The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"Don't give me any of that fancy crap. I hit 'em, they go down. Simple."

MetalMan's Review of "Thrash" by Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney

Not content to stay in the arcades and in your anime, the fast and furious fighting games have come to roleplaying games with a vengence. Best of all, its completely free!

The Premise:
Money. Honor. Prestige. Revenge. These are only a few of the reasons that people join the tournaments. Thrash is a roleplaying game to simulate the martial arts combat so common to most anime and fighting videogames. It combines both elements of the real and the fantastical in a seemless mix that is very adaptable.

PERSONAL NOTE: Thrash is a ever-evolving game system. This is a review of version 1.8 of the game. The newest version can always be obtained from http://www.blackbird.nu/thrash/index.html. Also available from the website is the Thrash Sourcebook (not currently updated to version 1.8) and the Karyu Densetsu Campaign Setting. Unofficial information created by fans is also provided such as rules additions and settings based on other games such as Darkstalkers and Guilty Gear.

What Ya Get:
I recommend getting access to a fast laser printer if you want a paper copy of Thrash. Thrash 1.8 is available as a Microsoft Word file or plain ASCII text. I downloaded the Word formated file. It weighs in at 83 pages. If you choose the ASCII format, your page count may vary.

Cost:
Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Free.

Appearance:
The appearance of Thrash is minimal. Text is arranged in two columns on the page interspaced only occassionally by the rare table. There are no illustrations. Hopefully these will be added as the document becomes more "finished." The organization of Thrash is excellent and a concerted effort seems to have been made ot make things easy to find and reference in it. Typographical errors are extremely rare and I can't think of any that were especially glaring.

PERSONAL NOTE: Any comments made on the appearance of the file is based from the Word file. I did not download the ASCII version so any differences that you note between my statements and your copy could be related to formatting and/or printer differences if you choose the other format.

One problem I encountered with the Word file was that it did not display correctly under Word 97. Only one column of the text would display on the screen yet it printed correctly. This may be an isolated issue with my installation and/or version of Word and may not apply to you.

Okay. Strap yourself in. Long review to follow (consider yourself warned).

Thrash opens up with a brief introduction that describes the influences of Thrash and the design theory behind the system and even a brief tale of how the system can potentially be abused and why this should not be allowed. This type of upfront information is refreshing and is reinforced throughtout the text by various statements that make it clear that Thrash is not for powergaming although it is vunerable to it without a good GM. A brief section on revision history is included to see what changes have occurred since the initial version. Website information is also included that is not correct. You can access the Thrash page by following the link at the top of this review. This should be corrected in version 2.0.

The first actual chapter of the "book" is on (appropriately enough) martial arts. This section tends to put forth information on the use (and non-use) of realism in Thrash, the potential goals of martial artists, the different styles and how they can be easily categorized into two types, information on the concept of honor, the power of chi and how it works in the world, information on the organization and rules for tournament fighting, potential reasons for PCs to work together as a team, women in martial arts, retirement for fighters, and a section on some of the weird powers of Thrash (psychic powers, cyborg technology, mutant animals, etc.) and how it might want to be approached. You might want to consider this the initial overview of the style of the system as well as a few useful nuggets to put the GM in the right frame of mind to approach Thrash.

Character creation is dealt with next. Players get 6d10 20 points to divide between eight attributes (Intelligence, Focus, Charisma, Will, Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Appearance). Attributes range from one to ten. Any points not used for attributes are doubled and added to the amount of available Character Points. A optional rule is presented for Heroic Attributes if you want very powerful characters (such as those in Dragonball Z). Once that is done, players need to calculate their secondary stats as per the rules (Base Action Points, Chi, Health, Dizzying Threshold and Rage Threshold). A optional rule is given for having differing upper and lower body strength here.

Players will now need to spend Character Points. They get their Intelligence score plus their Agility score and add in another 40 points. They also add in any unused points from attributes if they have them. These Character Points (CP) are used to buy skills, disciplines, styles, maneuvers, advantages and disadvantages. Any unused CPs are then added to the characters experience point pool. Optional rules are here for spending CPs to boost secondary stats, specializations and concentrations, and unspecified CPs. All of this is followed by a very straightforward example of character creation as well as guidelines on how to recreate an existing character (such as Cammy from Street Fighter) under the Thrash rules. While this seems complicated, it really isn't any more complicated than any other system and becomes pretty routine after making a few sample characters.

