This is a review of all of the 2003 submissions to the 24 Hour RPG challenge. The challenge has been run again this year (2004) and has only just finished, but I wanted to do a bit of a broad re-cap on what came out of last year’s event before putting my hand toward reviewing this year’s entries. All the games reviewed here are available for free download from http://www.24hourrpg.com so check them out if you are interested!

The challenge is simply to complete an entire RPG from nothing more than ideas and your own ability within a 24-hour period. So the work you are looking at here is likely to be short, sharp and interesting, with a varying degree of polish.

Who am I?

My name is Evan. I am a 34 year old, 20 odd years experienced gamer and game designer. I have not played any of the games I am reviewing here, but are reviewing them based on a read of the rules. I have written a game for the 2004 submissions of the 24 RPG challenge, so I have a vested interest in having people look at the site.

A few notes on my marking system: 1=Below Average, 2=Average, 3 =Good, 4= High, 5= Excellent

Flavor/Concept: Outline of the game concept. The score is pretty subjective. I put my personal opinion of the ideas here.

Formatting: A bit more objective, this lists the style, structure and overall set up of the piece.

Appearance: Again subjective, but with a bit more back up, points are scored for art, maps, and neat tricks with fonts or colors.

Professionalism: Spelling, Grammar, Writing maturity, and tone of the work. I have a bad eye for detail, so scores will not vary much in this one unless the game does exceptionally well or exceptionally badly…

Completeness: How easy is the game to pick up and play from what is presented, how finished does the work feel.

Mechanics: How appropriate the mechanics of the game are to the game style, how innovative and clever they are and how easy to use and understand. All mechanics are judged without play testing, just from a read through.

Totals: 5/30 F, 10/30 D, 15/30 C, 20/30 B, and 25/30 A.

Note that most of these categories are subjective, so take my grading with a pinch or hand full of salt. I have tried to divide the scoring so that roughly 1/3 of the score is polish, 1/3 is factually relevant and 1/3 is pure opinion. ;)

Ye Olde West by James Bore

Flavor/Concept: Wild West (Dreamscape). Concept is that the game is in the dream / legendary aspect of the Wild West of the US in the 19th Century as perceived by the collective subconscious. Crossovers into other dreamscapes are possible. This is a solid concept, eloquently presented, and very large and complete for a 24 hour game (5/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 33 pages, 388 KB, PDF, Includes an index, scenario first, rules from page 20 onwards. Seems a little backward since some of the stats don’t make sense unless you have read the rules, and character generation is at the very end. Some of the text boxes bulge out of the line of the remainder of the page, which looks a little awkward. This is easy to print. (2/5)

Appearance: One blank page. Simple font. Gray text boxes to indicate story element, easy enough to read. No art. Some simple maps of locations are included. (3/5)

Professionalism: High quality genre writing, some stumbling in terms of mechanics clarity and sentence structure, overall high. (4/5)

Completeness: Excellent. Enough work here to allow pick up and play. (5/5)

Mechanics: Conflict resolution is managed with poker dice, with the better hand winning. Each action is attack / defense. Trade dice for risk of better results. Nice element of keeping the genre apparent in the game mechanics. Simplicity of mechanic suits 24-hour game. Some issues with complexity of description of how the mechanic operates. Needs poker dice (3/5)

Note that this is listed as a version 2 of the game, so I assume that the author went back after the 24 period to fill out the details. This may have upped their effective mark in these ratings.

Overall Mark 22/30: B+

Mutant Space Cowboys by John Frazer

Flavor/Concept: Heroic space champions fight bad stuff throughout time. Cowboy reference is in attitude as opposed to anything to do with bovines. Some flimsiness to the universal premise, and very limited character concepts, but nice style ideas (3/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 12 pages, 118 KB, PDF, Includes an index, Character generation then rules, then world and game play stuff, simple to understand structure. Text is in one column only. This is fairly bland. It is easy to print, though. (3/5)

Appearance: Simple font. No art. No cover page. Some tables. (2/5)

Professionalism: This is solid writing, with an easy to understand style, and no major spelling or grammar flaws. (3/5)

Completeness: There is very good finishing evident here. Enough work has been done here to allow pick up and play, but limitations on size of the list of virtues and lack of differentiating character style means little differentiation between characters. No character sheet. (3/5)

Mechanics Rock/Paper/Scissors conflict resolution. Simplicity of mechanic is in its favor. Relies upon multiple uses of the R/P/S for each action. This is a very slow mechanic and would become frustrating in what is supposed to be a high action game. (1/5)

Overall Mark 15/30: C

Dream Weaver by James D. Hargrove

Flavor/Concept: Your character is a daydreamer. You play to see if the dreams become reality, or expressions of imagination, or if your character falls into mundane. Original, complex concept handled simply, but very fluffy without much substance. This game was written in 20 minutes, so bonus points there. (3/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 2 pages, 50kb, simple font, no index, freeform article format, structure small enough to make logical sense. This is easy to print. (3/5)

Appearance: Simple font, no art or charts, simple titles. (2/5) Professionalism: Spelling fine, Grammar fine, Writing simple, and effective. (3/5)

