The Power Trip
by Ken St. Andre
The work cuts through the fabric of role-playing to describe what a superhero role-playing game versus a fantasy role-game is, but does not separate the two worlds. Ken rejects the ever-increasing attribute score, which is the hallmark of T&T, but at the same time expands the Super-Dooper RPG sub-genre. The "Always On" concept for the super abilities is actually sublime. It beats out other Super-Dooper games by just getting to it, instead of trying to assign numerical values here and there.His flexible bases for special abilities is brought into perspective with "Default Powers" tied to each attribute. James Shipman's choice of artwork, including John Mince, Rob Lotze, Catherine Beyer, and Jeff Freels, has a look and feel that is both super-hero-ey, for lack of a better word, and just enough touch of the fantasy world of Trollworld where this T&T-derivative takes place. It works out well. Ken does a good introduction scenario, "Savage River," which kind of strikes me as a tribute to Action Comics-Meets-CNN, with his Superman character, Astounding Girl. A nice set of tone and pace for the work. Mike Eidson's "Crime of Opportunity" is included to show how well this game system can actually work, and of course Mike's work lives up to all expectations. The only drawback, which is not much of one, if the reader is a GM and plans on using the book often, is its spiral binding.
If you're rating games on a scale from "Godzilla to Smurf," this is one heck of a "King Kong" to check into.
Tags: TunnelsAndTroll S OutlawPress Superhero PerytonGamers
