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Mirrorshades
by Todd S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/07/2018 09:17:58

Absolutely fantastic. This is probably the best generic/setting-agnostic cyberpunk RPG I've come across.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Mirrorshades
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minimald6
by Russell D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/11/2018 09:19:37

It's 2 pages, no frills. You can literally go read this whole game off his website. So why does it have 5 stars from me, and a lot of others?

Simple, Elegant, Hackable, and one of the tightest communities I've seen.

Seriously, at the time of this review there's over 20 little fan games (two of them mine) and everyone keeps cranking them out.

The mechanics are super simple -- you're either rolling two d6 dice, 1 die if disadvantaged or 3 dice if advantaged. Roll a 5 or 6 on any die and you succeed. Likely success? Just don't roll. Incredibly narrow chances? It's impossible. Stats are just there to arbitrate ability -- you can remove them and still play the game. That isn't a bug, that's a feature. It's this weird nebulous crossroad of new school and, yet, very old-school in that GM arbitration makes or breaks a game.

I was skeptical, but it's really been a blast seeing what we can do with this tiny little framework.

In Short: This PDF is really just a promo of the experience. Look up the website, find our G+ community, and dive in to the awesome little DIY rpg community that could.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
minimald6
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minimald6
by A customer [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/21/2018 21:49:35

Super rules lite, for your personal hacking pleasure. Over a dozen hacks already exist, and they are all dope. Simple enough that you could use it as a pick up game, just need 3d6 and some writing implements. Build your game on the fly using minimald6 as a framework! Great for younger players also.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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minimald6
by Yochai G. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/21/2018 18:23:04

Terrific system, is flexible, crunch-free but still provides excellent GM tools to reinforce balance. Creating your own RPG is so easy, even I was able to do it!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Tatzelwurm
by Sophia B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/18/2018 00:55:50

Excerpt from a review on my blog: https://dieheart.net/tatzelwurm/

Tatzelwurm gives off a distinctive old-school feel by being geared towards a healthy Game Master (GM), use of random tables, and minimalist rules. It reminds me of Original Dungeons & Dragons, but it's evidently not a retro-clone.

The straightforward task resolution, free-form magic and the fresh take on divine magic are a selling point for me.

Tatzelwurm encourages rulings and a strong Game Master role. For the GM there is minimal overload when it comes to adjudicating this game - at least at the beginning. During play, the GM will have to make a lot of rulings when it comes to magic and miracles.

I’m not a fan of the standard elves, dwarves, humans. The setting information is sparse, but there are some interesting tidbits, e.g., a Tibetan region.

Yet this game has a lot to offer if you like a more open-ended approach to old-school gaming and are looking for something different than a retro-clone.

Full review here: https://dieheart.net/tatzelwurm/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tatzelwurm
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Tatzelwurm
by Filip S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/17/2017 06:30:59

Quick points:

  • Finally, a readable version of Blood of Pangea
  • Concise writing
  • Flavourful, central-european spin on traditional fantasy
  • Unique miracle-system for clerics/priests


Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Wham Krak Swish
by Bob P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/20/2016 16:30:16

Ok I DON"T play Black Hack and took a risk and bought this hoping I could adapt it to my prefered OD&D clone and I took a good guess! Nice flavored, personalized critical hits! Very Short but suggest you pay $1.50 for quality. If you have HALF a brain you can adapt it to most D&D. Nice!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Wham Krak Swish
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Wham Krak Swish
by Ronald R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/17/2016 13:00:04

It's quite an useful reading, it helped me to give some detail on my campaign.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Mirrorshades
by Josephe V. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/16/2016 04:34:39

At first I wasnt sure what would await me in the upstream of the recent TBH game expansions, but I must say that Mirrorshades realy got me excited. Its not only well written but also containts a fascinating amount of details about cyberpunk gaming within its pages. Its a valuable source not only for TBH gamers but for everyone who likes to have a great introduction into the cyberpunk genre. Also worth of note is its well designed layout which put it way ahead of similar DIY publications, which dont dont enough time and afford on designing their PDFs. Yet this fullfills all my need as a GM/player and is well made overall.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Mirrorshades
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Wham Krak Swish
by Josephe V. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/16/2016 04:30:45

This is a sleek and well designed addition to The Black Hack rules and is easily implemented into it, giving some more options and flavor to the gaming table without burdening it with rules chunks. Overall I enjoy the clear layout as well as the many different options and can recommedate this to everyone who likes to expand combat on his OSR game, not only for TBH.

