This review discusses PDF version 1.1 of the core rule system.

Graphics & Layout

The Action! PDF is available as a free download at www.action-system.com. Upon opening it, you find a 48-page book, divided into two section: "Volume 1: Core Rules" and "Volume 2: Traits, Skills and Glossary".

Overall, the layout of Action! is, at best, utilitarian. It's printed two column in a sans serifed font that's teeny--8 point or so. There are no graphics and, when required, the charts are entirely plain.

Still, it's not too far from what I'd expect from a free PDF, since the goal here is to minimize download time & bandwidth cost, while trying to show off the highlights of a game system.

Ease of Use

The division of the book into two sections is a bit awkward when reading but pays off when considering this book as a reference. The examplanation of the core systems takes up the first half of the book, but all of the chrome that you're likely to use, including specific advantages, disadvantages, and skills is located in the second half of the book.The first half of the book actually felt like the skeleton of a rule system, with the second half being the rule system itself.

Notably absent from the book are helpful summaries. At this point, for example, I'm not really sure how the character creation system is supposed to fit together because of the lack of a summary. (I'm going to have to carefully review it before I summarize it when I talk about The Game System below.) There was a useful summary of combat, but a few different times, while reading the first half of the book, I was confused by the lack of summary information.

On the whole, I think this book is much more useful as a game-building toolkit, then an actual game system to use off the shelf--which was probably the intent (and an idea we'll erturn to later in the review).

However, grading the Action! System core rulebook's Style I can give it only a "2" out of "5". The PDF is usable, but just.

The Game System

The Action! System is a highly mechanistic one. It's full of nuts and bolts that seem mainly intended as model for characters and task resolution. There's also a cinematic splash of color that is featured well in the rule system.

The Character Model

Modeling the Character: The character model in Action! is built on a simple bipartite system: attributes and skills. Each one is built on a ten-point scale, making them fairly interchangeable (e.g., you can pair up an attribute and a skill for task resolution, or else just double an attribute).

Attributes. The attributes are split very cleanly into two different categories: body and mind. In turn each category has three attributes, one each for "power", "aptitude", and "resistance". For example, the attributes for Body are: Strength (power), Reflexes (aptitude), and Health (resistance). The whole idea is clearly to structure the system sufficiently that it's easy to expand it in consistent ways--something that we'll see repeated throughout the system. So, if you wanted to add a third Attribute category, like Psi or Spirituality or whatever, it's easy.

Theoretically, a "3" in an attribute is average, while the human maximum for an attribute varies based upon the type of campaign: "5" for realistic campaigns, "8" for cinematic campaigns, and "10" for extreme campaigns.

(The idea of three different campaign levels is repeated throughout the system, and creates slight varieties in how various systems works; because it's embedded in the entire system, it's a very clean way to make the system feel very different at different power level--much better than the very coarse "purchase point differences" which are used in many other generic system to differentiate campaign power level.)

There are also a few derived attributes which are calculated based on the the standard numbers. They don't tend to fit on the 10 point scale, and some of their calculations are a bit labyrinthine (e.g., Life is calculated as Health x 3 + Will x 2), but they're a one-time calculation. Still, it's a pity that this aspect of the system isn't as clean as everything else.

Skills. Similar to the attributes, skills are built with skill groups containing individual skills, and the ability for players to improve either in the overall group or an individual skill.

Traits. As an adjunct to these core values, you also have traits, which are the familiar advantages and disadvantages seen so often in RPGs. These are very tightly described. Almost ever advantage has three different levels (convenience / edge / gift) and a reflective disadvantage with three different levels (inconvience / hardship / peril). In addition, whenever possible these traits use standard modifiers for task resolution: +/-3 for the low-level traits, +/-6 for the mid-level traits, and +/-9 for the high-level traits. Again, lots of very nice consistency.

Some traits are more descriptive (e.g., "poor sense of time"), and some instead require control rolls to avoid certain behaviors (e.g., "psychological disadvantage"), but the vast majority of traits fall into these standard categories, and this makes them easier to play, and easier to design new traits using this system.

Character Creation: Character creation is a two-part process. First points are spent on attributes from a pool of attribute points which varies based on campaign level, and then derived attributes are calculated.

Afterward unspent attribute points are converted to character points at a ratio of 10:1. These character points may be used to buy skills and traits (and disadvantageous traits can also be purchased to get more character points).

The rules for character creation are really somewhat poorly described in these rules. They're scattered instead of being in one place. It looks like you don't get any points for purchase beyond your original attribute points, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

There are even some inconsistencies (such as on pg. 4 it's said that "Character points can't be used to increase a character's attributes" and on pg. 7 it's said "These extra points [from disadvantages] may be spent just like regular character points--to buy or increase skills, buy Advantages or to increase an attribute)."

Overall, rules for character creation are the one biggest inadequacy of these Core Rules.