Several pages follow character creation that gives the skills list with descriptions and any game mechanic bonuses or penalties that might be associated with them, the disciplines list and their associated abilities and a list of advantages/disadvantages and their allowed levels. I would have liked to have seen a bigger skill list but you can understand that the emphasis is more on fighting abilities given the nature of the source material.

The chapter on styles is extremely well done and displays an impressive knowledge of some of the more historical or obscure variants of common styles. Very well done rules are given here for creating a new style for use in a campaign such as self-developed styles or "corrupted/evil" versions of an existing style. If you are having problems thinking of a good character concept, a quick flip through this section should give you many good ideas on what might be interesting to you based on your particular style of roleplaying and personality.

The Maneuver chapter is one of the largest of Thrash and (thankfully!) comes with an easily referenced list of them. Rules for purchasing and using maneuvers are found here. A very nice section is also included on naming special moves to give your character that special bit of flare that everyone likes. Modifiers are given so that you can customize maneuvers to make them cheaper, more powerful, versatile, etc. This is the chapter that should make you sit up and take notice even if you've been dozing. This isn't simply about two characters pummelling each other. This is about strategy. If someone is able to defeat you, you come up with a new maneuver to counter it - this is the fighting way - a staple of most martial arts movies and anime.

The next to last chapter of the book is the rules. The rules for Thrash seem to be a hybrid between Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game and Mekton Z (if you can believe that) along with some other things tossed in for good measure. Success is determined by rolling d10 Attribute Skill against a Difficulty determined by the GM. Initiative is a d10 Your Base AP in order of greatest to lowest. Attacks (as well as defense) is d10 Style Agility The maneuver's Accuracy. Defensive maneuvers can be done at any time as long as the defender has the necessary APs to activate it. Damage inflicted by an attack can also be soaked by rolling a d10 Stamina - every 4 points on the roll will reduce the damage by 1 point. What follows this information is rules on various "effects" that fighters can do such as the dizzying attack and using rage to fuel even greater powers. A section on weapons is also given here that lists the required stats for a weapon as well as a good selection of listed weapons available to players. Armor is also given the same treatment. Rules for epic battles are given (in which stats and rage thresholds get skyrocketed due to the dramatic nature of the event). Healing and death are covered as well as chi recovery. Social interaction guidelines, experience, exceptional stats, and training wrap up the rules chapter along with a optional rule for spontaneous learning. The rules seem a bit clunky to me and not well- suited to a fighting game but I'm only reading it and not playing it. A real playtest would verify or disprove this.

The final chapter of Thrash is a GM section that provides the potential GM with tips on the genre conventions inherent to the martials arts. Information is given on how to structure the world and its technology to mesh with the atmosphere of the fighting mindset. Elements of the martial arts fighting game genre is given (humor, action, weird powers, subplots, more action, and power levels) a bit more detail and how a GM should approach incorporating them into his or her game. A section on "How to Roleplay Anime" is included since this is the default flavor that most of these types of games will assume. Of particular interest is the section titled "Roleplaying Vs. Kicking Ass" that sums up exactly what a good roleplaying game should be and in the most succinct way I have ever seen. A vast wealth of information from a meager four pages.

Thrash wraps up with three appendixes. The first one deals with weird powers that you might want to introduce into the game. It covers aliens, cybernetics, elementals, mutant animals, psychics, and sorcery. In this it covers the disciplines and/or the maneuvers that such types of characters could have. Appendix two cover miscellaneous information that includes rules for animal companions, artifact items (such as enchanted weapons), and examples of some generic NPCs that might be encountered. The final appendix deals with system notes on the guidelines on how to correctly construct your own style as well as your own maneuvers. Thrash finishes off with a list of inspirational/informational media that might be useful to potential players and GMs.

Overall Impression:
If you've given up on my rambling and went to look at Thrash, I think you might agree that this is an excellent system and definately a labor of love on behalf of the author. This is professional quality material here of the type that you'd expect to have to buy in a store. Its completely free and fills a empty niche in the market currently that Feng Shui can only partially fill. If martial arts combat is what you crave, look no further than Thrash!

MetalMan signing off.

