Masks of Nyralathotep is a world spanning adventure set in the classic era of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu. This is probably considered one of the legendary adventures for CoC and with good reason. It provides a myriad different ways for the investigators to go insane or die and isn't that what Call of Cthulhu is all about? The fact that this is the 4th reprinting is probably a good indicator of the success but let's dig into what this is all about. The over-arching plot throws investigators looking into a death of their good friend on intercontinental dash to stop plans to bring Nyralathotep to Earth.
While ostensibly an adventure Masks is written up and organized differently then standard adventures. Rather then moving from one plot to another there are simply locations. Other then the initial starting location (New York) there is no pre-determined order for where investigators should go. This provides for an amazing amount of re-playability which is rare for adventures. The locations are globe spanning (5 of 7 continents get in on the action) and all have at least one link to the others meaning there aren't any dead ends to trap players (barring their natural tendency to wander completely off course and end up in Oxford of course).
Each section of the book covers one location and all the places and peoples of interest within it. At the beginning of the section they list all the clues that are available, who they are from, and where they lead so the keeper can have an easier time and knowing where they may want to point investigators who have lost their way. The general descriptions of the locations are quite detailed and help to give a good feel of what life might have been like the in them during the 1920s.
In terms of deadliness and SAN-loss induction this adventure provides many opportunities for both. It may be nearly impossible for the initial party to survive the entire campaign intact. It might even be unlikely that anyone from the initial group even makes it to the end as fairly quickly the investigators find themselves in nasty situations. I'd probably recommend that keepers preface players with some idea of how nasty this adventure can be (especially for those less familiar with CoC) or there might be some rather surprised players!
Overall I'd give this a 8 out of 10. There are some very compelling areas to investigate and great support for a non-linear adventure. It may feel a bit strange for the keeper if they are unfamiliar with adventures laid out as such (it was for me). It certainly provides a wealth of story to work with and gives the investigators chance to do major things to thwart a dark god.
Available in: Physcial*
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight
Next up: D & D Gazetteer (D & D 3.0) or The Great Beyond (Pathfinder)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Damnation View
Damnation View is the first story book for the metaplot of Cthulhutech specifically the year 2086. It provides several different plots covering the different styles of gameplay that Cthulhutech supports.
The book first part of the book gives an overview of the year 2086 including what is trendy in popular culture, what's going on in tech research, and a timeline which incorporates the adventures covered later in the book. From there on out it's 4 major plot arcs.
The first covers the situation in Asia, specifically China although what goes on there will have ramifications for the entire continent. This scenario is aimed towards mecha/Engel pilots on the main front as events get a bit exciting. Readers will notice very quickly that the scenario is such that while players can participate they can't really change the outcome of the scenario. On this I am torn. On the one hand the players are just a handful of people in a very large and complex situation so their involvement can be fairly explained as, at best, only be able to slightly affect the war especially since this is early in the metaplot. Also, being that this is metaplot it has to have a forced outcome or else future metaplot won't make sense. Still the way it's presented makes it feel more forced then it probably could have been.
The second scenario is aimed towards NEG agents/police investigator types although it has a few areas that would allow a mecha pilot to have a little fun as well. It follows the machinations of Esoteric Order of Dagon as they attempt to locate their sleeping leader, Cthulhu. The premise is pretty cool and can allow for some great investigations by the players and it certainly leads on a wild ride. The ending felt unsatisfactory to me. While several of the scenarios end with nominal losses for humanity this one felt especially unfair as it's noted if the players seem to be getting an upper hand to dump in reinforcements. Oh, and if they somehow get through those it doesn't really matter because the EOD will succeed somewhere else anyways. Again while understanding the needs of the metaplot my thoughts would lean to designing a scenario where the outcome does not have to be pre-ordained in such a way where the GM is basically declaring player defeat regardless of what they do. It feels quite disempowering to know the result would be the same if the characters had just decided to go to the bar and drink the night away!
