 Goto [ Index ] |
Slasher Flick is a tightly and elegantly designed roleplaying game whose goal is to emulate the slasher flick movie. It leans towards the storygame side of the playstyle spectrum, though the base mechanics are task-based. The GM (called the Director) and the players (who play both a main character and one or more secondary characters) play cooperatively to create a dynamic story of a group of victims trying to survive the murderous onslaught of a psycho killer. It is well-written, extremely well designed and looks like it would be a blast to play. Cynthia Celeste Miller knows the genre and does a superb job of breaking it down into its elements and then re-building them back up in RPG form.
The book is 110 pages long, clearly laid out and well organized. There are six chapters that unveil the game rules and setting in an organic, easily digestible way. It is illustrated in energetic, sometimes gory, black & white line art, in a style reminiscent of '80s underground comics. It has several hilarious fake movie posters, that appear to be from actual game sessions. Chapter 1 is a general introduction. Chapter 2 discusses the genre, with some prime movie examples (and kudos to Miller for recognizing the importance of the original Black Christmas). Chapter 3 presents the game rules, and here is where the book really begins to shine. Character creation takes place in chapter 4, which is, in effect, a deeper explanation of some of the rules. Chapter 5 is advice for players and Chapter 6 advice for the Director, including rules for building up the killer.
In Slasher Flick, the Director plays a pretty traditional role. He or she is responsible for creating the setting, the situation and the killer, as well as handling what are called tertiary characters. The players each get one primary character, who should survive almost to the end, and several secondary characters, who should get killed early and often.
Base Mechanics
Characters have four stats (Brawn, Finesse, Brains and Spirit) and qualities (adjectives, generally, that can be skills or characteristics, such as "brawny" or "driver") that are associated with that stat. Qualities can be positive or negative. Stats have the limited range of Poor, Normal or Good, which are associated with the die types of d10, d8 and d6 respectively. A basic task resolution, called a stat check, is to roll 4 dice, the die type being determined by the Stat level. If you get a pair, you succeed. Quite a clever and simple little mechanic!
The qualities either add or remove a die from the pool of 4, depending if they are positive or negative. Opposed tests are rather novel, in that only the active character rolls. The Director determines if the passive player (or the killer) has a stat or quality that would hinder or help the active player and then either removes or adds a die to their role. This plays interestingly into the role of the killer in the early stages of the game, as you'll see below. There are a few more flourishes, but that's the gist of the base mechanics.
Storytelling Mechanics
There are also several story-level mechanics, that give the game its overall structure. These are the primary and secondary characters' survival points, the killer's damage tokens and the number of victims. The survival points determine the point when the killer finally kills the victim. Failing rolls takes away survival points and succeeding at them earns them. Mostly this takes place during the kill scene, the period when the killer appears and actually attacks. The kill scene is a series of stat checks, that culminate in either the character reaching a certain number of survival points and escaping, or falling to 0 and getting skewered in some gory way.
Interestingly, the killer can not be damaged until a certain number of victims has been achieved. At that point, he or she becomes vulnerable. Up until then, the only way to survive is to disable the killer temporarily or escape. At first, my mind rebelled at this idea, but it plays elegantly into the opposed stat check mechanic. Players still roll and have a "gamist's" chance of fighting back against the killer, even though he has no stats and doesn't even need to roll. When the endgame kicks in and the killer does become vulnerable, the players are then able to inflict damage, though it is still statistically quite tough.
One other mechanic is genre points, where players are given points for having their characters (either primary or secondary) act in genre, though that action may put the character in danger. The player keeps the points and then can use them with their other characters, which allows for a strategic manipulation of secondary characters, an interesting sub-game. Primary characters have special abilities which cost genre points and there are some specific special actions that anyone can take, assuming they have enough genre points. This bonus point mechanic, combined with the troupe style play does an excellent job of reinforcing appropriate behaviour. I only wish this section had been a bit more specific about how the Director should award genre points. It is left very open-ended. Some examples at least, with quantities would have been helpful.
Much of the genre emulation also comes into play in the character creation process. Stereotypes, links (the reason the group is together as well as specific relationships between characters) and special abilities all help to create a party of the kinds of characters one would expect in a slasher film. The text gives plenty of specific examples as well as a table of adjectives (charming, clingy, sleazy) and nouns (debutant, prankster, stoner) that can be quickly combined for instant personality types.
Conclusion
Reading this game is a pleasure. Miller clearly knows and loves the genre and a lot of time and care has been put into this book. The advice section for the Director is helpful advice for any GM. The player advice chapter, though it contains no rules, should be considered an integral part of the game. I would encourage all the players to read and absorb it, because it, in effect, lays out the terms of the implict contract between players and GM in a game like this. The subject matter is certainly R-rated and you would not want to play this game with anyone who is not comfortable watching a violent horror movie, yet there is nothing really shocking or offensive in the text, which is a testimony to the light touch of the designer. Personally, I lean towards the traditional side of the playstyle spectrum and some of the cooperative storytelling elements of Slasher Flick are not normally to my taste. But halfway through reading this, I just really wanted to get it out on the table. The text makes you want to play the game.
The rules in Slasher Flick are a clever blend of light, task-based mechanics framed by story-based timing mechanics all decorated with genre-emulating flourishes. The end result is a top notch RPG, beautifully designed to put the tension, thrills and gore of a slasher movie onto the game table. I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the genre, a student of genre emulation in RPG's or someone who just appreciates good game design. This would make a great one-shot for halloween or at a con. It surprises me the little recognition Cynthia Celeste Miller gets. Cartoon Action Hour: Season 2 is one of the most original and elegant games of 2008. With Slasher Flick, she has done it again, in an entirely different genre. Let's hope she and Spectrum Games will generate a bit more noise in 2009 because it is well deserved.
