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The regular cards are most like what fans of Torg and MasterBook will be familiar with, and contains random information for both players and GMs to use. On these cards are multiple sections, consisting of a "hero section" that a player would use for some sort of specific bonus or edge to a roll, a randomized number for when the GM needs a random number of perhaps a Glory amount for an NPC, a section on fates/names (for both genders)/personality/epithet for help in creating NPCs on the fly, combat twists for GMs to add some spice to a battle, a random God, and a plot twist to help GMs throw some random element into a story when they don't have any other ideas. The art cards are (as near as I can tell) just a single picture (recycled from elsewhere in the Hellas line as near as I can tell) put on the card with a number on it.
Before play begins, each player draws three random cards from the deck. The player with the highest Glory can then force another player to make (what I assume from the text is) a blind trade of one card; if the Glory-hog doesn't like the card he receives, he can discard it and draw another. Then everybody choses one card to discard. The GM forms his own deck from the discards. Only one card per player per round may be played at a time, but cards can be played for any player. A player may negate the effects of a card for all players by spending a card or 2 Hero Points. If the PC's god is listed on the card, the player can ignore negative card effects or gain a bonus to positive card effects. Once used the card is discarded. And after the players have used all their cards, all the cards (including the GM's deck) are shuffled and a new hand is done. Art cards are a different beast, serving to give players a flat Hero Point bonus based on their number or serve as inspiration.
Honestly, the rules could've been a tad bit clearer, but they make enough sense. And I find myself thinking that letting the high Glory PC cherry pick and force a visible trade to be fitting (if it was good enough for Agamemnon and Achilles, it's good enough for Hellas). But this is the sort of game add-on that players should tinker with and muck about with in my opinion. The mechanics of this tool don't really matter too much to me, and taken to a literal pedantic extreme a lot of the flavor text doesn't work either. For example, the combat twist "Atlas Shrugs" imposes a penalty because the ground moves; do you count that in outer space, or on the ocean, or what if you're falling while fighting foes in the vacuum of space? If you or your group have a problem thinking outside the text, expect to be stuck in catatonic fits. Personally though, I find the random elements it adds to a story to be inspiring. “Atlas Shrugs” could just as easily reflect choppy ocean waters on a boat, meteorite impacts on a spacecraft, or perhaps a collapsing building, all depending on where the players are at the time.
And just in case someone out there is wondering or confused: these cards are an add-on to the existing Hellas system, not a replacement for it. This isn’t like Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play 3ed, you still use the same system in the Hellas core books rather than replace it all with card-based gaming.
Style: To be blunt, the cards are crowded with data to the point of being a cluttered mess. But I’m not going to punish a tool like this for being too useful. And cluttered text on a black background can be hard to read. On the flipside, the art cards feel like “filler”, as if the author was running out of ideas for the regular cards or something. When I think of “inspiration art cards for an RPG”, recycled art from books I already have doesn’t cut it. I’m not sure how well these things print out for those with PDFs either; I got a pre-printed deck. So between all these factors I give it a just over the line 3; it’s on the low end of average, but just barely, and I may be a tad on the generous side or inebriated side, but a high 2 feels overly harsh and is likely to scare people off from how good this is Substance wise.
Substance: This is a product aimed for groups that like to think a bit outside the box, and for GMs looking for something to help them brainstorm ideas either between or during sessions. With that in mind, I give it an unhesitating solid 5 for Substance. Despite the art cards. It takes the idea from Torg of card props as story and game modifiers, and ramps it up several notches. The DD is very impressive and useful in a multitude of ways, and for groups that like these sorts of things I imagine it will see a lot of good use.
Conclusion: I love these kinds of products, but I’m also impressed at how much the DD raises the bar. It has its faults and isn’t a “must buy” type of product, but it’s really good at what it does. If the idea of using cards to help brainstorm ideas through your sessions of Hellas appeals to you, do yourself a favor and pick up a deck.
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