Rap Sheet
From: LPJ Design
Reviewed by: Butch Curry
Rap Sheet is a new Haven: City of Violence supplement from LPJ Design. There's just something wrong about having a nice character record in a game where you're so likely to die young, but if that doesn't put you off the Rap Sheet might be right up your alley.
From the back cover/introduction:
"Following in the successful footsteps of other flourishing gaming lines, Rap Sheet goes further than your normal character sheet. Besides having all the basic character sheet to get players started in the Haven: City of Violence RPG, Rap Sheet has an expanded section to make it compatible to all the upcoming 2004 products from Louis Porter, Jr. Design and the Haven: City of Violence RPG gaming line including the Rat Bastard's Little Black Book, Man's Best Friend, and Way of the Fist for example."
These days, almost anyone who wants to make a character sheet usually has access to some kind of layout program (if nothing more than HTML or MS Word) and cheap printer. Those who don't can download one someone else has made online and print it out. With that in mind, published character records are becoming a tougher and tougher sell.
Into this comes Louis Porter's Rap Sheet. Haven: City of Violence is probably one of the least likely games I'd ever want to buy a character record for. Not because it's a bad game, but because it's so damned lethal! They don't call it the City of Violence for nothing; unless you're planning on encasing your Rap Sheet in plastic and filling in the blanks in dry erase marker, you'd be much better off sticking with a PDF version, or at the very least scanning and printing your own copies. If you've got a scanner, that's certainly one way to go. While the Rap Sheet isn't exactly pretty - the included sheets are all rather bland and boxy - if nothing else it'll save you the trouble of doing it yourself. There are enough pages included, counting adventure logs (a nice inclusion!), an organization setup page, a stat page for your best friend (that's your dog, not your .357 in this case), a build-your-own drug page, and lots and lots of space for guns and ammo, that you'd spend a heck of lot more than $5 worth of time putting it all together yourself.
What's missing from the Rap Sheet? A rap sheet! You'd think that in a game like Haven it'd be worth having a list of crimes you've committed on your character record...
Is it worth it?
If you're a fan of Haven: CoV - and you're not anxiously holding out for the upcoming d20 Modern version like I am - this is a perfectly decent little character record. As long as you can make copies - or don't mind doing a lot of erasing when you get wasted! - it's priced to sell, and worth a look. Check it out.
For more details on Louis Porter, Jr. Design and their new Haven: CoV supplement "Rap Sheet" check them out at their website LPJDesign.com, and at all of your local game stores.
(Product Summary)
Rap Sheet
From: LPJ Design
Type of Game: Haven: City of Violence supplement
Written by: Louis Porter, Jr.
Number of Pages: 16
Retail Price: $5.00 (US)
Item Number: LPJ1006
ISBN: 0-9727335-7-4
Email: HavenGod@lpjdesign.com
Website: LPJDesign.com
Reviewed by: Butch Curry
