Shaft, Superfly, Blacula, Dolemite . . . it's all good, baby. I've been waiting for Solid! since I first heard about it, which feels like one or maybe two years ago. Finally, a copy hit the shelves at the FLGS, and I grabbed it and read it in one sitting.

That's actually not that big of an accomplishment, since the first thing that comes to mind when you pick up Solid! is, "Man, that's thin." Solid! comes in at 62 pages plus a character sheet, hardbound. The size isn't that big of a deal, though, since that's the same size as one of FFG's Horizon books, and while Solid! costs a couple of dollars more, that probably went to the hardback binding. (I leave the question of whether or not a 64 page book needs hardbound to others.) You will need d20 Modern to play.

The first chapter of the book is a brief history of the blaxploitation genre, beginning with the movie that started it all, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song from 1971 and stretching to the present day. A good but not comprehensive list of movies and musical selections is provided. This takes up a good sixth of the book, but I think a game based on the genre, which didn't explain the genre, would be lacking. Sadly, there is another section later which is also devoted to source material. Combining the two might have been a good idea.

Next up is a section on capturing the feel of the genre, which includes a glossary of slang that runs for several pages. Unfortunately, it also contains several pages of generic GM advice. I'm okay with some GM advice, but there's another chapter devoted to the types of games that can be run, which also doubles as a history of different genres of blaxploitation. The section there on blaxploitation horror switches mentioning movies like Blacula and Blackenstein to give advice on running a horror game. Why? There are plenty of games that tell you how to run horror, and space here is precious. Very little of the advice tells you what's different about running blaxploitation as opposed to the already action-movie oriented d20 Modern.

Now the rules. Solid! contains a new mechanic, in addition to d20 Modern's action points, called OG points. EVery character starts with 10 OG points. These are a direct 'port to d20 of Drama Points from Eden's Cinematic Unisystem. OG points are used in the same way as Drama Points, spent the same way, and they do the same thing. I'm actually fully in favor of this, since the Drama Points are one of the defining things about Cinematic Unisystem and one of the reasons it's so cool.

There are a number of Advanced Classes, like (but not limited to) Hustler, Foxy Lady/Superfly, Private Dick, Hoodlum, Preacher, Politician, etc. These do capture the source material pretty well, although the Black Belt advanced class is identical in almost every way to the Martial Artist advanced class from the d20 Modern core rulebook (the Black Belt gets one more skill point per level, and since everything else is identical down to the saves and reputation bonus, I can't help but wonder if that wasn't just an accident). There are two prestige classes, but at least one of them--the Badass--seems ridiculously overpowered, starting its level progression with the ability to kill any "mook" (a new type of character that only applies to the Badass, this is any character who isn't meant to have any effect beyond the current scene) in a single action. The other, the Chosen, is a cleric type complete with divine spells, and therefore out of genre in most blaxploitation films and, presumably, games.

There are a number of feats, some better than others. Blue-Eyed Soul Brother is essential for folks who desperately want to play a white guy, as it gives a white character the same respect as a black character (although, sadly, there are no game mechanics for this). The feats Booty Slide and Improved Booty Slide are also troubling. Booty Slide enables you to slide across any surface up to your full move as a move action, which makes it equivalent to . . . normal movement. Improved Booty Slide lets you do that as a free action, which makes you crazy fast as long as you're willing to slide everywhere (and there seem to be no restrictions on doing so). Other feats, though, are very good. Feats like Connection to the Motherland, Shake That Moneymaker, or The Uncle Tom Effect give you bonuses to skills or in different social situations. Sexual Interrogation makes you an expert at, ah, pumping your sources for information.

There is a small section of equipment, but far too much of it, I think, feels like magic items or something from a card game (like Bell-Bottomed Badasses On the Mean Streets of Funk). There are hats that help you hide, a medallion that grants you the Leadership feat, a black belt that gives you bonuses to hit and damage, and worst of all an Afro that can hold up to 80 pounds of gear inside.

The sample campaign, Nocturnes, is a puzzler. It's about a private organization that fights the supernatural with high-tech gear and streetsmarts. The only thing connecting it to the blaxploitation genre is the title on the cover of the book in which it is found. It could, I suppose, be an homage to the little-seen horror-comedy film Def by Temptation, in which a supporting character belongs to a group of high-tech demon hunters, but I'm curious why this was chosen over something more traditionally found in the source material.

I think that the blaxploitation genre is ripe for, well, exploitation by the RPG industry. Solid!, sadly, does not use the limited space it has very well, duplicating information from the d20 Modern corebook in some places and duplicating its own information in others. Tightening up the focus rather than trying to encompass everything from crime to horror to parody, getting another editing pass (damn near every RPG book could use another editing pass), and making better use of the space available could make this a real contender.

If you are looking for new feats and classes for d20 Modern to emulate the blaxploitation genre, Solid! is worth looking at, though the $18 price tag might be a bit high. If you are looking for a more generic sourcebook for the blaxploitation genre, I recommend haunting your local video store for blaxploitation movies and the more recent Baadasssss, which chronicles the production of the first blaxploitation movie, buying the book That's Blaxploitation: Roots of the Baadasssss 'Tude (Rated X by an All'Whyte Jury), or, if you're into comics, picking up the newly-released The Essential Luke Cage, Power Man.

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