Pyramid Review
Villainy Amok (for Champions)
Published by Hero Games
Written by Scott Bennie
Cover by Brett Barkley
Illustrated by Matthew Tito Cuenca, Fredd Gorham, Patrick McEnvoy, Derek Stevens, & Greg Smith
176-page b&w softcover; $26.99
Every genre and RPG has its clichés, many of which are fun to play. Of course, play them too often and they become, well, clichés. For example, the super-hero game has plenty, including foiling the bank raid, rushing into a burning building to rescue a baby, or being shrunk to microscopic size. As fun as they are, the GM can only use such standbys so often before his players groan, moan, and eventually lose interest. Which is where Villainy Amok comes in very handy, because it is designed to breathe new life into commonly found situations.
Written for Champions, this supplement takes seven different situations and throws a spin or two at them so that the GM can use them over and over again. Or at least, a few more times until the players groan, moan, and so on. Presented in separate chapters, each explores the what, the where, the who, and the why, plus associated statistics and write-ups along with a ready-to-play scenario and a set of tables that lets the GM randomly generate the elements of a situation. All of this is presented in Hero Games' usual house style, meaning that it is decently organized, well edited, and if the internal artwork is somewhat ordinary, some of it is at least amusing. An example of this depicts the sudden arrival of the . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 12, 2005
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