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A Brief History of Storypath Cards: Once upon a time there was a small game publisher that put out fun, innovative products. The name of the company was Lion Rampant, and one of their creations was called Whimsy Cards. They were delightful, despite being somewhat cheaply made and crudely illustrated. Years later Lion Rampant became White Wolf, which released Storypath Cards. These had none of the fun of Whimsy Cards: dreary descriptions on dreary grey paper with equally dreary grey artwork. They were not delightful.

Three Guys Gaming's Storypath Cards owe much more to Whimsy Cards than to their namesake. Physically, the cards are similar to the old Whimsy Cards: rectangular card stock, neither coated nor laminated. On the face of the card, a short text description of an event is accompanied by a small B&W illustration. Lest you be misled, these are not collectible trading cards of the sort collecting dust in game stores far and wide. The real value in these Storypath Cards is in what's written on them.

Think of Storypath Cards as plot-thickeners. Typically, at the beginning of the roleplaying session the GM will let each player draw a card randomly from the deck. Each card has a plot twist or an event, such as "Mistaken Identity," which the player can use to creatively complicate the game. If the player uses the card simply to make life easier for her character, the card is gone and not replaced (unless the GM is being really nice). If the player uses the card to make her character's life more difficult, she eventually gets another card. The more fun and interesting she makes the game, the quicker she gets another card. Like Whimsy Cards, you have to use Storypath Cards to appeciate them. Once you get the hang of using them, it's a blast.

Not every game is appropriate for Storypath Cards, but most are. Even a deeply serious, grim and gritty mystery game can be enhanced with judicious use of Storypath Cards. And since the GM has final say over whether a player can use a card (or even what effect, if any, a card will have on the game), there's no unbalancing effect on the game.

I do have some minor quibbles. The cover art for the Storypath Cards box is drab, and the box itself is three times as large as needed (it's actually a plastic box for a VHS tape). Three Guys Gaming includes two blank Storypath Cards so you can write up a couple of your own (perhaps "Tables Turn" or "Just Desserts"), but instead of having the cards truly be blank they have a large title that says "Blank" (which kind of negates the value of leaving the cards blank, in my opinion). The cards themselves are printed on cheap card stock; I would have preferred that they at least be coated or printed on sturdier paper.

But these are trivial complaints. Three Guys Gaming's Storypath Cards are wonderful, and I wholeheartedly recommend them. They'll make a ho-hum role-playing game session fun, and a fun game even better.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Storypath Cards
Author: Botero, Fulton, Kennedy, Schnur, and Stouder Category: carsd for a RPG Company/Publisher: Three Guys Gaming Cost: US$12.00 Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Brandon Blackmoor on 07/31/98. Genre tags: none	A Brief History of Storypath Cards: Once upon a time there was a small game publisher that put out fun, innovative products. The name of the company was Lion Rampant, and one of their creations was called Whimsy Cards. They were delightful, despite being somewhat cheaply made and crudely illustrated. Years later Lion Rampant became White Wolf, which released Storypath Cards. These had none of the fun of Whimsy Cards: dreary descriptions on dreary grey paper with equally dreary grey artwork. They were not delightful. Three Guys Gaming's Storypath Cards owe much more to Whimsy Cards than to their namesake. Physically, the cards are similar to the old Whimsy Cards: rectangular card stock, neither coated nor laminated. On the face of the card, a short text description of an event is accompanied by a small B&W illustration. Lest you be misled, these are not collectible trading cards of the sort collecting dust in game stores far and wide. The real value in these Storypath Cards is in what's written on them. Think of Storypath Cards as plot-thickeners. Typically, at the beginning of the roleplaying session the GM will let each player draw a card randomly from the deck. Each card has a plot twist or an event, such as "Mistaken Identity," which the player can use to creatively complicate the game. If the player uses the card simply to make life easier for her character, the card is gone and not replaced (unless the GM is being really nice). If the player uses the card to make her character's life more difficult, she eventually gets another card. The more fun and interesting she makes the game, the quicker she gets another card. Like Whimsy Cards, you have to use Storypath Cards to appeciate them. Once you get the hang of using them, it's a blast. Not every game is appropriate for Storypath Cards, but most are. Even a deeply serious, grim and gritty mystery game can be enhanced with judicious use of Storypath Cards. And since the GM has final say over whether a player can use a card (or even what effect, if any, a card will have on the game), there's no unbalancing effect on the game. I do have some minor quibbles. The cover art for the Storypath Cards box is drab, and the box itself is three times as large as needed (it's actually a plastic box for a VHS tape). Three Guys Gaming includes two blank Storypath Cards so you can write up a couple of your own (perhaps "Tables Turn" or "Just Desserts"), but instead of having the cards truly be blank they have a large title that says "Blank" (which kind of negates the value of leaving the cards blank, in my opinion). The cards themselves are printed on cheap card stock; I would have preferred that they at least be coated or printed on sturdier paper. But these are trivial complaints. Three Guys Gaming's Storypath Cards are wonderful, and I wholeheartedly recommend them. They'll make a ho-hum role-playing game session fun, and a fun game even better. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)