  • Vandel


Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Wham Krak Swish
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Wham Krak Swish
by Ulf H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/15/2016 15:57:11

This is a first impression I originally wrote on Google+:

Kya!...or something along those lines

I checked out Wham! Krak! Swish!, a supplement of different fighting styles by Norbert G. Matausch for the Black Hack system. This is a 16 page Pay-What-You-Want booklet containing basically a replacement of the default critical hit effect of the original Black Hack, adding a bit more flavor to your combat. Presented are 12 different melee fighting styles (Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, etc), each with a different special effect that triggers whenever the character would normally score a critical hit. Additionally, the book contains the optional rule of so-called secondary effects that trigger whenever a certain player-selected number is rolled, regardless of hit or miss.

It is a nice idea if you want to add some flavor to your combat. Whether or not it is really necessary is your decision. It's a supplement, nothing groundbreaking but it's fun and it is PWYW.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Mirrorshades
by Ulf H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/15/2016 15:53:26

This is a first impression I originally wrote on Google+:

Bringing the chrome, 80s style

Presenting a first impression of Mirrorshades, a cyberpunk hack by Norbert G. Matausch of a hack (Cyber-Hacked by Mike Evans) of The Black Hack (by David Black)... which is a lightweight hack of old school D&D. This is already very zen.

Disclaimer: I'm not a frequent writer of reviews or impressions, not a journalist nor professional. I'm a gamer and DM. So this review will be very subjective. I write about what I see and how I understand it.

...This is your grave and your playground. And the sky above is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. I fucking love the intro to this one. It creates a very 80s cyberpunk vibe which is something I greatly appreciate.

Mirrorshades uses the engine of the Black Hack with additional rules for contacts, drugs, vehicles, cyberware and hacking. For those of you not knowing what the hell I'm talking about: The Black Hack is a very lightweight version of old school D&D that uses a roll-under mechanic (roll a D20 under a stat to succeed in a task). It borrows mechanics from 5th edition (Advantage/Disadvantage) and armor is handled as a form of daily use temporary hitpoints. The core mechanics are quite easy to learn and do not have any nasty surprises in the form of obscure special rules (I'm looking at you, Generic Crunchfest #4). Consumable equipment has a so-called usage die, which is rolled whenever a consumable item (like ammo) is used. On a 1 or 2 the die is decreased to the next lower die (i.e. d8 to d6). When the usage die reaches a d4 and a 1 or 2 is rolled the item is consumed and needs to be replaced. Nice system, I like it. Last but not least, the GM only rolls damage. All other rolls are rolled by the players. Rulings for specific situations are always up to the GM and/or the players, so if you need (or want) rules for everything, you'll probably not like this. Role playing is encouraged to find solutions for these kinds of situations.

Right, back to the future...(heh) Mirrorshades is set in the gritty cyberpunk future of 2020, where corporations practically pull all the strings and everything is very much fucked. Life is cheap, the drugs are cheaper and your implants could really use some polish...if you only had the cash.

The book starts with the aforementioned awesome intro, directly followed by the core rules (Mechanics, character creation, combat and contacts). Apart from the contacts there is no real difference to the Black Hack. The core mechanic is present throughout the entire book, there are no special rules for specific situations, a fact that I'm quite fond of because it keeps the bookkeeping to a minimum. Next, we have a chapter dealing with the creation of drugs, vehicles and cyberware, including some examples on how they affect the game.

Drugs: Contains creation tables for drugs and their (side)effects. Also has a table for what happens if you start playing mix-and-match in your happy fun time ("When these two babies meet in your bloodstream, you're gonna see some serious shit!" Or you could, like, die). I quite like the tables, they allow for some pretty cool stuff without constricting the GM or players in any way. Want a smokeable antibiotic that makes you a coward after putting you in coma? Can be done (I don't know why you'd want it, maybe healthy sleep just doesn't cut it any more. So pay up!). Most drugs grant either a temporary bonus on attributes or Advantage. How the drugs actually work or how much they juice you up is up to the GM and the players. A drug that kills you should probably have some serious advantages, otherwise you could just shoot yourself instead, it's cheaper.

