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Deep 7 has developed a funny, clever, and original RPG just in time for the Christmas season. Santa's Soldiers is like the Ghostbusters RPG with dark humour and a little more violence.

Characters play elves who are members of an elite organization called the OSN (Order of Saint Nicholas) whose mission is to make sure Christmas happens on time and that no harm comes to Santa or Mrs. Claus. Santa maintains an air of naivity about the extreme measures the OSN procures to protect Christmas, while Mrs. Claus is the actual mastermind behind the whole operation. The facade of a sweet old lady hides the fact that Mrs. Claus is a dangerous woman. I myself find this hilarious, but not nearly as funny as the actual desription of Mrs. Claus that is listed in the book.

Players create characters much like other games. The attributes are Nimbleness, Strength, Cunning, and Christmas Spirit, which are created using 3d6 for each. Most of the attributes are obvious with the exception of Christmas Spirit. All magic in the game uses Christmas Spirit or Easter Spirit(if you are the Easter bunny), or Frostiness(if you are a snowman) and so on... to determine the success of certain spells. Players then pick a division of the OSN, much like character classes in other games, to obtain certain perks and skills. Skill resolution is determined by adding the ability score to the skill score and rolling below that on 1d20. The amount by which you succeed is compared to an opponent for opposed actions, and difficulty numbers are also included to simulate more difficult actions the players are attempting. Although I have not had the chance to playtest the system yet, combat looks easy to gamemaster, appropriate for the type of game, and somewhat deadly if your not careful little elves.

The rest of the game includes descriptions of non-player characters, enemies, a sample adventure, and a gamemaster's screen which is the cover of the book(nice touch I may add-free screen!). The enemies of Santa Claus are the most amusing aspects of the game. Basically, each arch enemy revolve around the other three holidays which are in turn associated with the other three seasons. The Easter Bunny, the Bogieman, and the Anti-Claus (whose holiday is the now defunct Water Festival)are all vying to make their holiday as popular as Christmas is, or at least stick it to Santa for imagined past transgressions. Besides these seasonal antagonists, there are others that seemingly have been created from the many Christmas specials we all grew up watching as children. These enemies are humorous, clever, and will provide inspiration for many scenarios. An example of one of these enemies would be a green hairy monster in a Santa suit followed around by a small dog. His name is the Grunch (he he he), and although he looks familiar and his story may seem familiar, his past has been changed, taking a darkly humorous past that results in a comically grim ending. Although the sample adventure included is adequate for introducing characters to the game, a much better module is downloadable at the Deep7 website. This adventure, titled Boogie Knights, pits the characters against the Boogieman and his Halloweeny cohaorts who are attempting to disrupt the toymaking process in order to spoil Christmas.

Santa's Soldiers is a clever, unique, and extremely funny RPG. If you enjoy RPG's with humor, then purchase this game, rent all those old Christmas specials for inspiration, and get your players together for a campaign full of fun and Christmas Spirit.

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

Santa's Soldiers
Author: Bill Kte'pi Category: game Company/Publisher: Deep7 Line: Santa's Soldiers Cost: 7.00 Page count: 26 SKU: 37756001 Capsule Review by Eric Caswell on 12/13/00. Genre tags: Comedy	Deep 7 has developed a funny, clever, and original RPG just in time for the Christmas season. Santa's Soldiers is like the Ghostbusters RPG with dark humour and a little more violence. Characters play elves who are members of an elite organization called the OSN (Order of Saint Nicholas) whose mission is to make sure Christmas happens on time and that no harm comes to Santa or Mrs. Claus. Santa maintains an air of naivity about the extreme measures the OSN procures to protect Christmas, while Mrs. Claus is the actual mastermind behind the whole operation. The facade of a sweet old lady hides the fact that Mrs. Claus is a dangerous woman. I myself find this hilarious, but not nearly as funny as the actual desription of Mrs. Claus that is listed in the book. Players create characters much like other games. The attributes are Nimbleness, Strength, Cunning, and Christmas Spirit, which are created using 3d6 for each. Most of the attributes are obvious with the exception of Christmas Spirit. All magic in the game uses Christmas Spirit or Easter Spirit(if you are the Easter bunny), or Frostiness(if you are a snowman) and so on... to determine the success of certain spells. Players then pick a division of the OSN, much like character classes in other games, to obtain certain perks and skills. Skill resolution is determined by adding the ability score to the skill score and rolling below that on 1d20. The amount by which you succeed is compared to an opponent for opposed actions, and difficulty numbers are also included to simulate more difficult actions the players are attempting. Although I have not had the chance to playtest the system yet, combat looks easy to gamemaster, appropriate for the type of game, and somewhat deadly if your not careful little elves. The rest of the game includes descriptions of non-player characters, enemies, a sample adventure, and a gamemaster's screen which is the cover of the book(nice touch I may add-free screen!). The enemies of Santa Claus are the most amusing aspects of the game. Basically, each arch enemy revolve around the other three holidays which are in turn associated with the other three seasons. The Easter Bunny, the Bogieman, and the Anti-Claus (whose holiday is the now defunct Water Festival)are all vying to make their holiday as popular as Christmas is, or at least stick it to Santa for imagined past transgressions. Besides these seasonal antagonists, there are others that seemingly have been created from the many Christmas specials we all grew up watching as children. These enemies are humorous, clever, and will provide inspiration for many scenarios. An example of one of these enemies would be a green hairy monster in a Santa suit followed around by a small dog. His name is the Grunch (he he he), and although he looks familiar and his story may seem familiar, his past has been changed, taking a darkly humorous past that results in a comically grim ending. Although the sample adventure included is adequate for introducing characters to the game, a much better module is downloadable at the Deep7 website. This adventure, titled Boogie Knights, pits the characters against the Boogieman and his Halloweeny cohaorts who are attempting to disrupt the toymaking process in order to spoil Christmas. Santa's Soldiers is a clever, unique, and extremely funny RPG. If you enjoy RPG's with humor, then purchase this game, rent all those old Christmas specials for inspiration, and get your players together for a campaign full of fun and Christmas Spirit. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)