Imagine Player's Guide Role Playing Game Review by Russ Lockwood

From Imagine Role Playing Inc., $35 If you yearn for second-by-second roleplaying, the Imagine Role Playing System is exactly what you need. When I way second, I mean second -- every weapon, every spell, and every action, is rated in seconds. To do something, er, anything, requires a certain number of seconds. Although I am by no means conversant in every RPG, this is one of the most detailed systems I've ever encountered. According to the book, over 340 skills are available and it is indeed a marvelous collection. Even if you have no intention of performing the multiple calculations during the 10-second combat rounds, you'll appreciate the referenece material. I'm not quite sure why a second-by-second system divides into 10-second rounds. I mean, why not just continue time ad-infinitum? It seems arbitrary to stop at 10 seconds after dissecting everything down to the literal second. In any case, this is a tremendous reference for consulting when encountering picayune details during an adventure. And you know, just know, players are ever asking about timing and so on. Imagine could stand as the arbiter of things such as learning time, restrictions, and results. It's the best part of the book. Of course, if you do use the system, be assured that the 450 spell, 150 weapons/armor, and 500 pieces of equipment will keep you occupied during character creation/outfitting. It's also good to see comparisons in pricing too. Back in the combat area, the use of a 20-section movable target area allows you to precisely define the area attacked and hit. Close misses may still register a hit, but on an adjacent body part. For example, if you center this section on a target's head, use a downward swing and miss by not too much, you'll hit a shoulder instead. It's a long way from AC 10 and 8HP. Again, this goes to the idea of detail, and the percentage for a successful hit increases (a different target template) as skill increases -- another nice touch. The Imagine system certainly contains all you need to start adventuring. There are no monsters or maps or world backgrounds. That's up to you as GM to supply. Admittedly, the use of the second-by-second system may prove too daunting to casual players, or even experienced players who prefer story telling to technical procedures. The character sheet has lots of numbers and applying the right numbers at the right time demands attention to detail. Yet Imagine's skill, spell, and equipment lists are quite appealing and the movable target reticule is clever. If you're just starting to look at a system, this is a bit daunting, but experienced players may find it the next challenge in systems. Like anything else, play often enough and the variables will load into Brain Ram. Contact: Imagine Role Playing Inc. 8725 Roswell Rd. Suite 0-140 Dunwoody, GA 30350 www.role-playing.com Back to Other Game Review List Back to Master Game Review List Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com