Vehicles: Has rules and price lists for car chases, upgrades, vehicle brands and drones. It's pretty much what it says on the tin.

Cyberware: What would cyberpunk be without cyberware? Apart from punk (shut up)? Probably boring. Or at least not as cool as HAVING ADDITIONAL SHOULDERS SO YOU CAN WIELD ALL THE GUNS!! Ahem. This chapter deals with the creation and effects of different classes of cybernetic implants. Creation is easy and straightforward: choose a class, pay the price, determine effects and pay some backalley sawbones to nail it in place. Effects range from bonuses to stats to Advantage or special abilities. The price is the almighty dollar...and your immortal soul. Implanting cybertech costs you humanity(points) (similar to Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020), making you more and more machine-like until you are a slightly unstable psychopath with the durability of the Terminator and the cuddly demeanor of a deranged serial killer. As a GM, I find this extremely amusing. As with drugs and vehicles, the look and feel of cyberware is entirely up to the player and the GM.

Ok, whats next? Hacking. What sounds better? Sitting in my basement, slaving for days over stolen printouts and typing incomprehensible strings into a terminal to find a way to exploit a corporate system? Or standing in some rain slick back alley, my cyberdeck plugged into a hidden access port into the datacenter of GeneriCorp Inc., stealing their research, running through streams of neon, my chrome hands full of viral payloads, ready to seriously wreck their digital shit. And looking badass (in an 80s sort of way) while doing it? If your answer includes any mention of basements, fuck off. This chapter covers mechanics for hacking the data fortresses of the corporate overlords that secretly rule the world (TM). The rules are again pretty straightforward: You need a cyberdeck and implants to connect yourself to the deck and explore cyberspace. There are rules for cyberspace combat where, instead of Strength and Dexterity, you use your Intelligence and Dexterity to attack and defend (WITH YOUR MIND). Then there are rules and prices for deck upgrades which grant bonuses to you or your decks abilities. The chapter also contains pretty cool mechanics for creating systems (data fortresses) on the fly by throwing a couple of dice on a sheet of paper to determine entry point, target, offensive/defensive capabilities and then connecting the nodes with a pen. It's similar to the village system of Lamentations of the Flame Princesses Scenic Dunnsmouth or city block creation in Vornheim. Love it.

Classes: Mirrorshades contains ten classes, covering everything from gun-wielding cyborgs to corporate executives to rock musicians. Attack damage and hit points are based on the chosen class which also grants some special abilities, equipment or cyberware.

The last three chapters are Equipment, Enemies and random tables for everything. Equipment is a short chapter on equipment prices like guns, ammo and armor. Not much to say here, it's like one page. Enemies is just that, a table containing stuff to shoot and their stats for shooting back. Your world in tables is, well, a bunch of tables ranging from lists of names (like netrunner handles and street names) to tables for creating unique names (and brand. and type) for your favorite gun/drug/bar/cyberdeck/criminal enterprise. There's loads of cool stuff in here.

Summary: Mirrorshades looks solid, the system is easy and minimal (The Black Hack has like 20 pages, duh) and the layout is good. Tables and how to use them are easy to understand (I get quite annoyed when I open a book with loads of tables and the book just assumes that I know that you always roll a d8 for this or that. Hasn't happened in a while but still). There is no fancy adventure creation stuff here, no background to the world (apart from the awesome intro). It is a set of rules for playing a rules-light cyberpunk game, nothing more, nothing less. And it is doing a pretty good job at it. Your job is to create a world, let the corps fuck it over, paint it neon and hand out the aviator shades.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Mirrorshades
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Wham Krak Swish
by David B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/15/2016 14:44:55

WKS offers a number of interesting mechanical interactions that add additional 'combat crunch', without bogging down the overall lightning fast 'Black Hack system. I found the design concepts presented here to be interesting, and prompted me to think of a number of ways id like use them. In short, if you want additional Combat Rules check these out.

It's also worth prasing the cover design, it's been created in a sensative fashion that ties in with the aestheic establish by TBH's rulebook, but add's its own personailty and flair to it.

PWYW .. so buy 'em a beer if use this product.

4/5



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Wham Krak Swish
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