Panopticon

Ringing in the new year by finally catching up on some old reviews!


Panopticon (Posthuman Studios) is the first of possibly several in a series of catch-all books cover parts of the Eclipse Phase setting that can't quite warrant their own book and don't fit into the theme of other planned books.  The three topics that are detailed here are: surveillance/sousveillance, space habitats, and uplifts.  The book itself is gorgeous as is the norm for the Eclipse Phase line.  The books are worth it for the art (especially check out the O'Neill cylinder for the Habitats chapter opener p 52-53!).  It also has the nifty ribbon bookmark which has become common in the Eclipse Phase books.  The binding does seem rather fragile though.  During the first read through it was already starting to crack and looked dangerously close to losing some pages.  Panopticon is the first self published (think that is the correct term at least) Eclipse Phase book after going through some troubles with previous publishers so the binding may just be growing pains related to that.

Onto the book itself!  The first section on surveillance (watching from above) and sousveillance (watching from below) deals with the effects of ubiquitous tracking and observation that comes with a high tech society who are always plugged and have easy access to a variety of forms of monitoring.  Simply put due to the ability to watch everyone does setting up a society that can literally watch the watchers in many cases.  Naturally the resultant outlook on privacy changes greatly with such a plugged in society.  This section felt the least useful from a new setting information perspective.  The concept of sousveillance was new and not one covered heavily in the core book so that is useful.  Also useful is how people go about thwarting it.  Overall the discussions just felt a bit wordy as if it could have been written more concisely.  Specific details on how surveillance devices work, etc are also described and that will be more useful to players who need new ways to spy on other people.

The habitats section provides a good overview of the different types of habitats.  Arguably this might be the most straightforwardly useful portion of the book as some of these habitat types are not exactly familiar to the average layman.  There is also detail on the life in a habitat including hazards to spice things up if need be.  Finally a close look at the various system/subsystems that make the habitats run.  This section can be a bit dry as a lot of the information is very technical.  However, it's highly likely that at some point someone will need to break into or disrupt a habitat and this will certainly supply the gamemaster with a wide variety of ways to allow the players to do exactly that.  (And coincidentally be able to use all those wonderful surveillance techniques from the previous chapter to make it a challenge for the players at the same time!)

The final chapter is on uplifts.  This is the chapter that might interest players the most as it lays the groundwork for a bunch of new morphs.  It lays out the history of the uplift process as well as how exactly the process works.  The various types of uplifts are covered in detail as well expanding up what the core book has.  The variety here is impressive although personally I have to admit that I wish a neo-elphenant had survived so we could get stats on that.  The diversity here is impressive.  Fickle players looking for an interesting uplift should be able to find something that tickles their tastes.  Finally the chapter takes a look at the very diverse groups who revolve around uplifts and their rights.  Uplifts may be one of the most divisive issues within the Eclipse Phase world and with that comes a colorful array of organizations that players can get entangled with.

The finally chapter provides mechanical information that has been presented earlier in the book.  Loads of new morphs and tons of surveillance devices abound.  Players and gamemasters alike should find all sorts of fun things to play with.

Final thoughts: This book did not match up to Sunward or Gatecrashing for me but still a good buy.  If uplifts feature greatly in your Eclipse Phase campaign I would argue that this book becomes a must as the information here is extensive and the additional cast of uplifts who enter the fray are great.  The Eclipse Phase line sets the bar high everytime and this is no exception.

Available in print* and PDF.

Links: Amazon, DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight, also available as a bit torrent for free since all Eclipse Phase products are Creative Commons licensed

Up next: Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah (Wraith: The Oblivion)