In a time when I find myself disenchanted with many of the directions
that tabletop RPGs have been taking in terms of production values, I
have found the White Wolf Updates for both Trinity and Aberrant a
breath of fresh air. The idea is simple: small, pamphlet-sized books
made on the cheap that detail areas of a game universe that otherwise
wouldn’t get any play. With Exposé: ABERRANTS we see the very best
and worst of this production style.

Aberrants are novas (the ABERRANT version of a supernormal) who are
part of a conspiracy against Project Utopia, a seemingly civic-minded
group claiming to be dedicated to improving life for all humans.
Things are not as they seem, of course, and Exposé: ABERRANT wades
hip-deep into the central mystery of the entire ABERRANT metaplot.

So we have a 24-page book, of which the first 11 pages are flavor text.
Now, we all like flavor text on occasion…hell, some of us may have
even smoked the stuff in college. But nearly 45% of this book is
flavor text, which lends it the quality of an advertisement or news
magazine in the “Entertainment Tonight” style. I’d be incensed if
this was a $25 hardback, but in a $5 pamphlet it fits–except that
this critically injures efforts to describe who the Aberrants are as
an organization.

Greg Stolze has an impossible task, and he does a reasonably good job
at it. The place he shines are the NPCs who populate the book–a man
with no subconscious, an ancient torch singer turned young again by her
eruption–but we never really get much of a feeling for the
organization. There simply isn’t time in this thin book to cover the
topic assigned, and it certainly doesn’t show how the Aberrants should
relate to other organizations in a day-to-day fashion.

White Wolf scored a hit with the Trinity pamphlet supplements, which
focused on psionic law, Oceania and other tertiary areas that could
use development. By shifting their focus in ABERRANT to doing Exposés
on major plot points and organizations, these pamphlets become a
must-have source of information that their small size can’t fulfill.

Finally, a quibble: there are two pictures of Novas who are obviously
overweight (Renaissance Man and The Living Wreck) which the main
Aberrant rulebook goes to great pains to explain is impossible, as
Novas burn all their calories. I always thought this was a dumb idea,
but lets have some consistency, people–one or the other, please.

The Verdict

A fun read, but so light you can skim it at your local game
store and have done with it. This is material that should have seen
light as part of a larger sourcebook on conspiracies in ABERRANT.

Ultima Thule: Mythic Scandinavia is the sourcebook of Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Iceland, and Greenland in a mythic version 13th century for the ARS
MAGICA game. The ad copy for the game states, “Any roleplayer with an
interest in Mythic Scandinavia should have Ultima Thule!”, which begs the
question, “Am I interested in Scandanavia?”

Frankly, I’m not. That’s just the honest truth. When THE DRAGON AND THE
BEAR, detailing the Novgorod (Russian) tribunal came out earlier this year,
it caught my attention by finally filling in lost facts on the Order of Odin
and other long-held mysteries of ARS MAGICA. With the game still lacking an
English or French sourcebooks, the decision to go again to the north for two
sourcebooks in a row seemed strange–do you really need to know that much
about the area?

Well, yes and no. Historically the northern lands are very important for
the people we know as Vikings–their attacks on the rest of western Europe
during the Dark Ages played a pivotal role in the development of feudalism
and the spread of red hair throughout Europe. By 1220 (the year this
supplement is set in) their time and power is waning as Christianity has
begun to change the fundamental forces at work in their societies. This
part of the book is quite fascinating, and useful as text and for game
background.

What keeps the book from excelling is tense. Unlike all other Ars Magica
sourcebooks to date, ULTIMA THULE is written entirely in the past
tense…which makes all of the material in it feel fixed and unchangeable.
It also takes away the great strength of ARS MAGICA, which is leveraging the
use of real history against a possibly changing future–using 13th century
history, told as current events, to provide excellent plot hooks from which
GMs can create their own sagas. By placing all of the book in the past
tense it comes off as a too-brief, too-shallow history book…an effect to
be avoided in historical supplements at all costs.

The additional magical systems are nice, with the Finnish wind wizards being
a particularly sharp touch– they show off the versatillity of the Ars
Magica system to accomodate new traditions without stretching or breaking
rules. The vitkir (Norse rune masters) have some great thought behind them,
and so I would certainly recommend the book…if you are already campaigning
in the distant North now.

