Kevin and Kell The Role-Playing Game
From: ComStar Media, LLC.
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
KEVIN AND KELL THE ROLE-PLAYING GAME is a new Core RPG Rulebook from ComStar Media, LLC..
Oh boy … A role playing game based on a online comic about furries ~dripping with sarcasm~. I can not say that this is the worst first impression I have had with a game I had to review, but this was not a good start. I have never heard of the comic, so I guess I can not appreciate the true essence of that which is Kevin and Kell, but I tried to understand. This may make me old, but I do not follow many online comics, and I am even less of a fan of furries.
From the website: “When Kevin Kindle and Kell Dewclaw met online, it was instant romance.”
The key areas of a role playing game that I review are System, Content and Layout.
Content: When I talk about content, I usually talk about what the book contains for the player and the GM, chapter by chapter, highlighting key concepts and areas. The book opens with a Introduction by the creator of the comic strip, explaining the creation of Kevin and Kell and their world. It’s a world of contrast and satyr of cultural issues and human society through anthropomorphic characters. The role playing is an extension of that giving players the freedom to create their own contrasting stories.
Welcome to Domain explains the world of Kevin and Kell – the township of Domain, on (Domain) Earth. It is a world full of natural contradictions and comedic contrasts. Despite the contradictions, there is the concept of the Circle of Life and all respect it. Despite the universal sapience convention in this universe, herbivores are still the prey of carnivores, but this is done in a more “civilized manner.” All this, I suppose, is common knowledge to the fans of the comic strip.
Religion plays a big part of the strip and the game. The main characters are apparently Christian, in terms of Domain mythos. The main players of the Christian story are, of course, furries in some manner or another. The history of the US is also similar, with characters changed and the circumstances and conflicts revolving around animal related issues. For example, the US was founded by foxes from England who were tired of being hunted by English hounds.
The bizarre history of Domain Earth is also explained in this section – evolved birds taking over the world left behind by humans, time machines and stopping the evolution of man. Those are just the beginning highlights. There are many parallels in the Domain society including politics, conspiracies and corporate intrigue.
The Action! System and the Character Generation System chapters cover the core of the game system and will be discussed later. There are two big sections on Animal Traits and Skills (there are a lot of skills) as well. Other subjects covered in the last chapters are Action Points, the Rule of Play, as well as a chapter on The Hunt, detailed sections of special environments and rules, going into the Great Outdoors, and sections of adventuring and statistics for characters from the strip.
From the website: “Since 1995, Bill Holbrook’s online comic Kevin & Kell has fascinated and amused thousands of fans with its combination of tech-savvy humor, biting commentary (sometimes literally), and sharply-drawn characterization. Now the world of the Dewclaws comes to life on your tabletop!”
System: The system is the Action! System by Mark Arsenault & Patrick Sweeney (Gold Rush Games). I have heard of it but never played it and knew nothing about it. It is an OGL system, and the rules of the license can be found on their web site.
The core roll to the system is a 3 six-sided dice (3d6) role vs. a target number. Attributes range from 1 to 10 and are arranged in two groups – Body and Mind. Each group contains three attributes – Power, Aptitude, and Resistance. Attributes are Strength, Reflexes, Health, Presence, Intellect and Will. The breakdown into groups should be fairly obvious.
Skills are arranged into groups, which distribute down to 5 to 8 skills per group. Each Skill is associated to a specific Attribute Group. There are well over 100 skills, not counting the skills groups like Science or Transportation (which require specialization). I, for one, like a lot of skills, but this may be going a little overboard, I think. There are also derived values including Defense, Initiative, Damage Save Throw, and Movement. The Damage Save Throw is an interesting value that I have seen in a few other systems. It is basically a save to avoid damage from an attack. I am sure my players would love to have something like that in our game.
In addition to all this are Animal Traits. This is a variant system of the standard Action! System advantage/disadvantage system. They are broken down into two types – Capabilities and Defects. There are over 80 traits, and they are fairly straight forward. There are some that are applicable in any genre and there are those that are customized for the Kevin & Kell universe.
Character Generation starts with the character concept (like most other character generation systems do). There are two basic ways to create a character and both are points based. Either you use the two-pool system (Attribute and Furrie points) or the one-pool system (Furrie Points). You allocate points to Attributes, Traits, and Skills. Attributes range from values of 1 to 10. Skills have levels like d20 ranks and do not have a maximum. Skill levels higher than +11, however, are considered supernatural. Traits are bought at a specific cost, with no levels.
Layout: The full color PDF uses quite a bit of the the art and strips from the comic so that if you are not familiar with it, you slowly become familiar. It’s not too busy and works for the game. It did not get in the way of me reading but if it had, there is a printer-friendly version supplied.
In conclusion, at the heart of it, this is a game for the fans of the strip. I think that if you are not a fan of the strip and run this game, I don’t think you will get it. I know I do not and I had not heard of the strip. There does seem to be a lot of games coming out now based on these online strips – board games, card games and RPGs. I guess I am getting old because I feel fairly out of touch with this kind of fandom. It is not something I would expect to be a role playing game, but I am a guy still trying to figure out the Toon RPG and why it exists. Maybe I take my gaming too seriously.
As for the system – The Action! System is a fairly solid system if not very inspired. In many ways, it reminds me of GURPS or Hero System. In others, it reminds me of d20. It is an interesting system but nothing that I would strive to play or feel driven to introduce to my players. There are other commercial systems out there that accomplish the same thing in a similar manner. It is not a bad system, but I am not sure it is totally appropriate for this game universe. Based on my limited knowledge of online comic fandom, I would guess that a fan of Kevin and Kell who wants to role play in the universe would probably be into casual play. The Action! System is not entirely “casual,” so to speak. It is not a light system. It’s not too heavy either, but I am not convinced it is a good match.
For more details on ComStar Media, LLC. and their new Core RPG Rulebook “KEVIN AND KELL THE ROLE-PLAYING GAME” check them out at their website http://www.comstar-games.com.
KEVIN AND KELL THE ROLE-PLAYING GAME
From: ComStar Media, LLC.
Type of Game: Core RPG Rulebook
Written by: Jamie C Borg, Michael Hopcroft
Line Editor and Layout: Jennifer Andersen, Michael Hopcroft, William Andersen
Cover Art: Bill Holbrook
Interior Art: Bill Holbrook
Layout: Jack Reynolds, ComStar Media,LLC
Number of Pages: Type Number
Game Components Included: Type List of Items
Game Components Not Included: Type List of Items
Retail Price: $9.95 PDF $29.99 Print (US)
Item Number: CSR4801
Website: www.comstar-games.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung