SnarfQuest RPG Worldbook

The Snarf Quest RPG Worldbook provides background for playing in the world of the popular comic strip, as well as some insight into its creation. More generally, this book hopes to promote humorous campaigns by providing guidelines on how to run such games.

The opening chapter is an encyclopedic detail of the first Snarf Quest strip, originally run in Dragon Magazine. Every episode is detailed, and along the way handy notes are provided for running humorous adventures. Periodic comments from Larry Elmore explain why certain things were done, providing some artistic insight to the creation process for the strip. There is also a map of the area in which Snarf's adventures take place, with all of the locations noted.

Chapters providing D20 game statistics for both the cast of characters and the various creatures found in the comic provide a great deal of background for each, as well as satisfying fan interest in detailing these folks. The creatures seem particularly useful to GM's, who can simply show players an illustration of these bizarre monsters and leave them guessing about its threat level.

A large section of the book discusses the races, classes, and magic in the world of Snarf Quest. Here can be found the racial stats for those wishing to play a Zeetvah, like Snarf, or one of the other unimposing beast men of the Snarf Quest world, such as the Pelfric, Trummel, or Almeer. The mainstream races, such as Elves and Humans, are also discussed here, along with their place in the lands. The noble is presented as a PC class, and a prestige class, the Knights of the Order of Robot, is also included. Regular classes and their place in these lands are discussed - generally, anything other than a fighter gets ridiculed and diminished in this land. The various magic items from the comic are detailed here, though many of those are technological items. Of most note are the statistics for the infamous Chain Mail Bikini, with a well-thought rationale for how such an item provides protection.

The chapter on adding humor to your game is somewhat short, and continues to put emphasis on the SnarfQuest world. The heart of the suggestions is a handful of maxims, emphasizing luck and style. A few feats and rules variants are clearly designed for use in a humorous game setting, such as the Good Guy Initiative feat, or the "Everything can blow up" rule. This section is full of good elements for a humorous game, but seems to lack real motivational overview, like providing a carpenter with tools, but without a blueprint of what to build.

In providing insight and detail about the Snarf Quest world, this book does a great job. There are a lot of good tools for including humor in a game. Anyone interested in the SnarfQuest comic should find a joyful reading from this book, which not only details the strip, but also translates it into D20 terms. Those looking to play in the SnarfQuest world should find all they need here. Those not interested in that world should look elsewhere for advice on running a humor campaign, though, as what is contained here is only a small amount of cursory information.

SNARFQUEST RPG WORLDBOOK
From: Elmore Productions, Inc.
Concept and Original Comic by: Larry Elmore
Writing & Design: Jamie Chambers
Additional Writing & Design: Larry Elmore, Ken Whitman, Trevis Powell, Jim Wardrip, Tony Lee
Cover and Interior Art by: Larry Elmore
Number of Pages: 128
Item Number: EPI-8410
ISBN: 0-9722468-6-X

Added: April 15th 2003
Reviewer: Bill Preusser
Score:
Related Link: Elmore Productions, Inc.
Hits: 193
Language: eng