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KAMB! is a hardbound book printed on what appears to be 6x9 paper, slightly larger than a graphic novel. KAMB! has a full color cover with black and white interior, fully illustrated by the legendary (among gamers at least) John Kovalic of Dork Tower and Munchkin fame. The overall materials quality is very good; the cover is sturdy cardboard of a sort found on most larger hardbound RPGs and the interior paper is thick, bright and steady. The interior layout and fonts are clean, large and easy to read, while being stylish and appealing to the eye. John Kovalic’s art is, as one might expect, thoroughly excellent from cover to cover and evokes the mood of the game perfectly. It’s hard to think of another artist more suited to illustrating a game of this sort.
The book has a Table of Contents but no Index. Considering the book’s length, good organization and the presence of the Table of Contents, this is not really a problem. The book is divided into 4 major chapters, which are described below:
Chapter 1 – Introduction (4 pages): The introduction spends 4 pages covering a few concepts and terms to get players familiar with the game. There is a 2-page dictionary of common terms the will be used constantly throughout the game. From Kobolds, to the Mayor (the game master in a KAMB! game), to Vor, the big, red, angry god (you would be too if you were a god of kobolds), a number of important terms are described in a short, colorful fashion. After the dictionary is a page devoted to “What the Heck is a Kobold”. For those new to RPGs (or for those who think kobolds are sorcerous little lizard people), this teaches the players what it means to be a kobold and how to play to the theme of the game. The last page of the chapter gives a quick glance at the BEER Engine, the rules system that KAMB! uses.
Chapter 2 – Kobold Creation (16 pages): This chapters provides all the tools needed to roll up a KAMB! character. Character creation is thankfully quick and easy (since you’ll be doing it a lot). Players roll dice for the 4 basic stats (Brawn, Ego, Extraneous, and Reflexes) and determine the derived attribute for each stat on a chart. Hits are recorded, which is the amount of damage a kobold can take before death occurs. Next, skills are selected from a limited number of skill picks. There are several skills which are marked “Dangerous!”. These skills are generally more potent than non-dangerous skills, but using them forces the player to add a check to their Kobold Horrible Death Record (more about that later). After skills are chosen, players roll for a random +Edge and -Bogie. These advantages/disadvantages include things such as +Bouncy (a fall, no matter how far, cannot kill you), or -Tastes Like Baby (creatures…including other kobolds…find you very tasty and will go into a feeding frenzy if you are wounded). Furthermore, all kobolds start with 2 +Edges and 2 -Bogies (including +Bark Like a Kobold and -Fearless). Finally, players roll for random starting gear and any kobold with the Lackey! (dangerous) skill rolls for a random, goofy (but very useful) spell.
Chapter 3 – How to Play (13 pages): Here, we get to the heart of how the game works. A page is devoted to turn order/initiative. Players take turns clockwise from the Mayor’s left (though the game encourages the players to sit in order from highest to lowest Extraneous stat…hey, it’s good for something!). Each turn, a player may attempt any actions that they wish, with the difficulty increasing for each extra action beyond the first. Play proceeds until all the players and the Mayor have had a turn, and then the cycle repeats as necessary.
Performing skill or attribute rolls is simple. When attempting an action, the player rolls a number of six-sided dice determined either by the Mayor for uncontested actions (such as climbing a wall or juggling babies) or by an opposing character’s derived stat (such as shooting chickens with a slingshot or stealing a baby from its mother’s arms). The object is to roll equal to or less than the kobold’s relevant stat (which is rated from 2 to 12). This covers actions both in and out of combat (since most actions in a KAMB! game will either directly involve or immediately provoke combat anyway). Combat has a few extra wrinkles including “Unarmed? Combat” or when a kobold needs to open up a can of “Whoop-Ass”. Armor is also available as starting gear to kobolds, and armor adds additional hits, which are subtracted before a kobold’s regular hits when taking damage.
*Special Mention*: Kobold Horrible Death Record and Kobold Horrible Death Chart: The Death Record and Death Charts are the most central (and hilarious) elements of the game. For any of a myriad of reasons (including, but not limited to: failing a skill roll, using a Dangerous! skill, casting a spell, not hailing King Torg [All Hail King Torg!], arguing with the Mayor, etc.), the player will add a check to the Kobold Horrible Death Record. Each time a check is added OR removed from the Death Record, the player rolls 2 dice and adds the number of checks. If the total roll is greater than 13, the player has to roll on one of the Horrible Death Charts. These results are fantastically entertaining and will surely have all the players chuckling if not doubled over in laughter.
Chapter 3 ends with 4 pages covering Victory Points and their many uses (the KAMB! equivalent to experience points), a page discussing cooking (a kobold’s favorite pastime) and the benefits of using the Cook skill as well as 2 pages of “House Rules” which are silly rules that “don’t fit anywhere else”. From the “All Hail” rule, to the “Kobold Death Soliloquy” rule, to the “Baby Negligence” rule, players will be hard-pressed not to include these in their games due to their pure comedic value.
Chapter 4 – Is None of Your Damn Business (14 pages): The final chapter is the Mayor’s section and includes some additional tools to help the Mayor create and run KAMB! adventures. Presented are rules for assigning difficulty, stats for townsfolk, chickens, babies and other critters, and charts for rolling up random towns. The Horrible Death Charts (and their insane effects) are described in this section and a sample adventure, “What’s for Lunch?” is provided, complete with village and re-usable gags.
In short, KAMB! is a game of comic genius, featuring one of the most underrated and oft-ignored fantasy races of all time. For groups interested in a change of pace between regular game sessions or for those who enjoy the kind of zany action you might find in a Warner Brothers cartoon, KAMB! is money well spent. Dollar for dollar, page for page, I have gotten more fun out of KAMB! than out of just about any other RPG I’ve owned. KAMB! manages to not only turn the fantasy RPG genre on its ear, but it also ends up being a comedy game that is really, truly funny! Shoot-milk-out-your-nose funny! It encourages players to make lots of noise, throw wads of paper, scarf pretzels and dance in circles all while trying to keep your kobold alive long enough to snatch some sweet, tasty babies.
Beer and pretzels not included. Please drink responsibly.
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