Hi guys,
I have been waiting quote a while for this book, and the 2oo page, hardback, full colour, all-new Macho Women with Guns has to be the nicest looking book Mongoose has yet done - just take a look at the free preview at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/detail.php?qsID=164&qsSeries=Other
Macho Women with Guns is the new D20 Modern incarnation of the original BTRC game by Greg Porter, a humorous RPG of tough women, big guns and bug-eyed aliens. Mongoose has updated it for the new millennium, made it d20 compliant and added bucketloads of the coolest artwork around. Written by James 'Grim' Desborough, it is most certainly not an RPG with hidden depths and complicated roles to pursue. What it is, is a hell of a lot of fun.
The game kicks off with the basic classes of the Strong, Tough, Fast, Smart, Dedicated and Charismatic Heroines, together with feats trees and the all important 'attributes' generation system.Cup sizes are, of course, explained in detail. Occupations have also been altered and many more added, giving your starting character a new dimension. Why be just a Tough Heroine when you could also be a Batwinged Bimbo, Bookworm, Dominatrix (complete with Gimp rules), Helloooo Nurse, Minx, Naughty Schoolgirl, Police Chick, Renegade Nun, or Witch, among others?
Skills follow the D20 Modern format, though there are necessary alterations - Balance checks for those characters who are 'top heavy', Craft (cosmetics), Nookie and some interesting feminine uses for Bluff. With feats, the boat gets pushed out a little more, and there are many truly character-defining choices here - Back-Stabbing Bitch, Blow Your Way to the Top (ahem), Dimensional Bust, Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum, Look Good in Uniform, and Sainthood, as well as some old favourites from the original game such as Combat Genuflection, Direct Line to God, and Pray Like Hell.
These are balanced by a new game mechanic, Heinous Drawbacks. Ways to make your character worse. What player in their right mind would choose these? In MWWG, just about all of them! Here you can have Addiction, Bimbo, Bitch, Buck-Toothed Hick, Bunny Boiler (think Fatal Attraction), Gold Digger, Moon Pig (I had never even heard of that expression, but it is appropriate. . .), Sadist, Secret Love and many more.
So, now you have your character, her occupation, her characteristics and a job. That is the Macho Woman. Now we need to give her a gun and this is where the Equipment chapter will help out. With a nod to the original game, the equipment chapter has been divided into three sections, allowing you to play Near Future campaigns (the default), Fantasy (D&D never looked like this) and Science Fiction. A superb touch here is that the guns do not just have a description of what they are and what they do - there are subtle reminders as to which film you would have seen them in. A small thing, but it adds a nice dimension
Vehicles are also present, from an armoured car to the Holly Roller, an APC straight from the Vatican Armoury. The science fiction equipment is readily adaptable to any setting and includes such generic items as the Ripley Rifle and the Lawsuit Proof Laser Sword. . .
The Mucho Macho Magic chapter allows Macho Women to use a touch of the paranormal, wholly appropriate for barely dressed sorceresses and naughty schoolgirls who find forbidden books in libraries and magic shops. A range of spells allows for a wide variety of effects that can be tailored to your character, while the listed Forbidden Tomes (A Teen Witch's Bumper Book of Spells, the Nerdis Mysterius, etc) give plenty of toys for such ladies to play with.
The Combat chapter in D20 Modern is pretty good. But for Macho Women with Guns, we knew we could make it better. The Fighting Like a Girl chapter allows players to try out Stunts, Called Shots (mostly to the groin, I imagine), Catfights (nasty), Mud and Oil Wrestling (it will happen more often than you think), as well as fighting in zero gravity and in a vacuum.
Being a Macho Woman is an experience in itself, but players will soon have their eyes fixed firmly on the Advanced Classes - the Assassin, Business Bitch, Busty Vampire Layer, Cat Burglar, Criminal Mastermind, Destroyer in a Furry Bikini, High Priestess, Holy Roller, Hot Coed, Infernal Mistress, Jungle Queen, Kung Fu Hotty, Leet Haxxor, Librarian Beauty, Media Icon, Relic Raider, Sergeant Rockette, and Sword Mistress are all archetypes backed up with solid rules and some. . . stunning artwork
Well, that is the players all taken care of. But I can imagine a few GMs scratching their heads and wondering just how they are supposed to run games (or even campaigns!) with Macho Women. Not a problem, we have a chapter describing just how to create the right atmosphere, example scenarios (The Lord of the Bling, a Blaxploitation Tolkien has to be my favourite) and the World of Macho Women with Guns covers the background of the default world, one where disaster has befallen the entire planet (known as The Dang), men have been emasculated and the only thing standing between the survival of humanity and hordes of criminals, aliens and demons are, well, you can guess. This also includes a complete gazetteer of the world Post-Dang, with plenty of adventure seeds for every country you want to send the players into a ruin.
The penultimate chapter, Cannon Fodder, gives plenty of nasties for Macho Women to fight, again divided between fantasy, post modern and sci-fi settings. Bthulu is back, joined by Countess Dracula, Cupid (little sod), Hellkittens, Noblins and Norks, Oddzilla Shoddygoths, Bambo (and he is taking no prisoners), Chauvinist Swine, Animatronic Robots, Commies From Mars and Randy Greys, among many more.
The book wraps up with a sample adventure (Angels Charlies and the Fuzzy Menace), Designer's Notes and a full index. The character sheets at the back are stunning and will endure photocopying very well. . .
Is this game mature? Absolutely not! It is very silly. And therein lies its coolness. Join the lowest common denominator, and do so proudly. You will have nothing to apologise for. . .
