Product– The Electric State
System– The Electric State
Producer– Free League Publishing
Price- $24.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/467022/the-electric-state-roleplaying-game?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR- Missing some crunch, but full of story 93%
Basics– Ready for a road trip? The Electric State RPG is a rules light, alternative 90s setting. A decaying America where AI, political intrigue, and the basic fight for real survival all combine to make either the worst or best road trip in history. Let’s look at the game
Base mechanics– The Electric State follows many of the same principles of Free Leagues’ other games, with players rolling six sided dice and aiming for a 6. The 6 is a success. The player typically rolls between 2 and 6 dice. A character has only four attributes, making up the bulk of a character’s dice.
Pushing/rerolls– Players can push rolls when they fail. Pushing means rerolling the dice and taking the new result. However, any ones rolled result in either damage or mental trauma to the character.
Combat-Combat is very simple. One side, determined by the GM or an opposed dice roll, goes first. Each character on that side gets an action and a move. If you want to defend or dodge, you can, but that will remove you next turn.
Neurocasters– A big part of the setting are neurocasters. These are helmits you can wear and enter their version of the matrix/internet. You can use this to hack, learn, and pilot drones. If you push rolls in the internet, you gain bliss. And when your bliss gets too high, you are too addicted to leave. Many people die on this internet!
And that’s really it. It’s VERY rules light.
Mechanics or Crunch– This is the most pure of Free Leagues’ products for mechanics. It’s very rules light, and maybe even too rules light. What’s here is good, but I would like more. I think I need a bit more crunch to my RPGs to really get the most out of this game. Then again, this game focuses much more on the journey and not the destination even for its mechanics, meaning it’s more hand-wavey about how things happen. If you want the dice to tell a story like a critical success, then this is not for you. If you play RPGs and just roll dice, then you could speed through most of The Electric State missing its pieces. But, I still need a bit more crunch to my game. 4/5
Theme or Fluff– This is where the game shines. If you want a travel RPG, then this would be it. The characters are literally called travelers. You go on an adventure in The Electric State where anything from a cult, to a serial killer, to a robot with hundreds of neurocaster- wearing human zombies on strings follow it around. There is politics, a world falling apart, drug/internet addiction, human misery, and a whole host of other themes in this game. The authors have many things to say about the human condition, and this RPG reflects the world well and says volumes at the same time. 5/5
Execution– Free League knows books. This book has solid production, art, and layout. It reads easily and fast. The rules are laid out well enough that I could just pick them up and start reading right away with no confusion. It’s a good story mixed with solid math, making it an easy read. It’s also got four pre-gens and several adventures, so if you and your buddies want to play, you don’t have to guess how to run, prep, and plan this adventure or what the designers thought characters should look like. 5/5
Summary– The Electric State is an interesting one for me. I don’t hate it, but I don’t know how often I’ll travel in it. I need a bit more crunch in my usual games. But, the crunch that’s here is pure Free League with pushed rolls and consequences. The story of the world is interesting and poignant. I can’t tell how much the designers are luddites against tech or people embracing the tools needed to keep the modern world alive, and maybe that’s a solid trick to pull on me. The book itself looks good and reads well. I know I might not visit this world often, but if you offered, I don’t think I would turn down an afternoon in The Electric State. 93%
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