Tinker's Damn
By Andrew LaRoy
Studio Cranium is a brand new company based out of Lewiston, Idaho, and you can tell from their first product that they really love Japanese animation and 60s vintage automobiles. Tinker's Damn is an all-out romp through the anime genre, done with a deep love and enthusiasm for the world of anime.
Published by Studio Cranium
$12.95The book itself is a bargain at $12.95 for 104 pages. The book is laid out in a simple yet concise manner, allowing for easy reading and comprehension. The book also includes plenty of illustrations to bring across the feel of the game.
Character creation is simple, with players allocating points out of a total of 75 to each of 6 stats. You then choose skills in a similar manner, from an included list. Character creation is completed by taking into account various special abilities and characteristics you may have.
Combat is an opposed die-roll system. Each participant in a combat rolls to determine who is successful. Damage is determined by rolling the predetermined number of dice. Resolution of combat actions moves fast and furious, leaving plenty of time for the characters to interact with the world and each other.
The system itself includes virtually everything you'd need to play any genre of anime. From a complete magic system to a vehicle creation system, they've covered all the bases. There is an entire section on cyber systems (for a cyberpunk style game) and A.I. There is a section on cyborgs . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 5, 1998
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