Character Advancement: There are no rules for improving characters.

Task Resolution

Tasks: The core task resolution system in Action! is very simple. You add an attribute, a skill, and 3d6 and try and exceed a target number which ranges from 12 (easy) to 30 (legendary). As with most things in the system, all the target numbers go up by consistent powers of 3.

Penalties or bonuses may be applied as modifiers to task rolls, usually in multiples of +/-3.

An Effect Number tells you how many points you exceeded the target and presumably can be used for some more complex task resolutions if required. (There are rules in particular for how it affects hit locations in combat.)

Time: The task system has a very elegant way to deal with time--better than I've seen in just about any game. There's a time chart which has a geometric progression of time: 3 seconds; 30 seconds; 5 minutes; 1 hour; 1 day; 1 week; 1 month; 1 quarter; 1 year; 1 decade; 1 century; 1 millennia. A gamemaster determines the average time for a task, then the player may try and do it quicker or slower for a +/-3 penalty for each step he moves up and down the chart.

Contests: Contests aren't a very important part of the system, but if you want to use them, they're simple: two players roll off using their attribute + skill + die roll.

Action Points: All the tasks, as well as many other aspects of the game, can be modified by action points. Each player starts off each game with a couple, and more can be won with dramatic actions or memorable moments. Basically, an action point can be expended to modify a die roll or action, improve a skill roll, improve a control roll; temporarily improve an attribute, or increase or reduce damage. They're a variant of Hero Points or other similar points which show up in many other games--but as described here they do give Action! a nicely cinematic feel.

Specific Systems

There's only one system that receives any particular attention in Action! and that's combat.

Combat: The combat system is pretty much what you'd expect from the rules so far. You make combat skill rolls against a target number which is determined by the opposing character's DEFense rating (which is 10, usually plus the character's REFlex attribute).

There are, however, a huge number of potential pluses and minuses to your target number, including target size, cover, elevation, distance, movement, etc. There's options for about twenty different combat maneuvers, plus some special rules for semi- and full- automatic weapons.

Once you hit, there's rules for hit location (which you can adjust based upon Effect Number), plus damage, which comes in three Types--blunt, penetrating, and special--and three Forms--Stunning, Lethal, and special. The categorization of damage is actually quite clever, because it allows a fairly simple differentiation of weapons that's pretty easy to use once you've got it down.

The result of damage has to do with how much total damage is taken in a single hit, from superficial (1x Health or less) to fatal (more than 4x Health).

Overall, the system has some of the same pluses as much of the rest of the system, including clean, mechanistic systems. However, there's so many possible variations, pluses and minuses, in combat that I find it totally unwieldly. I'm going to guess that the intention here was to give a board overview, with individual games built on Action! cutting the system down to size.

The Game Design

Overall, Action! is what I'd call a "mechanistic" or a "rule heavy" game system. The object seems to be to provide a good modelling system that can be used to quickly generate specific numbers for a wide variety of in-game possibilities.

By this criteria, the system seems to succeed quite well. The layout of the systems is some of the most consistent, and thus usable, of any game system I've seen in any roleplaying game. Figuring out the right way to model in-game elements should become second nature very quickly for a GM, and that really points to the Action! system's strengths. At the same time, the designers weren't so bound up in their general models that everything had to fit it. When things needed to break from the central mold, as with many advantages and disadvantages, they did.

I generally see RPGs as existing on a continuum from "mechanistic" game systems (like Action! or GURPs or Hero) to "storytelling" game systems (like The Dying Earth or Ars Magica). Action! generally isn't a storytelling game, but it leans ever so slightly in that direction with its Action! points, which seem a good and colorful way to encourage cinematic playing.

Finally, it's worth repeating that Action! Core doesn't actually feel like a role-playing game; rather it feels like a role-playing game creation toolkit. I got this impression from just about everywhere in the book, from the lack of a clear outline of character creation and the lack of info on character experience to the huge data dump of plusses and minuses for the combat section. As such, I'm not sure entirely what this PDF's audience is, other than game designers making their own Action! games, or I suppose GMs who still have enough time in their lives to create their own homebrew systems.

Content: The Rest of the Book

As I've already mentioned, the rulebook is split into two parts. "Volume 1: Core Rules" covers much of what I've summarized above. The next 24 pages of "Volume 2: Traits, Skills and Glossary" are more of a reference. It contains a list of advantages, disadvantages, and skills which makes the abstract ideas of the first section actually concrete, and usable. It's a great starting point for using Action! in modern games, but again not really a full system.

Overall, putting it all together, I still give Action! System Core Role-Playing Game Rules a "4" out of "5" for Substance. The system is well designed and looks like a good basis for actual RPG games.

Conclusion

The Action! System Core Role-Playing Game Rules feel more like an RPG toolkit than an actual RPG. However, the game system that underlies it is well designed and intuitive, so this seems like a very good starting place for actual RPGs.

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