Recon (role-playing game)

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Recon
The Roleplaying Game of the Viet Nam War
Recon RPG 1981.jpg
First edition, artwork by Joe F. Martin
Designers Joe F. Martin
PublishersRole Playing Games, Inc.
Years active1982–1984
GenresModern military
Players4–10
Chance Percentile dice (2d10)
Skills Strategy, Tactics
SynonymsRecon RPG [1]

Recon (appearing later as RECON) is a military role-playing game where players assume the role of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The first edition featured a wargame with role-playing elements, somewhat like Behind Enemy Lines and Twilight 2000 , then gradually evolved into a full role-playing game.

Contents

Description

Recon is a game set during American involvement in the Vietnam War, but can be moved to any modern war. [2]

Character generation is relatively simple; each character only has three attributes (Strength, Agility, Alertness). The player chooses two military occupation specialties such as Demolitions or Heavy Weapons. These then determine secondary skills such as Forward Observer and Demolitions Disposal. [2]

The rulebook includes weapons, recon teams, missions, recruiting and debriefing, and terrain generation. [2]

The referee uses a Random Encounters table to generate terrain and villages, and to create groups of adversaries, obstacles to overcome, and problems to solve.

Publication history

Original Recon

The first edition of Recon was written by Joe F. Martin and published by RPG, Inc. in 1982 as a 44-page book covering rules for a miniatures wargame. [3]

Role-playing rules were included in the 44-page digest-sized second edition released in 1983 with a gamemaster's screen. [3] This edition introduced the idea of easily created and disposable characters.

RPG, Inc. also released a number of supplements and adventures for the first and second editions:

A final adventure campaign featuring mercenaries, Headhunters Ltd., was advertised [4] but was never released before RPG, Inc. went out of business.

The Platoon 20 (P20 system) line of 20 mm (1:72 scale) metal miniatures were also produced by RPG, Inc. for use with the game.

The Revised RECON

The Revised RECON
Revised RECON RPG 1986.jpg
Front cover of The Revised RECON,
illustrated by Kevin Siembieda
Designers Erick Wujcik, Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Balent, Maryann Siembieda
Publishers Palladium Books
PublicationJune 1986 (1986-06) (1st edition)
April 1999 (1999-04) (Revised edition)
Years active1986–present
GenresModern military
Website palladiumbooks.com

After RPG, Inc. went out of business, Palladium Books acquired the intellectual property and released The Revised RECON, designed by Erick Wujcik, Kevin Siembieda, Matthew Balent, and Maryann Siembieda in 1986 as a 152-page book. [3] The focus of the game was transformed from miniatures to a role-playing game. [5] Because of its origins as a miniatures game, The Revised RECON is the only Palladium game, aside from Valley of the Pharaohs (1983), that does not use the company's house Megaversal system. [5] However, Palladium does provide conversion rules to bring play in line with the rest of their role-playing game series.

Whereas RPG Inc.'s version had only limited information regarding firearms, the Palladium edition has almost 40 pages of gun statistics as well as fully illustrated, detailed descriptions of aircraft, seacraft, and vehicles, rules for playing mercenaries, rules for small arms and heavy weapons, garrote, bayonet, knives, and hand-to-hand fighting. [2] This edition also includes several scenarios. [3]

Advanced RECON

The Revised RECON received only one additional book, Advanced RECON, released February 1987. [5] It is an expansion of the rules allowing the creation of Special Operations characters and detailing a four-mission campaign set in 1960s Laos. There are also sections on American and North Vietnamese tactics and strategy, period electronic equipment, a primer on the game world in 1965, and briefings on the Kingdom of Laos and other military and government agencies.

Deluxe Revised RECON

Palladium published Deluxe Revised RECON in April 1999. This integrated and reprints the content from both The Revised RECON and Advanced RECON into one book. It also introduces new rules, focusing more on the characters' lives after the wars.

Reception

In Issue 70 of Space Gamer , Brian R. Train reviewed the original edition and commented "Recon is the game for the mercenary fan. It is a pleasure to play and a fine addition to the large inventory of roleplaying games." Train concluded with a positive recommendation, saying, "If you are at all interested in this historical period, Recon is well worth the money." [6]

Robert Neville reviewed The Revised RECON for White Dwarf #83 (1986), and did not like the game, commenting, "Unluckily, some people may well realise that the sections on military hardware and equipment are probably the best in any contemporary roleplaying game. Luckily, I hope people have more sense than to touch this with a bargepole. Unluckily, I'm not so sure they have." [7]

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan called the Revised Recon edition "a gem ... Recon does an impressive job of capturing the tension of jungle warfare fought under the most extreme conditions imaginable." Swan lauded the result, commenting, "It's all impressively researched, succinctly explained, and illustrated with detailed artwork." Swan's only issue was with the game's "narrow focus", which he felt "limits its appeal to mature players with an interest in the military." Swan concluded by giving this game an excellent rating of 3.5 out of 4, saying, "Recon is a prince of a game, easily the definitive treatment of its subject." [2]

Other reviews and commentary

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References

  1. ↑ "Recon RPG: Deluxe Revised PAL 0600".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Swan, Rick (1990). The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games . New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 165–166.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 256. ISBN   0-87975-653-5.
  4. ↑ "advertisement". Dragon . No. 91. November 1984. p. 14.
  5. 1 2 3 Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 159. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  6. ↑ Train, Brian R. (July–August 1984). "Capsule Reviews". Space Gamer . No. 70. p. 38.
  7. ↑ Neville, Robert (November 1986). "Open Box". White Dwarf . No. 83. p. 5.
  8. ↑ https://archive.org/details/sa-016/page/14/mode/2up
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