''Enforcers'' is a near-future superhero role-playing game published by 21st Century Games in 1987.

Description

In ''Enforcers'', players take on the role of superheroes in the year 2046. The rules cover characters, combat, and running a campaign. Character creation uses a flexible points-purchase-powers system. A calculator is required for play, as math formulae figure prominently in the rules.

Publication history

In the mid-1980s, superhero role-playing games such as ''

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

'' and ''

Villains and Vigilantes ''Villains and Vigilantes'' (abbreviated as ''V&V'') is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with ''Champions'' and ''Superworld'' in the early to mid-1980s. Origin ''Villains and Vigilantes'' was the first role-playi ...

'' were popular. ''Enforcers'', a generic superhero game — that is, not based on a specific line of comics — was designed by Gary Bernard, Charles Mann, and

Larry Troth Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

, with art by

Christine Mansfield Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fi ...

, and was published by 21st Century Games in 1987 as a 112-page book with a blue cover. The second edition was published the same year with a yellow cover, although it says 1st edition on the title page. Two adventures were published for the game: ''

The End of a Legend ''The End of a Legend'' is an adventure published by 21st Century Games in 1988 for the super-hero science fiction role-playing game '' Enforcers''. Plot summary ''The End of a Legend'' is a scenario in which the player witness the assassinatio ...

'' and ''Knights of Beverly Hills''.

Reception

Stewart Wieck Stewart Douglas Wieck (May 10, 1968 June 22, 2017) was one of the founders of the publishing company, White Wolf, Inc. He was also one of the original writers of Mage: The Ascension. Career Stewart Wieck was born in Freeport, Illinois in 1968. H ...

reviewed the second edition of ''Enforcers'' for ''

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * Whi ...

'' #11, and rated it 8 out of 10 overall, commenting "''Enforcers'' combined several of the elements of earlier independent super-hero RPGs into a cohesive whole." In his 1990 book ''

The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pr ...

'', game critic

Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pre ...

noted that the game "emphasizes combat to the exclusion of nearly everything else ... There aren't many opportunities for actual role-playing in ''Enforcers'', mainly due to the puzzling absence of background information." However, Swan did find that the rules were "uncluttered and a lot of fun to read; the enthusiasm of he designersis evident on every page." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "''Enforcers'' is better suited for brief skirmishes than extended adventures."

References

{{reflist Role-playing games introduced in 1987 Superhero role-playing games