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The Drones is a role playing game devoted to exploring the world described in the novels of PG Wodehouse, the world of 1920's London high society. Its also very good and a lot of fun.

For those of you who don't know PG Wodehouse, probably his most famous creations are Bertie Wooster and Jeeves the butler. Bertie Wooster is an upper-class English twit living in 1920's London, Jeeves is his impeccable and highly intelligent manservant. The humour of the novels comes from wry observation of Bertie and his not especially bright pals and the contrast with the brilliant Jeeves, who repeatedly saves the day with his unflappable British reserve and his immense intelligence.

Those of you interested in learning more about PG Wodehouse and his work should follow the following link: http://www.smart.net/~tak/wodehouse.html

The Premise

As indicated above, characters are upper class chaps living in London in the early 1920's.

How do you get it?

From this website: http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/drones/

What do you pay?

Nothing, it is entirely free.

What do you get?

The Drones is set out in five sections. These are (1) The Introduction; (2) Character Generation; (3) Advantages & Disadvantages; (4) Combat; and (5) Sample Scenarios.

The Introduction sets the scene and explains that all characters are members of a gentleman's club called "The Drones" (hence the name of the game, you see, it all comes together). It does a good job of establishing the tone of the game and is admirably short, sufficiently short that I reproduce it below:

"All PCs are members of The Drones Club, Dover St., a London club for generally idle young men. New members are put up for election by existing members.

The club provides social facilities for its members. It has two smoking rooms, one smaller and less used. An older member often mentions the "animal spirits" and "young blood" throwing sugar about in the larger smoking room. There is a bar, and a dining room where the throwing of bread rolls is de rigeur. Games of indoor cricket quite often take place in the corridors and entrance hall.

"We're pretty broad minded here, and if you stop short of smashing the piano, there isn't much you can do at the Drones that will cause the raised eyebrow and the sharp intake of breath".

It is in keeping for all adventures to take place during the early 1920's."

Character creation in The Drones is quick and relatively painless. Characters are built on points and constructed from four attributes - The Readies (how well off a chap is), The Old Grey Matter (how clever a chap is), The Outer Crust (how well presented a chap is) and Vim & Vigour (how sporty and athletic a chap is). Each attribute varies from a potential -10 to 10 (although the extremes are more by way of example than actually for player characters) and costs points on a pyramidal scale (level 1 costs 1, level 3 costs 6, level 10 costs 55 and so on). 0 is average for any attribute and a beginning character typically has 8 points to spend (this is not a game about having super characters, the typical drone (0 in everything) is well off, not terribly bright, reasonably well dressed and not especially athletic).

This section also shows starting cash and purchases (done in broad terms, you don't keep track of every purchase in The Drones, its not that sort of game) and how much alcohol a chap can take before getting squiffy.

Two examples of character creation are provided, just to make sure its all clear.

Advantages & Disadvantages also work on a points basis. Unsurprisingly, advantages cost you points and disadvantages give you points. Advantages and disadvantages are also typically rated on a 1 to 10 scale at pyramidal cost. Typical advantages include a good knowledge of etiquette, a fast car (to impress the girls), a competent "Gentleman's Gentleman (a Jeeves in other words), being good at sports and various others. Disadvantages are such things as having a difficult relation (such as a domineering and interfering aunt), being overly susceptible to pretty girls, feeling guilty about the pranks one gets involved with and again various others. There are also a range of 1 point only ads and disads such as knowing a tolerant bookie, having an attractive and eligible sister or being absent-minded.

Overall, creating characters in The Drones is quick and easy. The attributes fit the genre, each level is well described (for example, level 2 Outer Crust reads "Very well dressed Drone who wears fashionable suits, hats from Bodmin, hand crafted shoes" whereas level 2 Old Grey Matter reads "Average human level", I said they weren't too bright!). The advantages and disadvantages are all relevant to the genre and are fun to have in play. Its not a game for min-maxing, mostly because even a competent drone isn't really good at very much. The typical character is basically a well off but rather silly and useless young man. He is, however, an amusing silly and useless young man.

