The Job RPG Review

Written by Christopher John Eggett

Games Omnivorous

Andre Novoa’s Games Omnivorous is known for not only playing the hits, but making them. As far as indie roleplaying games go at least. They’re the publishers of Mausritter, Vaults of Vaarn, and Nate Treme’s Haunted Almanac. So, while Novoa might publish a lot of beautiful games filled with eccentricities, we have to remember that his own work starts with 17th Century Minimalist – a game of swashbuckling on a small budget and an even smaller word count. This is his second release on the publishing imprint that he created for that game, and it’s got his very own minimalist style attached.

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How to play The Job RPG

Novoa’s work has always been about how quick you can get to the action with a kind of internal mantra of ‘let’s not make anyone do homework’. Which is why, in The Job, the players do most of the work in planning the adventure. Each heist within the game is just a series of trigger words that are given to the players, who then plan out their actions while the GM ‘sits back and relaxes’ as per the rules. If you’ve ever run a game where players want to talk for a long time before actually doing anything, this might feel like satire. Players fill in a sheet together of 12 scenes they’ll need to succeed at to get their loot and get out, roughly following the arc of a heist film – then it’s time for the action.

They then play out scenes with the referee calling for tests, playing NPCs on the fly and throwing the odd spanner in the works of the team’s well oiled plan. The crew have a shared budget to spend on equipment and gadgets – all of which pop into existence when they’re requested (and paid for). More importantly though is the dice stacks and setbacks. Failed rolls results in adding a six sided dice to a stack which is a surprising dexterity element thrown into the mix. Normal successes give players the option to take a (future) setback or add dice, and only a perfect success gets you through without shenanigans.

The dice stacks are great. If you were ever worried a one-shot heist game could ever be too serious, watching players fail to place a D6 on the tower of dice makes for some tense but hilarious moment. Everyone becomes the wobble police once you’re about six dice high. Things do ramp up on the second and third (the final) stack as each asks for two or three dice to be added. It can feel like a real risk to fail a test towards the end and have the whole job rely on how steady you are with a couple of D6s. If the third stack stands at the end of the heist, the crew has pulled it off. If it falls, well…

Is The Job RPG Good?

It goes without saying that the book is beautiful, with design by Gontijo. The writing, and the eight character archetypes have all the warmth that comes from Novoa’s deep understanding of what you need as a player and a GM. Because of this The Job would be a great way to get people into roleplaying games, the theme is kind of trashy, the thinking is in a kind of low-pressure chat phase, and the action is undercut with a certain amount of dexterity-led silliness.

Plus, what’s more appealing than a roleplaying game that you can actually win?

Should you play The Job RPG?

Yes. 

A short blast of a game that is extremely kind on everyone’s time. One for fans of the film genre, or just those looking for a light hearted one-shot to fill an evening.

Buy The Job on Drive Thru RPG

Try This If You Liked… Blades in the Dark

If you love the way that Blades in the Dark uses flashbacks to fill in the ‘I suppose you’re wondering how I got here’ element of roleplaying, The Job can give you a whole heap of that up front.

Designer: Andre Novoa

Publisher: Games Omnivorous

Pages: 47

Age: 14+

Price: £25

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