So this is a quick functional review of the data screen. I purchased the pdf so I can't comment on the physical product. I give it five stars because it does what a data screen should do; it gives a large portion of the most critical rules for easy reference. The data screen comes in two colors, a white background and a black background. I prefer the black background but thats just me. The screen is fully bookmarked with links to many of the listed contents below. It also provides the art for the back panel in a way that would allow an enterprising person to print the info and art sides into something they could turn into their own version of the screen.

Basically this is a combat and action management screen. It gives what is needed to make these processes go faster for the GM and the players, exactly what a screen should do. It does not have every useful chart in the game (no netrunning charts, vehicle combat or drone use) but it covers many if not all of the aspects that will get the most use in a game session. If you have read the book or played the game you will recognize this from the breakdown below. The only thing I would change is putting the basic net action and net combat resolutions onto the screen. They could have pulled costs, jobs and facedowns to add this but it wasn't enough for me to pull a star. Apologies if I missed anything. The screen covers the following...

Panel 1

Skill Resolution, Difficulty Values, Critical Success, Critical Failure, Trying Again, Complimentary Skills, Taking Extra Time, Using Luck, Modifier Examples, Costs, Actions, Job Pay with payments based on difficulty, and Facedowns.

Panel 2

Initiative, Ranged Combat Resolutions, Move Actions, Single Shot DVs Based on Range, Fire Modes, Aimed Shots, Autofire DVs Based on Range, and Weapon Damage and Rate of Fire by Type.

Panel 3

Melee Combat Resolution, Brawling, Martial Arts, Brawling and Martial Arts Damage, Grabs, Chokes, Thrown Objects, Explosives, Armor and Armor Types, and Cover and Types of Cover.

Panel 4

Wound States and Wound Effects, Critical Injuries to the Body and Effects, and Critical Wounds to the Head and Effects.

For a long time all I wanted from Harn was its lush and full background. Today I bought the rules that go with that background and discover that the cover and errata page are missing from the pdf. Why is this? Other than that I think the system is one of the best I have seen. The people complaining about the complexity are simply overstating the case in my opinion. The combat system is gritty, realistic and fun. Character creation takes awhile but developing that character can be a story in and of itself for the creative player. That could be said for any game but I guess for me it was intensified since I already own a number of Harn background materials.

That said...Where is the cover of this pdf! The errata is also missing.

I have enjoyed pro wrestling and everything surrounding it for about twenty years now so when I see a rpg that deals with it my curiosity is peaked. I am happy to say that I was happy with my purchase. I don't think the game is overly complex as others have said and I think it gives a pretty good vehicle for simulating the various aspects of the business.

The match system actually feels like a real rpg combat system which other wrestling rpgs seem to lack. It runs pretty smoothly and covers aspects such as heat, how over a wrestler is, types of angles and other things outside of the actual blow by blow of a match. The blow by blow takes a bit of time to get used to, but once the flow is down it's easy to master. The stats the wrestlers have work really well in simulating the ability of a given competitor. It does this better than any other wrestling game I've seen. The system also does a good job of providing an advancement system for wrestlers. It gives them something to shoot for other than winning matches. Merchandising is covered, along with contracts and other details that a real wrestler would be concerned with.

I think the best part of the game other than the wrestling simulation itself is the option to build a promotion. Nearly every factor a fan or even someone in the business could think of is accounted for here. Funding, personnel, ratings, ppv buys and of course signing wrestlers are all included in building a promotion and they are combined in a way that is easy to understand and use without being overly simplified.

The one thing I would say that actually bothered me was the bad grammar used throughout the book. If you are going to sell something like this to the public take the time to spell check and edit your work.

The last thing I have an issue with is the fact that the community seems to have died off a bit. The Angels and Vixens supplement appears to be the latest offering from Daydreamer and I have not been able to find a big community online for this game just yet. It's been out a few years now and the buzz could be off this title. At least the forums at the website have some posts from 2012 on them. Regardless, this game gives a great simulation of the wrestling business and is worthy of being picked up again by another wave of wrestling rpg fans.

BareBones Fantasy is a great option for those that enjoy rules lite systems, for one I really like that the DWD studio's rules lite system is really rules lite. There are many systems out there that claim to be rules lite and still have 100+ pages of rules to go through. Some have combat systems longer than the entire BareBones Fantasy book!

Here are the three things I like most...

1. Rules are easy to remember and made for "on the fly" gamemastering. I can jury rig a rule on the fly and a rules lawyer won't dig out the book and tell me why I'm wrong. It's very easy to remember the basic rules for skills and combat so there will be far less book-diving than in some other games.

I've always wanted a fantasy or sci-fi game that could be run off the cuff without needing a separate notebook for the rules. The story and speed of action are the most important things to me in a RPG and this system supplies that.

1. Fully contained system. You don't need anything other than the BareBones fantasy core rules to play, 1 book for the whole game.

A ten dollar pdf for the whole game system. You can't get much better than that unless you get it free.

1. The setting is open ended. You are not forced to conform to any predetermined outcome for your setting and since the setting is "lite" anything goes creatively. You can create an iconic character for the setting and they will fit in perfectly.

In other words you can create your own version of the wise ole' wizard with your own twist, and have him be the greatest wizard of the land instead of having to accept another systems established character.