The third scenario deals with a cult dedicated to Shub-Niggurath and the efforts of the Eldritch Society to thwart it. I thought this scenario was interesting in that it laid out an enemy for the tagers other then just straight up waves of Dhohanoids and their mortal lackeys. If there is one really, really controversial section of this book it comes up here as the creatures the characters will face have a save or become a sex slave power. It's fair to say that due to this the players and GM should probably discuss what they are comfortable with before delving into the scenario although with a game where sanity and the horrors of war and the universe are big themes this should probably be done regardless. Beyond that wrinkle the scenario this one feels less heavy handed then the previous although the solution is rather set in stone. The upside is that the expected outcome is actually good for the players if they survive.
The final scenario is another one for mecha/Engel pilots. This time they're taking on the Migou and going back to Alaska with some additional twists thrown in. Again the results are pre-ordained but this one, like the first scenario, didn't feel quite as heavy handed. It's possible that due to nature of military scale operations that having a scenario where the characters are just participants is more believable and it's easier to accept that they can't single-handedly change the outcome of the war. On smaller scale it feels like possible victories are being snatched away.
Overall this feels like a 6 out of 10. Production values are fantastic as usual. The art is great, the fiction is entertaining. As mentioned many times above the big drawback is that all the scenarios are entirely railroaded. Better options might have been to give scenarios where each scenario could have multiple outcomes that could affect later scenarios by increasing/decreasing opposition forces, adding or removing allies or equipment, etc rather then completely forcing one result with no room for variation. With gamers variation has to be expected and players can generally sense a railroad. This will cause the GM extra work to smooth out these issues. The book does provide some non-scenario material in updated EOD mecha and new player options for occupation and the scenarios are a pure gold for a GM who likes taking ideas and crafting their own tale anyways.
Available in: Physical* and PDF
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight, DriveThrupRPG
Next Up: Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu)
The book first part of the book gives an overview of the year 2086 including what is trendy in popular culture, what's going on in tech research, and a timeline which incorporates the adventures covered later in the book. From there on out it's 4 major plot arcs.
The first covers the situation in Asia, specifically China although what goes on there will have ramifications for the entire continent. This scenario is aimed towards mecha/Engel pilots on the main front as events get a bit exciting. Readers will notice very quickly that the scenario is such that while players can participate they can't really change the outcome of the scenario. On this I am torn. On the one hand the players are just a handful of people in a very large and complex situation so their involvement can be fairly explained as, at best, only be able to slightly affect the war especially since this is early in the metaplot. Also, being that this is metaplot it has to have a forced outcome or else future metaplot won't make sense. Still the way it's presented makes it feel more forced then it probably could have been.
The second scenario is aimed towards NEG agents/police investigator types although it has a few areas that would allow a mecha pilot to have a little fun as well. It follows the machinations of Esoteric Order of Dagon as they attempt to locate their sleeping leader, Cthulhu. The premise is pretty cool and can allow for some great investigations by the players and it certainly leads on a wild ride. The ending felt unsatisfactory to me. While several of the scenarios end with nominal losses for humanity this one felt especially unfair as it's noted if the players seem to be getting an upper hand to dump in reinforcements. Oh, and if they somehow get through those it doesn't really matter because the EOD will succeed somewhere else anyways. Again while understanding the needs of the metaplot my thoughts would lean to designing a scenario where the outcome does not have to be pre-ordained in such a way where the GM is basically declaring player defeat regardless of what they do. It feels quite disempowering to know the result would be the same if the characters had just decided to go to the bar and drink the night away!
The third scenario deals with a cult dedicated to Shub-Niggurath and the efforts of the Eldritch Society to thwart it. I thought this scenario was interesting in that it laid out an enemy for the tagers other then just straight up waves of Dhohanoids and their mortal lackeys. If there is one really, really controversial section of this book it comes up here as the creatures the characters will face have a save or become a sex slave power. It's fair to say that due to this the players and GM should probably discuss what they are comfortable with before delving into the scenario although with a game where sanity and the horrors of war and the universe are big themes this should probably be done regardless. Beyond that wrinkle the scenario this one feels less heavy handed then the previous although the solution is rather set in stone. The upside is that the expected outcome is actually good for the players if they survive.
The final scenario is another one for mecha/Engel pilots. This time they're taking on the Migou and going back to Alaska with some additional twists thrown in. Again the results are pre-ordained but this one, like the first scenario, didn't feel quite as heavy handed. It's possible that due to nature of military scale operations that having a scenario where the characters are just participants is more believable and it's easier to accept that they can't single-handedly change the outcome of the war. On smaller scale it feels like possible victories are being snatched away.
