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The Good: The one roll engine is fun in play and works well. The power creation system does a great job of bringing imaginative abilities to the gaming table. The fictional history pays attention to the contributions of super intellects.
The Bad: Wild Talents is not as well suited to four color play as other systems out there, though it excels at building characters focused around concepts instead of play balance. The additional information presented in the big hardcover isn't worth the cost difference. Some readers may find the super hero history to be too focused on extra-terrestrial events.
The Physical Thing
At $49.99 this 384 page full color hardcover showcases below average production values for its cost. The editing is good, but the index is of questionable use due to the fact that every entry was indexed rather tan simply the most pertinent. If I'm looking for the alien IAM, I really need to know where the key entries are – not every single mention of the alien in the text. The layout is poor and showcases either a lack of proper tools or knowledge, with an uninterrupted two column text format throughout the book with the majority of art being found pushed to the very top or very bottom of the page. These pages are not exciting, they do not draw the reader in, and an opportunity to craft a book that better communicates with the reader has been missed.The artwork is a mix of quality and use. Some pieces are good and some pieces are placed in appropriate places, but there are also pieces that seem to have little to do with the page which are placed there seemingly out of a desire to include additional art. Further, the pieces are largely of the same size, perhaps due to a lack of understanding of how to do proper layout, which quickly results in a boring book to look at. The margins are enormous, producing a lot of unneeded white space. On the plus side, the high contrast presentation is easy to read and those interested in the book purely for reference won't have any trouble. Of course, if you want this purely for reference I recommend the much more focused and economical Essential Edition.
Under the Cover
I have already reviewed this excellent game system in my review of the Essential Edition, which may be found here at RPGnet. Instead of repeating myself this review will focus on what the big hardcover brings to the table that the Essential Edition does not. This amounts to campaign color considerations, setting history, and advice on running a game. Let's take a look at each of these in turn!Color considerations take into account the assumed qualities of the campaign world, with a rating of 1 to 5 for each. The first one, red, reflects historical inertia. A low red setting has a very fluid history that has little relationship to our own, while a high red setting is very similar to the real world. Gold reflects how society reacts to Talents, with a low rating reflecting a society that quickly adapts in response to Talents and a high rating reflecting a society that is unchanging despite the presence of Talents.
The Blue rating is a measure of the overall weirdness of a setting. The low end of the Blue scale supports a setting that has little oddness going on except for the super powered Talents. At the high end the setting has multiple pantheons of gods, alien races, Atlantis, multiple sources of super powers, the works. Most comic book universes are at the high end of the scale, while a universe like that of Heroes is at the lower end. The last consideration, Black, reflects how morally absolute the setting is. A low black setting has few clearly defined paths, while a high black setting sports clearly defined good and evil.
The color system is a good idea, and the writers do a solid job of integrating game advice while discussing this system. In addition to providing a guideline for future Wild Talents settings with this information, the book sports a default setting that spans 105 pages. Spanning from the mid-1930s to the present day, this setting incorporates the existence of emerging Talents into our own timeline. Major events look somewhat similar, but history plays out in a notably different manner. In particular, the adoption of the product of super science results in a timeline that sports rapid technological advancement to such a degree that by the modern day humanity has starships and is actively exploring the known universe.
The setting is somewhat enjoyable to read about, though the focus on presenting a timeline results in a rather dry read at times. The oddest thing about this setting is the strong focus on space exploration and war with alien races during the modern days. This strikes me as being particularly odd, as the focus on space warfare is to the exclusion of the political and social issues continuing to face the modern world. While the timeline is different, it's hard to believe that the impact of the Cold War has not generated countless conflicts and security problems springing from the treatment of the small powers by the big powers. I like the idea of taking a game into space, but the setting really dropped the ball on providing recent, relevant events on Earth for Talents to interact with.
The remaining material new to this version deals with how to run a Wild Talents game, and is of average quality. The most useful advice specific to this game is that if the characters end up running right over the opposition from time to time, that's no sweat. Sometimes combinations of powers and techniques can just work out that way, and there's nothing wrong with Talents being badasses in the game.
My Take
In terms of system, Wild Talents 2E offers tremendous flexibility and fun with an interesting die mechanic that works well in play. The game particularly shines when handling lower-end supers and grittier settings. Unfortunately, I really can't recommend buying this version of the game when the Essential Edition already provides all of the rules for just $10. The additional material here is weak, unlikely to see direct application at the table, and poorly put together. I really like the idea of setting colors, as described here, but the discussion drags out much longer than is necessary. Consider passing on this version unless you need the bigger print or prefer having a hardcover at the game.Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