The next section of the game is combat. Combat in The Drones is not, as you might guess, about killing people or grand battles. It is about grappling with a policeman while one of your chums steals his helmet on a dare, or debagging (pulling down trousers) a chap who is a bit too convinced of his own cleverness. This type of combat is resolved by each participant rolling a d10 and adding it to their vim & vigour, highest total winning. No damage is rolled as nobody is actually trying to really hurt anyone.

If you really want to hurt someone that is dealt with too. Again you use contested vim & vigour rolls, this time taking a multiplier for weapon used and subtracting the difference between the two rolls times the weapon multiplier from the loser's vim & vigour and outer crust (getting wounded means you get hurt AND your clothes get messed up). A typical Drones game will use this section of the rules rarely, as the Drones are not a terribly brave or physical lot.

Finally, there are five sample scenarios. Each is pretty much ready to run, although only one comes with pre-prepared NPC stats. IMO, the adventures are excellent. Why? Because even if you have never read Wodehouse, a quick read of the adventures will give you an idea of exactly how The Drones is intended to be played. The first adventure is about a rowing competition with a rival club, and the problems caused when the Drones club's best oarsman is persuaded to join the rival club by his fiancée. The second is about the theft of a fish steamer at a village fete and the need to get it back before dinner that evening is spoiled. The third is about the disaster caused the club when its membership secretary falls in love with a puritanical girl who is opposed to clubs such as the Drones. The fourth deals with the need to get the club barman back after he leaves for another club and the fifth is about trying to save a friend from being posted to Africa by his family. The adventures are at this URL: http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/drones/scenes.html and if you're not sure whether you would enjoy the game are worth a quick look.

Summary

So, that ends my overview of the rules. The review tips say you should address three things in a review.

1. What did the book set out to do? 2. Did it achieve it? How well? 3. Was that goal worthwhile in the broader scheme of things?

In my view the answer to 1 is that it sets out to provide a rules light humorous game dealing with Wodehousian characters in their world. Does it achieve it? Yes, and IMO it does so brilliantly. The rules are all designed with the goal of playing that sort of game in mind, nothing is extraneous, everything is in tone with the genre. As for 3, is the game worthwhile? I would say definitely. It is fun, easy to pick up, could be run as a one night session with no great difficulty and would make a great occasional break from your long running Vampire or Deadlands game (or whatever you happen to play).

My ratings

I have given The Drones a 3 for style. While it is well laid out and is easy to read it is only available in HTML on the web, does not exist as a PDF download and has no art.

On substance it gets an easy 5. It achieves precisely what it sets out to, in minimal space and with no wasted effort. Even if you don't like the game, its a neat piece of design.

Should you try it?

Up to you really, I would suggest checking it out as its free. If you like humorous games and the sample scenarios appeal to you then you should enjoy it. If after reading them you wonder what the point is, its probably not your thing.

As for me though, I fully intend to run it as an occasional light relief in between instalments of my more serious games. I think it would work best if played occasionally, but with the same characters each time. This way you get a Drones campaign without overstretching the humour by playing for weeks at a time. You may well have better ideas and if you do I hope you share them.

That's it for now. If there is anything unclear above or you are wondering how I reached particular conclusions please let me know. This is my first rpg.net review and it is entirely possible that stuff which seems obvious to me in writing it is massively opaque when reading it. Also, my apologies for the lack of underlining and italicising above, I don't yet know how to do this in HTML. I hope this lack hasn't made comprehension too difficult. Finally, thanks to Metalman and Brian Gleichman who jointly inspired me to write this (not that they know that but there you go). Free games aren't necessarily bad games.