Thrash
Thrash Capsule Review by MetalMan on 22/03/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Springing Wombat Breaker Review!!! YYYYYYAAAAAA AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Product: Thrash Author: Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Free RPG Line: Cost: FREE Page count: 83 Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by MetalMan on 22/03/01 Genre tags: Modern day Historical Comedy Anime Asian/Far East	"Don't give me any of that fancy crap. I hit 'em, they go down. Simple." MetalMan's Review of "Thrash" by Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney Not content to stay in the arcades and in your anime, the fast and furious fighting games have come to roleplaying games with a vengence. Best of all, its completely free! The Premise: Money. Honor. Prestige. Revenge. These are only a few of the reasons that people join the tournaments. Thrash is a roleplaying game to simulate the martial arts combat so common to most anime and fighting videogames. It combines both elements of the real and the fantastical in a seemless mix that is very adaptable. PERSONAL NOTE: Thrash is a ever-evolving game system. This is a review of version 1.8 of the game. The newest version can always be obtained from http://www.blackbird.nu/thrash/index.html. Also available from the website is the Thrash Sourcebook (not currently updated to version 1.8) and the Karyu Densetsu Campaign Setting. Unofficial information created by fans is also provided such as rules additions and settings based on other games such as Darkstalkers and Guilty Gear. What Ya Get: I recommend getting access to a fast laser printer if you want a paper copy of Thrash. Thrash 1.8 is available as a Microsoft Word file or plain ASCII text. I downloaded the Word formated file. It weighs in at 83 pages. If you choose the ASCII format, your page count may vary. Cost: Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Free. Appearance: The appearance of Thrash is minimal. Text is arranged in two columns on the page interspaced only occassionally by the rare table. There are no illustrations. Hopefully these will be added as the document becomes more "finished." The organization of Thrash is excellent and a concerted effort seems to have been made ot make things easy to find and reference in it. Typographical errors are extremely rare and I can't think of any that were especially glaring. PERSONAL NOTE: Any comments made on the appearance of the file is based from the Word file. I did not download the ASCII version so any differences that you note between my statements and your copy could be related to formatting and/or printer differences if you choose the other format. One problem I encountered with the Word file was that it did not display correctly under Word 97. Only one column of the text would display on the screen yet it printed correctly. This may be an isolated issue with my installation and/or version of Word and may not apply to you. Okay. Strap yourself in. Long review to follow (consider yourself warned). Thrash opens up with a brief introduction that describes the influences of Thrash and the design theory behind the system and even a brief tale of how the system can potentially be abused and why this should not be allowed. This type of upfront information is refreshing and is reinforced throughtout the text by various statements that make it clear that Thrash is not for powergaming although it is vunerable to it without a good GM. A brief section on revision history is included to see what changes have occurred since the initial version. Website information is also included that is not correct. You can access the Thrash page by following the link at the top of this review. This should be corrected in version 2.0. The first actual chapter of the "book" is on (appropriately enough) martial arts. This section tends to put forth information on the use (and non-use) of realism in Thrash, the potential goals of martial artists, the different styles and how they can be easily categorized into two types, information on the concept of honor, the power of chi and how it works in the world, information on the organization and rules for tournament fighting, potential reasons for PCs to work together as a team, women in martial arts, retirement for fighters, and a section on some of the weird powers of Thrash (psychic powers, cyborg technology, mutant animals, etc.) and how it might want to be approached. You might want to consider this the initial overview of the style of the system as well as a few useful nuggets to put the GM in the right frame of mind to approach Thrash. Character creation is dealt with next. Players get 6d10 20 points to divide between eight attributes (Intelligence, Focus, Charisma, Will, Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Appearance). Attributes range from one to ten. Any points not used for attributes are doubled and added to the amount of available Character Points. A optional rule is presented for Heroic Attributes if you want very powerful characters (such as those in Dragonball Z). Once that is done, players need to calculate their secondary stats as per the rules (Base Action Points, Chi, Health, Dizzying Threshold and Rage Threshold). A optional rule is given for having differing upper and lower body strength here. Players will now need to spend Character Points. They get their Intelligence score plus their Agility score and add in another 40 points. They also add in any unused points from attributes if they have them. These Character Points (CP) are used to buy skills, disciplines, styles, maneuvers, advantages and disadvantages. Any unused CPs are then added to the characters experience point pool. Optional rules are here for spending CPs to boost secondary