REVIEW: THE TROUBLESHOOTERS
Author: Krister Sunderlin
Publisher: Helmgast AB
Does anyone remember the Adventures of Tintin (esp. following the 2011 film), or Asterix the Gaul, or the fantastic Blake and Mortimer? All of these and more were Bandes Dessiees (drawn strips) from Belgium and France. The protagonists went on adventures, battling sinister villains and organisations. There is also inspiration to be had from TV shows like The Saint, The Freewheelers and The Avengers
The Troubleshooters is a RPG that specifically recreates this vibe.
The Troubleshooters is a 246 page hardback book (+ PDF), with gorgeous illustrations that capture the mood of the Game and the setting. Similar but not identical to manga. The setting is a ‘alternate’ 1960’s, the real world but with additional counties added to the map (much like Tintin did) and an alternate history (a joint French-Japanese expedition landed on the Moon using an atomic powered rocket.) The Director is encouraged to take events from real history but also to add stuff in. Again, as an example, the Concorde is already flying.)
Character Creation
Characters are created by selecting and customizing from a list of templates. But don’t panic. There are rules for creating your own if none of the suggested ones fit your concept.
Here’s a sample character (from the available pregens in the QS rules)
ANNI-FRID “FRIDA” BÄCKSTRÖM,
AIR FORCE OFFICER
Skills: Agility 45%,
Alertness 65%, Charm 45%, Endurance 65%,
Investigation 45%, Melee 45%, Ranged
combat 75%, Red tape 45%, Strength 45%,
Subterfuge 65%, Vehicles 65%; other
skills 15%
Vitality: 6
Abilities: Pilot, Military Rank (Captain), Fighter
Pilot
Complications: Code of Honour, Patriot
Languages: Swedish (native), English, French
(fluent)
Plot hook: Secret Service
Gear kits: Parade uniform, Handgun, Pocket
pistol (signature), Radio set, Bicycle
No stats other than Vitality. Skills are % based, roll equal or below to succeed. However, there is an interesting modification to this:-
Some checks have +X or -X where X usually a number between 1 and 5
If a Skill Check says -2, then the roll still Fails if the Units die is within 1-2 points. Example – Strength 45% @ -2 and rolls 41. The task fails because the Units dice is a ‘1’ If the roll had been 43 then it would have succeeded
The reverse also applies for +X, often granted by equipment
There are also linked Task Chains where each PC has to do a check, the outcome of which affects the next (by granting +/- X.) An example given is escaping from a cable car which is hurtling uncontrolled down the cable to certain doom.
There are circumstances where you can flip a dice roll – turn an 73 into a 37 for example
Failure: Although not directly a comedy Game, the overall tone is somewhat light-hearted. Think of Thompson and Thompson in Tintin. Often the bad guys COULD kill the characters but again they tend to get knocked on the head and tied up in a room flooding with water.
The Director is always encouraged – Fail Forward. Failure is not a dead end – it’s just an obstacle to be worked round. And the bad guys fail as well.
The rules are chock full of examples of how to do things – again epitomising the era and the theme. Want to customise a Vespa scooter so that it can fly? Here’s how to do it, in detail.
Adventures
There are quite a few free adventures available, plus The U-Boat Mystery (£11.00 PDF)
Escape from Mont Blanc
The Innsbruck Incident
The Minoan Affair
The Sylverian Job
Adventures should be in the keeping of the BD’s – the weirder the better. Mind controlling rays on the top of the Eiffel Tower? Robotic killer vampire bats? The rule book is rammed full of ideas to be worked on. There is an example of how to create an adventure based on the first Blake and Mortimer BD (the actual adventure is available on Youtube in English and is well worth watching.)
Overall – Absolutely recommended 100%.
I can’t wait to get this to the table in my next scheduled FTF Game which should be August this year. I haven’t decided yet whether to go with a published one-shot or go whole hog and write my own. I’ll probably try a couple of solo sessions first. Time to get The Saint or Blake and Mortimer on Youtube.
