The body of text is organised as follows: characters, crime, optional rules, stories, the 1980s, Miami, episodes, a sample adventure, character templates and character sheet, charts and and a 1980s trivia quiz (with a couple of errors I might add!). There is plenty, indeed too much white-space which accompanies the fairly simple layout style. The text is clearly written and most quite useful. Particular exceptions include the 80s trivia quiz, which could have achieved the same entertainment value with less questions and a smaller font, and the tables for "crime sites" and "contact traits". The artwork throughout is quite simple and functional, with a useful map of Greater Miami; although regional map also would have been a handy addition.
The first character role described are Cops (beat, vice squad, anti-gang, SWAT, and internal affairs). These are the good guys. On the other side of the fence are the bad guys, the Criminals (Mafia, Yakuza, Colombian Drug Cartel, Street Gang and Independents). Sitting on the fence are the Others (Cuban Nationalists, Bounty Hunters, Vigilantes, Private Investigators, Corrupt Cops). These receive descriptions of a couple of paragraphs each with content as expected.
Following this is a list of recommended skills and gimmicks for the genre, which again are largely as one would expect. The new gimmicks which include a range of contacts, a couple of inherent gimmicks, and some detrimental gimmicks, which really should be part of the core rules rather than in a genre book, so kudos for the supplement. Finally, a very simple five step process for generating characters and a page of roleplaying rather simple hints for the cops, the crims and the others which sometimes engages in questionable statements asserted as universals (e.g., "Money is what drives career criminals into a life of crime").
The two pages of standard crimes is fair enough, providing numerous opportunities for scenarios in this 'cops and criminals' genre, as is the list of recommended punishments. Appropriately a special section is given to the drug crimes and drugs themselves; the author's make the note that the prices "are for game purposes only and may not be historically accurate"; surely newspaper records could have assisted in this?
The Tips and Optional Rules section includes the sensible and standard recommendations concerning tone and props to emulate the Miami eighties feel and action (lots of fights and chases). The optional rules consist of using the Fitness stat as bonus armour, special combat speed for PCs and major NPCs, bonus dice for heroism, final actions before unconsciousness, and phantom injuries, along with the various genre cliches like explosive rounds, clips that never run out of ammo, exploding cars (with delayed blast), and the amazing capacity for allies to communicate intended actions through eye contact. Sadly missing is the "exotic pet as guard" (remember the 'gator in the boat?). Like the cover, this was a painful reminder, but perfectly acceptable for the genre.
Time in Miami nights is abstracted to turns for tactical issues, scenes for dialogue and other exchanges, real-time sessions, and stories for conclusion (and experience). A typical story is explained as having five main elements; a hook, legwork, a complication, recovery and finally a climax (poor old denouement, a highly important genre convention, has been forgotten!). Climaxes are meant to be concluded with an significant action scene and should be built, rather than sprung on the characters. All quite sensible in a general sense, rather than a Miami Vice sense. Recommendations are also provided for turning stories into episodes of a series, personal drama, and the rather odd suggestion of dropping clues like manna from heaven; this is not a 1980s Miami Vice genre convention with neither the audience nor probably the script-writers usually being able to follow more than two or three at best. Finally, there is crime, abstractly defined as Petty Crime, a Solid Take, or a Big Time action with varying complications and benefits arising from the scale of action.
The "tools of trade" is, of course, 3G (guns! guns! guns!). Although not a gun nut, the shotgun seems to have a range significantly more than normal, but everything else seems to be relatively appropriate. Following this is a timeline of the 1980s which certainly gives more credit to Ronnie Raygun than he deserves (Gorbachev is not mentioned at all!). This said, the list of early eighties movies and television shows was a nice reminder, although I'm not sure why it didn't continue for the rest of the decade, along with modest notes on fashion, technology, vehicles and a short price list from Sears in 1985. The page and a half of 80s lexicon is probably a bit too much. Notably absent is a list of popular songs from each year (if movies, why not music?). More on technological developments would have also been useful.
The section on the setting of Miami is, as to be expected, quite significant, taking up a good 15 pages. There's a good couple of pages of introductory history, along with the special style the city has, before moving on to regional descriptions which is solid enough to include weather, bridges, key suburbs, parks and malls, restaurants, beaches, prisons, hospitals, and radio stations (especially radio stations - you get two and half pages of them with their current hits), although the important higher education and research facilities seem to have been forgotten.
Following this is various plot hooks (e.g., blue wall of silence, hero worship, jail break, turf war), crime sites (nightclubs, casinos, a balloon company!), major NPCs (detectives, cab drivers, real estate agents, KGB spies), and organisations (the ACLU, drug cartels, gangs). Mix and match from these 16pages for session upon session of entertainment. Naturally enough, a sample scenario follows, "The Deal", where the characters are thrown in the midst of a turf war as soon as the players sit down. The two pages of red herrings is perhaps cruel and unusual punishment although these can serve as follow-on sessions, however following these are the various means to conclude the story. It's not a bad yarn, but it's a little distant from the recommended plot development expressed earlier.
Concluding the supplement is a collection of ready-to-roll character templates (16 of them), vehicles (30, including a helicopters, patrol boats etc), and a standard character sheet before the previous mentioned crime sites, contract traits and 80s trivia quiz.
Miami Vice isn't exactly my brew; indeed I spent the entire 1980s (successfully) avoiding the sort of stories, style and theme that it promotes. But I have to hand it to the designers, they've actually developed a fairly good product which manages to encapsulate the period and genre quite well. Some of the emphases are a little bit strange and do seem to be more filler than use. In any case bring out the pastels, the sockless loafers, and bad synth-pop and big hair. They'll match well with the yuppie druggies, the loud-shirted cops and those endless bloody palm trees. Me? I might even use the supplement to turn it into a nightmare setting for Over The Edge.
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