The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"A Portable RPG is designed to be played almost anywhere, quickly and easily. Take it to school, play in line at the theater, in a car, or at a convention."

MetalMan's Review of "The Portable RPG System" by Craig Griswold

The Premise:
The Portable RPG System (PRS from here onward) is designed to be a quick and easy RPG system for situations where a lot of space for gaming is not available or your gaming supplies are very limited. Additional rules and games for it are also available as well as the guidelines for making your own PRS compatable games.

What Ya Get:
If you grab everything, you will have five zip-compressed files. You will need a compression program such as WinZip to open them. The files themselves are in Microsoft Word 97 format. The entire range of PRS files include the Portable RPG System, the Bricklayer RPG and three PRS games: Treasure Hunters, Adventures of the Sector Rangers and Adventures in Feudal Japan. Adventures in the Old West and Adventures in Lemuria (I assume a fantasy game) are listed as "coming soon."

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

Appearance:
The appearance of all five products are well-done and some effort was used to make it look better organized than just text typed on a page. Each product tends to have anywhere from three to six tables each and these are well done and easy to look at. There are no illustrations. This is about the level of quality that you'd find in one of the Cheapass game products (although without the funny drawings).

The Portable RPG System:
The basic PRS rules fit on two pages and contain everything that you need to run the game. Players should go ahead and flip to the second page of the rules first to make their character as the first page is exclusively mechanics. I thought this was a nice touch as the GM only needs to glance at the top page of the document instead of flipping through it to find essential mechanics. Characters are created by assigning values to four attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma. These scores range from one to ten and GMs can either assign 24 points to be arranged how the player wishes or a d10 can be rolled for each attribute. Hit points are equal to the character's strength plus ten. Characters can move a distance in meters equal to their Dexterity - half that if they are moving and performing another action (such as shooting a gun).

A small section on the second page covers a few archtypical weapons for various popular genres (namely fantasy and SF) and the bonuses/penalties they impart on attack rolls. Armor rules are given with a distinction made between Resistant Armor and Ablative Armor. Resistant armor is typically most modern armor such as Kevlar that either stop damage or doesn't stop it. Ablative armor is more of the fantasy armor like plate mail that will stop either all or some of the damage but become less effective as it absorbs damage.

The mechanics of PRS is covered almost exclusively on the first page. It is divided into Action Rolls (AR), Combat, Attacking/Defending and Damage. ARs are based on whatever attribute the GM decides is applicable to the action you are trying to perform and assigns it a difficutly number based on how hard they think it will be for you to accomplish. The player rolls a d10 and adds in the score in their attribute. If it is higher than the DN, the player has been successful. Combat is handled by making an AR against either Dexterity or Intelligence (depending on the situation). The highest result goes first and then actions take place in decending order. The rules for Attacking/Defending allow for defenders to attempt to counter-strike but only if their initiative equals that of the attacker. These rules also cover the effects of explosives such as hand grenades. Damage rules cover what happens on a successful attack when it penetrates a defenders defenses and armor. Successfully hit characters must make a AR against the amount of damage inflicted or go unconscious for 1d10 minutes/point that they missed their roll by. Wounded characters heal one point of damage/day. That's it! That's everything to the system. As you can tell, the PRS is ideally suited to cinematic games where attention to detail isn't that important. The mechanics are very streamlined and seem like they would flow very well in almost any kind of game.

Bricklayer RPG: Adventurers:
The Bricklayer RPG take the Portable RPG System and adapts it for "miniature" rules with LEGO figures and playsets. I will only comment on the changes made between it and the Basic PRS rules described above. The first thing you'll notice is that movement has been converted from meters into 3x3 LEGO squares. It is a simple one for one conversion... one meter in PRS equals one 3x3 square in Bricklayer. Rules have been added to reflect the use of shields as armor. They are treated as a simple defense AR but gets an additional 5 to the result. New charts have been added to give the game stats on some of the more common LEGO figure weapons. A small section also adds in stats for mounted LEGO figures if you want to incorporate horses into the system. Guidelines are given also if the GM wants to incorporate magic into the setting although nothing is given as a concrete rule except for various magic accessories (such as the magic want, broom, etc.) and the bonuses that they grant. Rules for damage to objects are also added. Each 1x1 block has an amount of hit points based on what type of "material" it is made from (i.e. wood has 5 hit points/1x1 block).

Vehicles get an entire page all to themselves. All vehicles have four attributes: Maneuver, Speed, Armor Points and Hull Points. Maneuver modifies the characters AR to maneuver the vehicle. Speed is how many 3x3 squares/round the vehicle can move. Armor Points function exactly as Ablative Armor in PRS. Hull Points is how much points of damage the vehicle can take before it is disabled or destroyed. Sample stats are given for the vehicles from the Egypt, Amazon and Dino Island LEGO sets along with their catalog number in case you need to buy them.