stats, specializations and concentrations, and unspecified CPs. All of this is followed by a very straightforward example of character creation as well as guidelines on how to recreate an existing character (such as Cammy from Street Fighter) under the Thrash rules. While this seems complicated, it really isn't any more complicated than any other system and becomes pretty routine after making a few sample characters. Several pages follow character creation that gives the skills list with descriptions and any game mechanic bonuses or penalties that might be associated with them, the disciplines list and their associated abilities and a list of advantages/disadvantages and their allowed levels. I would have liked to have seen a bigger skill list but you can understand that the emphasis is more on fighting abilities given the nature of the source material. The chapter on styles is extremely well done and displays an impressive knowledge of some of the more historical or obscure variants of common styles. Very well done rules are given here for creating a new style for use in a campaign such as self-developed styles or "corrupted/evil" versions of an existing style. If you are having problems thinking of a good character concept, a quick flip through this section should give you many good ideas on what might be interesting to you based on your particular style of roleplaying and personality. The Maneuver chapter is one of the largest of Thrash and (thankfully!) comes with an easily referenced list of them. Rules for purchasing and using maneuvers are found here. A very nice section is also included on naming special moves to give your character that special bit of flare that everyone likes. Modifiers are given so that you can customize maneuvers to make them cheaper, more powerful, versatile, etc. This is the chapter that should make you sit up and take notice even if you've been dozing. This isn't simply about two characters pummelling each other. This is about strategy. If someone is able to defeat you, you come up with a new maneuver to counter it - this is the fighting way - a staple of most martial arts movies and anime. The next to last chapter of the book is the rules. The rules for Thrash seem to be a hybrid between Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game and Mekton Z (if you can believe that) along with some other things tossed in for good measure. Success is determined by rolling d10 Attribute Skill against a Difficulty determined by the GM. Initiative is a d10 Your Base AP in order of greatest to lowest. Attacks (as well as defense) is d10 Style Agility The maneuver's Accuracy. Defensive maneuvers can be done at any time as long as the defender has the necessary APs to activate it. Damage inflicted by an attack can also be soaked by rolling a d10 Stamina - every 4 points on the roll will reduce the damage by 1 point. What follows this information is rules on various "effects" that fighters can do such as the dizzying attack and using rage to fuel even greater powers. A section on weapons is also given here that lists the required stats for a weapon as well as a good selection of listed weapons available to players. Armor is also given the same treatment. Rules for epic battles are given (in which stats and rage thresholds get skyrocketed due to the dramatic nature of the event). Healing and death are covered as well as chi recovery. Social interaction guidelines, experience, exceptional stats, and training wrap up the rules chapter along with a optional rule for spontaneous learning. The rules seem a bit clunky to me and not well- suited to a fighting game but I'm only reading it and not playing it. A real playtest would verify or disprove this. The final chapter of Thrash is a GM section that provides the potential GM with tips on the genre conventions inherent to the martials arts. Information is given on how to structure the world and its technology to mesh with the atmosphere of the fighting mindset. Elements of the martial arts fighting game genre is given (humor, action, weird powers, subplots, more action, and power levels) a bit more detail and how a GM should approach incorporating them into his or her game. A section on "How to Roleplay Anime" is included since this is the default flavor that most of these types of games will assume. Of particular interest is the section titled "Roleplaying Vs. Kicking Ass" that sums up exactly what a good roleplaying game should be and in the most succinct way I have ever seen. A vast wealth of information from a meager four pages. Thrash wraps up with three appendixes. The first one deals with weird powers that you might want to introduce into the game. It covers aliens, cybernetics, elementals, mutant animals, psychics, and sorcery. In this it covers the disciplines and/or the maneuvers that such types of characters could have. Appendix two cover miscellaneous information that includes rules for animal companions, artifact items (such as enchanted weapons), and examples of some generic NPCs that might be encountered. The final appendix deals with system notes on the guidelines on how to correctly construct your own style as well as your own maneuvers. Thrash finishes off with a list of inspirational/informational media that might be useful to potential players and GMs. Overall Impression: If you've given up on my rambling and went to look at Thrash, I think you might agree that this is an excellent system and definately a labor of love on behalf of the author. This is professional quality material here of the type that you'd expect to have to buy in a store. Its completely free and fills a empty niche in the market currently that Feng Shui can only partially fill. If martial arts combat is what you crave, look no further than Thrash! MetalMan signing off.