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| Broken Compass - looking like a Moleskine Notebook |
I was intrigued by one of my friends mentioning the Broken Compass roleplaying game when I was talking about Outgunned and saying how much they'd liked it. I'd been vaguely aware of the game on crowdfunding some time ago, but I'd never looking at it. It turned out that the PDF was available on offer on DriveThruRPG so I picked it up. On a quick skim, I realised that this was very much a variant on the system that Two Little Mice have had so much success with as Outgunned. It's the same design team and artist, and the mechanics are very similar but with some subtle variance.
Broken Compass takes aim at the pulp movie space, referencing The Mummy, Indiana Jones, Jumanjii, Romancing the Stone, Tomb Raider, Uncharted and Assassin's Creed as inspiration. The default setting is a 1999 pulp adventure setting. I liked what I read enough to track down a physical copy of the core book; it's not widely available but it is out there, along with the various supplements. The game was published by CMON and Guillotine Press, but I'm not certain if it is still officially in print physically. The PDFs are all still available.
TL;DR: Broken Compass is wonderfully presented, with a simple, flexible game engine, capturing the pulp feel well. Although the core mechanics are very much like Outgunned, it is its own thing. It had me mentally mapping some of the pulp game settings I have with more crunchy games into it as I read it, and also pondering some of the movies it references. I've no regrets to having picked this up and recommend it.
Health warning: you could just back Outgunned: Adventure which is going into the same space, but that isn't due to fulfil before May 2025 and you can get Broken Compass now.
Physically, the book is delightful. A 240-page hard back made up to look like a brown leather notebook like a Moleskine. It has a ribbon and an elastic binder to hold the book closed. The feel is lovely. The book is printed a more heavyweight paper than Outgunned, and feels quality. The pages have a slight parchment back print showing a compass rose and navigation lines, which makes it feel like a darker layout than the whites of Outgunned. However, it doesn't detract from the legibility.
I'm not going to dive as deeply into the system here as I usually would; rather I will do a comparator to Outgunned as I have covered that in detail recently. It's worth reading that review first before you explore this one.
Characters are Adventurers who are looking for a Treasure; this may be something as crass as gold or an ancient artefact, or it may be something else of incredible value - a person or even a lost truth. Characters start with a name and then give two reasons why others should call you. These take the form of two tags which define your character. These tags were replaced by role and trope in Outgunned. You also call out the places that your character feels at home; their heritage, homeland and workplace, and then close that out with a sentence that describes some words to live by. Outgunned is more structured about this and has the catchphrase and flaw instead.
There are 18 tags;
- Action Hero
- Cheater
- Daredevil
- Explorer
- Gunslinger
- Hunk
- Hunter
- Medic
- Pilot
- Playboy/Femme Fatale
- Professor
- Rebel
- Reporter
- Soldier
- Spy
- Techie
- Thief
- Wingman/woman
Tags give a Field, 8 skills and an expertise. The system doesn't use feats. Fields are the attributes; they are Action, Guts, Knowledge, Society, Wild and Crime; the only common name with its successor is Crime. Like Outgunned, each field can have up to three dice, and each starts with two dice. In Broken Compass, there are six fields with 3 skills each; Outgunned has five attributes with four skills each. Both games start a character with one dice with a maximum of three dice. Once you've assigned the skill points from Tags, you get two additional points to round out your character.
An Expertise in Broken Compass performs a similar function to a feat in Outgunned, providing a free re-roll. Typically, a field of expertise would be something like Medicine, Archaeology, Heroism or Lies. Outgunned feats can be more specific or add additional options compared to Expertises in Broken Compass. Players also get a free choice third expertise after they've assigned their tags.
Luck is used in place of Grit, and Luck Coins replace Spotlights. I think that using 'Luck' twice like this does lead to a little confusion but nothing that would cause a real issue in play. The luck track has ten points, slightly less than the grit track in Outgunned. You lose luck when facing dangers; it's mechanically identical to Outgunned, you lose a set amount from each failed check, ranging from a single point to all your luck. Once you have lost all your luck, you become 'Out of Luck'. This means that you will need to need to spend a Luck Coin or face Certain Death if you fail against a danger. If you can't, or your companions can't, then your character reaches the end. There is no 'death roulette' as used in Outgunned, which makes it more brutal.
