Coming Soon...Defcon1: Cold War Character Pack!

[dirkgentry2000]

Thanks, EF!

[Libra]

You have taken another?!?

(Actually, that's probably a good idea. At least his review will be comprehensible. . . )

The first impression a book makes is the most important and that almost certainly means Defcon-1 will sell like Hot Cakes. Depicting a Star-Spangled hero confronting a Hammer-and-Sickle wearing super (With the figure of a metal-masked Nazi looming in the background like the Ghost of Christmas past) I defy any viewer to tell me it doesn’t catch your attention.
This excellent bit of work creates great expectations, which are almost wholly lived up to in the contents of the book itself, which fall into an introduction and 3 main sections – Role-playing Concepts, The Characters and a mini-adventure, pitting our heroes against a foe none of them could face alone.
The introduction is short and to the point, setting the scene and explaining the role-playing terminology used in the book – Which is a convenience often overlooked by authors who rather unfairly assume everyone reading a product has at least some experience with the arcane terminology of the tabletop.
The second section, outlining the role-playing concepts, is well-thought out, using a method “borrowed” from improvisational comedy which (given its off-the-cuff nature) seems well suited to the demands of time-strapped players. The examples of role-playing given are also rather amusing in places. A final point: The propaganda posters help set the atmosphere of Cold War tension fairly well, also serving to break up blocks of text.
While the role-playing section is very good, the real fun starts with the pre-generated characters in section 2. From the Golden Age Patriot – Russian, American and British – to the more modern Teen Titan (Complete with Bratty attitude) the gang’s all here and they’re all good. The stats are solid and best of all there are plenty of role-playing opportunities and plot hooks buried in even the most unassuming member of the United Nations Meta Security Force (UNMSF).
Now while the characters are very good, some of you may complain “But they all look the same to me!” Well for starters they don’t physically look the same - thanks to the sterling artistic efforts of Jon Gibbons and Jacob Blackman – and thanks to the characterisations presented should certainly not act the same. Even the nigh-identical pair of Glory-seeking young ideologue Battle armoured heroes have a part to play in the plot – Ah, but more than that would be telling. . .
To cap off my overview of this section, I’ll just say that it’s very good and leave it at that.
The mini-adventure that constitutes the final section sees the players come together as part of the UN Superhero team mentioned above, an institution conceived of as a way to let young – and not so young - superheroes from all over the world develop friendly relations and fight the foes no single hero can stand against. In unimpeachably four-colour fashion they proceed to do so, starting with a minor menace, but finding that a plot to set the world aflame with Nuclear War is afoot . . . and naturally there are Nazis at work somewhere.
The adventure takes you from the heart of New York City to deepest Antarctica, via Space and an alien invasion, giving you a lot of superhero hi-jinks for what purports to be a ‘mini’ adventure.
The only real problem I can find in this section is a little ‘continuity error’ where the author has muddled up the location of his first disaster. The site is initially stated to be Shipbottom New Jersey, but we are told that the heroes have touched down in Baton Rouge – Which if I remember correctly is in Louisiana. This confusion continues, with the reader alternatively told that the Shipbottom Police are trying to deal with the problem and that the Red Cross have established an aid station in Baton Rouge. It’s a surprising bungle for such a well put-together product.

In short my impression of the product was very positive. The layout was well-planned, the content was ample without being crowded, the characters listed were interesting and the adventure would make an excellent introduction the game of Mutants and Masterminds - owning a copy of 2e Mutants and Mastermind core rulebook is helpful and a fair bit of work would have to be done converting it to another system.

The only real problems I have with the resource are the small ‘Continuity Error’ listed above and the fact that none of the major villains are pictured, except on the front cover.

All I all I would heartily recommend purchasing this product if you want an good introduction to Superhero Role-playing in general or a change of pace from your usual game. (Perhaps a flashback, as the characters and mission are constructed in such a fashion that placing the adventure either during, or shortly after, the latter stages of the Cold War.)

So what are you waiting for? Buy it now!

[dirkgentry2000]

Thanks for the review, Libra. It is much appreciated.

And double thanks for catching that continuity error. (this is the trouble with being your own editor. Sometimes you get too familiar with a piece and you get blind to the glitches.)

I'll see if I can get Gareth at Adamant to fix that in the pdf

[PhelanMahoney]

if it was stated earlier I apologize for skipping but the art looks great and if you are going with Adamant, I can only assume this will be a pdf and not a print publication?

[Emerald Flame]

if it was stated earlier I apologize for skipping but the art looks great and if you are going with Adamant, I can only assume this will be a pdf and not a print publication?

The art is one of the more striking items that I found with the product also.

The characters are well drawn, but the best part for me are all the propaganda pictures (you'll see) that are throughout the book. Excellent job.

[dirkgentry2000]

if it was stated earlier I apologize for skipping but the art looks great and if you are going with Adamant, I can only assume this will be a pdf and not a print publication?

Thanks for the question.
A year ago, that may have been true - but Adamant has gotten into print-on-demand in a big way lately.

So - it's currently available as both pdf and print publication.

You can get it as as a softcover via print-on-demand at this link (http://www.lulu.com/content/1704611)

[Libra]

And double thanks for catching that continuity error. (this is the trouble with being your own editor. Sometimes you get too familiar with a piece and you get blind to the glitches.)

No problem Dirk. I would have drawn your attention to it in private, but decided that there had to be some reservations to what might otherwise have sounded like a 'Yes-Man' review, to show my impartiality.

[dirkgentry2000]

No worries, Libra. Thanks again for the review.


For anyone who might be on the fence about Defcon1, we've got a free 13 page preview available for download here

(The interface on the download site is a bit odd - and it makes you wait 30 seconds to make sure you read their ads. But it does work.)

[PhelanMahoney]

PDFs can be nice but I'm trying to conserve space on this computer right now. So unless I get more memory installed I am looking more for print than electronic books.

[dirkgentry2000]

Understandable.

The downside being that print does cost more, unfortunately. It's about 20 dollars - as opposed to about 10 for the pdf. Still comparable to other RPG books of a similar size, but - yeah - a bit more than the e-book.

I've ordered my own print copy of Defcon from lulu.com earlier this wek. (The link for Defcon at lulu is here )

I've never ordered from them before - but I've heard good things - so I'm hopeful.

[prodigyduck]

Looks like you've got a hit on your hands. I'm glad to have helped you with this.

And, my thanks, for those who enjoy the art.

[dirkgentry2000]

Looks like you've got a hit on your hands. I'm glad to have helped you with this.

And, my thanks, for those who enjoy the art.

It was great working with you, Jacob.
As for being a hit - heh - we have yet to even scratch the top 100 at http://www.rpgnow.com, but one can hope.

At the end of the day, if some groups get to play and enoy it - I'm happy.

[Libra]

Any lack of enjoyment on their part will be because the silly beggars didn't buy your fine product.

[PhelanMahoney]

So many interesting things to get and so little money to get them. But this is definitely on my "To Get" list.

[dirkgentry2000]

The fine gentlemen (*koff* *koff*) over at Fistfull of Comics and Games were kind enough to review Defcon1.

Here's the link

Big thanks to the Fistfull guys. The consistently produce a fun show - and it's well worth your time.

Additionally, there is not an overwhelming surfeit of podcasters that will look at superhero gaming material - so they deserve your support.

Also - no matter what those guys say - I'm not a stalker. They just need to close their curtains more often.