Nya(tharlotp), see?
The Game: Terrors & Tommyguns
The Publisher: Drinking Horn Games (not that there's much on that site)
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
It's a good premise, I think - noir mixed with cosmic horror. The tone of the book is a lot goofier than that; the writing is very chummy and goes into first person a lot. The writer tells us about why he did certain things in the game and talks about the company's first game (Sagas of Midgard, which I don't own) quite a bit. There are more than a few editing mistakes, often of this "this header is in normal text" variety.
But y'know? I enjoyed reading it. The fiction isn't great literature, but cosmic horror and detective fiction both have rich pulp history, so it doesn't need to be. Unlike, say, Phantasm trying to be "grindhouse" without actually knowing what that word means, Terrors & Tommyguns embraces the tropes of its source material pretty well. (Less so the cosmic horror, I guess, because the setting is functionally New York City and not Arkham or something like it.)
There's a setting, there's a framework for characters, it's a little simplistic, but you wouldn't have to use it (much like you don't have to use SAVE in Chill, actually, but I think it's nice to have it there for a jumping-off point, no matter how much Cryptworld evangelists like to whine). Would I run it? I think I would. The system looks weird (you count up assets and liabilities, each one moves you up or down a step on a table, you roll the dice associated with the step you land on and try to get over a target number - it's fine, it just seems a little arbitrary), but it's miles from my limit of system weirdness.
Let's make a character! Simple 8-step process.
Step 1: Get a Job, Ya Bum. (Like I said, chummy.) I actually have a concept I want to play with. Behold, "The Kid's Last Fight" by the Statler Brothers:
So in the song, "Kid McCoy" wins a prize fight against Tiger Wells, but then dies from fever (presumably from a combination of exhaustion and getting his brains beat in). I want to play Tiger, basically, but I'm not gonna use the name. Let's call him Wilmer Cullin; they used to call him "Killer Cullin" but that kinda lost his shine when an opponent of his actually died. McCallum, the opponent in question, fought Cullin to a standstill and Cullin trash-talked him a bit to get him riled, but it worked too well and McCallum threw caution to the wind and walked right into a haymaker. McCallum was also hiding a high fever, and died on the mat.
Cullin had a couple of fights after that, but he was pulling punches and it showed. If he ever had a shot, he doesn't now.
Anyway, "Prize Fighter" is one of the jobs, so I'ma take that. That gives me +2 Vim, +4 Vigor, -1 Moxie, and "The Ol' 1-2" as a Talent.
Step Two: Spend points. I get 50 Character Points with which to buy Talents & Skills. They cost 5 + the rank, so rank 2 would cost 7, but...hm. Do I have to buy all the levels, or just the one I want? If I want rank 3 in a Skill, do I pay 8, or do I have spend 6 + 7 + 8? That seems extreme, but that's the way I read it. That sucks bricks, actually, but whatever, let's do this.
Skills are grouped by Attribute, so let's start with Vim. Driving and Grappling both seem like they'd make sense, but that'd eat 12 points right there. Let's assume just 1 in Grappling for now (6 points) and move on to Vigor, which is where the bulk of my points will go, I'm sure.
Yup. Striking, Feats of Strength, and Endurance are all Skills I want Wilmer to have. Let's see, putting a Skill at 3 would cost nearly half my points. Let's say Striking and Endurance at 2, Feats of Strength at 1? That's 38 spent.
12 left. Blah. Y'know, this is annoying. Intimidation makes sense, but it's a Moxie Skill, so I'd be in the hole already if I use it. (It should be based on Vigor, I think, but it's traditionally a social skill, so I won't fault the writers.) Talents cost 5 points each, but if I buy a talent, I have 7 left. I could use that to buy a Skill at 1 or bump something to 2.
Well, I want Cover Up, Kid (defensive boxing, basically) as a Talent, and I guess I'll spend the rest to bump Grappling up to 2. I have 5 points in Vigor Skills, which raises my Vigor to +5, so that's cool.
Step Three: Scars. I get one automatically and I can take up to 2 more for 5 CP each. I might just do that; there are a bunch of Talents that would make sense for Wilmer. First thing's first, let's pick my initial Scar. Normally I'd roll randomly, but I think I've got a decent sense of this character, so I'll take Insomnia (arising from guilt for killing a dude). And then because I want some more Talents, I'll also take Impetuous and Nervous Tic (hands shaking). (These have a slot on the back of the sheet, but that's mostly not stuff I need to fill out so just pretend it's there.)
Anyway, with 10 more points, I'll buy Double Jab and Do You Even Lift?
Step 4: Heirloom Tomato Item. Let's say it's a nickel. Wilmer got the nickel for his first fight (he lost). He never spent it out of superstition. What Skill should it boost? How about Deduction? Not something Wilmer's likely to roll much, but flipping the nickel helps him focus.
Step 5: Spend money. Nah.
Step 6: Incantation. If I'm a member of the Collective (the default PC organization) I'd start with one, but y'know? I think Wilmer isn't much for magic. I'll say he doesn't have one.
Step 7: Gain a use of Improv. That's like having Inspiration in D&D, so, cool, I have it.
Step 8: Finish up. Well, I have Exhaustion 9, Lunacy 1 (oh, dear) and Mortal 8, all based on Attributes. Otherwise, I think that's it, because I cannot figure this character sheet out. Really badly designed, which, I had to say, kinda puts the nail in the coffin of running this game because I don't feel like redesigning it. C'est la vie.
Anyhow, Wilmer is (now) in his early 30s, still buff, still works out, still shadowboxes, but really would rather not hit you (which is one reason he's not intimidating). Balding, brown hair, brown eyes, cauliflower ear, scar on his lip from where it split.
That'll do it!
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