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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott" data-source="post: 2011731" data-attributes="member: 3565">A key factor in the success of any RPG is the quality of its supporting products.  The Fort Griffin Echo is Dog House Rules' first follow-up to their Sidewinder: Recoiled d20 Modern-based western game and, judging by it, Recoiled's future is bright.The Echo is projected as an ongoing series of "newspapers," published irregularly 3-4 times per year.  Each issue is expected to be about 32 pages long; the cost of future issues has not been announced.  In the time-onored tradition of free sample newspapers, this first issue is available as a free download from the Dog House Rules site and is 36 pages long.The layout of the Echo is very nice:  two text columns per page, with sidebars and tables boxed and shaded for easy identification.  A dozen or so illustrations are scattered throughout, including two maps and two black and white photographs.  A number of advertisements, reprinted from period sources, add a much-appreciated touch of old west flavor.The contents are equally impressive.  The cover page explains The Fort Griffin Echo's past as a real newspaper (in north central Texas) and briefly outlines the contents of this issue.  The editorial, on the next page, explains the designers' decision to use Fort Griffin rather than another, better known, locale.  The rest of the issue consists of five articles, all of which are billed as the first installment of continuing columns.The first column, The Weapon Report, offers an optional rule for firearm misfires.  The system presented here hearkens back to the misfire rule in Sidewinder: Wild West Adventures, but greatly expands and, in my opinion, improves on it.  Any roll of a natural 1 with a firearm is a misfire, with the results of a Concentration skill check determining the exact consequences--anything from a dud round to the weapon exploding.  There are modifiers for the type and age of the firearm, how well it has been maintained, even current weather conditions.  Most of the modifiers for a given weapon can be calculated in advance, so misfire checks needn't be time-consuming.  There are also rules for clearing jammed guns.  I usually resist options that add more die-rolling to combat, but a bit of play-testing convinced me this option is worth using.  The column concludes with game stats for a new weapon, the Colt Ring-Lever Rifle.One of Sidewinder: Recoiled's few weak spots is a lack of information about the tribal nations of the old west.  The Fort Griffin Echo addresses this lack with the next column, Council Fires.  This first installment looks at the Comanche.  Coverage includes a short history of the tribe, tribal organization, lifestyles, way of war, language, appearance, and religion, with a pair of tribal legends detailed.  A small map showing the territory the Comanche ranged is included, as is a timeline of 19th century events.  I'm not aware of any other western RPG covering one tribe so extensively.  A nice touch is the inclusion of references to give the interested reader a starting point for further research.That's just part of the goodies in this column, however.  As useful as the cultural information is, most players and GMs will be looking for crunchy bits, too.  They'll find them here.  The first prestige classes for Sidewinder: Recoiled, the Comanche Parabio (or chief) and the Comanche Rider, are presented here.  I haven't had the opportunity to play=test these, but both classes look sound, and should serve as good examples for home-brewed prestige classes.  Also here are brief biographies of two historical Comanche, Quanah Parker and Ten Bears, with game statistics at different levels included.  Rounding out this section are game stats for Ordinary and Heroic Comanche NPCs of various levels.The Way It Was, the third column, reprints articles from real old west newpapers.  In this case, it's the story of a robbery and murder in Graham, Texas, in June 1881.  The story, first of a series of three related articles, provides period flavor as well as potential plot ideas.  There's a small map to help place the locales mentioned.  A larger, more detailed version of this same map is available as a free download in the Snakebites section of DHR's site.  The other two articles in the series will apparently be in the next two installments of the Echo.The next section is White Hat / Black Hat, a column designed to present fictional NPCs from both sides of the law.  This first installment offers a sheriff and his posse, each with full game statistics and a short write-up.  Two are heroic; six are ordinaries.  Although designed for the Fort Griffin area, these characters could be relocated just about anywhere with minor changes to thier bios.  What Judge can't use a ready-made posse from time to time?  The next issue of the Echo promises some black hats for this posse to chase.Humor, especially tongue-in-cheek humor, is part of the western genre.  Cinema Styles, the final column in this issue of the Echo, captures this perfectly with Sidewinder: Eye-talian Style.  I don't want to give anything away, but no one who's seen a spaghetti western should miss these two pages of feats and equipment.Overall, the Echo's writing is very good, and the editing is excellent--well above the RPG industry standard.  I didn't like a couple of the illustrations used, but that's just a matter of taste.  A product of this kind, by its eclectic nature, will likely include material that any given gamer won't need.  As it happens, I found every part of this first issue useful, bt not everyone will.  Balanced against that, however, is the availability of this issue as a free download.With Sidewinder: Recoiled, the Dog House Rules gang set the quality bar pretty high for themselves.  With this first issue of the Fort Griffin Echo, they've cleared the bar again.</blockquote>

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