Overall this feels like a 6 out of 10. Production values are fantastic as usual. The art is great, the fiction is entertaining. As mentioned many times above the big drawback is that all the scenarios are entirely railroaded. Better options might have been to give scenarios where each scenario could have multiple outcomes that could affect later scenarios by increasing/decreasing opposition forces, adding or removing allies or equipment, etc rather then completely forcing one result with no room for variation. With gamers variation has to be expected and players can generally sense a railroad. This will cause the GM extra work to smooth out these issues. The book does provide some non-scenario material in updated EOD mecha and new player options for occupation and the scenarios are a pure gold for a GM who likes taking ideas and crafting their own tale anyways.
Available in: Physical* and PDF
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight, DriveThrupRPG
Next Up: Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu)
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Gatecrashing
Gatecrashing explores the machines known as Pandora's Gates and the worlds they lead to expanding upon one of the larger mysteries of Eclipse Phase. A beautiful hardcover book in full color it's hard not to like it on sheer physical design alone. (You'll notice I am a sucker for full-color hardcover books.)
In a line that distinguishes itself with high quality writing, arts, layout and interesting ideas (and exploration of those ideas) Gatecrashing stands out. While I have enjoyed both the core book and the first supplement (Sunward) neither book left me coming away with any truly exciting story ideas. Gatecrashing has made up for that lack in droves. The basic structure of the book covers gatecrashing operations including the different types of missions that might be performed through the gates as well as the procedures for using the gates. The specific Pandora Gates for the Solar system are all detailed as well as how their operators manage them. Then the juicy stuff: 30 different worlds to explore or investigate. Naturally these are just a fraction of the available worlds that can be accessed through the gates and are meant as examples.
They are amazing examples. Every world listed is unique in some way that allows for stories that while sometimes seeming mundane on the outside instead provide interesting twists and surprises once the players scratch the surface. Much as I'd like to I won't detail any here, just trust that just about any type of story can probably be played out while crashing. What amazed me was the fact that all the worlds described were unique, it didn't feel like any two ended up being re-hashes of the same idea with just a different planet as the back-drop.
Mechanically the game provides new morphs and technology that would directly support gatecrashers. It provides even more plot hooks for the worlds described previously in the book. Finally, it also provides suggestions for creating new worlds and even some new flora and fauna to put into them.
This would be my first 10 out 10. I would argue a must have for any Eclipse Phase game (although if you never plan to have the players go through or anything come through a gate this would be much less true) as it opens up the entire galaxy and beyond for exploration. It also continues the hallmark quality in all areas that Eclipse Phase is known for.
Available in: Physical* and pdf
Links: Amazon, DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight
Next Up: Damnation View (Cthulhutech)
In a line that distinguishes itself with high quality writing, arts, layout and interesting ideas (and exploration of those ideas) Gatecrashing stands out. While I have enjoyed both the core book and the first supplement (Sunward) neither book left me coming away with any truly exciting story ideas. Gatecrashing has made up for that lack in droves. The basic structure of the book covers gatecrashing operations including the different types of missions that might be performed through the gates as well as the procedures for using the gates. The specific Pandora Gates for the Solar system are all detailed as well as how their operators manage them. Then the juicy stuff: 30 different worlds to explore or investigate. Naturally these are just a fraction of the available worlds that can be accessed through the gates and are meant as examples.
They are amazing examples. Every world listed is unique in some way that allows for stories that while sometimes seeming mundane on the outside instead provide interesting twists and surprises once the players scratch the surface. Much as I'd like to I won't detail any here, just trust that just about any type of story can probably be played out while crashing. What amazed me was the fact that all the worlds described were unique, it didn't feel like any two ended up being re-hashes of the same idea with just a different planet as the back-drop.
Mechanically the game provides new morphs and technology that would directly support gatecrashers. It provides even more plot hooks for the worlds described previously in the book. Finally, it also provides suggestions for creating new worlds and even some new flora and fauna to put into them.
This would be my first 10 out 10. I would argue a must have for any Eclipse Phase game (although if you never plan to have the players go through or anything come through a gate this would be much less true) as it opens up the entire galaxy and beyond for exploration. It also continues the hallmark quality in all areas that Eclipse Phase is known for.
