The Premise:
RealTime sets out to simulate the idea that real time is the same as game time much in the vein of the TV drama series "24." As such, its very rules lite and requires a lot of quick work on behalf of both the GM and the players.

What Ya Get:
RealTime is a twenty-four page PDF file. You'll need the Adobe Acrobat reader software installed on your computer or some similiar third party program capable of rendering the PDF format to make use of this game.

Cost:
Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Gratis. Free.

Appearance:
Minimal but this is on par with most free RPGs. Text is easily and cleanly organized and broken into clearly defined sections of text. Its also in a font size that is not a strain on the eyes. No illustrations are present in the game as of this review. Current support material for the game include dowloadable character sheets and Chronos Veritas, a two hour adventure.

The Game:
Before I actually start talking about the game system itself, I would like to quote a section from the rules:

"There are a number of other adjustments the group will have to make to their play, in order to keep up with real time, and to coordinate camera time and downtime. They'll have to be ready to nudge themselves out of a few preconceptions about how roleplaying games work, and do a lot of work to keep everything clicking. In short, they really have to want to engage in this experiment; if anyone is dubious about making it work, it won't, because there's no slack in which to deal with even one person's reluctance."

I've done numerous free rpg reviews before but this perked my interest. This is really putting the proverbial balls on the line. Some may take this statement as a possbile cop out, placing any failings of the system on the players themselves. Is it though? I can't answer that question as this is not a playtest review - you'll have to make that judgement on your own. I can say that this is a audacious experiment that will live or die by its own merits.

A character is created for the game with a point-buy system in which thirty points is distributed amongst eight skills (Drive, Fight, Heal, Know, Move, Persuade, Resist and Use). The player chooses a specialization for each skill (i.e. a specialization of Drive could be Adept at dodging road hazards) which increases their effective score by two whenever their specialization comes into play. Equipment selection is done by the player and subject to GM approval if he considers it appropriate to the character and/or game. The players are also assigned Commercial Break and Plot Twist tokens (more on these later). Chargen is a breeze and the average player can have a character finished in less than fifteen minutes... its everything else that requires real work to keep everything running smoothly.

RealTime uses FUDGE dice for task resolution. A diceless method is also presented but the focus in the rules tends to lean heavily towards the use of the dice. Unopposed actions are against a target number assigned by the GM, however, if a characters skill is two greater than the TM, the action is automatically considered a success. Likewise, any skill two less than the TN is always a failure. Opposed rolls are handled by rolling a single die and adding it to the characters skill. The GM may add or subtract situational modifiers. The real trick presented by RealTime in regards to task resolution is that everything is happening at the same time. As the player is describing their action, the GM is expected to immediately indicate the TN and, immediately after the roll, the player is expected to announce the success or failure of their action. This process is expected to only take seconds of both real time and game time. In other words, there is no time for stopping to think about character actions, everything is spur of the moment and the GM could rule that indecision is just that - the character is momentarily unsure about what they should do. I happen to like this.

Combat is broken up into two types: One-on-One and Team Combat. One-on-One assumes that each character is facing down only a single opponent and combat is handled by opposed Fight skills. The margin of success determines the outcome of the entire fight, which is assumed to take one minute, so the GM gets one minute to describe the actions and outcome of the fight. This is used to model the quick paced frantic shootout or wild melee. Rules are provided for a sub-division of these rules called Blow-by-Blow combat. Blow-by-Blow allows for periods of non-combat such as snipers waiting for the best shots, characters darting and firing from cover to cover, etc. These actions are resolved as opposed Fight v. Move skill checks. Team combat is when things get really chaotic such as large numbers of people being involved where conflicts cannot be resolved by a one-on-one resolution. The players decide how aggressive they are and it is applied as a modifier to their combat (more aggressive also means that you're likely to take more damage) rolls. This abstracts damage to a large degree as it does away with things such as acting order and even individual actions but allows for a reasonably quick solution to even the largest battles. This does, however, pose problems with scale! Lucky rolls mean that PCs are going to take out large numbers of opponents which is okay if you're just considering them mooks to be disposed of in large numbers but could be a problem for suspension of disbelief in more realistic games (i.e. overwhelming numbers of opponents are sent to capture the PCs but they resist and kill or incapacitate the whole lot). This could be a major stumbling block to players who are used to handling combat as a related series of individual actions so just be aware of gaming styles. This could require a considerable amount of pre-game explanation.

Characters at any point can spend one of their Commercial Break tokens to "freeze" the game. This allows them to consult out-of-character, go to the bathroom, take a smoke break, etc. for three minutes however the clock keeps ticking so those three minutes are considered to have elapsed during the break unless the GM needs to pad some time to make up for time lost previously. Characters will typically recieve four Commercial Breaks for every hour.

Plot twists are tokens that the characters can spend to influence the story. The amount of tokens required depends on how influential the event will be to the plot and/or the character(s). In other words, doing something out of character or having an event happen that is just outrageously coincidental is going to be expensive!

Actions are covered next and are split into three types: Slow, Medium and Fast. Fast actions are things that would take longer to say than do. Medium actions would take the same amount of time to do as say and Slow actions take longer to do than say. The purpose of splitting up action types is to maintain pacing. Fast actions are where problems occur and also is the reason for one-on-one and team combat - abstracting things that take fractions of seconds (such as pulling triggers or diving for cover) out into longer actions. In fact, extending actions actually works to the GMs benefit as it allows them leeway to be as verbose or terse in their descriptions as possible to help gain or loose time.

The rules conclude with a GM section which is primarily focused on managing the clock. This section deals with pacing and how to maintain it in a real time situation and how to take advantage of speeding up or slowing down the game to make up for lost or gained time as was previously mentioned. While the rules are geared towards a more modern setting, alternate rules are given for doing something more low tech like fantasy with magic and how to adapt the system to accommodate it.

Overall Impression:
I could not run this game. My GM-fu is not strong enough. You had BETTER know the rules before attempting this game because there is literally no time to consult the rules without expending something like a Commercial Break. Even though the rules are very light, the GM had better having pacing down to a science because EVERYTHING hinges on it.

With that said, I do applaud the author for taking such a risk. Its an interesting concept and one that I'm sure that the right group of people could have a lot of fun with. If nothing else, it is certainly worth a look at for something that attempts to be different and break a few preconceptions of things that are considered necessary (i.e. the need for a break between action and task resolution). This is a good example of game design "outside the box."

I'm very interested in other reactions to this game, so please use the forum below to express your opinions if you read it (and I do caution you to read it carefully - it took me three readings).

MetalMan signing off.