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The Physical Thing
This 140 page hardcover setting book shows high production standards all the way through. Full color atmospheric artwork really helps the setting come to life. Formatting, margins, and other technical considerations are all excellent. A table of contents and index make the book easy to use. For $29.99 the book isn’t a bad deal given the high production standards, though it is a quick read. Those uninterested in the plot point campaign may question the value presented here.The Ideas
Rippers is set on Earth in a dark Victorian where monster hunters pursue the things that go bump in the night. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and all other manner of beast pop up from time to time requiring monster hunters to quietly protect the population. To give them an edge these monster hunters harvest the body parts of the creatures they slay, turning them into elixirs or grafting the parts directly onto their own bodies. Replacing teeth with vampire fangs, the heart with a mummy heart, and skin with werewolf fur are just a few ways a monster hunter might gain an advantage. This process has the downside of hurting the monster hunter in some way, often weighing heavily upon her mind.The plot point campaign involves a grand tour of the monster filled world, allowing players to do battle with everything from mummies to vampires to golems and anything else that might be appropriate.
Under the Cover
Becoming A Ripper 8 pages.This chapter begins with example character backgrounds appropriate to the setting such as scientists and gadgeteers. While simple, they offer a good jumping off point for players looking for a character idea.
Character creation is mostly the same as core Savage Worlds. The biggest changes here are the additions of Reason and Status. Reason is a secondary statistic that generally represents sanity and ability to deal with horror. It goes off the Spirit stat and decreases through the addition of Rippertech which begins to warp a characters mind. Status represents position and authority in Victorian society, which is extremely important for most social interaction outside of a Ripper cell.
New Edges and Hindrances are introduced focused both on Victorian society and the work Rippers do. For example, a Noble gains +5 status which will make it much easier for them to interact with the elite. A Supernatural Weakness could be taken to offset this advantage, giving your Noble a vulnerability to wood due to a horrible curse (an example curse).
Possessions 6 pages.
A detailed list of Victorian era equipment as well as monster hunting gadgets is presented. Everything from Gatling Pistols to Stakes to Wolverine-style hand claws can be found here. Most of the equipment is more mundane in nature, and is presented primarily to support the Victorian setting.
Setting Rules 8 pages.
A discussion of the Reason stat along with the sort of psychosis that Rippers may develop is presented. Status can be risked on social rolls. If the roll is successful then great, but if it fails the character loses the amount of Status risked since her authority has been undermined. Status may also be traded in for additional money representing the character selling family heirlooms and such.
Lodges are introduced, which are the smaller cells that adventurers operate out of. Lodges give a variety of bonuses, including pay and support to those that work for them. They may also have facilities such as labs and libraries for the characters to use. Brief and simple instructions are presented characters to build their own lodges.
Rippertech 7 pages.
While the book is called Rippers and has a lot of support for Rippertech it’s not something that all characters use. A campaign could completely ignore Rippertech and still find a lot of useful stuff in this book. Indeed, many players will not care for Rippertech because it both tends to destroy the mind of their character and it’s just nasty. Skin grafts and replaced organs do not a pretty character make.
First, appropriate materials must be gathered before even considering altering one of the monster hunters. If a Lodge already has preserved vampire fangs then great, but if not then it’s time to go vampire hunting. Next, a good sawbones needs to open the character up and try to mingle human and monster. Failure could result in the character rejecting the implant and even developing a lasting complication. Success results in the benefits of the implant, and additional successes can reduce some of the negative consequences associated with Rippertech.
Those monster hunters who want a boost but aren’t interested in becoming monsters themselves may opt to use Extracts. These are basically potions, snuffs, and other ingested items that give characters the short term benefits of a graft. They are also made from the bodies of slain monsters. Unfortunately, the list of extracts is on the short side. Some players will no doubt prefer to have these exotic creations dreamed up by themselves or the GM, but it would have been nice to have had more available.
Dr. Jack’s Lab 3 pages.
This section gives a very brief background on the major setting villain, Dr. Jack. It is also a brief history of the Rippers and the past twenty years of monster hunting in general. Basically, many of the major figures of Victorian horror were involved in misusing Rippertech in some way which led to Van Helsing’s disapproval of the practice. His conceptual rival, Dr. Jack, embraced Rippertech which has slowly driven the doctor mad.
The Rippers World 17 pages.
I like this part of the book quite a bit. It lays out major regions of the world and provides interesting information about them. This can be everything from hooks to simple rules changes for the area. Many of these locations factor into the Plot Point adventure discussed below, which is convenient for reference. The only downside is that the information is very brief, and many GMs will want to do a lot more research before using that locale.
Running Rippers 10 pages.
General GMing advice is presented such as that the GM should try to evoke a certain mood through her descriptions. A random encounter chart for traveling that, surprisingly, only involves mundane challenges. Four pages of advanced Rippertech (as opposed to simple Rippertech in the Rippertech section) is introduced as well A brief discussion on creating Rippertech is also provided though it is so vague and general it probably wont help most GMs. Finally, two sections present magic items and Rippertech for monsters made from dead adventurers.
All Rippertech involves a trade off in addition to the risks associated with the initial installation. Take the Mesmeric Eyes implant for example. It requires the replacement of both eyes with vampire eyes which gives the hunter the ability to use the Puppet power on any target within line of sight once a day. The downside is that the hunter suffers a permanent -2 to Charisma because they appear disturbing. Adventures 13 pages.
This chapter begins with a random adventure generator. It’s not bad and does provide a number of ideas for GMs trying to figure out what to do next. Unfortunately, it’s about 10 pages of random adventure generation. The last bit involves players running a Lodge and how to randomly determine the success or failure of a mission. GMs who aren’t interested in this degree of randomness will find little use for this chapter.
Savage Tales 42 pages.
This chapter contains 30+ mini adventures that can link together to form a larger campaign for Rippers. GMs interested in running a full campaign with this chapter will be happy to know that the adventures seem designed to flow from other GM created adventures. This makes them easier to incorporate.
I found the campaign and mini adventures to be interesting, and even if a GM did not want to use this material at least there are many interesting ideas to work with. Effectively it is a world tour of the setting and takes the characters all the way up from “average” monster hunters to the true movers and shakers of the world.
The downside here is that these adventures take up a significant portion of the book, which may cause some potential buyers to question the books value to them.
Encounters 23 pages.
This final chapter provides allies and adversaries of all sorts for players to encounter. From such well known characters as Mina Harker, Count Drakula, and Mr. Hyde to the rank and file ghoulies of the night this chapter provides a broad support base for any GM. The stats seem reasonable for the characters involved and there is generally enough material here to sustain a campaign.
My Take
I enjoyed reading this product and would happily play in a campaign or run one. Despite my general dislike for Rippertech I enjoy the dark Victorian setting and find the game tools presented in Rippers to be excellent. While the book is not as useful to those who only want to run a Victorian game, with or without magic and horror, many of the tools are sound. My only complaint with the Victorian specific mechanics is that Reputation is too easy to lose considering how difficult it is to gain. I suspect that many players would never risk their character’s Reputation on a die roll because they stand to lose a part of their character’s strength that a sword toting monster hunter need not worry about.If you are looking for a game that supports play more along the lines of Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic then this will partially cater to you, though the game really feels like it was designed to simulate the Van Helsing movie. For action and adventure with all the risks that come with a horror game Rippers is a great choice. For those most interested in culling bits and pieces from this book to build their own game I recommend a flip through at the book store before purchasing.
