Pocket Universe is a new line from Unigames, made in the same style as TWERPS but done seriously. Where TWERPS was a one attribute system and supplements for it were consistently silly.
This time they got serious. Pocket Universe is a functional universal RPG that is written within the limits of a 16 page 7" x 5 1/4" booklet. Greg Porter of BTRC had and may still have a web page that rated various RPG rulebooks in terms of content per page. If Pocket Universe gets evaluated for that page, it's going to have a very high score.
What they have provided in the basic rules:
Chargen basics, Rules of play, Equipment & Weapons,(low tech only)and a detailed combat system able to handle multiple attacks, knockout blows, death blows, methods to bypass a foe's armor, other fighting styles, and many other complex combat maneuvers, a GM's guide and a list of online resources.
What they didn't provide:
Technology more advanced than around Europe 900 ad, Magic, Psi, or advanced options such as thick hide or natural armor for creatures that would be hard to hurt.
Game Basics
The system here should be familiar to players of TFT, Hero, GURPS or BESM. There are four attributes, PHYS, which would correspond to the more traditional attributes of Strength and Constitution, INTL, corresponding to intelligence, DEFT, corresponding to Dexterity, and WILL corresponding to Will/Wisdom AND Charisma/Personality/Ego.
Like BESM or CORPS, you're assigned a pool of points to purchase Attributes. Attributes start at 8 and can be raised to 12 with attribute points. Attributes over 12 are possible but such scores are advantageous to the character and must come from a different pool of points at double cost. You can drop an Attribute to 7 and pick up two points for doing so, but no further drop in scores is legal.
Skills are tied to a default/Attribute link very much like GURPS, the first purchase bumps the skill from it's default to the governing attribute level. Subsequent purchases on the skill raise it a point per purchase thereafter.
Skill purchases come from a pool of points generated by your INTL score or the Trained/Educated advantage. Depending on your INTL score it may be a better investment to raise the Attribute than to invest in Education. When you can spend 1 point and raise the stat, you get two or three points to spend on skills, depending on what your score is, an increase on your Default INTL skills (though at lower scores that might not be worth much) and any othe benefits associated with a raised INTL attribute. When you spend a point on Education, you get three points for skills.
Once Attribute scores enter the advantage zone, you pay 2 points per increase, get 3 skill points and all other benefits listed above vs the 3 skill points per 1 EP spent. On the whole, I'd say brains beat education here and raising your INTL is the better choice.
A point: I've been making distinctions between various pools of points, the Dees have been somewhat sloppy about that, using the terms Experience Points or EP rather cavalierly.
The Educated/Trained advantage description says you get three Experience points for every point spent on this advantage. The is no written stipulatation stating that these three points MUST be spent on skills, though the context of the description and the progression of skill points granted by above average INTL scores sure suggests this is the intent. (The 'Connected' Advantage, which provides a similar 1:3 points for Contacts (see below) does explicitly limit these points to Contacts, another argument that the Education points are intended for skills only.)
A rules lawyer could easily use that description to get an expontentially huge number of points. Spend 1 point, get 3, spend two of each three on that advantage, save the remaining one of each three for purchasing everything in the book. Twice!
In addition to skill points derived from INTL, characters get Contact Points derived from the WILL attribute. These points will let you purchase friends or acquaintances who can be useful to the character.
The more points put into a specific contact the more useful he or she is.
The contact point set up produced a problem with one advantage and resulted in a less than satisfactory fix.
The advantage is "Lackey". You create a sidekick/servant on fewer points and the character is under your control. To keep lackey's contact points from becoming PC contact points by transitivity, lackeys quote "do not get Contacts" unquote.
I don't like that. It means your gentleman's gentleman can't learn information from Lord Buell's footman or other plothooks GMs need to move the story along. It's not clear if a lackey character can purchase the Connected advantage at all given that wording.
I understand the need to limit the lackey's base contacts as a character, under player control, a couple of lackeys could cover all the PC's minor/mid level contacts and let the player put every contact point the character has into a real good contact, such as a Crown Prince who is very generous etc.
The fix is what I object to. I'd probably have done it by saying the lackey's contacts are not under player control but GM control and usually only useful to the PC when the GM feels it's suitable. Players can spend some or all of their contact points on contacts the lackey has however. The advantage is the lackey can use the contacts while the PC does other things. The drawback is the lackey may be killed or otherwise lost to the character and the contacts either diminished (they know you are their friend's employer or companion) or lost outright.
Mechanics
Most situations that require dice are resolved using 2d10 and comparing the total against the skill level or attribute. If the roll is equal to or less than the score it succeeds. Any time doubles are rolled, a Crit occurs. If the roll is a failure, it's a crit failure, if the roll succeeds it's a critical success. The better your chance of success, the better your chance of getting a critical success.
Initiative is on a d10 and has 3 values. On a low roll, 1 or 2, you use the lowest initiative for your DEFT score. On a 3 to 8, the middle value and on a 9 or 10, the highest.
Damage from weapons uses the same d10 low/middle/high set up, if you barely hit or hit by a lot, you have the same chances of doing max or minimum damage. If there is any rule reducing damage (as opposed to reducing the chance of hitting) for PHYS scores lower than the weapon's listed minimum, or bonus damage for having much higher PHYS, I haven't found it.
Armor is more bothersome and complicated: If the armor value is at least double that of the damage, the blow is stopped. If the armor value is less than half that of the damage, the armor only stops damage equal to the armor's value. Anything between those limits halves the damage done (round up). And as noted "Remember, Armor has different values for Physical and Energy attacks; use the appropriate one."
Sigh...
If those rules seem kind of a drag, here's one that most players and GMs of point based systems should appreciate:
"Characters may lose or gain Advantages or Disadvantages due to game events."
Blissful sigh... or perhas a "Wow" as used by various people in those Ben Stein "Clear Eyes" ads. doesn't that remove an onerous problem point based games have had since Champions was printed on Mimeographed sheets?
The game includes a separate character sheet and in keeping with the theme of packing every bit of paper with game material, the back side of that sheet provides a short adventure and includes THREE maps and stats for the villains and monster the PCs will encounter.
Also included are urls to additional free download materials, including a 2 page .pdf file summarizing Magic use and an additional Attribute, PSYCH.
Other freebies include a .zip file containing another .pdf file, this one of partially drawn character portraits along the lines of the one Dee made for V&V. The partial drawing is done so that players can customize things like hairstyle etc.
The first campaign book for the line, "Teenage Demon Slayers" is supposed to be released soon. I have high hopes for it based on this product.
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