Verdict

A mild dissapointment, though ULTIMA THULE is still an order of
magnitude better than comparable sourcebooks from White Wolf or Palladium.
If you’re a completist, or you have ideas for a saga that will take you up
past the Arctic Circle you’ll want to buy it.

The many universes of the varied role playing games have led to
proliferation of detailed supplements to provide the gamer with background
information on the lands traversed by the player characters. This need for
source material quickly found an audience in the miniature figure wargames
with each new rule set being published with supplemental material. For a
fantasy or science fiction wargame rules set centered in a world (or worlds)
different from our own, these source books provide a means of enhancing the
game by giving a colorful background and purpose for the battles fought on
the table top.

I have had little or no experience with the Warzone system prior to
receiving several items for review. Now, I’m seriously rubbing my chin and
contemplating making an investment in the system, as my wife despairs. In
truth, I have little patience with BSMSs (Big Shoulderpad Miniature
Systems), but there’s a depth to the Warzone milieu that I find jaunty and
stylish.

Venus: Bauhaus Forces of War is the first supplement to the Warzone second
edition rules. As the title states, this supplement provides the details on
the planet Venus in the Warzone universe and of the Corporation of Bauhaus,
one of the five major corporations. Venus is a terraformed, jungle planet
cursed with a day of rotation longer than its yearly orbit around the Sun
leading to a Venus day that is 117 Earth days long. Bauhaus, whose roots
harken to an imperial Germany, is the dominant corporation of Venus.
Through this supplement, players will find a rich new world to fight over
and detailed information on the armed forces of Bauhaus.

Okay, so what do you get for your hard-earned shekels? The book contains
nearly 100 pages of information. After a brief introduction, the book gives
30 pages of maps and short graphic vignettes, which introduce the six
campaigns covered in the book. These vignettes provide campaign maps and
visual glimpses into the continual fighting on the jungle world. Next come
detailed sections on Venus, the Bauhaus Corporation, and the four ruling
Duke Electors. The six Venusian campaigns are outlined, allowing for combat
between Bauhaus and any of the other four Corporations or the forces of the
Dark Legion. Several new rules for Warzone follow. Among these are rules
for night fighting, including concealment, tracer rounds and flares, and for
the hazardous jungle, which can be as deadly as the enemy. The final third
of the book deals with the Bauhaus Armed forces, giving information on
various troop types, special units, heroes, weapons, vehicles, and a
thousand point army list for each of the four Duke Electors. The book also
includes two pages of punch out templates and counters for use with the new
rules. My only gripe with the book is the total lack of a table of contents
or index, making it hard to quickly locate specific information.

The supplement is visually striking with illustrations or photographs of
Warzone miniatures on every page. The graphics portray the terrain of Venus
and spark the imagination. Photo vignettes of miniatures offer inspiration
and ideas for jungle terrain for the game table. The visuals distinctly
evoke the Target Games style. In the army section, each troop type is
illustrated at least once and those types with miniatures available have
photos of the figures. The different uniforms and camouflage patterns along
with the differences in helmet types are clearly shown.

The Verdict

My overall impression is that Target has a winner. The background material
is rich and allows the reader to easily imagine the savage fighting in the
dark jungles of Venus. The Bauhaus troop types and army lists provide a
variety of units, which can be tailored for fighting on any part of the
planet and will forma basis for Bauhaus forces elsewhere in the solar
system. The supplement covers the subject and I await reading the next one
on Mars and the forces of the Capitol Corporation.

The Sidekick Sourcebook is the companion book to the Blood of Heroes RPG. In it, you’ll find updates to previous rules, new powers, skills, drawbacks, combat rules, and more. There’s also new characters that can be used for exisiting campaigns, and a starter scenario for those first-time BoH players.

A Little Bit of Trivia History

The Sidekick Sourcebook, as stated on the back cover, is the result of over four years of improvement. If memory recalls, it was originally intended to clairify a certain superhero RPG that is known as the DC Heroes 3rd Edition. The author (Joshua Marquart) and a host of others on the DC RPG mailing list compiled many revisions for the powers, skills, and rules. The author then compiled them all into the book, and would have released it over the Internet, if it weren’t for the announcement that Pulsar Games bought the rights for the system of the DC Heroes RPG, and released it as the Blood of Heroes RPG. Josh submitted it (with the permission of those vital to the Sidekick’s creation) to Pulsar, and the company was smart enough to pick it up. The rest is history.

