Review: Hard City- Osprey Games

[Easy e]

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCGGSajNRNuMSh8AXHu1w-o4fbJDZ4Dsl08kGj8KTDpfSZ4yR1mXcpM41C8_9-iJq6IIFwPRIwjnwuTAfEKuv71CyCJitvZS36dgYyWKo5nd9bcS x5ckZOXSpmBRzqNrHT4FW-J3YMhYpSRCkeVGF1Umwc4yGyzIT30WyluyVGRHqi5sGaEOBp-un/s320/IMG_2977.HEIC

I primarily cut my teeth on wargame reviews and wargaming. However, I decided to branch out into some RPG reviews. This is my first one, so I look forward to your feedback on it.

I actually started my RPG journey before my wargame journey. I learned how to play "Red Box" D&D from a friend's dad; a Lutheran pastor. I picked up all the boxed sets from a little bookstore in the local strip mall, the only strip mall within a day's bike ride! From there, I managed to scrap and scrape together the basic AD&D books, the Buck Rogers RPG, and the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game. As a teen, I played a lot of West End Games D6 Star Wars and Shadowrun. Many of the books have been lost to time, and I still lament the loss of my Masters edition boxed set. Shortly there after, an ad in Dragon magazine sucked me into the world of Warhammer and I have managed to juggle my two RPG and Wargame hobbies every since.

Now that I am older, having regular RPG nights and/or Wargame nights is much easier. I was able to get into a local RPG session much easier than I was able to get into the wargaming community! The wargaming scene had a number of starts and stops. Meanwhile, I have had a long running RPG group with a dedicated weekly game night, that was only interrupted by COVID, but has since re-grouped after vaccines became widely available.

The re-engagement with this group has rekindled my interest in RPGs. Thanks to this group I have been able to play and run a few more modern games such as Dune, Lasers and Feelings, Monster of the Week, Legend of the 5 Rings, Those Dark Places, and more. The group is primarily a Dungeons and Dragons 5e group, but we are not averse to spreading our wings a bit! Thankfully, we have several people who are capable of being game masters as well as players too!

However, this is going to be my first actual RPG review. It will follow the normal format my reviews take:

- Things I liked
- Things I did not like
- Meh and other uncertainties
- Final thoughts

Let's get into this with two-fists swingin' and snub-nose .38's blazing! The full review is on my Blog:

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/03/rpg-review-hard-city-osprey-games.html


Has anyone here had a chance to play or take a look at Hard City? What were your thoughts?

[Pauly]

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCGGSajNRNuMSh8AXHu1w-o4fbJDZ4Dsl08kGj8KTDpfSZ4yR1mXcpM41C8_9-iJq6IIFwPRIwjnwuTAfEKuv71CyCJitvZS36dgYyWKo5nd9bcS x5ckZOXSpmBRzqNrHT4FW-J3YMhYpSRCkeVGF1Umwc4yGyzIT30WyluyVGRHqi5sGaEOBp-un/s320/IMG_2977.HEIC

I primarily cut my teeth on wargame reviews and wargaming. However, I decided to branch out into some RPG reviews. This is my first one, so I look forward to your feedback on it.

I actually started my RPG journey before my wargame journey. I learned how to play "Red Box" D&D from a friend's dad; a Lutheran pastor. I picked up all the boxed sets from a little bookstore in the local strip mall, the only strip mall within a day's bike ride! From there, I managed to scrap and scrape together the basic AD&D books, the Buck Rogers RPG, and the TSR Marvel Super Heroes game. As a teen, I played a lot of West End Games D6 Star Wars and Shadowrun. Many of the books have been lost to time, and I still lament the loss of my Masters edition boxed set. Shortly there after, an ad in Dragon magazine sucked me into the world of Warhammer and I have managed to juggle my two RPG and Wargame hobbies every since.

Now that I am older, having regular RPG nights and/or Wargame nights is much easier. I was able to get into a local RPG session much easier than I was able to get into the wargaming community! The wargaming scene had a number of starts and stops. Meanwhile, I have had a long running RPG group with a dedicated weekly game night, that was only interrupted by COVID, but has since re-grouped after vaccines became widely available.

The re-engagement with this group has rekindled my interest in RPGs. Thanks to this group I have been able to play and run a few more modern games such as Dune, Lasers and Feelings, Monster of the Week, Legend of the 5 Rings, Those Dark Places, and more. The group is primarily a Dungeons and Dragons 5e group, but we are not averse to spreading our wings a bit! Thankfully, we have several people who are capable of being game masters as well as players too!

However, this is going to be my first actual RPG review. It will follow the normal format my reviews take:

- Things I liked
- Things I did not like
- Meh and other uncertainties
- Final thoughts

Let's get into this with two-fists swingin' and snub-nose .38's blazing! The full review is on my Blog:

http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/03/rpg-review-hard-city-osprey-games.html


Has anyone here had a chance to play or take a look at Hard City? What were your thoughts?

Thanks for the review. I’ve been looking for a good noir RPG to the point where I’ve started writing my own system [Think Zootopia meets the Maltese Falcon]. Unfortinately the mechanics are a bit too abstract for me. The investigation part seems fine but I’m looking fir a bit more crunch.

For me I think combat in noir should be deadly, like in Cyberpunk or Shadowrun. In all the great noirs people avoid gunfights precisely because getting shot leaves you dead. Surrendering to the goon with the gun should be a sensible option, yet the style of combat described seems to make trying to fight your way out more attractive. Although this does rely a bit on the players understanding the noir trope that the bad guys will warn you off or hold you as a captive until the critical time has passed rather than kill you.

As for missing out on clues because you failed the roll, that happens in noir films too, it’s just that there are enough clues that the detective can find out whats happening even though they’re missing a few pieces of the puzzle. If the puzzle has 5 clues as long as the players can solve it with 4, or maybe even 3 if they’re good enough, that should be enough.

[Easy e]

Perhaps I brushed if off a bit too easily, but you can really only take about 3 hits in this game before you are out of it. Each one also adds a Danger Dice, so it makes it harder to complete tasks once you are hurt.

That said, this is NOT a crunch game at all.

[Pauly]

Perhaps I brushed if off a bit too easily, but you can really only take about 3 hits in this game before you are out of it. Each one also adds a Danger Dice, so it makes it harder to complete tasks once you are hurt.

That said, this is NOT a crunch game at all.

I think I might be biased because Cyberpunk 2020 was the first noir RPG I played, and combat in there is lethal.

I don’t think noir needs crunch in combat, but I think it needs enough lethality so that combat isn’t the players go to option.

However noir, as a genre, benefits from crunch in investigative techniques and social interactions.
How do you get the information out of the BBEG’s minion?
- Do you sneak into his office late at night and read his files?
- do you get get him drunk and have the femme fatale pump him for information while he’s vulnerable?
- do you bluff your way in as Customs agents and put the frighteners on him?
- do you install a wire in his office?
That’s where I want to see crunch in a noir game.