Completeness: For a 20 minute game, excellent. By comparison to the other offerings, not so good. I would like to see examples of play, some character concepts, and story ideas. (1/5)

Mechanics Simple dice for successes mechanic is tacked on as the randomizer. Mechanic explained well, nice internal consistency. (3/5)

Overall Mark: 15/30: C

PACE by Fred Hicks

Flavor/Concept: Diceless action system, not genre specific. Concentrates on system mechanics and action resolution. Very well thought out, internally consistent and clever. (5/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 18 pages, 954kb, index, logical structure of system explanation, simple borders, double column. Color and black and white, medium easy to print, some art out of context to the text it accompanies, some pages half blank. (4/5) Appearance: Simple font, easy to read, plenty of cartoon style color art of varying style, very nice cover image. (4/5)

Professionalism: Spelling fine, Grammar good, Writing very easy to read and conveys complex ideas effortlessly, Art quality variable. (4/5)

Completeness: This is a remarkably complete system offering. Pick up and play, just choose your action genre and make up characters. Includes comparisons to other systems and methods of application. No character sheets, but seems irrelevant. (5/5)

Mechanics Pips to represent a dice pool without the dice. Characters have base descriptors that define their area of specialty. Very clever and simple mechanic for one-off, or limited duration, games. (5/5)

Overall Mark: 27/30: A+

Perform! by JL

Flavor/Concept: LARP game system to use theatrical format and improvisational methods to act out a script. Dice pool used to determine success of characters actions. Neat, but needs more fleshing out. Set up of writing the story and dice resolution of all disputable actions makes for a high handling time to get scenes done. (3/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 6 pages, 15kb, no index, four part article style of description, logical for game play, no borders, single column. The format is black and white, and easy to print. (2/5)

Appearance: Not great font, a bit small, so-so to read, not visually helpful. (1/5)

Professionalism: Spelling fine, Grammar OK, Writing style not hard to read. (2/5)

Completeness: While very light on details, the concept draws from two areas that most readers will be familiar with (plays and dice pools) so is OK. Covers all the basics that you would need to run a game.(2/5)

Mechanics Dice pool of ten dice per scene, roles of director and actors. Roles within written script defined and chosen by casting. Innovative, could do with some more work. (3/5)

Overall Mark: 13/30: C-

vs Monsters by Philip Reed

Flavor/Concept: Play monster hunters in the 19th century. Written long before Van Helsing came out. Cards act as the randomizer, card values over a target number determines success. Mechanic is basically the white wolf one, but with cards instead of dice and no skills or powers. Concept is fleshed out with lots of monsters. (3/5)

Formatting: Landscape page style, 20 pages, 1025kb, index, character generation, action resolution then monster section, nice structure. Logical for game play. Lovely borders, variable columns. The document is in black and white, lots of black; thus so-so to print. (4/5)

Appearance: Oh, my god, this is pretty. Art by Edmund Dulac is dropped in appropriately and blended with the text and borders. Some white on black text, some black on white, every page is a treat. (6/5) (Yes, I know I should only put 5, but damn this is pretty for a 24-hour game. If you are impressed by appearance foremost, look at this one first if you choose to look at any of these submissions.)

Professionalism: Spelling good, Grammar good. Writing style very easy to read. Approach is colloquial and friendly, lowering the tone of the darkness of the art and ideas a fraction. (4/5)

Completeness: Game mechanic is covered well, monster list is comprehensive in so short a work, and character creation is descriptive. It lacks scenarios (pointed out by the Author) and lacks a little bit of direction in the character generation to give an idea of character templates or concepts. Barely shaving a point here. (4/5)

Mechanics Card mechanic is slightly off tone for the game style, IMO, and not really original. It is perfectly functional, but the cards add no flavor here, you might as well use dice. Statistics and definitions of attributes good. In a game where you fight versus monsters, the style of actions that are allowed are limited to conflict not investigation, suiting an action style game. (2/5)

Overall Mark: 20/30: B

Affairs of State by Thomas Russell

Flavor/Concept: Play con artists in a mythical court trying to live the life of luxury with nothing more than their wits and a bag of hot air to support them. Poker style bluff on dice results is the resolution method. Innovative, internally consistent, and subtle. Requires players who are glib and think creatively and fast. Vignettes are excellent mood setters and of different style to other text. (4/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 13 pages, 113kb, title page, index, character generation, System for action resolution and example of play / gm ideas section. Nice, logical structure. Some jarring in the character creation section, when it references system mechanics not described as yet. Black and white, italics to indicate story pieces, single column, easy to print. (2/5)

Appearance: No art, many blanks, ordinary font with reasonable screen legibility. (2/5)

Professionalism: Spelling good, Grammar good. Writing style is clear, and conveys a large number of concepts in limited space, but some re-reading needed to catch meanings. (2/5)

Completeness: Very complete mechanics and mood creation. The city the characters are infiltrating is left relatively blank, save the generic references in the GMs section, so requires much fleshing out in order to allow GM to portray adequate social challenges to the players. As this is a setting specific RPG the city should be covered more adequately, even if it is in broad strokes, to allow more ease of pick up and play IMO. Otherwise, very good. Character sheet seems irrelevant in this one too. (3/5)

Mechanics Betting success of actions on dice results and bluff / compromise: the system is innovative, clever and a nice mechanic that mirrors and reinforces the style of game. Requires some learning of the mechanic to be effective in play, and a particular mindset in the players. (4/5)

Overall Mark: 17/30: C+

Sunrise by Jeffery Schecter

Flavor/Concept: Characters are supers persons in a specific near future world with one common genetic origin as children of people that were experimented on by one doctor. Style would be similar to the x-men if I were to draw comparisons, but no groups to support the supers. Game mechanic is resolved in a single roll of multiple dice, after much comparing statistics and figuring. (3/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 16 pages, 666kb (spooky!), color title page, no index. Some large blank spaces. Some color art and tables spread through the work, two columns. Begins with setting description them moves on to system stuff, and so is good. Organizational structure in the system and character generation areas could use some work. Art does not print well, the rest ok. (2/5)

Appearance: Some nice art, font choice good for ease of reading. Overall uncomplicated and neat. (3/5)

Professionalism: Spelling good, Grammar ok. Often colloquial but this does not detract from the game much. Solid effort, writing style is better in some places, but not consistent. Some clarifying of the descriptions of rules would be warranted (2/5)

Completeness: While there is definitely enough to pick up and play here, the powers are limited, and the story ideas are left with picking up from where the setting description at the start leaves off. No Character sheets. Having said that, this is good. (3/5)

Mechanics Compare the traits in any contest, the lower statistic's player rolls a dice for each point difference +1, if they get one odd number they fail. This is an interesting mechanic, but I can’t say I like it. I am probably not a good judge here. I think the concept of doing everything in one roll is great, I think the execution falls down a little in this one. Maybe I just don’t like counting odds and evens on rolls. For originality I am giving it good. (3/5)

Overall Mark: 16/30: C

Criminal Element by Michael P. O'Sullivan

Flavor/Concept: Characters take part in activities of a not entirely legal nature for their own reasons. Suits crime genre stories of any kind. Solid blackjack style card and Drama point based conflict resolution. Stylish, neat. Would make a great drinking night game. (4/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 12 pages, 929kb, black and white title page, no index. Some large blank spaces. Some nice tables spread through the work, one and then two columns. Organizational structure OK, but could use some overview, some elements feel repeated. Easy on the printer. (2/5)

Appearance: Nice title page, forward and after word. Font choice good for ease of reading. Very nice table formatting, even if it loads in a weird way. Overall uncomplicated and neat. (3/5)

Professionalism: Spelling ok, Grammar ok. Often colloquial and this enhances the look and feel because it is true to genre. This is a solid effort, and goes out of its way to be nice to new players, has a nice vignette and good style. (3/5)

Completeness: Enough to pick up and play here. Some actual game ideas rather than just naming movies to draw inspiration from would have been nice. No Character sheet. Solid system description, some clarifications might be needed, but mostly good. (3/5)

Mechanics Blackjack style card mechanic very appropriate to genre. Drama point usage sufficiently interesting to allow ongoing game play. System is relatively complex and well described in such a short time. Some subtleties in the system, does require a deft handed GM and players willing to learn. (4/5) Overall Mark: 19/30: B

1940 - England Invaded by Simon Washbourne

Flavor/Concept: Characters are ordinary people in the home guard in an alternate 1940, in which Germany won the battle of Britain, and are invading. System mechanic is classic statistic + skill target, rolling d20 under. I like this idea as a simple game. Very fast to pick up and play. Somewhat limited in terms of scope of game. (3/5)

Formatting: Portrait page style, 14 pages, and 622kb. Nice title page, no index, Setting then character generation then system, simple, easy to understand structure. Single column, spaces filled in with bordered text boxes or images. Very simple, very effective. (3/5)

Appearance: Nice title page, very nice images and useful maps. Font choice good for ease of reading. Table very small by comparison to rest of text. Overall very well done. (4/5)

Professionalism: Spelling good, Grammar good. Very evocative setting description with useful and appropriate historical notes. Easy to read, easy to get into. (4/5)

Completeness: Definitely enough to pick up and play here, though specific adventure seeds are lacking. Most of the meat in this is in the setting description, not the mechanics. Some quibbles: hero points are mentioned but no mention is made of how you earn more, and everyman skills are not defined in terms of what level you have them at. Also there is no experience system. Includes a character sheet, however. I might be being a bit harsh, but: (2/5)

Mechanics See quibbles under completeness. Otherwise the mechanic is very classic; deliberately so, as mentioned by the author, since the intent is to evoke an old world feel. I think this is appropriate and works. (3/5)

Overall Mark: 19/30: B

Well, that is it for the 2003 submissions. There are at least twice as many in 2004, so be prepared to wait a while for that one to get reviewed by me. I may break it up a bit.

Also, there is a poll for you to select which game (s) you like best in the forums.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=136320

Please vote, to let the designers know if you think their ideas deserve the recognition, and let them know if you want to see the game expanded into a full release. I am sure they will be appreciative of the feedback.

Evan