This fun booklet gives you 100 ideas for death traps, most appropriate for superhero games but also potentially applicable to espionage or other modern genres. Author Erik Dewey provides a random-selection table (d%) if you want to go that route. Don’t expect lots of crunch; there are no statistics here. Personally, I appreciate the systemless nature of the product, because I can adapt these ideas for use in ICONS (the best match for the booklet’s tone), Mutants & Masterminds, or even Star Wars Saga Edition (stretching things a bit). If you prefer plug-and-play supplements, you’ll need to find a supplement statted for your favorite system instead of this one. Even though I like the system neutrality, I would have preferred a bit more crunch, not game system crunch but physics crunch—how much time various countdowns require, temperatures involved in some of the traps, and so on.
I enjoyed reading through this booklet, and plan to keep it near to hand when planning superhero adventures. However, the production values are only moderate. The artwork fits the context perfectly, but isn’t especially attractive. The layout is very bland, which is probably a good thing if you’re planning to print the booklet. There are also a noticeable number of grammatical errors (for example, misspelling “dry cleaner” as one word) and inconsistencies (“deathtrap” in the DTRPG/RPGN product description but “death trap” in the actual product). I’d add another star if the product were spiffier or better proofread.
Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!] |