For someone who really likes the TV show and enjoys Role Playing the Leverage: The Quickstart Job gives you everything you need to play a fun game as if you were the Leverage Crew. It also give you a idea as to how the game system works and if you would be interest in the full rule set. I highly recommend the item.

I was a late comer to the Leverage show and just started watching a few episodes recently. Being a gamer, I was intrigued by the RPG. I was surprised that there was a cost to what is usually a few product. But, it was only a few dollars and I wanted a sample before I bought the main game. It appears to give a good overview of the game mechanics and the way adventures would be run. It would probably be a fun game but I prefer my current system to the system used in this game.

It's a pretty good introduction, and a blast to play with people who know the series, but it feels a little too "scripted" at times.

I was puzzled when I first picked this up... you see, at the time the TV show Leverage had not made its way 'across the pond' to the UK. A little background about the nature of the show, its basic premise, would make what is intended as an introduction, a taster, for the role-playing game a lot more accessible.

That said, presentation is quite beautiful and you're swept right into things, with talking heads (unfortunately unlabelled - I like to know who's talking to me!) explaining the background of the task that is to be undertaken. This is followed by a single-page primer on how the rules work, laying out the basics extremely clearly, if in a rather casual tone. The core mechanic is a roll using dice based on the relevant attribute and skill for whatever you are undertaking, against a target or against a similar roll from someone opposing you. If the character fails, he not only does not succeed but some complication arises that will require him to rethink... and even if he succeeds but one of his dice rolls a 1, something else goes awry in that carefully thought-out plan! In a game based on the concept of con men competing against each other, that's a neat twist. However, the character's player gets a Plot Point which he can use either to add extra dice to a roll or to create an Asset - perhaps an improvised tool or event that proves advantageous - thus continuing the entertaining contest feel.

So, on to the plot itself. The scenario dives right into the thick of the action, moreover the way that the characters intend to carry out their tasks is predetermined. This can make for a dramatic and flying start to the game, but allows little time for players to get a handle on their characters - who are, of course, the ones from the TV show. If you know the show and the personalities of the lead characters well, it's not so much of an issue.

Events are presented very clearly, with extensive notes for the GM explaining what checks are needed when and what the results mean in light of the ongoing plot. Whenever the characters have to decide how to approach a problem, the options available and how they should be resolved are given. Even a novice GM could run this with ease.

The whole style of the adventure has caught the spirit of the TV show well, the convoluted plot and counterplot nature of events in a typical Job (i.e. episode), and even if you do not watch the show it is not to hard to follow. The endgame, with a complex series of individual 'flashbacks' to introduce actions which go towards dealing with the final plot twist, is a bit hard to understand and might be difficult to introduce to your players without railroading them, but again fits with the overall look and feel of the show.

The pregenerated characters come next, the Leverage Crew in all their glory. Again, it's better if you know them already from the show, but you can cope reasonably on these descriptions alone if you have at least grasped the concept of a bunch of crooks using their talents towards beneficial ends.

Overall, it's a good introduction to the game but relies too much on knowledge of the TV show to make this something that anyone could pick up and enjoy. Watch a few episodes first, and if watching it makes you think it would be fun to role-play, pick this up and see if it works for your group. You'll probably then be scampering off to purchase the full game, but at least you will not have wasted too much if you don't like the rather structured style of play. Personally I feel 'quickstarts' ought to be free, at least in PDF, to promote the game proper and give people a chance to try before they buy the corebook, but if you know you like the TV show this is worth a look.

Note: I have given this 3 stars, to reflect this dichotomy: if you know the show and want to try role-playing it, this is worth 4/5 stars even with a pricetag, but if you are new to the show, it is of much less use.

This is a fun little trial-sized game with a slick, big-budget wrapping over a savory indie center. You need not be a fan of the TV show to appreciate this gem. It contains bare-bones rules, pre-generated characters and a solid (if brief) adventure. In all, it's a good evening's worth of entertainment.

This has an interesting structure, with ways for different team members to assist the lone-hacker types who traditionally have posed a problem for game play and a "wrap up" phase that changes the narrative around quite radically. The rule system looks like a pretty simple little toy, but maybe the full game shows more subtleties.

I'm ... a little put off by having to pay money for a quickstart, but then this IS a licensed product and the final price is pretty darn low.

Essentially this is a potential script for the show with character sheets and game stats. There's a BIT more railroading than I'd really like, but then I suppose the alternative (leaving it up to the players to figure out how to solve the problem) wouldn't have the fast-moving Leverage feel. (And I know from experience players are rarely as clever as ... well, any of the characters.)

I'm not 100% sure that Leverage requires its own roleplaying game -- any modern game should be able to handle the concept. d20 Modern, Top Secret, probably even BESM. I'd rather have had a single Cortex System Rulebook and then a Leverage sourcebook for it. But such are the vagaries of licensed IPs.

A very intriguing look at how Cortex can be bent to emulate a given source material.

Pros: The Quickstart Job shows five distinct builds, each being a character from Leverage.

Cons: Not used to paying for a Quickstart, but the Leverage license hooked me.

Looking forward to the full game.