Random Order Comics and Games is the brainchild of Random Order Creations, a small-press publishing house headed up by James V. West (best known as the creator of the acclaimed free-press RPG "The Pool").

Currently serving as the flagship product of Random Order Creations, each issue of Random Order Comics and Games aims to provide the subscriber with three things: entertaining comics, a complete RPG system, and a lot of bang for their buck.

That's right - each issue of Random Order Comics and Games is both a comic book and a complete RPG.

This review deals exclusively with the content present in Issue #1 of Random Order Comics and Games, future reviews will cover later issues as I receive them.

Price vs Presentation:

I used to be a big believer in the old addage "you get what you pay for", that is, price is representative of quality. I speak in past-tense because my subscription to Random Order Comics and Games has radically altered my perspective.

Issue #1 of Random Order Comics and Games cost me one whole dollar bill - but what arrived in post office box was undoubtedly worth more than one dollar.

The first issue of Random Order Comics and Games is a small staple-bound affair measuring 4.25" by 10" (think "D&D mini-module format"), bearing a light-weight cardstock cover and 16 pages of what appears to be 20lb bond paper.

Both the cover and interior are rendered in black and white, the artwork displaying Mr. West's distinctive bold lines and effective use of shading techniques.

The layout itself is straight-forward, easy to follow, and elegant in its simplicity.

In short, just skimming through the mag makes it very apparent that it is more than worth one dollar bill (but if you're still not convinced, the content will win you over).

The Comics:

Issue #1 of Random Order comics and Games sports a few short comics for your reading enjoyment, described below:

The longest of these short comics is an eleven page tale of a hard-luck, alcoholic, sell-sword (that also happens to be a warrior of great reknown) who finally meets his match at the hands of his forgotten bastard daughter. The piece is entitled "Thirsty".

While short comics are normally a hard sell with me, I thoroughly enjoyed "Thirsty". Mr. West's art style combined with his character-centric approach to weaving a tale manages to imbue "Thirsty" with more emotion than I've seen in some full-length graphic novels. Color me impressed.

Immediately following "Thirsty", there is short one-page comic entitled "How To Draw A Comic" in which Mr. West takes a few moments to poke fun at both himself and the sometimes demanding small-press fanbase. "How To Draw A Comic" showcases Mr. West's good sense of humor and wit, two things that play a large part in the wholesome goodness that is Random Order Creations.

Finally, we are given a one-page preview of the following issue and some assorted witty advertising for other small-press publishers.

The Game:

What better way to kick off the RPG aspect of Random Order Comics and Games than a hardcopy version of "The Pool"? In all honesty, I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the RPG aspect - in fact, I originally subscribed to Random Order Comics and Games specifically to obtain this very thing. In the center of the mag, "The Pool" appears as a four-page, removable, insert.

What is "The Pool"? For those of you unfamiliar with this innovative and completely enjoyable deviation from traditional roleplaying games, I've included a brief summation:

"The Pool" is very much a game of cooperative storytelling, focussing not on numbers, but on drama and fun.

To create a character in "The Pool" you pen a short story (fifty words in length) about your character and then select the most important elements of that story to serve as your character's traits. Once you have chosen your traits, you assign bonuses to them (in the form of six-sided dice) from a common pool of fifteen dice (be sure to leave some dice in this pool). And there you go - character created.

To resolve contests in "The Pool", a you roll as many of the dice currently in your character's common pool as you wish, any bonus dice associated with a given trait applicable to the contest at hand, and one to three dice that may (or may not) be awarded to you by the GM. In order to succeed at any given contest, a player needs only to roll a result of "1" on any of the dice that they cast.

If you succeed in rolling a result of "1" you may either add a die to your common pool or make a Monologue of Victory (MOV). If you choose the former option, the GM narrates the results of the contest and has an opportunity to introduce further complications. If you choose the latter option, you narrate the results of the contest - your character's action, the actions of those around him, and the results of those actions.

If you fail to roll a result of "1", two things happen. First, you lose any dice that you rolled from your common pool (it pays to weigh the odds before making a roll, obviously). Second, the GM narrates the outcome of the contest - making sure that it isn't at all what you intended.

Finally, on death and dying, the elegance of "The Pool" really shines. Although a character has no hit points or other concrete measure of health, they can die. If your character ever falls into a situation that the GM deems utterly lethal you may either accept the character's death and make a final MOV to describe it on your terms, or you can make a die roll in an attempt to cheat fate.

If you choose to make a roll and it is successful, your character doesn't die - the GM describing how exactly death was cheated. If this roll fails, your character does die, but you get to make an MOV describing their death anyhow.

That wraps up the short summation of "The Pool", but if you'd like to learn more before committing to a purchase (c'mon - it's one dollar for crying out loud!), there is an online version at Mr. West's web site as well as a dedicated discussion forum at The Forge.

The Verdict:

As I told Mr. West shortly after receiving my second issue of Random Order Comics and Games, I firmly believe that it is the best value in gaming today (I've certainly never received this much gaming goodness for in exchange for one dollar bill before).

If you're looking for an entertaining and innovative RPG publication, but are a little strapped for cash, you simply cannot go wrong with a subscription to Random Order Comics and Games.

Surely it's worth spending one dollar to find out if I'm right...

Sincerely, James D. Hargrove

A quick note on ratings:

Although the ratings of "4" may seem high, keep in mind that in order to arrive at these ratings, I compared Issue #1 of Random Order Comics and Games to other small-press gaming publications presented in a similar fashion. Likewise, value for your cash dollar was also considered when arriving at these ratings.

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