Friday I got my hands on a pre-release copy of the fan-made 20th Anniversary Edition from Street Fighter Paradise, which I posted about previously and let me just say: It. Is. Awesome.
(Rest assured, I will let you know when it is available publicly)
For those of you who haven’t been following this project it’s basically a nicely formatted, printable, (and ctrl+f searchable) PDF re-release of the game system organized into one volume covering the game system. The volume covers the game setting/rules/mechanics (everything you need to play) but NPCs, Adventures, etc will be available later in the “SF:20 Companion”.
Rather than just leaving the source material disjointed like the official releases, forcing players to look for moves in several different places, all the information is organized logically by chapter. So for example all the special maneuvers from the Core, Players Guide, Secrets of Shadoloo, Contenders, Shades of Gray, and Perfect Warrior, can now simply be found in Chapter Eight: Special Maneuvers. No flipping back and fourth. One stop shopping.
Besides just compiling, formatting and reorganizing, he also deals with the errors and omissions of the original release very gracefully. He carefully explains his decision making process (which usually involves his impressive knowledge of White Wolf mechanics) and allows you to go with his logic, or decide your way is better. That’s a perfect representation of the games “Golden Rule” (there are no rules, do what you want) and I much prefer it over the “THIS IS THE RULING!” version of making calls.
The Book breaks down as follows:
Chapter One: Introduction
Hello, this book is ____, original book overview, chapter overview, the world of street fighter, championship role call, styles summary, geography, summary of shadoloo…
Chapter Two: Playing Street Fighter
What is storytelling, dice, rolls, difficulties, examples…
Chapter Three: Character Creation
Pretty similar to the core character creation section but expanded with the new styles etc…
Chapter Four: Character Traits
All the attributes, abilities, backgrounds (including the new stuff like animal hybrids, and various staff members etc)
Chapter Five: The Expendables
Chi, willpower, renown, rank
Chapter Six: Styles of the Street Fighters
All of the styles.
Chapter Seven: Combat & Supplemental Rules
All of the combat rules, including duelists, weapons, stunts, fighting under water, etc…
Chapter Eight: Special Maneuvers
All of the special maneuvers
Chapter Nine: Storytelling
How to DM this crazy game.
Conclusion
This is my favorite chapter, where the author goes over all his design decisions, error corrections, errata, etc. Also introduces the reader to the SF:STG fandom with links etc.
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