Available in: Physical* and pdf
Links: Amazon, DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight
Next Up: Damnation View (Cthulhutech)
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Eoris - Part 2
Eoris is a two book set contained in a sturdy slipcase. I reviewed the first book earlier so reading that may be informative. The second physical book contains Book Three (Thought) which is dedicated entirely to the mechanical system underlying Eoris including most (but not all) of the information needed to build a character. I'm not going delve too deep into the actual mechanics (other then the basic system) since crunch is not my forte and I haven't had a chance to play Eoris which will more greatly inform on the viability of the system.
Book Three is broken up into 9 chapters starting out with the basic system information and working through the various systems from there. The basic system shares a lot of similarities to White Wolf's Storyteller system but relies on rolling D20s rather then D10s and includes a special "Essence" die which depending on its roll can greatly change the outcome regardless of whether you succeed or fail with your overall pool. The system does add some more granularity then White Wolf by allowing changing of both the target number or the number of successes needed. Systematically I think this allows for a lot of fine tuning on the part of the Narrator. One problem in the book with having these two different ways at scaling power is that the reader must pay careful attention to whether a bonus is modifying the target number (thus making a -1 a good thing) or modifying the dice pool (-1 doesn't look quite so good now). Sometimes this isn't readily apparent especially in the race selection area.
Eoris has support for social combat which interestingly can coincide with physical combat and can reduce overall die pools and inflict status anomalies onto others. This seems to make social combat a vastly more useful affair especially since that allows non-physical characters a chance to contribute to combat beyond just hiding. Now they can hide and hurl insults at their foes reducing them to mental slag heaps.
Character creation feels rather complicated. Oddly the reader is required to reference the other book for information on some powers and abilities. This seems somewhat less then ideal but other then that the sections are fairly straightforward. There are a large amount of powers and spells (called Songs here) to choose from although none of them feel terribly exciting. Useful, yes, but nothing that seemed to reach off the page. Likewise we're given beautiful images of a wide assortment of rare weapons and it felt like their individual abilities weren't as awesome as they looked. Some of this feel may be mitigated by actual play showing off their true strengths but as a read it just felt un-impressive.
Overall this book felt like it could use a little better organization just like its partner. Editing was again impressive and art is still amazing. It stills feels like to me that it's missing some of a greater potential so it's going to sit at 7 out of 10.
Next Up: Gatecrashing
Book Three is broken up into 9 chapters starting out with the basic system information and working through the various systems from there. The basic system shares a lot of similarities to White Wolf's Storyteller system but relies on rolling D20s rather then D10s and includes a special "Essence" die which depending on its roll can greatly change the outcome regardless of whether you succeed or fail with your overall pool. The system does add some more granularity then White Wolf by allowing changing of both the target number or the number of successes needed. Systematically I think this allows for a lot of fine tuning on the part of the Narrator. One problem in the book with having these two different ways at scaling power is that the reader must pay careful attention to whether a bonus is modifying the target number (thus making a -1 a good thing) or modifying the dice pool (-1 doesn't look quite so good now). Sometimes this isn't readily apparent especially in the race selection area.
Eoris has support for social combat which interestingly can coincide with physical combat and can reduce overall die pools and inflict status anomalies onto others. This seems to make social combat a vastly more useful affair especially since that allows non-physical characters a chance to contribute to combat beyond just hiding. Now they can hide and hurl insults at their foes reducing them to mental slag heaps.
Character creation feels rather complicated. Oddly the reader is required to reference the other book for information on some powers and abilities. This seems somewhat less then ideal but other then that the sections are fairly straightforward. There are a large amount of powers and spells (called Songs here) to choose from although none of them feel terribly exciting. Useful, yes, but nothing that seemed to reach off the page. Likewise we're given beautiful images of a wide assortment of rare weapons and it felt like their individual abilities weren't as awesome as they looked. Some of this feel may be mitigated by actual play showing off their true strengths but as a read it just felt un-impressive.
Overall this book felt like it could use a little better organization just like its partner. Editing was again impressive and art is still amazing. It stills feels like to me that it's missing some of a greater potential so it's going to sit at 7 out of 10.
