Title: D.C.S. Basic Book
Company: David M. Fitzgerald
Category: RPG System
Reviewer: Tony Lee

Appearance-wise, D.C.S. is a plain, artless twenty-something page book. What your four dollar investment will return to you is a compact, uncomplicated generic role-playing system.

To stand out from the glut of generic RPGs these days, a system has to offer intelligent, distinctive rules. D.C.S.'s got that. Instead of random dice rolls or points, players allocate types of dice ranging form d4 to d10 among seven stats, and rolling the appropriate stat die for various feats, e.g. a character with Dexterity of d6 rolls a six-sider when trying to walk a rope or climb a wall, etc. Most notable is the "Special Ability" stat, an innovative catch-all trait to define any unusual ability the character possesses, be it magic, psionic, or even comic superpowers. Taking a page from popular games, predetermined Development Points are used to buy Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills. All but a very few of these are easily understood, and some show real creativity on the part of the designer, David M. Fitzgerald (I believe D.C.S. stands for Dave's Core System).

To succeed at a task involves nothing more than rolling to beat the "Task Number." Combat is simple, seldom straying from dice roll comparison for to-hit, and rolling for damage. The Hit Points system, on the other hand, works on a multi-tier structure that takes a little bookkeeping, but nevertheless functions elegantly.

As flexible D.C.S. is, you may be disappointed to find mages confined to a rather stale spell list (clerics are regulated by a more interesting set of rules). As for comic book superpowers, well, you'll have to wait for future supplement.

Overall, D.C.S. fulfills its promise of a good generic game that enables you to make a playable character during lunch. It's a small gem, and with more polishing and better editing it will prove to be a smart, inexpensive alternative to the prominent systems.

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