Hogshead: Crime Scene Police Investigation and The Mob
- Thread starter jaerdaph
- Start date
Wraith Form
Explorer
I picked them up, but haven't had time to read them (because I also picked up BoVD, d20 Modern MenMan, Portals & Planes, etc). So far Police Investigation looks a little more useful than the Mob.jaerdaph said:
I mean, you live *in* NYC and have access to the Sopranos (the show or the DVDs) if you were so inclined--but the books were written in the UK. You probably know more about the Mob in a "real-life" sense than the author does...not that there isn't Mob connections in the UK. But youknowwaddI'msayin?
Art is minimalistic; not horrific, not award-winning either.
I'll put more in a post in a day or two once I sit down with the books and really digest 'em.
Gospog
First Post
I saw these books at GenCon and they looked great!
I flipped through, and apart from looking great, there seemed to be a ton of information in there as well.
My GenCon budget precluded me from picking them up on the spot, but now that my D20 Modern game is a reality, I might have to.
Anyway, they looked good to me.
Be sure to let us know if you pick them up!
I flipped through, and apart from looking great, there seemed to be a ton of information in there as well.
My GenCon budget precluded me from picking them up on the spot, but now that my D20 Modern game is a reality, I might have to.
Anyway, they looked good to me.
Be sure to let us know if you pick them up!
Gospog
First Post
Xavim,
I've run into a similar question lately, hence my interest.
Basically, I am trying to impress upon my D20 Modern (Shadow Chasers) players that if they just indiscriminately kill anyone who crosses them, they will be tracked down and apprehended by criminal investigators (detectives) who are "much higher level than you".
These books might help me put some real investigative processes behind my vaugue threats.
I've run into a similar question lately, hence my interest.
Basically, I am trying to impress upon my D20 Modern (Shadow Chasers) players that if they just indiscriminately kill anyone who crosses them, they will be tracked down and apprehended by criminal investigators (detectives) who are "much higher level than you".
These books might help me put some real investigative processes behind my vaugue threats.
Selganor
Adventurer
I was a bit disappointed that Crime Scene didn't use d20 Modern but D&D as a basis.
They strip away ALL D&D-specific stuff (no common classes, new skills, no magic (ok, that's a no-brainer) and the like) but they hadn't used the "shiny new" d20-Modern mechanisms (like the "sleek" classes) and other "modern" options.
Granted, there are more people with D&D than with d20 Modern but I think most people buying CS got d20 Modern, don't you think?
They strip away ALL D&D-specific stuff (no common classes, new skills, no magic (ok, that's a no-brainer) and the like) but they hadn't used the "shiny new" d20-Modern mechanisms (like the "sleek" classes) and other "modern" options.
Granted, there are more people with D&D than with d20 Modern but I think most people buying CS got d20 Modern, don't you think?
Wraith Form
Explorer
Not quite a review but the best I can do right now
It's funny--Crime Scene & the Mob are hard to describe--while they're not poorly written, there's just a very conspicuous lack of substance to them. They give a decent surface gloss of the topics, but nothing you probably couldn't research on your own with a 'phone and a decent web search engine. The "crunch" sections seem to whimper rather than bang....
If you're expecting to pick up CS and run a game session based upon CSI:Crime Scene Investigation or CSI:Miami, you're going to be disappointed. They simply don't give that level of detail. I'll edit this post with an example when I have the book in front of me.
As I said a few posts ago, these books were written by Brits. For The Mob book, I found it ironic that they were trying to give us a source for US mafioso (and it seemed they were stuck in the '20's - '50's at that). Hell, I live next door to people who exemplify the Mob better than this book could describe..! Although I haven't read every page of The Mob, I also didn't see descriptions of non-ItalianAmerican mafias...I'd love to have more detailed info about the Russian, Irish, Jamaican or Japanese mobs at various time periods.
So, if you find these books (on E-bay or something) for cheap like I did, get 'em: they can't hurt. If you're low on $$, save your money for the d20Mod Menace Manual.
I think CS is more applicable to D20Mod, certainly! I was a little...perplexed...that they chose 'standard' (a/k/a Fantasy) d20...possibly it was intended for Call of Cthulhu d20?Selganor said:
It's funny--Crime Scene & the Mob are hard to describe--while they're not poorly written, there's just a very conspicuous lack of substance to them. They give a decent surface gloss of the topics, but nothing you probably couldn't research on your own with a 'phone and a decent web search engine. The "crunch" sections seem to whimper rather than bang....
If you're expecting to pick up CS and run a game session based upon CSI:Crime Scene Investigation or CSI:Miami, you're going to be disappointed. They simply don't give that level of detail. I'll edit this post with an example when I have the book in front of me.
As I said a few posts ago, these books were written by Brits. For The Mob book, I found it ironic that they were trying to give us a source for US mafioso (and it seemed they were stuck in the '20's - '50's at that). Hell, I live next door to people who exemplify the Mob better than this book could describe..! Although I haven't read every page of The Mob, I also didn't see descriptions of non-ItalianAmerican mafias...I'd love to have more detailed info about the Russian, Irish, Jamaican or Japanese mobs at various time periods.
So, if you find these books (on E-bay or something) for cheap like I did, get 'em: they can't hurt. If you're low on $$, save your money for the d20Mod Menace Manual.
jaerdaph
#UkraineStrong
Thanks for all the info, guys.
Hunh - I'm really surprised to hear these aren't d20 Modern books but use standard d20 instead. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing (see Redline from Fantasy Flight Games Horizon series), but I was looking for something specific to d20 Modern.
My first apartment in NYC was on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Vinny "the chin" Gigante lived in the neighborhood, and we used to see him walking around the streets in his bathrobe, trying to work up the insanity plea angle.
Oh wait, I didn't see nuthin'! Nuthin!
Hunh - I'm really surprised to hear these aren't d20 Modern books but use standard d20 instead. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing (see Redline from Fantasy Flight Games Horizon series), but I was looking for something specific to d20 Modern.
My first apartment in NYC was on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Vinny "the chin" Gigante lived in the neighborhood, and we used to see him walking around the streets in his bathrobe, trying to work up the insanity plea angle.
Oh wait, I didn't see nuthin'! Nuthin!
