Imagine we are not alone in the universe. Two races (but there are undoubtedly others) are at war, and their battlefield spills over to out beautiful planet. The first sign is the crash of one of their ships which, like a gigantic meteorite, wipes out half the known world (for a change, it’s actually North America that gets it, but I’m sure some will say that’s because it’s a French game !) The rest of the world is plunged in a nuclear winter that decimates the population. But that’s small fry compared to what happens when the Alien warriors arrive…
There are perhaps a few dozens of thousand survivors in what used to be France. These communities survive by finding whatever has an exchange value. Food is, of course, the most valuable of goods, but weapons, vehicles are prized also, as well as books that teach how things work. Survivores are commonly and unsurprisingly called Scavengers.
Survival is the heart of the game: there is no rebuilding society as long as the aliens hang around. Of course, it’s not the only hook by far, and the game particularly insists on the importance and inherent weaknesses of survivor communities, but also mentions the perverse wargames of the Dogloks and the Zgrikks (the two main alien species), the commercial value of certain goods, etc.
All this constitutes gaming potential in a world that doesn’t really require a detailed description since we only need to imagine our day to day surroundings once devastated. Indeed, the game recommends setting the action in an area well known to the players, both to reinforce the apocalyptical effect and to allow occasional private jokes that lighten the atmosphere a little.
The system is pretty simple but, like that of Tears of Rust (another game by the same author), highly tactical. Character creation is done in five steps (age, origin, training, implication and survival), a kind of biographical construction which designs the character by allocating points in some of the ten skills of the game depending on the choices made. The skills are large enough to define a significant field of action, but not too vague that it leads to interpretation issues. Players must choose a specialty for each skill.
By the way, I forgot to mention that you can play kids born after the apocalypse. Kids, have a lot less points to allocate to skills, but they have mutations. Mutations are genetic changes driven by the tak-nukes and nanotech used by the aliens in their war, and they allow some kids to have an instinctive talent for technology, make them regenerate, etc.
Once character creation is done, you have a score between 1 and 5 in each of the ten skills. When a character needs to test a skill, the player rolls a number of d10s equal to the level of the skill. Every die that does 6 or over counts as a success (4 or over if the action corresponds to one of the character’s specialties).
So far, those familiar with White Wolf’s Storyteller system will find it easy. It does get a little more specific with the efficiency dice granted by equipment. Efficiency dice replace normal dice following an easy ratio that means that the more skilful you are, the more use you get out of equipment. Since successes on efficiency dice count double, the system strongly reinforces the importance of equipment that the setting emphasises.
There’s another level of subtlety in that players can decide of the level of risk their characters take. This is materialised by a second set of special dice called Danger dice. On a given action, a player may decide to add up to three danger dice to his rolls. That means you roll more dice, hence increase your chances for a better success, but if these specific dice fail, ie. if they roll less than six, then you’re in trouble. One failed Danger die ain’t too bad, but three is likely to get you in very deep trouble…
And before you ask, yes, this means that players need three different colors of d10s to track normal, efficiency and danger dice.
Finally, characters are defined by a number of hit points (which determine their health), fatigue points (which determine their energy) and morale points (which determine their mental health). Morale points can be used to for automatic successes, but they can also be lost when a friend dies or just when spending too much time not eating properly.
Combat is managed by opposed rolls of the combat skill, with weapons contributing Efficiency dice. The gap in number of successes determines the actual damage. Each round, a player can choose between an offensive posture and a defensive posture, which raises the difficulty of opponents to hit the character by one but means he will only hit if his opponent has no success.
The system has one last specific feature, but it’s a major one: the game comes with about twenty sheets of pieces of equipment drawn on a square grid as well as gridded backpacks, sports bags, military bags, etc. As in adventure video games, equipment must be stored in bags, and not all items occupy the same space. Where an item is stored is also crucial in case it must be accessed quickly. A very original yet simple way of handling equipment and encumbrance without having to write down lists and track down weights.
During the playtest, the elegance of the system quickly became apparent. Combat is especially gripping because it’s very hard to get the number of successes needed to seriously damage your opponents without either using great quality weapons (which are damn rare) or taking risks. The idea of letting the players decide how much risk they are willing to take makes for a great level of involvement.
The management of the equipment is another aspect that really shines in play. I did have to spend a whole evening gluing all those damn sheets on cardboard paper and cutting hundreds of items with my kids' scissors, but I didn’t regret it one minute. It puts great emphasis on equipment. The player knows instantly which items he owns, which means he tends to use them more. He’s also very aware of the limits of what he owns (especially crucial with ammunition) and values the equipment in transactions.
So this is roughly what you get for the measly 8 EUR that Charognards costs on www.indie-rpg.org. I have to admit that after reading the game I was floored, and that was confirmed by the playtest. And that’s without even mentioning that this is the most visually amazing PDF game I’ve ever purchased. It’s superbly laid out, presented as a book written in an age when paper has become a purely recycled affair, with illustrations as well as collage from pre-cataclysm adverts, food promotions, etc.
The text is written like some old codger is speaking to the reader, telling him what the world is like. It’s riddled with popular slang, even vulgar at times, and sounds characteristic of a setting where “politically correct” is a phrase that has died for lack of utility. When we created the characters during the playtest, I made a point of reading the descriptive paragraphs of each biographical option a player took, and it really helped set the mood. The text is also illustrated by the diary of a survivor who tells of the travels of his community and the dangers it faces, which is a great way of getting a feel for the setting.
I wouldn’t say that Charognards revolutionises post-apocalyptic: between Vermine, Tribe 8, Bitume, Gamma World, The End and many others, there are several great takes on the genre. However, what really impressed me with Charognards is that 45 pages is all it takes to hand the GM all the keys to run this style of game with a light yet robust system, and a light yet atmospheric setting. In other words, Charognards could be described as the essence of post-apocalyptic roleplaying. Not a mean feat…
I truly can't find any fault in this game. I suspect that some would like more detailed setting info, but I'm really happy with what there is. The inclusion of 50 one paragraph adventure hooks as the end illustrates the possibilities of the game very well, and it's enough for months of playing.
I can honestly say that this is my best PDF purchased to date and have no qualms in granting it a perfect 5/5.
