A First Glance Review: A Villainy Codex Vol 1

[rjcurrie]

Okay, I have not thoroughly read this product, so I cannot really comment on its gaming contents. These comments are based on just a quick look through the PDF. However, on that alone, I would not feel comfortable in recommending that anyone purchase this product.

 

One of the great things these days is how easy it is for anyone to create and sell a gaming product (especially in the PDF format).  Unfortunately, this is also one of the worst things.  That same ease of production and the willingness of many web sites to sell virtually anything without any concern as to its quality leads to consumers being asked to pay money for products like this one, which are simply not ready for prime time.  

 

Let's start with a minor nitpick. What's a vol?  Yes, I know that it's meant to be an abbreviation for "Volume", but wouldn't that be "Vol."?  And for that matter, I fail to see a good reason to call this "Vol 1" or even "Vol. 1" instead of "Volume 1". And to be honest, if that was my only issue with the product, I probably wouldn't have even mentioned it.  But, in truth, maybe it's a warning sign about what lies within.

 

First, let me say that I commend Greg Elkins for creating a gaming supplement. It's something that many of us talk about but only a few actually do.  However, it feels to me like he stopped after the first draft.  On the first page alone, there are numerous typos, awkward constructions, and seemingly missing words. He thanks both Jason Walters and Steve Long for their help -- actually, he "thinks" Steve Long and maybe that should be Dr. Jason Walters, since he is thanked for his "patients" -- but it seems that this help did not include the recommendation of getting an editor or, at the very least, a proof-reader. Or maybe they did make such a recommendation and Mr. Elkins chose to ignore it.

 

And to be honest, this product seriously needed an editor. Mr. Elkins simply does not appear to be, at this time, a good writer. He may have interesting ideas, but unfortunately his awkward writing, lack or misuse of punctuation, and uncaught typos can make it difficult to get to those ideas. Much of his text, as I mentioned above, reads like it is a first draft that he never revisited. Now, to be honest, ideas are usually the key to a good gaming supplement and those with good ideas should not be discouraged from attempting to share them with others. However, it helps if the writer is aware of his limitations and also aware of how poor and sloppy writing can affect the reader's perceptions of the material. And that's where an editor can make a big difference. Heck, in some cases, simply paying attention to the changes that an editor makes or recommends, the original author can become a better writer. 

 

The product also has a very minimal layout (with the exception of the character sheets, which I will discuss later). All text is the same size and uses the same font. Only the use of bold and italics separate headings from body text. While, minimal formatting can be a valid choice, in this case, it only adds to the "first draft" impression and can be confusing in places. There is also a complete lack of page numbers, table of contents, or index. I can forgive the lack of an index, but I would still like to see a table of contents and page numbers. 

 

The character sheets included with the product were produced using HERO Designer and an RTF export format created by Shane Harsch. No credit was given to Mr. Harsch for the character sheet design and I am unsure, given the nature of freely releasing export formats into the wild, whether or not such credit is required. However, it would be nice to recognize the creators of these export formats when they are used in commercial products. Personally, I question the use of this export format, for three reasons. First, it does not include any real point costs for individual abilities, which I think is fine for sheets used in home and convention games; however, for a commercial product, I'd like to see the numbers. Second, the character sheet uses a layout that is completely unlike any character sheet that appears in any product for the HERO System. And finally, the sheet introduces new terminology such as INIT (for initiative),which is just DEX (probably modified by Lightning Reflexes). Again, without an explanation, things like this and the "to hit" rolls given can be confusing to readers who are used to the standard character sheet presentations. Perhaps, there should have been an explanation of how these sheets differ from the standard ones. I would also like to have seen Mr. Elkins edit the character sheets to clean up some of the rough spots that are a result of the limitations of either the export format or HERO Designer itself. For example, there are several places where a heading appears on a character sheet with nothing under it. My final complaint about the character sheets is the inconsistent abbreviation of "pounds". In some places, the acceptable, though technically incorrect, "lbs." is used, while in others, the incorrect "pds." is used.

 

All in all, the product feels like it was simply thrown together with little concern for quality. And given that the "Vol 1" in the title would seem to indicate that Mr. Elkins plans to release more products, I can only hope that he learns from this experience and produces a better quality product next time.

 

I also feel compelled to wonder if any standards exist whatsoever for products to use the HERO System license or be sold through the HERO Game store. Is HERO Games so desperate for products to sell that they don't care if the product has errors and inconsistencies on almost every page? I guess when it is described as an old fashion (shouldn't that be "old-fashioned"?) organization book, we should be thinking of such fourth edition classic as "European Enemies" and "The Mutant File".  Do customers need to be wary of any item purchased through this store? That would be unfortunate, because it would mean that good products can suffer because of bad products like this one.  

[Scott Baker]

Thanks for the review.

[Rune]

So how were the characters inside?  Were the errors mentioned above so distracting that the ideas got buried?

[Rune]

So how were the characters inside?  Were the errors mentioned above so distracting that the ideas got buried?

[tiger]

Thanks for the input. I do apologize for the typos, thought I got them all. Fat fingers do cause problems at times

 

I will remember you points on my next project so that it is better than the last. always want to improve.

 

Will also re-edit Vol I and send it to Jason so that the individuals that did purchase it can be give a correct copy.

 

Thanks again for the input

[phoenix240]

What were the characters like? Was there a theme to them or is it a general purpose list of antagonists? Are their backgrounds tied to the mainstream champions universe, another setting or open ended?

[tiger]

One team are all mutants, not sure if that is what you mean of course. Another group uses the knights from the middle ages as a theme, though not all of them look like a knight.

 

There are some mentions of the Champion's Universe, it is designed to be able to be put into anyone's campaign.

 

Hope this helps

[tiger]

What were the characters like? Was there a theme to them or is it a general purpose list of antagonists? Are their backgrounds tied to the mainstream champions universe, another setting or open ended?

I thought I would mention that the groups in each book in Villainy Codex series will be linked or should I say have a common thread.

 

Villainy Codex Vol I deals with the conflict between mutant and non-mutant. So there is a anti-mutant group as well as a pro-mutant group.

 

Villainy Codex Vol II - Arcana will center around magic and the villains given will be based around magic.

 

Villainy Codex Vol III - Assassin's Ball will be centered around two groups thy can be hired to assassinate just about anyone.

 

 

Others in the series will have a similiar design to them. Hope this clarifies thing for you

[phoenix240]

It does. Thanks