Like folders full of NPC profiles, special narrators-only sections in the rulebooks, and buttons which say ‘The Dice Are Not God…I AM!!!”, screens are one of those little status symbols which set GMs apart from their players. What is Larry hiding behind that screen? It could be an in-depth outline of the campaign, including full statistics for all of the major villains and summaries of every plot twist that is yet to come. Or it could be a fistful of crumpled notes and a cheese sandwich.. The players will never know. This mystique alone makes GM screens a necessity for many. Therefore, there is a good chance that anyone who is interested in running a game of West End Games/Yeti’s recently released DC Universe Roleplaying Game will also be interested in picking up a copy of their Narrator’s Book & Screen.
As a gaming tool, the screen is perfectly acceptable. It’s got skill lists, difficulty ratings, weapons charts, range and cover modifiers, and plenty of other good stuff. Some of the more important tables (like the weapon charts and combat basics) are both on the inside of the screen and on its side flaps, so that frequently used rules are readily available to both players and the narrator. My only complaint is that the picture on the front of it, a comic book cityscape, seems kind of bland and generic, especially when compared to the excellent art in the main book.Would a group picture of the Justice League or the cover art from Actions Comics #1 have been too much to ask?
The 80-page Narrator’s Guide which comes with the screen is a mixed bag. It includes new optional rules, new advantages and disadvantages, advice for Narrators, sample characters and locations, and a series of mini-adventures. The contents of this book range the gamut from very cool to ugh. I’ll start with the cool stuff first.
The sample building layouts and generic character profiles are very handy. Superheroes are drawn to locations such as abandoned warehouses and science laboratories like a fly is attracted to honey. Having a basic layout for these places and the people who inhabit them is a big time-saver.
Although a few of the optional rules are goofy and unnecessary, overall I think that they can add a lot to the game. My personal favorites are mechanisms to adjust for non-lethal damage, to strike at a specific hit location, and to simplify combat by reducing the number of dice which need to be rolled. I think that the optional rules enrich the game significantly by adding depth without too much complexity, and any aspiring Narrators ought to seriously consider using them.
The Narrator’s Book contains an index for looking up things in the main book. This is very useful and important. Everyone knows what a pain it can be to have to flip through an entire chapter in order to find that one vital rule or statistic.
The new advantages and disadvantages are quite good. In game systems where you can pick out perks or flaws while making your character, I like to have a nice broad selection to choose from.
The book offers advice to Narrators on subjects such as how to create memorable NPC characters and settings and how to balance short-term adventures against long-term character motivations. A lot of this material is going to be second nature to an experienced Narrator, but I can definitely see that it would be useful to someone who’s never sat behind a GM screen or delivered a “Before you die, Mr. Bond…” monologue before.
There is an included scenario called ‘Arkham Mayhem’, in which a ratings-hungry reporter releases a gang of super-villains from Arkham Asylum and then hogs the exclusive film rights to their next crimes. Although that’s not a bad idea for an adventure, it is presented as little more than a series of loosely interconnected battles. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for gaming groups which want to try a simple starting adventure in order to get the hang of things, but a more substantial plot would have been nice.
The thing that I liked the least about the Narrator’s Book was the addition of Dramatic Effects Cards. There are 27 Xeroxable cards which are dealt out to players at the beginning of the game, each containing an action like “During two combat rounds, vividly describe your actions” or “Attempt to trick your opponent into thinking you’re on his or her side.” Players can get bonuses on their die rolls by putting a card on the table at an appropriate moment and doing what it tells them to do. Since the system already allows players to spend character points in order to influence important rolls, I don’t think there’s any real need for the cards. And more importantly, the fact that the action cards dictate what a character must do or say in order to get the reward limits the free choice of the players. Role-playing is about doing what’s appropriate for your character, not following the instructions on a randomly dealt card.
Overall, the Narrator’s Screen & Book package is a pretty good resource. Starting GMs will benefit from the introductory adventure and the advice sections, and everyone will benefit from the screen, the index, the optional rules, and the stock characters and layouts. It’s a worthy resource for all the Narrators out there.
