Cartoon Action Hour Season 2 is the follow-up to Cynthia Celeste Miller's Saturday Morning Cartoon emulating RPG Cartoon Action Hour.  This review is of the PDF edition of the game, available at RPGnow.com for $16.00.  The cover is very reminiscent of a He-Manish character, face obscured by a helmet, holding an axe high in the air.   A skeletal figure meant to invoke Skeletor is in the background.  Good start.  The PDF is 145 pages (counting the cover), is fully searchable and copy-and-paste enabled.

A table of contents is provided right after the production credits, and Colin Chapman stops in with a Foreword, comparing Saturday morning cartoons to RPGs, and citing the obvious: The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.

Our first piece of interior art looks more like 90s comic art than Saturday Morning Cartoon fare, and as does the "Channel 1" first page, which is a reprint of the first Cartoon Action Hour cover...not surprisingly, they are drawn by the same artist.

Introduction

The introduction begins with a definition of "retro-toon", by breaking down "retro" and "cartoon" to form the definition, in order to ensure that the reader understands just what the focus of the book is.  It is possible that if you are playing this with younger players, they no longer have a concept of "Saturday morning cartoons"...I know my son doesn't.

The introduction hits the important beats, such as toned-down violence (no blood, no bullets!), black and white morality, and the fact that cartoons were basically half hour toy commercials.  Included as well is a quick breakdown of bits that applied to basically every retro-toon hero, such as never killing and never giving up on his friends.  The author understands genre emulation, and she starts the book off right, showing that she knows the important parts of Saturday morning cartoons.  She goes on to define both the game, and the reason for the second edition.  Good introduction.

Our next piece of art is western-themed, and feels much closer to the intended source material.

Then we launch into the bog-standard "What is roleplaying?" with examples of play, plus sidebars warning use that fictional characters Kargorr and Bravesteel will be chiming in from time to time.  Nothing revolutionary in here...I mean, there's really only so many ways to write the "what is roleplaying?" section, but she does fall closer to the "least offensive" corner.

This section also informs us of "Now You Know" sidebars, which are basically designer's notes, which are nice.

The chapter concludes with a Recommended Viewing List, covering such well-known cartoons as G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Transformers, as well as lesser known cartoons such as Dino-Riders and Silverhawks.  Each entry includes a short premise summary and a paragraph of the author's thoughts on the series.  Very nice touch.  I liked it in Slasher Flick and I like it here.

Series

The next chapter opens with the cover of the first edition sourcebook Darkness Unleashed, which looks cool, but again, looks way more 90s comic book than Saturday morning cartoon.  The game doesn't have an assumed setting, and this is the part where you (and, the book recommends, your players) construct the series that will be the setting of play.  There is a handy series creation worksheet, where you name it, add a tagline, a premise and so on.  In keeping with genre emulation, the author encourages you to keep gimmicks in mind: What would sell the toys?  Do your protagonists transform from robots into vehicles?  Do they have holograms on their chests?  Etc.  Set the power level of the game by deciding the number of "Proof of Purchase" points, set limits of abilities, name the cast and so on.  There is a very large sidebar designed to help spur ideas if you are stuck, pointing out various genres you can play in.

Of course, you can also play one of the series included in the book, if nothing else, and we'll cover those later.

Character Creation

Time to make the stars of the show!  Using the series guidelines, this chapter helps create characters appropriate to the setting.  Important details include name and appearance, focusing on how the character's action figure would look.  Factoids replace a full bio, which are a handful of blurbs important to the character that can, if the GM sees fit, give a bonus to an action once per episode, but are largely used for flavor.

A sidebar is included that lists a series of standard cartoon archetypes, such as The Leader, The Martial Artist, The Cowboy and The Grease Monkey, with a handy description of each to help jog ideas.

Next, we get Subplots, which are kind of like disadvantages or drawbacks, and can give you Oomph (think Drama Points) when they come into play.

Traits are next, and are very open-ended, reminiscent of Over the Edge.  You define your traits, and then place points in them.  Traits are, very simply, something you have or something you can do.  As well, you have to define negative traits.  When in doubt, an optional rule specifies the number of things you can do, traits related to items you have, and the number of negative traits.  A little later on in the book is a huge list of sample traits for inspiration of outright stealing.

There are a variety of Bonuses that can be bought, such as Companion, which gives you a secondary character (Cringer/Battlecat to your Prince Adam/He-Man) or Transform, which is used to emulate those who change shape (like giant robots or, indeed, He-Man).  As well, there are Restrictions which limit the traits further, and give you a bonus Proof of Purchase point.

Creating Companions, Alternate Forms and Vehicles use a somewhat simplified version of the Character Creation rules, and are covered here as well.

Lastly, this step also covers Gestalts, for your Voltron-esque types.

The next part is Stats, covering things like Oomph (again, Drama or Action points), Threshold (defense stat) and Battle Rating (offense stat).

