Review: Troika!

"HOLY LSD INDUCED FEVER DREAMS BATMAN!" - Robin

So, this kind of sums up my excitement over Troika!

I have to say that this game took me by surprise. From my understanding it is a hack inspired by Fighting Fantasy and British 80's role playing games. The cover alone invokes such interest and curiosity I do not know how anyone seeing this in a shop or online could not be drawn to it.

"Imagine, if you will, that Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett have returned from the dead.They both pile into a Ford Cortina and take a long drive across the American Southwest,pondering the nature of the fantasy genre. Once they arrive in California, they legally acquire several ounces of the finest cannabis sativa and hotbox the Cortina. Then they write an RPG. This, roughly speaking, seems to be what produced Troika, a delightfully simple and delightfully absurd game." - Aaron Marks

"There is more flavor in one paragraph of this than in a dozen OD&D knockoffs." - Gary M.

I have to agree with the words above. This game is a breath of fresh air and just reading it puts the imagination into overdrive and it is just enjoyable to read. 

Presentation: The book is an A5 hardback that clocks in at 109 pages that are full color. The typeset is set on a background of colored pages that remains easy to read. Then art is a mix of full color, black and white, and psychedelic line art. It really invoked a weird and gonzo idea of a setting where anything can happen. The art really makes the book enjoyable to flip through. 

 

Character Creation: This is actually the most fun I have had during character creation in a long time. Lets see what I roll up:

1. Roll 1d3+3 to Determine Skill (4)
2. Roll 2d6+12 to Determine Stamina (20)
3. Roll 1d6+6 to Determine Luck (8)
4. Record baseline possessions that all characters start with (2d6 Silver Pence, a Knife, A Lantern and a Flask of Oil, a Rucksack, and 6 Provisions)
5. Roll d66 on the Background Table and record Possessions and Skills (rolling for or choosing a background is where I think the game really takes off)

Finally, fill in the usual origin story stuff to give your character some more life. 

Resolution: As you saw in character creation, this is a rules lite game but the mechanics are solid. 

Roll Under when Unopposed:

• 2d6 under/equal to your skill*
• Climbing, lifting, casting spells, etc.
• 6,6 us always a fumble/failure

Roll Versus During Contests:

• 2d6 + your skill VS. their 2d6 + skill*
• Combat, Racing, arguing, searching, etc.  
• 1,1 is a fumble/failure

These include advanced skills which are skills like Great Axe Fighting. These are added to your base skill level for the 2d6 roll.

Fighting and Not Dying:

• Melee - Roll Versus, Higher wins and deals damage. 6,6 deals double damage. 1,1 fumble, suffer +1 DMG. 
• Shoot - Roll Versus thier evasion/Skill. If you shoot into melee random targets. If you take an AIM action, on next turn roll twice and take the best roll. 
• At 0 Stamina you die at the end of the round
• Under 0 Stamina, you are dead usually. Luck Roll?
• 8 Hours rest, regain 2d6 Stamina and 2d6 Luck
• Provisions regain 1d6 Stamina (max 3 times per day)

Cast a Spell

• Requires one free hand and the ability to speak. 
• All spells have a Stamina cost. Spend the required Stamina and roll under your skill. Success then the spell happens. Failure nothing happens, and on a fumble roll on the mishap table.

Luck

• Luck functions of a save vs. effect mechanic in addition to of a character does something that is completely crazy and off of the wall. Roll under your luck to succeed or for reduced/no effects. Luck is reduced by 1 regardless if the roll us successful or not. 

Crunch: Resolution sums up most of the mechanics but the crunchiest bit is the initiative system. Basically, the GM assemblies a bag of tokens. Each PC gets 2 tokens (all all PCs are color coded) then the NPCs get tokens equal to their initiative, and there is an End of the round token. If the end of the round token is drawn, all the tokens are put back into the bag and a new round begins. This system makes combat extremely random and deadly as enemies tokes greatly outnumber the PCs because enemy tokens are based initiative. Take Lizardmen for example, they have initiative 2 so if the party fights four of them, that is 8 tokens. There is an optional rule listed about limiting enemy tokens. 

Troika also makes a player roll to retrieve something out of their bag. This also adds an random element in the heat of the moment to see if what the character needs is at the top of their bag. 

This game also possesses a simple encumbrance system. All characters have 12 slots of inventory. Above 12 slots the character starts suffering encumbrance penalties. Large Items take 2 slots (Heavy Armor takes 6), all regular items take one slot. Ammo and other things is considered one slot unless a character is carrying a lot of said item.

The last aspect I have not mentioned is how Armor and Damage Works. Each weapon has an damage table. When you land a hit, you roll a d6 and consult the table for that weapon. The higher the roll does more damage and there is a 7+ box just in case you have a bonus or some type of magic or ultimate weapon. In contrast, Armor comes in ratings of -1,-2, and -3. Shields add an additional -1. Armor reduces the result of the d6 damage roll to a minimal of 1.

Final Thoughts: This game has really impressed me. Even before I read through the book - the cover, the artwork, and the layout just gives this game so much flavor and soul by itself. Then when I read through it? Truly a mind bending experience. It does not come right out and explain a setting but all of the backgrounds and other information provide a strong implied setting that can either be used or just minds for ideas. This game even makes me like things I usually do not like such has paying stamina to cast spells (one of the reasons for this is the costs are modest and seem fair/balanced). It is becoming one of my favorite games and if my upcoming campaign was not already built on The Black Hack 2e then I would switch over to this in a heartbeat.

I think the initiative system is over complicated and leans in the favor of the adversary. I wish the book would have included an alternate initiative system or a token system that does not favor the adversary so much. There is a Initiative Deck but it is sold out on the website and currently not available through drivethrurpg.

Though, I think the game double dips into the myths that haunt the OSR about character weakness. This weakness comes from the low stamina and high damage plus the obscenely lopsided initiative system. These things are easily house ruled and does not tarnish my love for this game.

You can find Troika! and other Support for it at these places (Please note that the current print is sold out and there is a reprint in the works, which you can preorder):

• Troikarpg.com
• Amazon
• Drivethrurpg 
• Axes and Orcs Compendium: Volume 2 (36 additional backgrounds) 
• 36 Desert Themed Backgrounds 
• 36 Backgrounds in the flavor of Spelljammer! 
• The Werewizard! 
• Supercalla: 36 Post Apocalyptic Backgrounds in the spirit of Mad Max. Has an implied setting...
• GM Screen/Rules Reference   

Another bonus that is becoming my favorite thing that game designers are doing is turning the inside covers into a GM screen.