Enforcers (role-playing game)

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Enforcers
A Super-Powered Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
Enforcers, role-playing game.jpg
Designers
  • Gary Bernard
  • Charles Mann
  • Larry Troth
Publishers21st Century Games
Publication1987;
38 years ago
 (1987)
Genres Superhero
ISBN 978-0944942000

Enforcers is a near-future superhero role-playing game published by 21st Century Games in 1987.

Contents

Description

In Enforcers, players take on the role of superheroes in the year 2046. [1] The rules cover characters, combat, and running a campaign. [1] Character creation uses a flexible points-purchase-powers system. [1] A calculator is required for play, as math formulae figure prominently in the rules. [1]

Publication history

In the mid-1980s, superhero role-playing games such as Champions and Villains and Vigilantes were popular. Enforcers, a generic superhero game — that is, not based on a specific line of comics — was designed by Gary Bernard, Charles Mann, and Larry Troth, with art by Christine Mansfield, and was published by 21st Century Games in 1987 as a 112-page book with a blue cover. [1] The second edition was published the same year with a yellow cover, although it says 1st edition on the title page. [1]

Two adventures were published for the game: The End of a Legend and The Knights of Beverly Hills . [2]

Reception

Stewart Wieck reviewed the second edition of Enforcers for White Wolf #11, and rated it 8 out of 10 overall, commenting "Enforcers combined several of the elements of earlier independent super-hero RPGs into a cohesive whole." [3]

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan noted that the game "emphasizes combat to the exclusion of nearly everything else ... There aren't many opportunities for actual role-playing in Enforcers, mainly due to the puzzling absence of background information." However, Swan did find that the rules were "uncluttered and a lot of fun to read; the enthusiasm of [the designers] is evident on every page." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "Enforcers is better suited for brief skirmishes than extended adventures." [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 50. ISBN   0-87975-653-5.
  2. 1 2 Swan, Rick (1990). The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games . New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 78–79.
  3. Wieck, Stewart (1988). "Review: Enforcers". White Wolf Magazine . No. 11. p. 66.