There are some excellent concepts and ideas in the THW games. They are a bit dice heavy, but some of this can be alleviated by pregame prep, rolling PEFs and then coding them for a quick resolution later for example.
The ultimate problem I had in the end was the game mechanics, rolling against REP sometimes and looking for successes at others made it feel a little disjointed and I kept having to refer back to the charts. Add in the quite narrow range of REPs.
Also, some of it promised potential but was then only optional tables that didn't link into the core rules, like cybernetics, this was 5150NB. In the end I used the core concepts and substituted my own mechanics. I've not looked at the 2d6 rules variants so it maybe that this problem has been resolved in them.
Despite all of my apparent criticisms I would recommend any ruleset if it was something that appeals to you.
I had the same problems with THW as Steven Lincoln, finding myself continuously browsing through the rules for this or that table. On the other hand, I have solo played many times a few of Ivan Sorensen's games and had great fun with them. If you are specifically interested in Pulp, I think that Pulp Alley now has a specific deck of cards for Solo skirmishes: I haven't tried it, I soloed PA before the deck was available. Ivan now also has a pulp set of rules, but I haven't tried it either.
There are some excellent concepts and ideas in the THW games. They are a bit dice heavy, but some of this can be alleviated by pregame prep, rolling PEFs and then coding them for a quick resolution later for example.
ReplyDeleteThe ultimate problem I had in the end was the game mechanics, rolling against REP sometimes and looking for successes at others made it feel a little disjointed and I kept having to refer back to the charts. Add in the quite narrow range of REPs.
Also, some of it promised potential but was then only optional tables that didn't link into the core rules, like cybernetics, this was 5150NB. In the end I used the core concepts and substituted my own mechanics. I've not looked at the 2d6 rules variants so it maybe that this problem has been resolved in them.
Despite all of my apparent criticisms I would recommend any ruleset if it was something that appeals to you.
I had the same problems with THW as Steven Lincoln, finding myself continuously browsing through the rules for this or that table. On the other hand, I have solo played many times a few of Ivan Sorensen's games and had great fun with them. If you are specifically interested in Pulp, I think that Pulp Alley now has a specific deck of cards for Solo skirmishes: I haven't tried it, I soloed PA before the deck was available. Ivan now also has a pulp set of rules, but I haven't tried it either.
ReplyDeleteA review of Pulp Alley's Solo Deck http://ifitwasntforone.blogspot.com/2016/08/pulp-alley-going-solo-review.html
ReplyDeleteifitwasntforone.blogspot.it - Pulp Alley going solo review