The GM ('Fortune Master') has enough Luck Coins so each player could have two. Once they're all in play, no more can be given out. Luck Coins fulfil the same mechanical role as Spotlight points; you can save yourself from Certain Death, achieve extreme successes and obtain Clues you didn't find. Like Outgunned, you have a fifty-fifty chance of retaining your Luck Coin when you use it. However, if you spend it to save someone else from Certain Death then you lose the coin to the Fortune Master.
Broken Compass uses Feelings in place of Conditions. You can have up to three Feelings at any time, unless you feel like a Wreck. These can be good or bad. Good feelings give you an extra die in a Field. Bad Feelings give you one less die in a field generally, unless you have three Bad Feelings already. In that case, the next Bad Feeling means you 'feel like a Wreck', which gives you an additional die loss in every field. You can also get default feelings from being Young or Old. Feelings cancel out; if you gain one from the opposite side, instead of adding it you delete an existing feeling. So if you already have a bad feeling and gain a good one, you delete the bad feeling rather than gaining the new good one. You remove Bad Feelings with Luck Coins, getting to safe places and first aid. The Fortune Master can assign Good Feelings at well, typically for success or a great response at the table.
The game engine is the same Yahtzee style dice-matching system used in Outgunned although some of the terminology is different. You take a Risk to do an Outgunned Re-roll, and an Outgunned Free Re-Roll is just called a Re-Roll in Broken Compass. Likewise, in Broken Compass you go All or Nothing instead of All In. I do think that the terminology in the earlier book is clearer and wonder if the terminology changes are all about addressing IP concerns. Failing a challenge is described as 'having an accident' and these don't always happen immediately; consequences may bite later on! You take luck point damage if you fail against a danger or enemy.
The section on Dangers has a good discussion on using traps; as well as causing damage, they can give you bad feelings or put other things at stake such as gear or things happening. You can never face more than three dangers at the same time; these are amalgamated to a higher level danger if so. If you don't get all the successes you need in a roll, your colleagues can help you with spare successes.
Combat with enemies has slightly different flows for brawls and shooting. The Fortune Master chooses which side goes first. To defeat an enemy, you need to score three hits on them by achieving successes at the same level as the enemy. This means that a higher level success is considered a 'headshot' and knocks an enemy out of a combat. If you score a success two levels higher, you take out all the opposition. Broken Compass is much more simple than Outgunned in this area - there are no grit tracks or hot boxes to consider.
In Brawling, you make a single roll. If you succeed, then you cause damage. If you fail, you lose Luck as you take damage. If all characters are engaged in combat, they're all at risk of taking damage. With Shooting, you make a roll to attack. If you score successes, you cause damage. If you don't get any successes you lose a magazine as you run out of bullets. You can use extra successes to get to cover. There's also simple rules for going 'Guns Akimbo' with two guns, emptying your mag or providing covering fire for your colleagues. When the enemy fire back, you need to dodge bullets, get into cover (total or partial) or run away. This is all done with a player-facing roll vs the level of enemy. Whether shooting or brawling, in some cases you may get Bad Feelings on a failure.
There's a useful section of examples of enemies and dangers as a reference for the Fortune Master.
The final sections of the book provide some great guidance on how to construct Episodes and Seasons. There's an outline on how to create a pilot adventure. In addition, there's guidance on how to adjust the game for large or smaller numbers of players. Character advancement is covered, with three advancements before a season finale recommended. This part also covers adjusting characters, before moving on to scars and experiences. These work very similarly to Outgunned.
Using Safe Places is also described, including what to do when a character does something foolish (like wander into the enemy camp on their own). A mechanism to track a campaign (a travel diary) is given. The book also explores treasures and how to develop keys and clues. There's guidance on creating supporting characters and the party's Rival. There are some useful random tables for developing this. You can use a Doomsday Clock in conjunction with the rival, tracking the race to find the treasure. The guidance section rounds out with how to manage wealth and guidance on vehicles.
The book rounds out with the 1999 setting, covering technology, the supernatural, a set of example treasures and a selection of fun supporting extras. The introductory adventure 'Into the Storm' is given in the form of a worked example of how to turn a framework adventure into a detailed adventure. There are four decent example characters and a set a blank sheets.
To conclude, Broken Compass is wonderfully presented, with a simple, flexible game engine, capturing the pulp feel well. Although the core mechanics are very much like Outgunned, it is its own thing. It had me mentally mapping some of the game settings I have with more crunchy games into it as I read it, and also pondering some of the movies it references. I've no regrets to having picked this up.
Recommended
8 June 2024
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