BTW, we have already posted the MWWG addition to the Ultimate Character Record Sheet - it can be downloaded freely from here;
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/detail.php?qsID=151&qsSeries=Supplementary
I have been waiting quote a while for this book, and the 2oo page, hardback, full colour, all-new Macho Women with Guns has to be the nicest looking book Mongoose has yet done - just take a look at the free preview at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/detail.php?qsID=164&qsSeries=Other
Macho Women with Guns is the new D20 Modern incarnation of the original BTRC game by Greg Porter, a humorous RPG of tough women, big guns and bug-eyed aliens. Mongoose has updated it for the new millennium, made it d20 compliant and added bucketloads of the coolest artwork around. Written by James 'Grim' Desborough, it is most certainly not an RPG with hidden depths and complicated roles to pursue. What it is, is a hell of a lot of fun.
The game kicks off with the basic classes of the Strong, Tough, Fast, Smart, Dedicated and Charismatic Heroines, together with feats trees and the all important 'attributes' generation system.Cup sizes are, of course, explained in detail. Occupations have also been altered and many more added, giving your starting character a new dimension. Why be just a Tough Heroine when you could also be a Batwinged Bimbo, Bookworm, Dominatrix (complete with Gimp rules), Helloooo Nurse, Minx, Naughty Schoolgirl, Police Chick, Renegade Nun, or Witch, among others?
Skills follow the D20 Modern format, though there are necessary alterations - Balance checks for those characters who are 'top heavy', Craft (cosmetics), Nookie and some interesting feminine uses for Bluff. With feats, the boat gets pushed out a little more, and there are many truly character-defining choices here - Back-Stabbing Bitch, Blow Your Way to the Top (ahem), Dimensional Bust, Kick Ass and Chew Bubblegum, Look Good in Uniform, and Sainthood, as well as some old favourites from the original game such as Combat Genuflection, Direct Line to God, and Pray Like Hell.
These are balanced by a new game mechanic, Heinous Drawbacks. Ways to make your character worse. What player in their right mind would choose these? In MWWG, just about all of them! Here you can have Addiction, Bimbo, Bitch, Buck-Toothed Hick, Bunny Boiler (think Fatal Attraction), Gold Digger, Moon Pig (I had never even heard of that expression, but it is appropriate. . .), Sadist, Secret Love and many more.
So, now you have your character, her occupation, her characteristics and a job. That is the Macho Woman. Now we need to give her a gun and this is where the Equipment chapter will help out. With a nod to the original game, the equipment chapter has been divided into three sections, allowing you to play Near Future campaigns (the default), Fantasy (D&D never looked like this) and Science Fiction. A superb touch here is that the guns do not just have a description of what they are and what they do - there are subtle reminders as to which film you would have seen them in. A small thing, but it adds a nice dimension
Vehicles are also present, from an armoured car to the Holly Roller, an APC straight from the Vatican Armoury. The science fiction equipment is readily adaptable to any setting and includes such generic items as the Ripley Rifle and the Lawsuit Proof Laser Sword. . .The Mucho Macho Magic chapter allows Macho Women to use a touch of the paranormal, wholly appropriate for barely dressed sorceresses and naughty schoolgirls who find forbidden books in libraries and magic shops. A range of spells allows for a wide variety of effects that can be tailored to your character, while the listed Forbidden Tomes (A Teen Witch's Bumper Book of Spells, the Nerdis Mysterius, etc) give plenty of toys for such ladies to play with.
The Combat chapter in D20 Modern is pretty good. But for Macho Women with Guns, we knew we could make it better. The Fighting Like a Girl chapter allows players to try out Stunts, Called Shots (mostly to the groin, I imagine), Catfights (nasty), Mud and Oil Wrestling (it will happen more often than you think), as well as fighting in zero gravity and in a vacuum.
Being a Macho Woman is an experience in itself, but players will soon have their eyes fixed firmly on the Advanced Classes - the Assassin, Business Bitch, Busty Vampire Layer, Cat Burglar, Criminal Mastermind, Destroyer in a Furry Bikini, High Priestess, Holy Roller, Hot Coed, Infernal Mistress, Jungle Queen, Kung Fu Hotty, Leet Haxxor, Librarian Beauty, Media Icon, Relic Raider, Sergeant Rockette, and Sword Mistress are all archetypes backed up with solid rules and some. . . stunning artwork
Well, that is the players all taken care of. But I can imagine a few GMs scratching their heads and wondering just how they are supposed to run games (or even campaigns!) with Macho Women. Not a problem, we have a chapter describing just how to create the right atmosphere, example scenarios (The Lord of the Bling, a Blaxploitation Tolkien has to be my favourite) and the World of Macho Women with Guns covers the background of the default world, one where disaster has befallen the entire planet (known as The Dang), men have been emasculated and the only thing standing between the survival of humanity and hordes of criminals, aliens and demons are, well, you can guess. This also includes a complete gazetteer of the world Post-Dang, with plenty of adventure seeds for every country you want to send the players into a ruin.
The penultimate chapter, Cannon Fodder, gives plenty of nasties for Macho Women to fight, again divided between fantasy, post modern and sci-fi settings. Bthulu is back, joined by Countess Dracula, Cupid (little sod), Hellkittens, Noblins and Norks, Oddzilla Shoddygoths, Bambo (and he is taking no prisoners), Chauvinist Swine, Animatronic Robots, Commies From Mars and Randy Greys, among many more.
The book wraps up with a sample adventure (Angels Charlies and the Fuzzy Menace), Designer's Notes and a full index. The character sheets at the back are stunning and will endure photocopying very well. . .
Is this game mature? Absolutely not! It is very silly. And therein lies its coolness. Join the lowest common denominator, and do so proudly. You will have nothing to apologise for. . .
BTW, we have already posted the MWWG addition to the Ultimate Character Record Sheet - it can be downloaded freely from here;
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/detail.php?qsID=151&qsSeries=Supplementary
