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Prelude:
I wanted to mention a couple of things before I went into the review. The first thing is that I received a comp copy (PDF) of this game. Secondly, I made some comments and suggestions during the game's development and received a small nod in the book.
Physical/Layout
The book is set up to be 5.5" by 8.5"and the page count is 113 (or 57 pages if using 8.5" by 11" paper) once the covers and everything is included. Actually, there are three files with the download. One copy with the cover, one w/o the cover and then the covers by themselves. There is a basic table of contents which divides everything into six chapters: Introduction, Slasher Films, Game Rules, Creating Characters, The Players, The Director. Besides that, a one page index is available along with a character sheet.
Artwork
All of the art in the book is originally done in B/W line art and depicts various scenes one would see in a slasher flick. The cover has a table with a single light above it showing off the props associated with style of film. Each chapter is started by a picture of a movie poster and they are sprinkled with additional familiar looking scenes from the movies. All in all, the technique is decent and it serves the purpose of establishing mood and helped with the layout.
Editing
I didn't see any misspellings or grammar issues pop out at me but I noticed a couple of things. Sections of long-winded sentences and too little variation in the structure of the sentences. This wasn't seen throughout the book. Just enough to make a note here.
Introduction/Slasher Films chapters
The introduction chapter does the typical "This is an RPG" section. Along with this, there is a bit about why we like scary movies and describes terms used in the game. There are different one such as calling the GM a direction and a game session is called a flick. At this point, we learn more about the game. Everyone needs d6s, d8s, and d10s and they will have more than one character, some more important than others. Kill scenes are important. **I mean, I will hit more on all of the above in a bit but I wanted to just say I realized there was going to be some interesting mechanics.**
Chapter 2 (Slasher Films) has nine pages of common plot devices and genre conventions in the slasher film. The last few pages lists the "essential" movies to watch. They are Black Christmas, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Child's Play, Scream. With each movie listed, the reader also hears a bit from the writer of Slasher Flick as well. Finally, there is about a page of almost essential movies. Quoting from the book,
"The movies listed below in an abbreviated format are highly recommended as well. The only reason they didn’t make the “essential” list is because they either didn’t necessarily move the sub-genre forward or because they are so obscure that they didn’t create as much of an impact." In other words, the mileage is inversely proportional to how much you know about the genre.
Chapter 3 Game Rules
On page 27, the meat of the game starts to come into play. Slasher Flick is set up for troupe play. Every player has a primary character and shares some secondary ones. The GM plays the tertiary characters and the killer. Everyone can either decide to play X number of secondary characters or switch off during each scene according to the taste of the group. There are four traits: brawn, finesse, brains, spirit with 3 levels of competence. The lowest level means d10s are rolled, mid level is d8s, highest is d6s. Dice modifiers for traits and other things raise or lower the number of available dice (usually by one die). The players want to match dice in order to get successes.
The interesting part is that the killer is not so much as a character as a force of nature, according to the book. Therefore, the mechanic for dealing with them are different than with any other character.
The basic steps are as follows:
1. Roll initiative
2. Determine what stat is being used and any modifiers.
3. Player describes their action and rolls dice.
4. Director narrates result of roll.
5. Adjust survival point total.
Again, you want to match dice in order to succeed. The goal for the player is to get 8 survival points while the killer wants to lower them to zero. If the character gets 8 points, they escape. Killer wins...you know what happens. There are some more variables than this but I don't want to give away too much.
Another mechanic to note is the "freak-out" check. Whenever the character sees something frightening, they have to make a roll based on spirit. If they succeed, they keep their cool. If not, then the player has to roleplay their character is if scared out of their wits for the next 15 minutes or next scene. During this time, any important decisions have to be done by a spirit check. Matches mean the player gets to choose. Failure means the Director chooses.
Finally, the players can earn genre points for having their characters follow genre conventions. With these points, they can purchases things such as dice rerolls and diverting damage.
Defeating the killer is a tough task because there can be in one of two states: invigorated or exerted. Invigorated means the players must get three or more dice to match. Not only that, the dice have to be toppers (d6s must show 6, d8s mush shows 8, etc.). If they do so, then the killer receives one damage point. Once the killer(s) kill so many characters, they become exerted. The players must still match two or more dice and get toppers. If they do, then every matched die gives the killer one damage point. The amount of damage to be done varies, depending on how tough the Director wants to make the killer.
Chapter 4: Creating Characters
Step 1.
Making the character is a group involved process. The Directors invites everyone over and asks to sit around in a circle. Everyone gets one sheet for the primary character and a number of extra ones depending on how much secondary characters there are for the flick. After each step, the secondary character sheets are passed to the left.
Step 2.
Everyone assigns stereotypes. This quickly helps describe the personality of the character.
Step 3.
Now stats are assigned. Primary characters get more stat points than secondary ones.
Step 4.
Assign positive qualities. They help in certain situations by granting an extra die if the circumstances are right.
Step 5.
Assign negative qualities. They deduct a die if the circumstances are right for it.
Step 6.
Make two alterations. They can do a number of things like raise a stat, get special abilities, gain a positive quality or get two genre points. Special abilities require the expenditure of genre points to activate them.
Step 7.
Equip characters. The Director suggests limiting weapons and allowing only items that the characters would logically have. However, there isn't an actual equipment list or any other restrictions.
Step 8
Work out personality quirks, write up histories and how character are connected. The author spends some time making lists to select things for steps 2, 4, 5, and 8.
Chapter 5: The Players
The first five pages give the players tips on how to roleplay their character and get more enjoyment out of the game. After that, there is a section on how to gain genre points. Basically, doing a genre appropriate things might prompt the director to give the player a point. Additionally, if a character dies, the player controlling them gets two genre points. There is a fine line between killing off secondary characters and saving them. The author explains this although there is back and forth condoning either method.
Chapter 6: The Director
The first several pages of this chapter is more or less the typical advice on GM prep. Then, the reader can sees how to create the killer. The next section lists quite a few traits, both good and bad, that the killer could possesses. The Director is encouraged to pick any that fit. The last section deals out quite a bit of advice on game narration. Again, this advice can be seen in some other games but all of the basics have been covered with genre specific advice thrown into the mix as well.
Overall Summary:
This game is a fun romp for anyone wanting to play a game set in the slasher genre.
Style 4 of 5: There are some bits with the editing that I described above and the art is decent but not spectacular.
Substance 4 of 5: There are no sample/pre-made killers, characters, npcs or a pre-made adventure. The system has an easy set-up for doing this but the addition of pre-made could help a Director in a pinch and further demonstrate the chargen process. I am not sure but a small list of equipment connected to the stereotypes might have rounded things off.
