In Review!: Cartooner!

An Italian RPG that was recently translated into English,  Cartooner aims to capture the wacky antics of beloved animations from the Loony-Tunes and Merry Melodies era.Does it hold to its goal? Let's find out after the jump!

Cartooner is a collaborative RPG, in which several players  will share the roles of Cartoonist (protagonist narrator), Producer (Antagonistic narrator), and the audience (arbitrators and witnesses).  I won't delve deeply into the mechanics, since doing so would give away the game. Instead, I'll touch on character creation, scene resolution, and thoughts.

Character creation is relatively light. A character is given a gimmick of some sort (spinning their tail for flight, being able to tunnel anywhere even if they SHOULD have taken a left tunr at Albuquerque, etc.) and Constraints (Sylvester will NEVER catch Tweety).

Scenes play out with the cartoonist narrating actions, and the producer, true to form, throwing a wrench into the works whenever they feel like it.  Once they've had their turns, the players swap a baton (in the suggested form of a carrot, har har), switching roles and carrying on.

There are a few constraints placed on Cartooner, ones that reflect the more subtle sauciness of the old cartoons.  No nudity, no gore, etc. So fans of Ren and Stimpy or Rocko's Modern Life... look elsewhere or houserule out the guidelines.

Oy, this is a brief review, but really there's not much to say. I don't like loosely defined games, they're not for me.  However, for a game that's kid friendly, or one for sitting around on game night with limited time or people, Cartooner would be a hoot.  So, toddle over to DrivethruRPG, Pay what you want, and give Cartooner a shot.




BONUS:

Jonesey himself.

An example character:


Jonesy

A grandfatherly type with a magical pencil.

Special Powers:

Drawings come to life

Constraints:

Jonesy's drawings are never permanent,  and dissolve when rubbed with an eraser or splashed with turpentine.