The Drones
The Drones Capsule Review by Balbinus on 02/04/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) The Drones is a fun, light hearted, game for roleplaying the world of PG Wodehouse's novels. Its also very good. Product: The Drones Author: Ian Crowther, Sheila Thomas and Victoria Uren Category: RPG Company/Publisher: N/A Line: Cost: Free Page count: Year published: ISBN: SKU: Capsule Review by Balbinus on 02/04/01 Genre tags: Historical Comedy	The Drones is a role playing game devoted to exploring the world described in the novels of PG Wodehouse, the world of 1920's London high society. Its also very good and a lot of fun. For those of you who don't know PG Wodehouse, probably his most famous creations are Bertie Wooster and Jeeves the butler. Bertie Wooster is an upper-class English twit living in 1920's London, Jeeves is his impeccable and highly intelligent manservant. The humour of the novels comes from wry observation of Bertie and his not especially bright pals and the contrast with the brilliant Jeeves, who repeatedly saves the day with his unflappable British reserve and his immense intelligence. Those of you interested in learning more about PG Wodehouse and his work should follow the following link: http://www.smart.net/~tak/wodehouse.html The Premise As indicated above, characters are upper class chaps living in London in the early 1920's. How do you get it? From this website: http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/drones/ What do you pay? Nothing, it is entirely free. What do you get? The Drones is set out in five sections. These are (1) The Introduction; (2) Character Generation; (3) Advantages & Disadvantages; (4) Combat; and (5) Sample Scenarios. The Introduction sets the scene and explains that all characters are members of a gentleman's club called "The Drones" (hence the name of the game, you see, it all comes together). It does a good job of establishing the tone of the game and is admirably short, sufficiently short that I reproduce it below: "All PCs are members of The Drones Club, Dover St., a London club for generally idle young men. New members are put up for election by existing members. The club provides social facilities for its members. It has two smoking rooms, one smaller and less used. An older member often mentions the "animal spirits" and "young blood" throwing sugar about in the larger smoking room. There is a bar, and a dining room where the throwing of bread rolls is de rigeur. Games of indoor cricket quite often take place in the corridors and entrance hall. "We're pretty broad minded here, and if you stop short of smashing the piano, there isn't much you can do at the Drones that will cause the raised eyebrow and the sharp intake of breath". It is in keeping for all adventures to take place during the early 1920's." Character creation in The Drones is quick and relatively painless. Characters are built on points and constructed from four attributes - The Readies (how well off a chap is), The Old Grey Matter (how clever a chap is), The Outer Crust (how well presented a chap is) and Vim & Vigour (how sporty and athletic a chap is). Each attribute varies from a potential -10 to 10 (although the extremes are more by way of example than actually for player characters) and costs points on a pyramidal scale (level 1 costs 1, level 3 costs 6, level 10 costs 55 and so on). 0 is average for any attribute and a beginning character typically has 8 points to spend (this is not a game about having super characters, the typical drone (0 in everything) is well off, not terribly bright, reasonably well dressed and not especially athletic). This section also shows starting cash and purchases (done in broad terms, you don't keep track of every purchase in The Drones, its not that sort of game) and how much alcohol a chap can take before getting squiffy. Two examples of character creation are provided, just to make sure its all clear. Advantages & Disadvantages also work on a points basis. Unsurprisingly, advantages cost you points and disadvantages give you points. Advantages and disadvantages are also typically rated on a 1 to 10 scale at pyramidal cost. Typical advantages include a good knowledge of etiquette, a fast car (to impress the girls), a competent "Gentleman's Gentleman (a Jeeves in other words), being good at sports and various others. Disadvantages are such things as having a difficult relation (such as a domineering and interfering aunt), being overly susceptible to pretty girls, feeling guilty about the pranks one gets involved with and again various others. There are also a range of 1 point only ads and disads such as knowing a tolerant bookie, having an attractive and eligible sister or being absent-minded. Overall, creating characters in The Drones is quick and easy. The attributes fit the genre, each level is well described (for example, level 2 Outer Crust reads "Very well dressed Drone who wears fashionable suits, hats from Bodmin, hand crafted shoes" whereas level 