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''TWERPS'' (''The World's Easiest Role-Playing System'') is a minimalist
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
(RPG) originally created by Reindeer Games in 1987 (whose sole product was the ''TWERPS'' line) and distributed by
Gamescience Gamescience is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements. History Gamescience Corp. was started by Phillip E. Orbanes in 1965. In that year, the company published the wargame Vietnam which was reviewed in is ...
. Presented as a parody of the complicated RPG systems which were prevalent at the time while still being a playable game in its own right, its simple structure and humorous nature gave it unexpected popularity.


Description

''TWERPS'', (The World's Easiest Role-Playing System), is a humorous universal system of minimalist rules. Characters have only one ability, Strength. Rules sections cover Strength, Combat, and "How to Do Everything." The game includes a sample character sheet, a combat hex sheet, cardstock miniatures, and an introductory micro-mini-scenario. The actual rules of the game are indeed extremely simple. Characters are defined by a single attribute, "Strength", which is used for determining all traditional role-playing elements, such as whether or not the character successfully hits in combat, how fast they can move and how much damage they can take before dying. A de facto skill system exists in the form of "character classes" which give numerical bonuses to certain activities if their role called for it (for instance, a pilot having a +1 modifier on their roll to fly an aircraft).


Publication history

''TWERPS'' was originally created, written and illustrated (in a distinctive cartoony style) by "Jeff & 'Manda Dee", Jeff Dee being a noted game illustrator and co-writer of ''
Villains and Vigilantes ''Villains and Vigilantes'' (abbreviated as ''V&V'') is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with '' Champions'' and ''Superworld'' in the early to mid-1980s. Origin ''Villains and Vigilantes'' was the first role-playin ...
''. It was published by Reindeer Games in 1987 as a digest-sized 8-page pamphlet, with four cardstock sheets.


First Edition titles

Originally each installment of the ''TWERPS'' system was sold in a small plastic bag containing an 8-page leaflet, a sheet of cardstock counters to be cut apart, little cardstock hex-maps and a tiny
ten-sided die In geometry, a pentagonal trapezohedron is the third in the infinite family of trapezohedra, face-transitive polyhedra. Its dual polyhedron is the pentagonal antiprism. As a decahedron it has ten faces which are congruent kites. It can be decom ...
, each being a downsized imitation of elements often found in larger, more elaborate games. The initial run of titles was printed at low cost with black ink on various colored papers to distinguish the various titles (the main rules were on pink paper, the kung-fu rules were on yellow, and so on). *''TWERPS Basic Rules'': the core system, including the sample adventure "Watery Depths". *''Fly By Knights'': a fantasy setting, describing very succinctly the world of Arkosa where characters ride various breeds of aerial mounts, stalk the fearsome Meganocerous and vie for knighthood. *''Magic'': a rules expansion outlining a surprisingly detailed (for TWERPS anyway) magic system and spell-list. *'' Space Cadets'': guidelines for a space opera setting, in the form of various types of character classes, SF weaponry and psychic powers. Basic rules for vehicles were included. *''Kung Fu Dragons'': a list of various martial arts which characters could train in and a system of colored belts to reward them. One of the cardstock extras was a tiny Game-master's screen.


Second Edition titles

As the game grew in popularity, the supplements were re-printed in expanded form with more pages and multi-color printing. New supplements covering new genres and specific objects of parody were also added. These expansions and later supplements were mainly written by Norman F. Morin Jr., Brian Rayburn, Jon Hancock and Niels Erickson rather than Jeff & 'Manda Dee. The tone of these second edition titles was noticeably one of more overt humor and silliness, peppering the text with
pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...
s (and even calling on fans to mail in suggested puns of their own for future supplements). *All of the First Edition titles described above were reprinted in expanded full-color form. *''Rocket Rangers'': the companion to ''Space Cadets'', this volume offered systems for spaceship design and combat and several sample ships. Unlike other 2nd edition titles, ''Rocket Rangers'' was mainly written by Jeff & 'Manda Dee. *''Twerps Twek'': a direct parody of
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
, requiring ''Space Cadets'' and ''Rocket Rangers'' to use. *''Robo-Punks'': rules for running
Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...
adventures, including brief systems for cybernetic implants and net-running. *''Superdudes'': a list of super-powers for running
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
adventures. *''Metaphysical Ninja Maniac Chainsaw Vitamin Junkies'': guidelines for running
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
scenarios in the spirit of films like ''
The Road Warrior ''Mad Max 2'' (released as ''The Road Warrior'' in the United States) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic dystopian action film directed by George Miller, who co-wrote it with Terry Hayes and Brian Hannant. It is the second installment in ...
'' (with a heavy addition of gonzo wackiness), including rules for vehicle damage and mutations. *''Twisted Tales of Terror'': the horror supplement, with guidelines for creating monsters or playing monsters as
player-character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
s. *''M.E.C.H.I.-Tech'': a system for the design and battles between giant robots, with many direct riffs on the popular
Battletech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark ...
games. *''The T.W.E.R.P.S. Files'': a direct parody of ''
The X Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox, spanning nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A tenth season of six e ...
''. *''How to Do Everything Better'': a general rules expansion, offering more character classes, more superpowers and more equipment. Also included were rules for allowing ''TWERPS'' characters to gain dimension-travelling powers.


Reception

Stewart Wieck Stewart Douglas Wieck (May 10, 1968 – June 22, 2017) was one of the founders of the publishing company, White Wolf, Inc. He was also one of the original writers of Mage: The Ascension. Career Stewart Wieck was born in Freeport, Illinois, in 1 ...
reviewed the product in the December 1986 to January 1987 issue of ''White Wolf''. He downplayed generic role-playing games in general but noted this product was inexpensive, which was part of the appeal of these systems. Game critic Rick Swan reviewed the game twice: * In his 1990 book ''
The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' is a book written by Rick Swan and published by St. Martin's Press in 1990 that explains role-playing games and provides reviews of those that were on the market at the time. Contents ''The Complete G ...
'', Swan noted "Obviously ''Twerps'' isn't going to hold anyone's attention for more than a few minutes, but those few minutes are actually kind of fun." Swan gave the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4. * In the September 1993 issue of ''
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'', Swan commented "So maybe it’s a joke. Billed as 'The Worlds Easiest Role-Playing System,' the ''TWERPS'' game gets remarkable mileage out of a single statistic (Strength, determined by the roll of a 10-sided die) ... Considering its limits, ''TWERPS'' works surprisingly well." Eric Jacobson reviewed ''TWERPS Basic Rules'' in ''
White Wolf The Arctic wolf (''Canis lupus arctos''), also known as the white wolf, polar wolf, and the Arctic grey wolf, is a subspecies of grey wolf native to the High Arctic tundra of Canada's Queen Elizabeth Islands, from Melville Island to Ellesme ...
'' #47 (Sept., 1994), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "For he priceyou can't lose. Releasing a horde of additional, inexpensive support books, Gamescience offers access to almost every gaming genre. For such a simple little game, it's amazing what you can do."


See also

* Hunter Planet


References


External links


''TWERPS'' Yahoo group
{{RPG systems Comedy role-playing games Gamescience games Role-playing game systems Role-playing games introduced in 1987 Universal role-playing games