The Book

Almost at the very beginning, there is the list of the skills, powers, advantages, drawbacks, bonuses and limitations that have been revised and/or replaced. It then goes straight into the action with the “A Word About Creating More- or Less- Powerful Characters”–excellent advice for those who want to create Cosmic Characters. New Advantages like “Omni-Scholar”, “Local Hero”, and “Ultra Luck” are well done, and the Drawbacks like “Cannot Heal”and “Oblivious” are just mean enough to delight any devious GM.

The Powers Section of the Sidekick Sourcebook has new powers like “Alert” and “Defenseive Adaptation”, while older powers like “Neutralize” and “Superspeed” are either replaced or clarified. Of course, you can’t go wrong with powers like “Dismember”

Chapters 9 and 10 deal with the rules, particularly game physics, combat, environmental situations, and game situations. Pay special attention to the “Rolling Infinite Doubles”, because how many of us have rolled a score of 105 thanks to doubles?

The new characters kick off with the introduction of the Guardians, a hero group formed during WWII, and was reestablished in the 90s. Some good characters, even though some may look familiar to comic readers. The villains are, well, villains! There is Subplots chapter which makes it very easy for the GM to use these heroes, so no excuses!

Finally, we get to the scenario located at the end of the book, entitled “The Game Within A Game”. Yes, there are rules for Live Action Roleplaying using the BoH rules (fans of LARPing should read this section!), and if you are one of those types who hate LARPing, then you should definitely read this section, as the Atomic Soul Suck power is a must for anyone’s roster of LARP powers.

As for the the main plot of the scenario, the setting is at a gaming convention, so why are the heroes there? Seems a celebrity was killed at another con, and an anonymous caller said “He was the first”. Can your heroes discover who’s behind this before the killer strikes again?

The Verdict

If you want the Sidekick Sourcebook for the art, don’t bother–it’s “OK” at best. Otherwise, it’s just plain awful. Some of the art looks unfinished, while others have no such excuse. At the time, they are in the process of adding some new talent, so good luck.

The new layout of the Sidekick Sourcebook is a step above the old format found the Bloof of Heroes. It’s easier to read, and just looks better. However, there are a few mistakes that can be found, which could interrupt your reading.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Blood of Heroes, then pick up the Sidekick Sourcebook. It’s got solid writing, and the information is something you just can’t do without. The Sourcebook is also completely compatible with the DC Heroes 3rd Edition, a fact that one should primarily consider when deciding to purchase this book.

Oh, and the author advises against drinking milk or soda while reading the adventure found in the Sidekick Sourcebook. Seems that it could be forced out of your nose. You have been warned.

For those interested in joining the DC Mailing List, the URL is http://w3.one.net/~joshdm/dch.html

Realism isn’t necessarily a good thing in a game, whether it’s a
role-playing game or miniatures wargaming, depending on the Game Master and
the players involved. The amount of detail in a game is part of that
realism, and the Battletech Master Rules often sacrifice detail for
playability and smoothness.

No longer. Maximum Tech is a Level Three rules supplement, meaning
that it’s beyond the level and scope of most games - including most
tournament games - and its contents are entirely based around adding more
detail and general ambience to the Battletech arena.

The Good Stuff

Maximum Tech contains detail - a lot of it. It includes rules on
everything from icy terrain to non-’Mech vehicle movement, from special
dueling rules to fractional costs for ‘Mech equipment. The artwork is
nicely topical - I enjoy John Paul Lona’s work, and was glad to see it
sprinkled liberally throughout the book. Similarly, the writing manages to
be both informative and actually fun to read.

One of the rules I especially liked was the improved Line of Sight listing. The Battletech Master Rules have a ‘Mech in a hill’s dead zone -
that is, blocked to things atop the hill - only if it’s in an adjacent hex. The improved rules involve the height of the sighting ‘Mech, the height of
the sighted ‘Mech, the height of the hill, and so on. It involves a
lot of scratch paper, but it solves a problem I’ve had with Battletech
since I started playing - and it’s a good example of the kind of thought
and detail that the folks at FASA put into this book.