The sidebar that includes the sample traits also includes a large discussion on getting the most utilization out of traits, spelling out just how to emulate superstrength, how to make sure you are making weapons properly and so on.  It also inludes a small list of pre-made companions and vehicles for modification or pick up and play.

The character creation rules are much clearer in Season Two than in Season One, and feel much more like they "get" the experience they are aiming for.  There is no list of abilities, just a "I can do this, and this is how well."  Very nice improvement.

Rules of Play

The chapter begins with "Rule Zero", telling you up front to use or ignore rules as appropriate.  Then we move to a breakdown of time in Cartoon Action Hour, from Turns to Episodes to Series and everything in between.

Task resolution is as follows:  GM sets the target number, the player rolls a 12 sided die, adds a relevant trait if applicable.  If the character has a relevant Detrimental trait, he rolls a number of dice equal to the trait and takes the lowest.  If he has a Specialty, he gets Benefit dice equal to the rating and takes the highest result.  Detrimental and Benefit dice cancel out on a one for one.  When two people are competing, and they tie, the tie-breaker goes to the side with the more rigidly defined trait.  Finally, task resolution also covers Teamwork and Chases.

Some interesting bits to the task resolution:  If you keep using the same Trait for the same task in the same scene, that adds Detrimental dice.  If you roll a natural 1, that's a Flub, and if you roll a natural 12, that's a Boon (bare minimum, it doubles your trait rating for an action).

Then, we're off to combat, which is split into Turn-based and Scene-based.  Turn-based is your standard RPG combat.  You attack with whichever trait you choose (use the trait to describe your attack), versus the defensive trait (again, using a trait creatively).  If the attack fails, nothing happens.  If the attack succeeds by a bit, the defender gets Setback points.  If the attack hits by more than twice the defense check, it's an insta-defeat.  After four Setback tokens, a defender is defeated as well.

"Defeat" is a pretty open term as well.  This is Saturday morning cartoons, so it's definitely not "shot in the face" and its not even really "punched in the head" usually...more like "tree knocked over onto you" kind of stuff.

The chapter covers Oomph in detail, including guidelines for deducting Oomph (no, He-Man CAN'T piledriver Evil-Lynn).  Included is a chart defining the uses of Oomph from re-rolls to creative editing, as well as the cost for that.

This section wraps up with an example of turn-based combat.

Next, we move to Scene-based combat, which is more abstracted.  It can be used to handle a hero versus a slew of mooks (or Goons, as the game calls them) or when a fight is less important.  The two sides use their Battle Rating, compare results and determine a winner that way.  Guidelines are given, but not recommended, for combining Goons and non-Goons in a fight against the heroes.

We move on to Character Improvement.  Characters get experience points, but instead of spending them straight out, they make improvement rolls (d12 + experience points) and that determines the number of Proof of Purchase Points a character gets, then reverting the experience point total to 0.  Note that this total is tallied throughout the season and this roll is only made after the Season is over.  Alternately, you can opt for a character revamp, in which you add or drop subplots, drop traits and redistribute those points, etc.  Really, you should make sure you have a new action figure for this, too.

Lastly, a sidebar follows that discusses teamwork, spotlight sharing, and a friendly nudge to go watch some old 80s cartoons to get back into the groove.

Game Mastering

And now we get to the GM's chapter.  First up are "other rules" relevant to the GM only, such as the amount of Oomph an NPC should have (which is 0, but the GM gets an NPC Oomph pool).  Next is a list of villainous Tricks that can be used by NPCs, such as hidden traps and the guaranteed getaway.  Also included is NPCs and experience points, one system fairly formal and the other basically saying "change the NPCs as you see fit".

An incredibly cute little minigame within the game are the commercial breaks.  The episodes are meant to be broken up in commercial breaks, each breaking having a chart to roll on, giving an effect to the episode.  For instance, the first break may mandate a player getting drinks and snacks for people, but getting a point of Oomph for it.  There are two tables to roll on, one geared toward players and one toward the NPCs, and the table used is determined in a roll-off between the GM and a player.  Very cute feature.

Hazards and Threats cover the RPG basics such as falling, fire, drowning, etc.

Next is NPCs, with a point guideline for making various levels of NPCs to ensure balance, though there is an option for just statting them up as you see fit.

Then we look at Heroic Allies.  This allows you to, among other things, have a Snarf or an Orko in your game without forcing a player to play them.

We get an indepth discussion of villains and their hierarchy, starting with the Master Villain, their headquarters, and so on.  This is Mumm-ra, Skeletor or Megatron.  Then we get Leaders, who are generally the right hand man of the Master Villain (and sometimes angling for that leadership spot).  I would tag Soundwave and Starscream each as examples of Leaders, though one was loyal to Megatron and the other was constantly angling for control.  Next is Henchmen, generally guys who are named and good at One Thing...Skeletor had a ton of these, with arguably only Evil-Lynn REALLY reaching Leader level.  Last, we get Goons.  Faceless mooks to be marched into the heroes and smashed down.  Foot Soldiers, Hordak's robots, and so on.  While Goon creation is marginally more indepth than just giving them a Battle Score and being done with it, it is far from complicated.