Next Up: Gatecrashing
Exalted: Scroll of Sorcery Vol 2 The Black and White Treatises
Exalted: Scroll of Sorcery Vol 2 The Black and White Treatises provides the real firepower for any sorcerer or necromancer in Exalted. This book is actually two books with one on either side (so while reading White Treatise to get to Black Treatise you flip the book over). It's quirky but allows for obvious separation of the two similar but different topics.
White Treatise goes over the origins of sorcery, the process the for learning it, where to learn it and what schools those places follow, and just who knows what sorcery and how deep that knowledge is. This gives a much deeper understanding and background to the system and allows for many more interesting stories while a character tries to learn sorcery. Of course the main meat of this book are spells and there are a lot of them. Unsurprisingly most of these spells are for the Emerald (1st) circle but Sapphire (2nd) and Adamant (3rd) circles get their fair share as well. A decent amount of the spells just do direct damage to some degree but there are also many spells that creatively solve other problems or can be used in interesting ways to the sorcerer and her circle's advantage.
The Black Treatise is almost an exact mirror of the White Treatise except that it covers the art of necromancy. It does make good on the point that necromancy is not just "evil" or "dark" sorcery but a separate power source that is designed to do a little bit different things then sorcery (although the two obviously overlap a bit). There are a wide array of necromancy spells available allowing for many different themes of necromancer. It should be noted that in 2nd Edition this book is the only one that contains necromancy spells so it's a must if your character wants to use it. Abyssals only has the 3 requisite charms.
Overall this was a highly quality book with a diverse range of spells and interesting history and geography and artifacts relating to sorcery and necromancy useful to Storyteller and players alike. If spellcasting is going to be used this book is almost essential unless someone wants to do a lot of legwork in creating their own spells. A solid Exalted supplement. This gets a 9 out of 10.
Available in physical* and PDF.
Links: White Wolf Store, Amazon, DriveThruRPG, and Noble Knight
Next Up: Eoris Part 2
White Treatise goes over the origins of sorcery, the process the for learning it, where to learn it and what schools those places follow, and just who knows what sorcery and how deep that knowledge is. This gives a much deeper understanding and background to the system and allows for many more interesting stories while a character tries to learn sorcery. Of course the main meat of this book are spells and there are a lot of them. Unsurprisingly most of these spells are for the Emerald (1st) circle but Sapphire (2nd) and Adamant (3rd) circles get their fair share as well. A decent amount of the spells just do direct damage to some degree but there are also many spells that creatively solve other problems or can be used in interesting ways to the sorcerer and her circle's advantage.
The Black Treatise is almost an exact mirror of the White Treatise except that it covers the art of necromancy. It does make good on the point that necromancy is not just "evil" or "dark" sorcery but a separate power source that is designed to do a little bit different things then sorcery (although the two obviously overlap a bit). There are a wide array of necromancy spells available allowing for many different themes of necromancer. It should be noted that in 2nd Edition this book is the only one that contains necromancy spells so it's a must if your character wants to use it. Abyssals only has the 3 requisite charms.
Overall this was a highly quality book with a diverse range of spells and interesting history and geography and artifacts relating to sorcery and necromancy useful to Storyteller and players alike. If spellcasting is going to be used this book is almost essential unless someone wants to do a lot of legwork in creating their own spells. A solid Exalted supplement. This gets a 9 out of 10.
Available in physical* and PDF.
Links: White Wolf Store, Amazon, DriveThruRPG, and Noble Knight
Next Up: Eoris Part 2
Friday, February 18, 2011
Adventure!
Adventure! is a pulpy action game set in the mid-1920s of Earth where players play slightly above average humans pushing the bounds of science, exploration and humanity. For my take it provides the timeframe of Call of Cthulhu but instead of a theme of incomprehensible cosmic horror we get a tone of hopeful optimism about the future. It's all the 3rd part of the Aeon Universe trilogy of games from White Wolf. The book has a large section in the beginning filled with short stories that do a great job at conveying the atmosphere and themes that Adventure! is aiming for as well as giving some background to the game. I found this part to be a very quick and entertaining read. This flows rather seamlessly into providing the setting of the game including locations worldwide and major organizations.
