Review: Real American H.E.R.O.es

Real American H.E.R.O.es is yet another in a long line of knockoff G.I. Joe roleplaying games, or as Crafty Games euphemistically calls it, "four color military fantasy". One would think that at some point Hasbro would take the hint and produce one (they do, after all, own Wizards of the Coast as well as the rights to G.I. Joe).

This is not a stand-alone game, but a supplement for Spycraft 2.0, and that core rulebook is required for play. Layout is minimal. It's a 76-page document in a single column, with no art (other than the cover), no table of contents, and no index.  If that sort of thing bugs you, than this PDF is going to bug you.

Thing kick off with a history of H.E.R.O., the U.S. Headquarters for Eminent Risk Oversight. The timeline starts in 1964, the period when 12" G.I. Joes were introduced, glosses over the Adventure Team era, and jumps into full swing in the 1980s with the rise of National Military Exports (N.M.E. -- say it out loud if you don't get it), the Cobra equivalent here. There's also a multinational munitions corporation (Destro), a biker gang led by a master of disguise (Destro and the Dreadnoks), and a Japanese ninja clan (Snakeyes, Stormshadow, et. al.) . Pretty much all the bases are covered, and each of these organizations is fully statted out for Spycraft and has both a detailed history and a timerline full of plot hooks. 

The character creation section offers expanded Talents, so your character can come from any branch of the military, as well as N.M.E., the arms dealers, the biker gang, or the ninja clan. It's set up so that you can play the bad guys, which gave me thoughts of early seasons of the television series Alias, where characters might think they're working for the good guys buy find out the truth later. Specialties include things like Airbourne, infantry, animal handler, and so on, the things that give your character hooks for code names. There's also a list of recommended specilties from Spycraft 2.0 core book and the World on Fire supplement that can be used. Okay, the core book is needed, but would it have killed Crafty Games to reproduce that small handful of bits from World on Fire rather than making me buy a third book/PDF to run this?

There are two new Master Classes, Commandant and Overlord, which translate as "god guy leader" and "bad guy leader". There's a new unarmed combat Feat called -- and I swear I am not making this us -- Kung Fu Grip. Among the other new Feats is a Tradecraft Feat called Knowing Is Half The Battle. Yeah, there are no bones made about this being a GI Joe game with the serial numbers barely filed off. There's also a Patriotism Feat with three levels (Basic, Mastery, Supremacy) that allows you to reroll Impress, Intimidate, Networking, or Sense Motive checks targeting a characters who shares your Allegiance. All very appropriate to the setting.

There are, of course, lots of vehicles for land, sea and air. Rank and chain of command tables. Rules for running both a "standard" and "Saturday morning" version of the setting (a bit more than bullets or lasers, thankfully, but both are pretty pulpy). There are Diabolical Plot and Macguffin generation tables ("N.M.E. is trying to raise capital by ransoming the internet!" and "The local water supply is causing physical mutations to civilian contractors at the South Pole!" are what I got on random rolls using the two respective tables) that offer up some entertaining story inspiration.

The rest of the book is full of characters, statted out on a page each. These could be used either as NPCs or pregenerated player characters. Most have equivalents from GI Joe, with reasonable clever names. I'm really, really hoping that Booby Trap isn't supposed to be The Baroness, but I'm reasonably sure she is, and I'm not sure whether to be amused in a 1960s Jame Bond sort of way or mildly offended because I like that character and thinks she deserves a slightly more respectful treatment.

Overall, Good Touch. If you like Spycraft, this is likely a supplement you've been waiting years for. Again points off for the lack of art, index, and table of content, but still worth the asking price.

Real American H.E.R.O.es (PDF) at RPGNow

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