The Bricklayer RPG wraps up with two pages of NPCs based from the various playset characters as well as wild animals and creatures along with their stats. I'm not too sure how well the LEGO rules work, but they do sound like loads of fun if you have an old collection of LEGOs around... or have a younger person that you can borrow them from.

Treasure Hunter:
Treasure Hunter is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The big changes with it is the inclusion of a weapons list that matches the genre of high adventure for lost treasures. The stats for horses, burros and camels are included. A list of the various types of characters found in this type of game follows along with their game stats for each. Oddly enough, no vehicles are included but I assume that you can move them over from one of the other rulesets or make up your own. Treasure Hunters wraps up with a few sample ideas for adventures and potential supernatural creatures that might try to impede your intrepid adventurers such as mummies and yeti.

Adventures of the Sector Rangers:
Adventures of the Sector Rangers is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The big changes with it is the addition of a chart of SF weapons and armor and their game stats. The big addition, however, is the rules for starships. They essentially function as vehicles in Bricklayer but add a stat for Sensors and replace Armor Points with Shield Points. Sensors modify a character's AR to detect enemy ships or other life-forms. Game stats are given for two typical Ranger starships, three Xorg (the enemy) ships and two Space Pirate vessels. Adventures of the Sector Patrol finishes off with game stats for various alien and criminal NPCs.

Adventures in Feudal Japan:
Adventures in Feudal Japan is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The differences with it is the oriental weapons and armor chart. All oriental armor is considered ablative. Stats for horses are given. A list of various character types is given including the ninja/kunoichi, samurai/ronin, yakuza, assassins, mercenaries, and sohei. The level of information given on these are excellent and there is an obvious love of the genre displayed here that isn't evident in the other two games. Game stats are given for each type and a glossary of terms wraps up the game.

Overall Impression:
The Portable RPG System looks like a lot of fun even if I don't anticipate using it. The addition of the LEGO rules are fun although I suspect that most people won't have the amount of LEGOs needed to really do it in style. Still, if you're looking for a rules light cinematic system that can be picked up and ready to run quickly, this very well might be worth your consideration. PRS seems to be very flexible and, with a talented GM, could really adapt itself to almost anything. Its definately worth a look though to see if it is a worthwhile addition to your RPG repertoire.

MetalMan signing off.

The Portable RPG System
The Portable RPG System Capsule Review by MetalMan on 30/03/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) LEGO my RPG!!! ... a cinematic system that can be used with LEGO toys. Product: The Portable RPG System Author: Craig Griswold Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Free RPG Line: Cost: FREE Page count: n/a Year published: 1998 ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by MetalMan on 30/03/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction Modern day Historical Asian/Far East Generic	"A Portable RPG is designed to be played almost anywhere, quickly and easily. Take it to school, play in line at the theater, in a car, or at a convention." MetalMan's Review of "The Portable RPG System" by Craig Griswold The Premise: The Portable RPG System (PRS from here onward) is designed to be a quick and easy RPG system for situations where a lot of space for gaming is not available or your gaming supplies are very limited. Additional rules and games for it are also available as well as the guidelines for making your own PRS compatable games. What Ya Get: If you grab everything, you will have five zip-compressed files. You will need a compression program such as WinZip to open them. The files themselves are in Microsoft Word 97 format. The entire range of PRS files include the Portable RPG System, the Bricklayer RPG and three PRS games: Treasure Hunters, Adventures of the Sector Rangers and Adventures in Feudal Japan. Adventures in the Old West and Adventures in Lemuria (I assume a fantasy game) are listed as "coming soon." Cost: Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Thoreán. Free. Appearance: The appearance of all five products are well-done and some effort was used to make it look better organized than just text typed on a page. Each product tends to have anywhere from three to six tables each and these are well done and easy to look at. There are no illustrations. This is about the level of quality that you'd find in one of the Cheapass game products (although without the funny drawings). The Portable RPG System: The basic PRS rules fit on two pages and contain everything that you need to run the game. Players should go ahead and flip to the second page of the rules first to make their character as the first page is exclusively mechanics. I thought this was a nice touch as the GM only needs to glance at the top page of the document instead of flipping through it to find essential mechanics. Characters are created by assigning values to four attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Charisma. These scores range from one to ten and GMs can either assign 24 points to be arranged how the player wishes or a d10 can be rolled for each attribute. Hit points are equal to the character's strength plus ten. Characters can move a distance in meters equal to their Dexterity - half that if they are moving and performing another action (such as shooting a gun). A small section on the second page covers a few archtypical weapons for various popular genres (namely fantasy and SF) and the bonuses/penalties they impart on attack rolls. Armor rules are given with a distinction made between Resistant Armor and Ablative Armor. Resistant armor is typically most modern armor such as Kevlar that either stop damage or doesn't stop it. Ablative armor is more of the fantasy armor like plate mail that will stop either all or some of the damage but become less effective as it absorbs damage. The mechanics of PRS is covered almost exclusively on the first page. It is divided into Action Rolls (AR), Combat, Attacking/Defending and Damage. ARs are based on whatever attribute the GM decides is applicable to the action you are trying to perform and assigns it a difficutly number based on how hard they think it will be for you to accomplish. The player rolls a d10 and adds in the score in their attribute. If it is higher than the DN, the player has been successful. Combat is handled by making an AR against either Dexterity or Intelligence (depending on the situation). The highest result goes first and then actions take place in decending order. The rules for Attacking/Defending allow for defenders to attempt to counter-strike but only if their initiative equals that of the attacker. These rules also cover the effects of explosives such as hand grenades. Damage rules cover what happens on a successful attack when it penetrates a defenders defenses and armor. Successfully hit characters must make a AR against the amount of damage inflicted or go unconscious for 1d10 minutes/point that they missed their roll by. Wounded characters heal one point of damage/day. That's it! That's everything to the system. As you can tell, the PRS is ideally suited to cinematic games where attention to detail isn't that important. The mechanics are very streamlined and seem like they would flow very well in almost any kind of game. Bricklayer RPG: Adventurers: The Bricklayer RPG take the Portable RPG System and adapts it for "miniature" rules with LEGO figures and playsets. I will only comment on the changes made between it and the Basic PRS rules described above. The first thing you'll notice is that movement has been converted from meters into 3x3 LEGO squares. It is a simple one for one conversion... one meter in PRS equals one 3x3 square in Bricklayer. Rules have been added to reflect the use of shields as armor. They are treated as a simple defense AR but gets an additional 5 to the result. New charts have been added to give the game stats on some of the more common LEGO figure weapons. A small section also adds in stats for mounted LEGO figures if you want to incorporate horses into the system. Guidelines are given also if the GM wants to incorporate magic into the setting although nothing is given as a concrete rule except for various magic accessories (such as the magic want, broom, etc.) and the bonuses that they grant. Rules for damage to objects are also added. Each 1x1 block has an amount of hit points based on what type of "material" it is made from (i.e. wood has 5 hit points/1x1 block). Vehicles get an entire page all to themselves. All vehicles have four attributes: Maneuver, Speed, Armor Points and Hull Points. Maneuver modifies the characters AR to maneuver the vehicle. Speed is how many 3x3 squares/round the vehicle can move. Armor Points function exactly as Ablative Armor in PRS. Hull Points is how much points of damage the vehicle can take before it is disabled or destroyed. Sample stats are given for the vehicles from the Egypt, Amazon and Dino Island LEGO sets along with their catalog number in case you need to buy them. The Bricklayer RPG wraps up with two pages of NPCs based from the various playset characters as well as wild animals and creatures along with their stats. I'm not too sure how well the LEGO rules work, but they do sound like loads of fun if you have an old collection of LEGOs around... or have a younger person that you can borrow them from. Treasure Hunter: Treasure Hunter is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The big changes with it is the inclusion of a weapons list that matches the genre of high adventure for lost treasures. The stats for horses, burros and camels are included. A list of the various types of characters found in this type of game follows along with their game stats for each. Oddly enough, no vehicles are included but I assume that you can move them over from one of the other rulesets or make up your own. Treasure Hunters wraps up with a few sample ideas for adventures and potential supernatural creatures that might try to impede your intrepid adventurers such as mummies and yeti. Adventures of the Sector Rangers: Adventures of the Sector Rangers is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The big changes with it is the addition of a chart of SF weapons and armor and their game stats. The big addition, however, is the rules for starships. They essentially function as vehicles in Bricklayer but add a stat for Sensors and replace Armor Points with Shield Points. Sensors modify a character's AR to detect enemy ships or other life-forms. Game stats are given for two typical Ranger starships, three Xorg (the enemy) ships and two Space Pirate vessels. Adventures of the Sector Patrol finishes off with game stats for various alien and criminal NPCs. Adventures in Feudal Japan: Adventures in Feudal Japan is a standalone PRS game and it is identical to the Basic PRS system. The differences with it is the oriental weapons and armor chart. All oriental armor is considered ablative. Stats for horses are given. A list of various character types is given including the ninja/kunoichi, samurai/ronin, yakuza, assassins, mercenaries, and sohei. The level of information given on these are excellent and there is an obvious love of the genre displayed here that isn't evident in the other two games. Game stats are given for each type and a glossary of terms wraps up the game. Overall Impression: The Portable RPG System looks like a lot of fun even if I don't anticipate using it. The addition of the LEGO rules are fun although I suspect that most people won't have the amount of LEGOs needed to really do it in style. Still, if you're looking for a rules light cinematic system that can be picked up and ready to run quickly, this very well might be worth your consideration. PRS seems to be very flexible and, with a talented GM, could really adapt itself to almost anything. Its definately worth a look though to see if it is a worthwhile addition to your RPG repertoire. MetalMan signing off.