2 Old Grey Matter reads "Average human level", I said they weren't too bright!). The advantages and disadvantages are all relevant to the genre and are fun to have in play. Its not a game for min-maxing, mostly because even a competent drone isn't really good at very much. The typical character is basically a well off but rather silly and useless young man. He is, however, an amusing silly and useless young man. The next section of the game is combat. Combat in The Drones is not, as you might guess, about killing people or grand battles. It is about grappling with a policeman while one of your chums steals his helmet on a dare, or debagging (pulling down trousers) a chap who is a bit too convinced of his own cleverness. This type of combat is resolved by each participant rolling a d10 and adding it to their vim & vigour, highest total winning. No damage is rolled as nobody is actually trying to really hurt anyone. If you really want to hurt someone that is dealt with too. Again you use contested vim & vigour rolls, this time taking a multiplier for weapon used and subtracting the difference between the two rolls times the weapon multiplier from the loser's vim & vigour and outer crust (getting wounded means you get hurt AND your clothes get messed up). A typical Drones game will use this section of the rules rarely, as the Drones are not a terribly brave or physical lot. Finally, there are five sample scenarios. Each is pretty much ready to run, although only one comes with pre-prepared NPC stats. IMO, the adventures are excellent. Why? Because even if you have never read Wodehouse, a quick read of the adventures will give you an idea of exactly how The Drones is intended to be played. The first adventure is about a rowing competition with a rival club, and the problems caused when the Drones club's best oarsman is persuaded to join the rival club by his fiancée. The second is about the theft of a fish steamer at a village fete and the need to get it back before dinner that evening is spoiled. The third is about the disaster caused the club when its membership secretary falls in love with a puritanical girl who is opposed to clubs such as the Drones. The fourth deals with the need to get the club barman back after he leaves for another club and the fifth is about trying to save a friend from being posted to Africa by his family. The adventures are at this URL: http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/drones/scenes.html and if you're not sure whether you would enjoy the game are worth a quick look. Summary So, that ends my overview of the rules. The review tips say you should address three things in a review. 1. What did the book set out to do? 2. Did it achieve it? How well? 3. Was that goal worthwhile in the broader scheme of things? In my view the answer to 1 is that it sets out to provide a rules light humorous game dealing with Wodehousian characters in their world. Does it achieve it? Yes, and IMO it does so brilliantly. The rules are all designed with the goal of playing that sort of game in mind, nothing is extraneous, everything is in tone with the genre. As for 3, is the game worthwhile? I would say definitely. It is fun, easy to pick up, could be run as a one night session with no great difficulty and would make a great occasional break from your long running Vampire or Deadlands game (or whatever you happen to play). My ratings I have given The Drones a 3 for style. While it is well laid out and is easy to read it is only available in HTML on the web, does not exist as a PDF download and has no art. On substance it gets an easy 5. It achieves precisely what it sets out to, in minimal space and with no wasted effort. Even if you don't like the game, its a neat piece of design. Should you try it? Up to you really, I would suggest checking it out as its free. If you like humorous games and the sample scenarios appeal to you then you should enjoy it. If after reading them you wonder what the point is, its probably not your thing. As for me though, I fully intend to run it as an occasional light relief in between instalments of my more serious games. I think it would work best if played occasionally, but with the same characters each time. This way you get a Drones campaign without overstretching the humour by playing for weeks at a time. You may well have better ideas and if you do I hope you share them. That's it for now. If there is anything unclear above or you are wondering how I reached particular conclusions please let me know. This is my first rpg.net review and it is entirely possible that stuff which seems obvious to me in writing it is massively opaque when reading it. Also, my apologies for the lack of underlining and italicising above, I don't yet know how to do this in HTML. I hope this lack hasn't made comprehension too difficult. Finally, thanks to Metalman and Brian Gleichman who jointly inspired me to write this (not that they know that but there you go). Free games aren't necessarily bad games.