Author: Not listed
Category: game
Company/Publisher: Guild of Blades
Page count: 14
Playtest Review by Judd M. Goswick on 06/07/98. Genre tags: none

WHAT? pitches itself as a "customizable Role Playing Game" on its cover. It is an inexpensive game released from Guild of Blades that remind the reader that it costs less than lunch. It seems affordable and is meaty beyond my hopes when I saw it was a thin, small book similar in construction to a TWERPS supplement.

I was expecting a very simple system and an assurance to go out and "play your way". What I got was a pretty well put together fantasy game. Yes, it is a fantasy game with all those dungeon-tried favorites present in the race section. The "customizable" part of the game comes, I assume from either the fact that the GM gets to define many of the skills in the game (most, in fact, to save space) and that the rules alone are included, leaving the GM to design the rest. This is fine feasting for the fantasy nut in you, and may just be worth that skipped lunch to buy it.

The spell system is very open-ended and plays rapidly, provided easy access to the spell level chart is available to the spellcaster (an easy feat as the whole group can afford to buy a copy). It is based on a set difficulty that stays at a somewhat set level unless the effect calls for exceeding certain parameters. For each parameter the spell exceeds, the difficulty is jacked-up. This opens spellcasting to be a more open and creative process than in fantasy games ten times the size of this small tome (and ten times the price).

The combat system plays rapidly and simply. Some tactical sense is lost in some mechanics, as a player who is playing with very smart tactics is in just the same position in the combat system as a comparable player who is not acting as carefully. This is a small price to pay for the speed and fun of the combat system. Players are able to get the rounds out of the way rapidly and get on to the good part of adventure - experience!

And experience is the name of the dungeon-crawling game, lest we forget. Accordingly, experience points get the lion's share of the rules. Experience becomes the divergence factor in the game from a PC standpoint, as a character becomes infinitely expandable and "customizable" as he gets those beloved XPs.

The look of the layout is sharp. No illustrations save ads, but the layout is clear and accessible to the player in the heat of a game. The game looks very similar to Guild of Blade's "Dark Realms" role-playing game in layout and style, but the rules of that tome are much more complex than those found here. Note, I say "complex", not "expansive". I think this little book has a good bead on what it sets out to provide - a quick, easy, and cheap RPG for the guys and gals out there who are ready to hack like in the Olden Days.

I have to admit that I was looking for a different game when I read the description of WHAT? in a industry news bulletin. I was expecting some sort of generic system, but I am not disappointed. I am happily surprised. Playing the game makes me recall great days of yore when magic burned the sky and arrows sought their Orcish targets on the fields of a world rich with battle lines for bold adventurers. I can remember when it was about GPs and XPs, and I remember the fun I had in those games. WHAT? is the cheapest shot of nostalgia I have could ever recommend. A great but for a small game to "make it fun again". No Art, no message, just a stone corridor and an axe to grind.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)