The Bad Stuff

On the other hand, there are gamers who don’t want so much detail in their
games - and if you’re playing against someone using the Maximum Tech rules
when you’re not familiar with them, the advanced rules lead to several
major loopholes (fractional equipment weights, for example, can allow you
to cram a lot more onto a ‘Mech than would normally be possible). Also,
there’s not a whole lot of flavor text in the book; it’s mostly rules and
modifications, and if you require vignettes and the like to maintain your
interest in a book, then you’ll lose interest in Maximum Tech fairly
quickly.

The Verdict

If you like realism and detail in a game, and don’t mind reading through
pages of unrelenting rules, then Maximum Tech is a book to pick up.
Even if you’re not a Battletech player, it provides interesting ways to
think about arranging your next game - miniatures or RPG.

On the other hand, if you pride yourself on the simplicity of your games,
or need anecdotes and flavor in a book in order to survive reading it, then
Level Three Battletech probably isn’t your bag, baby.

Remember Keep on the Borderlands, that module with the crazy dungeon and the
keep full of people who did not have names? Well, forget that moldy old
tome. Return to the Keep on the Borderlands (RTKB) is here. Reflecting the
developments in RPG design over the past twenty years, RTKB is a wonderful
package for DMs of all experience levels. Newbies and veterans alike will
find plenty of adventure and roleplaying possibilities in the updated Keep.
Where the original was simply adventure, the updated Keep is a 64 page
campaign just waiting for your players to dive on in.

The Adventure

Unlike the original Keep, RTKB provides a wealth of fleshed-out characters
for the DM. RTKB takes the original Keep twenty years into the future. The
Caves of Chaos are still the home of creatures fierce and evil, yet a new
menace has arrived to threaten both the Caves and the Keep. I don’t want to
reveal too much, but suffice to say that players who speak first, draw
swords second will find this a much easier adventure than those who blindly
slaughter everything they encounter. Many of the “monsters” in the Caves
make willing allies if approached correctly. This is a refreshing approach
to dungeon design, and lends itself to some great roleplaying opportunities,
especially for those who think they’ve outgrown AD&D.

The Keep itself is stocked with a nice assortment of potential allies and
foes. What I like best about this product is that John Rateliff does a very
good job of making the Keep into a living, breathing community. There is a
sense of time in the scenario. Villains appear to replace vanquished foes,
new threats appear to menace the Keep, while foes become friends and friends
become foes. The NPCs have their own agendas and goals that can change as
the characters make a name for themselves. My personal favorite is Sir Robin
the bard, one tale teller that the characters might not want to have writing
songs about them.

One of the neat things about RTKB is the references to other classic
modules. In Search of the Unknown and The Lost City both get passing
references. Not only does this bring a smile to an old timer, but it
provides some rather neat adventure hooks for newbies and oldsters alike.

One warning for Greyhawk fans: despite the label on the back cover, this
really isn’t a Greyhawk product. Outside of a few diety names, there is
nothing here that anchors this module to that world.

The Verdict

Return to the Keep on the Borderlands deserves to join the original as a
classic D&D product. To be honest, I was somewhat skeptical about updating
classic modules for the 90s. In John Rateliff’s capable hands, the Keep
comes alive as the original never did. The key to this product is the sense
of life. The Keep is not a static environment but a dynamic setting. Too
many “town and local dungeon” scenarios come off as collections of names
grafted to a map. This product serves as a great example of what is possible
with this type of adventure. If fantasy is your game, check out RTKB. Your
players will thank you for it.

One Shots is the first supporting product for Atlas Games’ excellent Unknown
Armies RPG. One Shots contains 5 stand alone scenarios complete with
pregenerated characters. Each scenario is meant to be played in a single
evening, much like a convention scenario.

The Adventures

“Jailbreak” by Greg Stolze is a spooky little number that highlights one of
my favorite themes of Unknown Armies: true horror lurks in the safest
looking places. This scenario strongly relies on intra-player conflict, as
some players take the roles of escaped convicts and others play their
hostages. With a motivated group, this can quickly become an exercise in
tension and terror.

