Pyramid Review
The Imp Game
Published by Neo Productions Unlimited
Written by Nate Petersen
Cover by Calvin W.Camp
31-Page 677 KB PDF File; $5
Think My Life With Master by way of Toon, Rune and Kobolds Ate My Baby, and you pretty much sum up The Imp Game. Reminiscent of the Dungeon Keeper PC Game, this is a beer 'n' pretzels game in which the players assume the roles of Imps, the incompetent, bumbling-but-usually-willing minions of the "Master." Happy (mostly), to undertake the tasks he assigns them, or wheedle and whine their way though an excuse or two if not. Being sidekicks of course, the Imps are prone to failure, and fail they do loudly and often. Yet once in a while an Imp might succeed and thus earn the much-desired praise of their master.
The Imp Game is much like Rune, in that it is collaborative in nature, with the roles of both player and GM changing places over the course of an adventure. The GM is there to set the scene, keep the story moving, and to prevent any abuse of the GM's mechanics. Yet he also has his own Imp character that he plays like the other players. Further any player is free to add elements to the game -- NPCs, Locations, and so on, as long as they fit the game and add to the enjoyment of the play.
In keeping with the simplicity of the game, defining each Imp is a very easy task. Every Imp has a class, which represents what it is good at. Each class is categorized along typical roleplaying attributes -- strength, intelligence, charisma, and so on. Thus a . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: January 13, 2006
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