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So what am I doing reviewing a game 18 years old? Several reasons. First, I love this game. Even though it’s not perfect, what game is? Second, there’s not been anything like it since then, at least not to my knowledge. I’m running it again for some friends, so I thought I’d take the time and review it. Maybe I can win a few converts along the way.
Setting: Dark doesn’t begin to describe it
The setting is easily the best part of the game. It’s superhero crossed with Blade Runner, Vietnam, and Tarantino. You play genetically-enhanced soldiers in a future USA that’s gone horribly awry. Corporations sponsor Constitutional amendments, gangs are reality TV stars, the middle class is gone, and gun violence is an accepted part of life. After serving in corporate wars overseas, you are thrown into public housing in LA’s Watts neighborhood. No one likes vets, mostly because they fear the super powers you have.
These powers are more limited and realistic than most other games. For example, there’s no flying. Every power is given a physical explanation, and although some of those are obviously far-fetched, some seem downright possible. Sample powers include improved strength, claws, life sense, and telekinesis.
However, there’s a price. Between flashbacks from war and the psychological stress of those genetic enhancements, our super heroes suffer from mental disorders like catatonia, mutliple personality, and good ol’ homicidal mania. You take medication to keep in under control, but stress can make the disorder manifest at very unhelpful times.
The entire world feels like its spinning out of control. Violence is on the rise, the environment is collapsing, and cannibalism is not only legal but accepted. The bits about computer technology are dated (the book was written in 1993) but that’s easily handled. Corporations run wars now, and even the US military is private and branded.
The Point: Screw the gold, let’s fix the neighborhood
What do you do in the game? No dungeon crawls and no saving the princess. Instead, you improve your ghetto.
That’s right. The game includes rules for improving aspects of your local community, including Take Home Pay, Education, and Government Purity. Adventures revolve around making things better for your home. I have not seen another game like that, and it’s a welcome change from the usual loot and leveling in other games.
But it’s not easy. Gangs and corporations run the streets. Guns are everywhere, and they are powerful. Today, most guns are 9mm. In Underground, you get 20mm assault rifles and 30mm pistols. That’s a bullet over an inch wide! That’ll put a dent in your body. Between corrupt politicians and gangbangers, it will be an uphill battle--literally.
There you go. You’ll be playing a mentally-unbalanced superhero with a big-ass gun taking down gangbangers to improve life in the ghetto. Amazing, ain’t it?
Rules: A 30mm shell causes a “Light Wound”?
How do you play the game? The basic mechanic is simple: Roll 2d10 + skill rating against the GM’s 2d10 + modifiers for difficulty. Highest roll wins, and when appropriate, the higher success margins means better results. Skills are what you’d expect. Overall, the system is like a sedan: Nothing flashy but it’s solid and reliable.
Things get both tricky and cool using the Unit system. This quantifies weight, distance, time, volume, and information into interchangeable numbers. For example, 5 units equals 300 lbs, 30 feet, 12 seconds, 150 cubic feet, or 2 typed pages. The point is you can add and subtract units to get interesting results. How far can a character with Strength 7 throw a typical person? Typical people weigh 3 units, so 7 - 3 = 5 units, which converts to 30 feet. The system is clumsy but works well once you get used to it.
Combat uses one roll to hit, another to cause damage. The “to hit” is a pass/fail roll (succeed or don’t) while the damage roll is a graded response (higher the margin of success, more damage is caused). My main complaint about the system is wounds. Rather than using hit points, it uses wound levels. To me, that works fine when the game isn’t revolving around combat. But when the focus of the game is fighting gangs and rival genetically-enhanced vets, you need something other than “Medium Wound”.
The Book: Oooh, pretty pictures!
The corebook itself is beautiful. The artwork is amazing and really fits the game’s themes and setting perfectly, and the first chapter’s description of the setting is nothing short of amazing. However, the layout leaves something to be desired. Making a character is actually a challenge and will take much longer than you think, and longer than it should. The book also uses several text colors instead of the tride-and-true sidebars. This just makes reading more difficult.
It’s long out of print by now, but you can catch the Underground book on eBay and other sites fairly cheap. The whole line of books is worth while; every one is beautiful and detailed.
Summary: Buy it
Underground has its flaws, especially in the organization of the core rulebook. However, the focus on working to better a poverty-stricken neighborhood is amazing and unique. It handles a dark supers idea very well, and the setting is dark but realistic. You will be hard pressed to find another rpg with such style and uniqueness. Buy it today before someone else does.
