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 After I finished reading this guide, neatly printed and bound from Kinko’s, I felt like Guardians of Order handed me the equivalent of a tub of assorted LEGO, and beckoned me to go have fun on the floor. No instructions, no rules other than bricks click into other bricks, and no guidelines. Just imagination and brightly colored bricks.
Most people, especially new to the system, are not satisfied with a bucket of brightly colored bricks. They prefer step-by-step instructions. They like the uniformly died wall pieces, or the matching flourishes. In fact, so do I -- most of the time. Sometimes, the random jumble of bricks is a welcome invitation to come and play for hours and hours. Sometimes it’s an opening to frustration. In the case of Tri-Stat dX, it’s a bit of both.
The first impression was of its very stark interior, sandwiched between black covers. I quickly thought of an engineering text – "Here you take the integral of the mind stat over the soul stat..." No long blocks of examples, no fanciful anime-sque images. Just long black and white blocks of rules and text. It’s very cold and uninviting. Gazing at it, I knew this was a Tool, not a Toy.
Tri-Stat dX starts with a brief overview of "What is Tri-Stat" and discusses the different die sizes – the "dX" of Tri-Stat dX. Most are fairly obvious: d4 for Toon, d6 for most human-based games, d8 for Space Opera, bigger die sizes for the greater cinematics. Then, it dives immediately into character creation, explaining how to build a character, the functions of the three basic stats, and several optional rules, including Power Modifier Values, which snuck in from SAS. Skills, defects – anyone familiar with Tri-Stat knows the rote. Build a character as instructed and all will be well.
One feature I felt lacking was an indicator on the Attributes to easily display where various Attributes fell in what genre. Most are obvious, but for those thinking about building a game out of this reference document, a chart or an indicator on the Attributes themselves would ease the process greatly. Perhaps one was considered, and it was cut for space. Perhaps it was deemed obvious. Either way, it forces a potential game master to weigh each Attribute on their own and make decisions on each of them – not in itself a bad thing, but a hassle. The Defects, also, suffer from the same problem, but not nearly as badly. Defects by their very nature tend to be more generic.
On the other hand, the skill chart is superb. I rave about the skill chart. With a flick of a page, I can see all the skills available at what cost for each of the major genres. It’s beautiful! I love this chart.
The next section is on game mechanics. The passage of time, die rolls, skill checks – it’s all very aimed at the GM. It’s solid, if not bland. A yawn and a quick flip through to combat.
Combat with Tri-Stat is quick, cinematic, and simple. Resolutions fast, no hesitation, quick to complete. It’s the single, outstanding advantage to the system. A page was burned on the All Holy Combat Flow-Chart, a godsend for both players and GMs. It’s concise and simple to follow, although examples would be happily welcomed.
Next, after a small blurb on character advancement, we have weapons, vehicles, armour, and other goodies for the discerning player. This brings up one of my most pointed criticisms of the document: it is tilted toward modern and science fiction games. I realize most anime is of the modern and science fiction bent, and thus, the game is of that bent. However, it does trump the initial mission statement of a flexible, universal system. Tri-Stat dX is a universal system, but like the box of LEGO above, it needs a few boxes of additional, specialized parts to fit into each of the genres of game play. A laser sight is fine, but what if I need a musket? What if I need a horse cart? A galleon? Bronze swords for my Greek phalanx? More LEGOs, and some now of the wrong set.
The rest of the document is dedicated to some generic game mastering advice that likely every game master-oriented book in the universe has in some form. It’s about what I expected, and I flipped through it quickly.
Finally, the section on "Creating a Campaign" is very tiny (only a page), and the rest of the book is dedicated to net gaming and gaming groups and a shout-out for Magnum Opus to go along with the large ads. I’m undecided if this is welcome or not, but it’s telling at the expected audience.
In general, I like Tri-Stat dX, but I know Tri-Stat very well. I do not believe it is for the neophyte or newbie who has never seen Tri-Stat or BESM or SAS before. I do not believe it is even aimed at players, per se: more at those who like to tinker and think and build games and argue mechanics and build. It’s for the world-builder and the game master who likes the fiddly bits. If game masters or players want a complete set with well-molded minifigs, plastic guns, and pre-fabricated walls, they will have to buy one of the all-inclusive sets with the step-by-step instructions.
Judgment
Style: 2. For a gaming document, it is very dry and lacks pictures, examples, or flavor text of any kind. But it is very cleanly laid out, and tolerably easy to follow, if not a little bland.
Substance: 4. Crammed into its pages is the core of the Tri-Stat system, complete with character creation and combat. For a lightweight foundation to build add-on systems, it accomplishes what it sent out to do. Besides, it’s free! How much substance do you want for free? Examples or a better "create your own campaign" section would have given it a 5.
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