The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Every now and again, there comes a game with a completely fresh premise. Sketch!, by Seth Johnson and Brian Schomburg, is the rare case of a game with two fresh premises, each of which adds to the fun.

Premise the first: You don't write up your character so much as draw up your character in Sketch! (on which more later). Premise the second: Your character is a superhero (or supervillain) who is trying to obtain fame and fortune on Sketchworld. This includes such perks as a line of toys or a fan club as you do your good deeds in front of a high market share.

The mechanics are simple. Your character has a set of six statistics ranging in value from one to ten, and you compare stat 2d6 rolls to do things in the game. But you weren't expecting Squad Leader's complexity from a rulebook the size of a comic book, were you?

Character creation is one of the most interesting parts of this game. I can hear you cry out now, "I can't draw, and there's this one guy in my group who's a commercial illustrator!" Let me reassure you that the aesthetics of your character have little bearing on your character's powers. You can even prepare a collage to make your character, using comic book art (some samples of which are provided in the back of the rules for you to photocopy).

Once the players have prepared their characters, then all the other players vote on what your character's abilities should be. (This is where your group can keep the ambitions of that commercial illustrator in check, by the way.) Each voter assigns values to the statistics based on what the character looks like he or she or it can do. When your character comes back to you, you average up the numbers for each stat, and you're ready to go.

In the interest of fairness, you can set a floor on the characteristics total. I ran demos of this game at GenCon 2000 for Corsair Publishing, and out of thirty-some characters, I think only one or two needed help in this way.

The game is a lot of fun to play, and I think the demo participants quickly understood what was going on and had a good time. Even so-called stupid concepts can work out well in play--I should know, as I was scraping the barrel for my characters after a while.

There are advanced rules available that let you buy skills and improve your characteristics and so on. These are useful if you were to run a continuing Sketch! game. For this, the focus is on gaining and retaining your fame on a planet wired like a Big Brother set. As a villain, you need spectacular crimes that will draw attention; as a hero, you need to do your good deeds while everyone's watching.

However, my sense is that the game works best as an evening's diversion. It should work very well for younger players (some of the artwork in the book was supplied by fourth-graders) and casual players. And, it gives you an excuse to stop and smell the Crayolas. You should easily get your money's worth with this crowd-pleaser.

Sketch!
Sketch! Playtest Review by John Kasab on 27/07/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Smash! Bam! Take that, you fiend! (Did I show my good side?) When this game talks about a character sketch, it means it literally. Product: Sketch! Author: Seth Johnson and Brian Schomburg Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Corsair Publishing Line: Sketch! Cost: $6.95 Page count: 48 Year published: 2000 ISBN: 0-9658422-9-0 SKU: CSR-0500 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by John Kasab on 27/07/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction Comedy Anime Superhero	Every now and again, there comes a game with a completely fresh premise. Sketch!, by Seth Johnson and Brian Schomburg, is the rare case of a game with two fresh premises, each of which adds to the fun. Premise the first: You don't write up your character so much as draw up your character in Sketch! (on which more later). Premise the second: Your character is a superhero (or supervillain) who is trying to obtain fame and fortune on Sketchworld. This includes such perks as a line of toys or a fan club as you do your good deeds in front of a high market share. The mechanics are simple. Your character has a set of six statistics ranging in value from one to ten, and you compare stat 2d6 rolls to do things in the game. But you weren't expecting Squad Leader's complexity from a rulebook the size of a comic book, were you? Character creation is one of the most interesting parts of this game. I can hear you cry out now, "I can't draw, and there's this one guy in my group who's a commercial illustrator!" Let me reassure you that the aesthetics of your character have little bearing on your character's powers. You can even prepare a collage to make your character, using comic book art (some samples of which are provided in the back of the rules for you to photocopy). Once the players have prepared their characters, then all the other players vote on what your character's abilities should be. (This is where your group can keep the ambitions of that commercial illustrator in check, by the way.) Each voter assigns values to the statistics based on what the character looks like he or she or it can do. When your character comes back to you, you average up the numbers for each stat, and you're ready to go. In the interest of fairness, you can set a floor on the characteristics total. I ran demos of this game at GenCon 2000 for Corsair Publishing, and out of thirty-some characters, I think only one or two needed help in this way. The game is a lot of fun to play, and I think the demo participants quickly understood what was going on and had a good time. Even so-called stupid concepts can work out well in play--I should know, as I was scraping the barrel for my characters after a while. There are advanced rules available that let you buy skills and improve your characteristics and so on. These are useful if you were to run a continuing Sketch! game. For this, the focus is on gaining and retaining your fame on a planet wired like a Big Brother set. As a villain, you need spectacular crimes that will draw attention; as a hero, you need to do your good deeds while everyone's watching. However, my sense is that the game works best as an evening's diversion. It should work very well for younger players (some of the artwork in the book was supplied by fourth-graders) and casual players. And, it gives you an excuse to stop and smell the Crayolas. You should easily get your money's worth with this crowd-pleaser.