Archangel review
January 14, 2002 in Articles
[Author's note: Before I get into the review of this game, it should be noted that I am not of the Judeo-Christian persuasion, so if I say anything that seems insensitive or flat-out offensive, please rest assured that such occurrences are entirely unintentional]
Archangel, from Visionary Games, is a Christian RPG (yes, you read that correctly) that puts you in the sandals of a man of God during a time known as the Prophet War, when the Bible is closed to history.
You can play the role of a Prophet (spreader of the word of God, like Moses), Apostle (a highly devout follower of God who isn’t a Prophet, like Jesus minus the divinity), Believer (someone who simply believes in God, like Ned Flanders), Skeptic (someone who either doesn’t believe or doesn’t care), or two different types of angel (Champion and Avenging, with the former being more suited to being a human’s guardian angel and the latter more of the “holy warrior” type).
At first the character types may seem a bit limited, but the Believer and Skeptic can cover pretty much any type of person you might want to play, as those types are expected to have some sort of profession, such a blacksmith, trader, or soldier.
Of course, the goals of the game are a bit limited in scope. As a human, you’ll probably be spreading the word of God in some fashion, whether through your own actions or by aiding others. However, a bit of a flaw in the game is that if you’re a party of only Believers and/or Skeptics you’re going to lose a lot of the flavor of the game. The focus of the game is that it concentrates quite a bit on spreading the word of God to unbelievers and defeating false prophets or fallen angels. Compared to the powers that can be wielded by false prophets (basically just “evil” versions of Prophet powers), a simple Believer or Skeptic seems underpowered, kind of like sending a party of D&D fighters against a wizard with a couple good minions.
I should note here that by “false prophet” I don’t mean to imply that such a person is necessarily evil, but the book defines “false prophet” as anyone who worships a different god. It’s explained that other gods, such as Zeus, are actually fallen angels posing as gods in order to gain power through worship by mortals.
The party will, as directed by God, carry out His will either on Earth or in AngioDem (which is the name for the spiritual plane). On Earth you will, as mentioned before, foil the doings of false prophets and spread the good word to unenlightened people. In AngioDem, which mortals can enter only at high levels, and then only if they’re Prophets or if an angel takes them along, you’ll be combatting demons or fallen angels. Sometimes a group of angels may lead an attack upon Gehenna itself if God feels that its denizens have gotten too far out of line. Even if a mortal manages to make it to AngioDem, though, they’re most likely going to have some problems in combat against evil, as supernatural creatures typically have resistances against normal weapons.
Speaking of combat, I actually like the system. It’s simple. The combat system only takes up 8 pages in the book- quite light for an RPG! The only potentially confusing bit is that attribute checks are lowball rolls on a d20 and everything else (including attacks) are highball rolls on percentile dice. Of course, as with any other RPG, there are some things that are going to slow combat down. A shield, for instance, allows the wielder to make a roll to see if they avoid the blow with their shield. The book also recommends that, because of shields, you use the optional material strength rules lest shields become a bit overpowered. Durability should have just been made a standard rule to begin with. The way it works (at least with armor) is that armor simply absorbs health levels (basically hit points) from the wearer, decreasing in strength as it does so and breaking when it reaches 0. An attack does damage depending on your attacking skill roll. The higher your skill with the weapon is, the lower you have to roll to do more damage. Basically, you just learn where to hit them to make it count. I like the mechanic of combining the attack and damage rolls, though it does result in flat damage per hit rather than a variable. Some people like this kind of damage determination, some people don’t, so I’ll let you be the judge there.
Angels and Prophets both gain access to “tiers” (levels) of powers as they rise in level. Each tier gives them access to greater God-granted powers. A low-level Prophet, for example, can only call upon powers that affect themselves, while at higher levels that same prophet can call down the wrath of God in the form of localized earthquakes, floods, or other manifestations of God’s displeasure. Angels advance in a similar fashion, though once they get to the Wrath tier they can (with God’s permission, of course) unleash His wrath on a regional scale, creating great devastation like that which was unleashed on Egypt. Prophets operate on a system of stress, which is like Strain for the Sykers or Doomsayers in Deadlands: Hell on Earth. As they invoke each power they accumulate stress on their body, which must be regained through rest. Angels, on the other hand, work on what’s known as “prayer cover”, which reflects the number of the faithful who are praying at any given time. Each angel can only call upon so many points worth of prayer cover per day except when specifically empowered by God Himself. Apostles work a bit differently, being infused with certain “Spirits of God” as they go up in level, allowing them certain inherent bonuses and invokable abilities.
The writing of Archangel is good. David Baxter made sure he included both political and geographic information for the region during the entire 400-year span of the Prophet War. This is quite handy indeed. He even notes which nations use what types of weapons and armor. The only real problems were incidental errors, rather than substantive. The problems were things like homoophone confusion (effect vs. affect, sight vs. site, and so forth) and apostrophe either being where they shouldn’t be or not being where they should be. There are also some odd spaces between words occasionally, which is probably just a printing quirk. One big issue with the book itself, though, is the font used for body text. It’s just not good for extended reading. It would have been better to just go with boring old Times New Roman, even if the font does fit thematically. It work for headings, but at the small point size of body text, it starts to run together and the 1s are rendered as Is. I do like the artwork, though.
In all, I like Archangel. Granted, the premise of the game is evocative of something Rod and Todd Flanders would play (Anyone up for a game of Good Samaritan?), but the system is very clean. The only actualy flaw in the premise is that it relies on a theological version of the old “An old man comes up to you in the tavern” cliche in the form of God telling you what to do. Players may be frustrated by the fact the, in the end, they’re not going to make it into the Bible, but the point is to make a difference and make sure that everything ends up happening as recorded. The focus of the game lies in roleplaying, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but it seems that combat is something that— angels aside— seems like one would have to force it in. That may only seem awkward because it’s so different from other RPGs (*cough*D&D*cough*), so it’s something that, like the damage system, will have to be judged by individual tastes.
If you’re a Christian gamer (and yes, I know, gamers and Christianity seem to go together like Gary Condit and intern safety), you should like Archangel. David Baxter’s done a good job with the game, and I hope it succeeds. It really does break new ground in the industry.
