Monday, May 6, 2013

Review: Tacky, Tawdry and Tasteless: the Reality Show RPG

I have been neglecting my reviews.
So I am going to feature some games I have bought in the last few months.

Tacky, Tawdry and Tasteless: the Reality Show RPG
From Spectrum Games

A great game that comes in at just under 10 pages. Spectrum Games has made a name for themselves in Genre Emulation.  Since Reality TV is often criticized as not needing any writers, the game brilliantly is equally as brief.  Foregoing the typical "this is an RPG" section, the game gets right into the various types of reality TV shows are discussed.  Once your group decides what sort of game they are going to do (or maybe your Director has decided for you) and then you go!
You then need to make your character. You figure out your name and stereotype then roll your stats. Figure out your positive and negative qualities and you are good to go!  Like other Spectrum Games these qualities are not listed; instead you decide what they need to be.  Typically these are needed to point out some character flaw your character has.
For rules, the only checks are ability checks (roll under, apply qualities as needed) and dramatic checks.
You also get "Edit Tokens" which work a lot like Drama Points.  Tokens are awarded for good roleplaying and Sticking to Genre.  You can also spend your tokens to change what is going on; such a "Oh No You Dit'unt!" and "I Ain't Goin' Nowhere!".
The basic structure of a game is also laid out, including Commercial Breaks.  These can affect the Shows "Popularity" this can affect the amount of Edit Tokens the players can get.

The game is fast and is great for a like minded group. Given the nature of reality TV you could have enough material here for several "episodes" of material.

Personally I'd like to try it out sometime with people bringing in characters from any game and do a reality "TV Show" where all these characters have to live together in a house in between their normal adventures.

1 comment:

Valerie said...

Sounds like an interesting game!! I bet it would take me forever to make my character tho. It always does. I even have a baby naming book to help with names.

Yea, it's like that up in here!

Hugs!

Valerie