This is my review/impression of Daytrippers, by Tod Foley.
Setting
The main draw of this game is its tone and sense of wonder. You play sci-fi explorers of other planes of existence - pioneers proving their world extends beyond its bars. They hop in their rickety deathtrap "slip-ships" and go practically anywhere you could imagine; through space, time, imaginal worlds, the Multiversal Chao for Eris's sweet sake, etc. This setting is a doorway to others. You might say this is true of many -or any- games, but here it is explicit. Even the weirdest adventure ideas can find a place in a Daytrippers session. Think Rick & Morty or Dr. Who or Time Bandits... just make sure the party comes back in 24 hours!
System
Daytrippers runs on a version of Core, Foley's own system. It's fairly intuitive, just roll a pool of d6 and keep the highest, sometimes with bonuses or penalties. The outcome yields a narrative array of yes, yes and, yes but, no and, & no but options, as above. There is no way to get a plan "no," which is probably intentional. If you're going to fail in this system there's gonna be a little mustard on it.
An interesting feature of character creation is the choice of "Lifeshapers" for each character - backgrounds, beliefs, relationships, goals, etc. that motivate their actions and make them who they are. There is room for plenty of them on the character sheet and they can give you extra dice on a roll if relevant. It's an interesting way to add a layer of drama onto what would otherwise just be a set of attributes, and seems very flexible. It's a bit different than the way FATE uses Aspects or METTLE Core uses Descriptors, but still lends narrative weight to the character.
There are actual plays of this game all over Youtube, always a good sign!
I'm reviewing this without having played it, but I'm sure that will change one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment