Cartoon Action Hour
Encyclopedia
Cartoon Action Hour is a role-playing game
(RPG) designed to emulate classic action-adventure cartoons, such as ThunderCats
, He-Man
, Transformers, G.I. Joe
, Visionaries
, Inhumanoids
, Centurions
, Thundarr the Barbarian
, M.A.S.K.
, and Bravestarr
.
It was e-published by Spectrum Games
as a PDF
role-playing game in early 2002, where it garnered a sizable cult following. This prompted Z-Man Games to offer to publish the game as a hardcopy edition. The material from the PDF was revised and expanded upon for the 2003 print version.
, adding a number to it, and comparing it to a Difficulty Number. If the result equals or exceeds that Difficulty Number, the character succeeds in the task at hand.
s (such as Strength, Agility, Intelligence, etc.) and a variable collection of skills, Cartoon Action Hour rolls them all into one type of statistic known as Traits. Each character will have a different list of Traits, with ratings ranging from -4 (nearly non-existent) to 4 (maximum human capability), with 0 being average.
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
(RPG) designed to emulate classic action-adventure cartoons, such as ThunderCats
ThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
, He-Man
He-Man
He-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam...
, Transformers, G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
, Visionaries
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light was originally a range of action figures from Hasbro, released in 1987. This action figure range was promoted by two different media, telling the stories of the characters...
, Inhumanoids
Inhumanoids
Inhumanoids was an animated series and Hasbro toy property in 1986. In the tradition of other Hasbro properties such as Transformers and G.I. Joe, the show was produced by Sunbow and Marvel Productions and animated in Japan by Toei Animation...
, Centurions
The Centurions (TV series)
The Centurions is a syndicated 30 minute American science fiction animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears and animated in Japan by Sunrise. Comic book legends Jack Kirby and Gil Kane contributed to the design and concepts of the show....
, Thundarr the Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning animated television series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran 2 seasons, 1980-1981 and 1981-1982...
, M.A.S.K.
M.A.S.K.
M.A.S.K. is an animated television series directed by several uncredited Japanese studios, KK C&D Asia, Studio Juno, Studio World, Ashi Production , and produced by the French-American DIC Enterprises, Inc and also the toyline of the same name sold by Kenner.-History:A total of 75...
, and Bravestarr
Bravestarr
BraveStarr is an American space Western animated television series. The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. It was created simultaneously with a collection of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W...
.
It was e-published by Spectrum Games
Spectrum Games
Spectrum Games is the trading name of a small company that designs role-playing games .It was founded in 2000 by Cynthia Celeste Miller and Sabrina Belle . In 2002, Eddy Webb was brought into the fold and soon became vice-president...
as a PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
role-playing game in early 2002, where it garnered a sizable cult following. This prompted Z-Man Games to offer to publish the game as a hardcopy edition. The material from the PDF was revised and expanded upon for the 2003 print version.
Season 1
Cartoon Action Hour implements a relatively simple ruleset. The core resolution system revolves around rolling a d12Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
, adding a number to it, and comparing it to a Difficulty Number. If the result equals or exceeds that Difficulty Number, the character succeeds in the task at hand.
Traits
Whereas most RPGs give all characters an identical list of attributeAttribute (role-playing games)
An attribute is a piece of data that describes to what extent a fictional character in a role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice...
s (such as Strength, Agility, Intelligence, etc.) and a variable collection of skills, Cartoon Action Hour rolls them all into one type of statistic known as Traits. Each character will have a different list of Traits, with ratings ranging from -4 (nearly non-existent) to 4 (maximum human capability), with 0 being average.
Super-Ratings
To represent Traits with superhuman or supernatural levels of ability, the designers use super-ratings. Characters with a Trait rating of 4 may have another number in parenthesis, ranging from 2 to 5. This super-rating allows the player to roll more than one d12 when testing that Trait, taking the best result.Special Abilities
Superpowers, magic spells, vehicles, weapons, armor, racial abilities, animal companions, psionic abilities, and magic artifacts—They can all be created using the Special Ability creation rules. Each Special Ability is designed by picking and choosing appropriate "components" that define it. For example, an energy blast would need the following components: Damage Rating and Range. This can easily be customized further by adding other components and modifiers, thus making the Special Ability truly unique.Reflecting the Genre
Every facet of Cartoon Action Hour was created with an eye toward faithfully depicting the subject matter, using what the authors refer to as "cartoon logic". A few examples of this are as follows:- Characters cannot be killed. Rather, they just go "Out of the Fight" (or OOF) for the remainder of the combat scene. Characters can die in a "Movie" episode, however, even there character deaths are not common.
- Huge weapons (such as bazookaBazookaBazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
s, rocket launcherShoulder-launched missile weaponA shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile is a projectile fired at a target, small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder...
s, etc.) deal more damage to vehicles than to characters. In the cartoons, such weapons tend to blow vehicles to smithereens, but when it comes to characters, these weapons usually just hit near them and the impact from the explosion merely sends them flying into a wall. Again, cartoon logic. - Characters receive experience for participating in After-Show Messages ("... And Knowing is half the battle!").
- The rules institute a quick and entertaining way for characters to fight those swarms of nameless henchmen (such as Cobra Vipers from GI Joe). These minion groups have a single score called Goon Factor, which acts as the Difficulty Number for fighting them. Success means that the character dispatches them (and the player gets to decide how—like pulling the carpet from under their feet, shooting the ceiling and thus trapping them beneath the resulting rubble, and so on). Failure means that the characters are overwhelmed and are captured.
Reception
Reviewer Matthew Pook noted that "the look of Cartoon Action Hour belies its origins as an amateur publication. Its layout is overly cluttered and fussy, with its desktop publishing style readily apparent" and "there should be something to please anyone who is a fan of the genre within the pages of this book. Plus the rules and mechanics are nicely simple, making it easy to get into and play play up to the epic heroism of Cartoon Action Hour".Season two
Season Two of 'Cartoon Action Hour' was released on Oct 31, 2008 as a PDF on RPG on RPGNow.com. On December 16, 2008, the print version of the book was place on Lulu. The rule book feature three series, "Warriors of Cosmos" (a science-fiction fantasy in the style of "He-Man"), "Strikeforce Freedom" (a "G.I. Joe" with Cobra being replaced by a spider-theme terrorist group) and "Transbots" (a "Transbots" series in which the robots are built and work for rival companies.)Changes Between Season 1 and Season 2
- Character Points are replaced by Proof of Purchase Points.
- Players creates their character's Traits
- Hurt Points don't exist anymore. 'Setback Tokens' replaces these. Four 'Setback Tokens" and the character is defeated.
- Subplots are Season Two's Story Hooks, but with OOMPH instead of EXP.
Reviews
- Review of CAH #1
- Review of CAH #2
- Review of Darkness Unleashed
- Review of Star Warriors #1
- Review of Star Warriors #2
- Review of CAH:S2 #1 - Before the official release
- Review of CAH:S2 #2 - After the official release