Very well done discussion, even including a Villainous Organization template to use so that you properly hit all the beats in your starting series.

Episode Structure largely covers the Three Act Structure as relates to Saturday morning cartoons.  An overview of what should happen in each act is included, with helpful reminders such as making sure you introduce any NEW elements in act one.  Act two is the bulk of the episode, with much of the action taking place here.  Then act three gives you the climax, again with reminders such as "don't let your villain get captured!"  A list of common episode objectives are included, plus tips for working in secondary plots.  Lastly is a discussion of theme and continuing episodes (uncommon but far from unheard of).

Game Mastering Advice gets more into the generalized GM stuff, such as "you are the referee, it's okay to fudge die rolls, etc".  From there, we hit more specialized sections about cartoon logic (like how a big gun will hurt vehicles more than it will people, guns don't seem to use bullets, and the single most effective tactic when fighting two opponents is to slam their heads together).

Keeping with the theme is a discussion on the cheese factor, including the encouraging of cheesy sound effects to go with attacks and so forth.  The GM is encouraged to end the session with an After Show Message, which can be counting as an appearance for some characters so that they can gain experience points.

Other bits include using Multiple PCs, running shorter episodes so that you can do a whole "Saturday Morning Line-Up" and even a handy discussion on running The Movie!  One of the first rules of The Movie is that Death is, in fact, a possibility now.

Finally, there is a rule mentioned for making a clearly defined Star of the Show who is built with more PoPPs than the rest of the cast, as well as using cut scenes for your NPCs.

Very well written GMing chapter, especially when focusing on taking standard GM and storytelling tricks and advice and bending them to the genre.

Featured Series

Three ready-made series, each detailed enough for you to plug in your heroes and go.  "Warriors of the Cosmos" is a fantasy/sci-fi epic, "Strikeforce Freedom" features a paramilitary squad in action and "Transbots" has giant transforming robots at war.  Each setting includes character creation guidelines, backstory of the setting, episode seeds, character write-ups and more.

Each includes a fictional history of the creation of the series, with cute nods such as "Warriors of the Cosmos" getting flagged by the FCC for basically being a half hour toy commercial.  Set in Iconia, "Warriors of the Cosmos" features The Guardians of Iconia versus The Blackskull Empire.  This setting appeared in CAH Season One and has been updated here, in no small part due to the author's obvious love for the series that inspired it.  Since I share said love, I approve of this.

King Rastor, leader of the Guardians, directs them against Nekrottus, housed in his Fortress of Gloom.  The chapter details the Guardians from season to season, from comic relief gargoyle Lorxan, to barbarian warrior Kazgull.  Second season introduced Maximarr, the mysterious, axe-wielding figure on the cover of the book.  Then we get write-ups for the horrifying Nekrottus and his minions from the two seasons covered in the book.

"Strikeforce Freedom" features the exploits of the titular squad waging war with the terrorist organization SPIDER, led by General Arachnid.  This has a similar set-up as the last, with two seasons worth of characters on both sides, and the author doing a tremendous job of bending the spider theme as far as she can.

"Transbots" features robotic soldiers who were meant to defend the US until a cutthroat corporate executive tried to program them to take over the world.  Now the Transbots fight the Warbots, with the fate of the world at stake.  This section follows the same format as the above two.

Being a He-Man fan, I much prefer the initial setting, but the other two are very well written for "Serial numbers filed off" settings.

Miscellaneous Stuff

The second appendix includes conversion from the first edition to the second, for those that NEED hard and fast rules.  It discusses the differences between Stunt Points and Oomph, as well as Character Points vs PoPPs.  We get the Series Creation Sheet and the Character Sheet for our printing.  Cynthia Celeste Miller caps it off with a page and a half afterword, bringing the book to a close.

Except for the index, for those who buy the print version.  Finally, we get some in-house ads for other products, including Urban Manhunt, which was just released in PDF.

Final Thoughts

Incredibly well-done book.  At times with some of the Bonuses in character creation, it skates close to being a bit too much for the genre, but I don't think she ever goes too far.  It includes some very cute bits, like the Commercial Breaks charts, and the whole game appears to be a blast if you don't take it TOO seriously.

Other than one instance where I saw a reference to "see page. XX", my only real complaint is that some of the art selected just feels more "comic book" and less "cartoon".  Cynthia Celeste Miller is earning a reputation for genre emulation with this and Slasher Flick, and it is very well deserved.

Where did you get that "big fat toy commercial" from in the back story of "Warrior of Cosmos?" Paternal Groups thought Nekkrottus was too scary and a stand-in for Satan. Other that big error, you review is fine.

Quote from: MadWritter;351905Where did you get that "big fat toy commercial" from in the back story of "Warrior of Cosmos?" Paternal Groups thought Nekkrottus was too scary and a stand-in for Satan. Other that big error, you review is fine.

That would be getting distracted in the middle of the review and getting reality and fiction mixed up...I did foul up there.  My apologies to author and readers.