Character creation feels quite similar to other White Wolf storyteller systems. Characters in Adventure! are on the lower end of the power scale so I suspect some of the inherent problems with the Storyteller system in handling high power games will be less prevalent here. Still Adventure! offers players some interesting powers (referred to in the game as "knacks") for characters. They are set into 3 categories which do overlap somewhat but also maintaining their own niches. Coming up with a character concept shouldn't be too hard for most players. Since this is another iteration of the Storyteller system anyone who has played World of Darkness (old or new), Exalted, Scion or (perhaps obviously) other parts of the Aeon Universe should be able to hop into Adventure! with minimal additional learning.
All in all I thought this was a quality game nicely contained into one book. The challenge nowadays is finding a copy as the non-D20 version is quite rare and rather expensive unless you can stumble upon it in a Half-Price Books like I did. The good news is the PDF is reasonably priced and with White Wolf converting their whole catalog to Print on Demand in the future this may be available in print again. I would rate this a 8 out of 10.
Out in PDF and Physical* copy (but physical is long OOP making it quite hard to find)
Links: DriveThruRPG
Next up: Books of Sorcery Volume 2: Black & White Treatise for Exalted (Eoris rules is slowly coming along as well but crunch takes me longer to process)
Character creation feels quite similar to other White Wolf storyteller systems. Characters in Adventure! are on the lower end of the power scale so I suspect some of the inherent problems with the Storyteller system in handling high power games will be less prevalent here. Still Adventure! offers players some interesting powers (referred to in the game as "knacks") for characters. They are set into 3 categories which do overlap somewhat but also maintaining their own niches. Coming up with a character concept shouldn't be too hard for most players. Since this is another iteration of the Storyteller system anyone who has played World of Darkness (old or new), Exalted, Scion or (perhaps obviously) other parts of the Aeon Universe should be able to hop into Adventure! with minimal additional learning.
All in all I thought this was a quality game nicely contained into one book. The challenge nowadays is finding a copy as the non-D20 version is quite rare and rather expensive unless you can stumble upon it in a Half-Price Books like I did. The good news is the PDF is reasonably priced and with White Wolf converting their whole catalog to Print on Demand in the future this may be available in print again. I would rate this a 8 out of 10.
Out in PDF and Physical* copy (but physical is long OOP making it quite hard to find)
Links: DriveThruRPG
Next up: Books of Sorcery Volume 2: Black & White Treatise for Exalted (Eoris rules is slowly coming along as well but crunch takes me longer to process)
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Penny For My Thoughts
A Penny For My Thoughts is an interesting game played out as a group of amnesiacs working together to remember their forgotten pasts. Very much an indie game (though I should note when I say indie game I don't mean it in the slightest negative connotation) Penny delivers an interesting series of stories that is well contained and easily learned.
The book is digest sized, black and white, and relatively short (94 pages) but it uses that space well. The first quarter of the book is designed to be almost entirely read during game play acting as literal guide to memory treatment. This means that no one needs to have any experience with Penny before the game begins. No dice is required and instead the only mechanics are pennies. The mechanic basically acts a regulator to control the pace of the story for each player so that no one player gets terribly far ahead in their story then another. I found the gameplay easy to understand and the rules well written to support that understanding. The way the game works is roughly along these lines, each player contributes a bunch of triggers (short phrases) into a pile. As each player goes they use one of the triggers to set the scene along with a question that sets the mood. The outcome of each scene is determined by one of the other players. It's that simple and very much a collaborative effort.
All that being said reading beyond the initial guide is highly recommended. You do not need any of this but the tips provided in the support section help a great deal for setting the mood. The initial game I played in I hadn't read this yet and the mood suffered at times as players drifted a little off course. Later sections also give alternate premise for the memory lost to invoke games with a James Bond or Cthulhuesque feel in them if the players so desire.
Personally this game isn't completely up my alley but it's well written, well put together and the rules and play are solid. What I didn't like the most was essentially not getting to tell my own story (but rather telling the story of others). That is the nature of this game though. It does have the benefit of being a kind of game that you could pull non-gamers into which may be a plus if you're trying to pull in new people to the hobby. All in all for me this is a 7 out of 10.
Out in PDF and *physical copy
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