene (quick cut!) makes everything flow along nicely. The analogy of a game as a movie is always a potent one, and this game would be a definite contender for a "gateway game", to lure non-role players into an afternoon session. Character generation is very simple (you can just tweak some templates if you want), the mechanics speed on by, and it minimizes hard-core rpg ideas like complicated stats, resolution tables, and other icky math things (yes, I can do math and no, I don't like to do it when I play a game.) So we have a concept people can relate to (action movies), simple easy-to-pick up mechanics, and a ready-to-go adventure. The mechanics are easy and give good feedback (the Director lets you know how many new fans you pick up for each stunt or scene-- indeed, that is the only true measure of success.) Players are encouraged to role-play in a fun, over the top fashion-- failing and losing loved ones is seen as a big popularity boon, for example, as it allows the actor a chance to express their performance range in thoughtful, emotional scenes (that are soon followed by extreme violence, one hopes.) It's silly, it's fast, it's fun. And, finally, they had an idea so brilliant it should be written up as its own article in some gaming magazine so 10,000 people will hear of it. "Adventures via Sim City", they could dub it. The idea is, since your cinematic romp is in a city, just buy some of the (likely heavily discounted) Sim City Collectable Cards, shuffle the bunch together, and voila! Instant backdrop! "Okay, I leap out the back window of the laundrymat and run down the alley-- where am I?" (shuffle shuffle draw) Outside a small theatre! (mayhem follows) "Okay, as you flee the theatre on the construction crane's wrecking ball, you find yourself hurled to the roof of..." (shuffle shuffle draw) the police station! My, this is going to be interesting." This city-on-the-fly idea was so cool, I went out and bought a couple packs of Sim City cards. I now have a small village, and a big city, ready to go. This would work really well for Hong Kong Action Theatre! and Feng Shui fans, too. Heck, for $10, buy the book just for this one idea. It's like City Geomorphs (or, am I dating myself here?) Okay, I've admitted I got a free copy and yet I keep saying "buy this book." Just how good was it? After reading the book, I spent an hour just trying to figure out a way to keep the free copy instead of sending it along to the next reviewer who was supposed to get it. Ideas included: a) Doing the playtest review under a pseudonym, b) Writing the publisher to say the copy had gotten damaged and could we have another, please (and autograph it "To Sandy?"), c) Setting up a really easy contest on RPGnet and then awarding myself the prize (a copy of "Extreme Vengeance", of course) for being the first correct response. As it happens, my moral quandry was resolved because the publisher was kind enough to send 4 copies-- 2 for reviews, and 2 for prizes. Yahoo! I can keep my copy! And I can still invent a really easy contest on RPGnet! So I did, and the full scoop is at our contest 3 page. The short form is: Write up a letter on why you think you should get one of the two prize copies, but write it in the style of an action-adventure hero. The most humorous entries will be plunked up onto the web, and the two best will get a free copy of the game! What could be cooler? If you don't win, and you like self-referential humor and over the top cinema games, buy this book or eat hot lead. End of story, roll credits. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)