The Altered Carbon RPG

 I pledged to the Altered Carbon RPG Kickstarter when it was going. It was meant to have been shipped in August 2020, but I guess COVID has stuffed up a lot of things this year.

I have finally managed to have a look at the second version of the backer review copy of the game.  

It looks alright.

But as I read through it, I'm seeing lots of fiddly systems and subsystems. The core system looks interesting and fairly sturdy, with a system that's going to be a bit counter-intuitive to most gamers of mainstream systems. It's a roll under system, where characters start with a big die (a d12) as a crude level of skill/potential, and gradually get their die lower as they train and improve. Easy tasks have a high target number, while hard tasks have lower target numbers. Certain effects like having specialised equipment or training, seem to let you roll multiple dice (then pick the best result), while other effects modify the target number. 

There's a few variations depending on conditions applying to characters or situations, and like many big-book games these days it's full of symbols. When I say "big-book" game, it sits at 320-odd pages, and feels like a lot of those pages go into specific nuances of situations and just make things more complicated. I suspect that if I were to run this game, I'd probably ignore three quarters of the book and run a lot of it by ear. 

With about 70 pages dedicated to equipment, and 50 pages (at the back) dedicated to telling stories with the game, it feels like it fits into that old-school game format where there might be a GM guide coming later...

Honestly, it looks like it could be a good game with the right crowd. I think my biggest issue with it is the fact that most folks who want to play a complex game seem to get their fill from Dungeons and Dragons, while most folks who break out of the "dungeon-bash/murder-hobo" mode of play seem to aim toward the more minimalist style of game. Of course, now that I've said that, there seems to be a decent amount of interest toward the stuff coming out of Free League in recent years (especially with their assorted licensed properties). Maybe I've just been getting out of touch with gaming trends in recent years. 

 

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