After this preview analysis, I can say Shiver is an RPG focused on the mysterious, strange and peculiar side of existence, inspired by classic horror and pulp film and television. It is currently on Kickstarter and you can back the project until December 3rd. The original funding goal was reached in 24 hours and was more than doubled at the time of this article. Shiver is produced by Parable Games, their first Kickstarter project.
Shiver‘s narrative target is well summed-up by a sentence on the project page: “if the plot is strange, you can play it with Shiver“. Sources of inspiration mentioned are Stranger Things, Jurassic Park, Friday the 13th, The Thing, Aliens, Dracula, The X-Files.
The main Shiver manual is intended to be a single hardcover book containing the rules for both players and storytellers, as well as everything else expected from an all-in-one rules manual: monsters, opponents and ideas for adventures and plots. This offering is complemented by appealing companions, too: a collection of adventures, monsters, objects, and other elements, The Cursed Library, an art book, a screen for the narrator, and dedicated dice, very important for this game.
Shiver character creation preview
Character creation in Shiver boasts 7000 possible combinations through a system composed of 7 archetypes, 35 backgrounds, and 200 skills. Occasionally, this many possibilities can lead to analysis paralysis and losing focus on a character. On the other hand, they are also a necessary tool at the same time if you want to tell more original stories. In Shiver, each archetype brings its own range of backgrounds and skills, linked to the characteristic that governs the archetype; so, a little order can still be found despite all the possibilities. Good! For lovers of unlikely combinations, there are also rules for creating hybrid archetypes.
In practice, an archetype is chosen, enhancing one characteristic and worsening another. Then players choose a Background and a Fear. Finally, there are skill trees with different paths linked to each archetype. At each level pass you can choose a skill, following one or more paths. Simple, intuitive, and graphically well-executed.
A system with unique dice
Shiver’s system is definitely intuitive and intelligent. It uses symbolic dice called Skill Dice. These are six-sided dice on which each face represents one of the characteristics of the game: Grit, Smarts, Wit and so on. When the time comes for a skill test, the player rolls a number of dice equal to his character’s related ability score. The matching symbols on them are counted as successes. But if the dice yield successes for a different characteristic, the character may be able to achieve the desired result by an alternate route.
For example, you try to open a door with brutal force, so you roll 4 dice looking for Grit successes, but you get 4 Smarts successes, instead, you could say, “I might have found a secret spot for the key”. In the same vein, if you roll 3 Wit successes, maybe you say, ”I could have found a way to use leverage to more easily force the door open”. It depends on players’ proposal and Game Master’s ruling.
Success and failure are not limited two a simple binary pass/fail, but have more fluid possibilities built into the dice mechanic.
After that, the characters may have 8-sided dice called Talent Dice, based on their strengths. These can modify the results of the tests to which they apply. There are additional rules which include reserves of Luck Points, and special abilities, too. To deepen the field of possibilities when making skill tests, failed rolls also carry the risk of moving the Doom Clock one or more minutes forward towards a dangerous event. A dynamic of anticipated disaster in a game where suspense is intended to reign is very apt.
There’s also an online app on Shiver site for rolling dice with a quick resume of the rules.
Art and layout
As you can see in the images in this preview, the design chosen for Shiver was crafted to be immediately recognizable. Bright colors, great use of dramatic black, and a very captivating style – part cartoon, part graffiti. The graphics are also used to create a brilliant union with the dice and the character sheets, but very simply. Everything seems to work very well, and I’m curious to see the final effect in the physical products, now.
The layout is basic, but in the positive sense of the term. No weird or eccentric page architecture. Short blocks of text are accompanied by large spaces. Areas for the complementary images are squared and simple. It is the image of the intent to create an RPG and manual that is easy to understand, to learn, to consult, and and then to use with enthusiasm and imagination in creating all kinds of stories. The character sheet is nice, but I would have liked a little more use of color, which is reserved only for the symbols of the characteristics.
Shiver quickstart preview
Getting the Shiver quickstart is as easy as going to the Kickstarter project page and entering an email address to receive a link to download it. This is a well crafted and comprehensive 40 page PDF. It confirms the simplicity and the captivating and very practical appeal of the graphic composition. Some interesting elements are presented, such as the Doom Clock, a mechanism that makes the characters approach or move away from a particular event that modifies and invests even more tension in the narrative. Combat and other basic game principles are also explained to allow you to jump right into the adventure.
To get the players into the world of Shiver for the first time right away, half of the Quickstart pdf actually consists of a survival adventure, Corporate Risers. There is one character per archetype who must be able to find a way out of the fearsome and dark recesses of a strange research laboratory. The adventure is conceptually simple, but a classic – almost cult – excuse for a fun game session. Adventure maps would have benefited from a little more attention, but they still do their job.
The Kickstarter offer
This Kickstarter offer is easier to show than explain and range from the PDF version at £ 15 (around € 16.50) to the all-inclusive physical version from £ 79 (around € 87.5). Shipping costs are steep, unfortunately. On the other hand the loot is also massive! In particular, the stretch goals are following one another at a fast pace and embellish the final package of the offer.
The dice with special symbols needed for play require the purchase of at least one set, and implies the digital edition path may be a little less feasible (unless you are satisfied with using the app). There are conversion tables in the Quickstart, though, enabling the use of normal d6’s and d8’s, which you can get used to over time, but the system would lose its feeling of immediacy and intuitiveness
Final considerations
Shiver‘s Kickstarter page is very well done, both for the graphics and for the content it previews. The information is essential and precise, the images are explanatory and captivating. The concepts that have been “leaked” demonstrate an intelligent and imaginative approach to role-playing. Character creation and game-play are very intuitive; the narrator’s tools and possibilities are well thought out. The materials and graphics also look good All in all, Shiver is one of the coolest projects on Kickstarter this fall.
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