In this review we will talk about Fear City, a tabletop RPG that we can play both solo and in groups. We can say that Fear city faithfully follows the principles of the Dungeon Crawler, even if it carries the term in a more modern Street Crawler. In Fear City, in fact, we will write our legend one district at a time, ready to become the best gang in the city. I want to thank Dungeoneer for putting this new title in our hands on which it has been working for several years. A wait rewarded by a complete game that transports us to a violent city where the strongest are the masters.
Fear City is a game created by David Chelazzi and Antonello Molella consisting of 63 pages in A5 format with a flexible cover. Inside there are several valuable illustrations by Carlos Castillo and Beatrice Nicoletti Fonti that immediately launch you into the dirty and violent streets of New York.
You can find Fear City on the publisher’s website for €15.
The Genesis of the Project
Guys listen to me, message for the super muscles living in the city, for all those who have ears open and are ready for action
If you recognize this phrase, it means that not only have you seen one of the cult films of the 80s, but that now most likely you also have the song Nowhere To Run sung by Arnold McCuller in your ears. For those who are not a fan of the films of those years, we are talking about The Warriors – The Warriors of the Night. You may wonder what a film has to do with a tabletop role-playing game, well the answer is quite obvious. Fear City in fact takes inspiration from this (and other) film to recreate the dangerous streets of New York, in which the Gangs are the masters.
The Warriors of Fear City
Fear City can be played solo or with up to four players. Each character (warrior) has four characteristics that summarize his skills. They are:
- Muscles: if you want to crack some skulls this is the feature to focus on.
- Head: eye speed and survival instinct.
- Legs: move quickly through the city and have practical sense.
- Tongue: Gab and charisma, indispensable in gang battles.
During creation, each warrior has four points available to distribute among characteristics as well as a skill that will be randomly assigned to him. As we progress in our adventure, we will get fame points; every two points we will get a new skill and we will be able to increase one of our characteristics up to a maximum of 4.
As you can see, the character creation process is quick and easy.
Fear City Rules Review
Now that we have formed our gang we just have to randomly roll the mission that we will have to complete. There are several challenges ahead of us, and each involves us leaving our tranquil Coney Island retreat and traversing an intriguing urban jungle. Every time we enter a different area we will have to face an event which, if we are lucky, will be part of our mission, otherwise it will become a simple step to increase our fame. Each mission starts and ends in Coney Island, so we’ll have to be ready and well armed. The city spares no one, especially the newbies who have just arrived. The various challenges that we will face are:
- Combat: A challenge with one of the other gangs.
- Theft: one of our people wants to relieve a shop in the area.
- Helmet Patrol / City Riot: Either way it’s going to be fun.
- Pupa or pimp: winning over the love interest of the opposing boss always has its charm.
- Receptacle: It’s time to trade some items.
- Challenge: whether it’s rap, breakdance or basketball, we will have to prove that we are the best.
- Freak out: the city is teeming with armed lunatics.
- Chinese Fighting: We Were in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time.
Events require proof of one of four characteristics. The mechanics are very simple and require you to roll a d6 and add up your score plus any bonuses; the threshold to be exceeded is always five. Each time you complete an area you can get a reward, or simply find yourself much more injured than when you entered. It will depend a lot on your luck but, being an old school game, mortality is very high.
Final Thoughts of the Review of Fear City
In my games I have preferred to create a balanced gang with one point in each of the characteristics seen in the previous paragraph. This, combined with a lot of luck, allowed me to get to the end.
Fear City is a simple and incorrect game, in terms of manners and language. A game will last from about 2 to 6 hours and with practice it will speed up more and more; you will end up memorizing the events and the results of the dice, increasing more and more pace and adrenaline.
The objective of the game is to write our name in legend, surviving the dangers and assaults of our enemies. It took me several attempts to succeed, but finally my Letters and Numbers gang has become the strongest gang in the city!
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