“Strange Days” by Tim Dedopulos is an investigation scenario. The characters
are sent to find the source of a series of bizarre phenomena. While the idea
is strong, this scenario suffers from some drawbacks. First, I didn’t find
the NPC actions very believable. After emphasizing the repercussions of
character actions in the rulebook, no less than eleven NPCs are slaughtered
by various psychos over the course of the scenario, without anyone either
noticing or raising a general alarm. Second, the climax of the adventure is
a bit of a let down. Still, the ideas for playing off of H.P. Lovecraft bred
paranoia are great. If your players are into CoC, run this adventure on them
and watch ‘em squirm.

“Joy and Sorrow” by Nicole Lindroos and John Tynes is an unqualified
success, though you may have problems finding players up to the roleplaying
challenges of this adventure. I can’t really explain this scenario without
quoting about a page or two from the book, nor will a summary do it justice.
Just take my word for it: the next time some poseur slob mouths off about
his roleplaying skills, run him through this thing and put those boasts to
the test. My guess is that 90% of the gamers out there couldn’t handle this
scenario without copping out or rewriting their character. To which I say
MORE, MORE, MORE!

“Fly to Heaven” is another excellent offering from Greg Stolze. The
characters are trapped on a airliner when a disturbed adept decides that its
time to ascend as the Terrorist archetype. While not as strong as
“Jailbreak,” this adventure offers a lot of freaky happenings, problem
solving, and good old fashioned roleplaying.

“And I Feel Fine” by Geoffrey C. Grabowski is an ambitious scenario that
fails to really come together. The basic premise is that a tiny town in
Arizona wakes up to find everyone else in the world gone. No TV, no radio,
straight out of Night of the Comet. What weakens this adventure is a lack of
focus. Grabowski gives the GM three plot options for this adventure. While I
like the idea of flexibility, we’re really left with three ideas that aren’t
fleshed out quite enough. There really isn’t that much of a difference
between the three options, and one (a government conspiracy idea) is
somewhat silly. I’d much rather have one well developed, focused idea than
three underdeveloped ones.

The Verdict

This is a promising product for the Unknown Armies line. While uneven, this
collection has a solid sample of the possibilities of Unknown Armies. Call
of Cthulhu keepers will find a lot of good ideas here, as will anyone using
White Wolf’s World of Darkness.

One of the things that has always impressed me about the Shadowrun
game is how well magic, cybertechnology, and mythical creatures are
integrated into the setting. The design team has done a very good job of
ensuring that nothing exists in a bubble. This trend continues with Magic
in the Shadows, a must have supplement for Shadowrun gamers.

Magic in the Shadows opens with a discussion of magic and how it
relates to religion, medicine, and society as a whole. Kenson does a good
job of briefly giving the reader a good idea of a mage’s place in society.
Even better is a section on how mages view magic, which discusses everything
from voodoo to psionics to Norse magic. Essentially, the magic rules are the
same for every mage type, but each mage’s personal beliefs add some color
and detail to the game without bloating the rules.

The rest of the book is given over to new rules, including skills, new
spells, insect spirits and other threats, and more. What I like best about
this book is that it does not simply pile more detailed rules onto the
Shadowrun magic system. Instead, this book gives players and GMs
plenty of new tools to use in their campaigns. One of my favorites is the
rules for initiation. Basically, mages can join or form groups that pool
their resources in order to gain greater access to magical power. The cool
part is that the group can create a set of strictures for members to follow
and, if they succeed in tapping into the power they seek, the group gains an
avatar that can help, defend, or mislead them. What I really like about this
is that this option is open to characters not just NPCs. I like the idea of
putting this options into players’ hands, and it highlights why I like this
book: it gives players tools to expand and deepen Shadowrun, not
simply more rules to learn. The chapter on summoning and binding spirits
follows the same pattern: it gives mages lots of really cool options to play
with.

If you read my review of Shadowrun Third Edition you’ll recall that I
found the game system a bit bloated. I don’t like dealing with rules where
the work needed to use them does not translate into added depth or utility
in a game. Magic in the Shadows fits my idea of a good rules
supplement: the sweat and brainpower spent to digest it is more than worth
the added depth and cool gaming options you’ll get out of this book. There’s
nothing in here that is essential to running a Shadowrun game, but
that won’t stop you from wanting to add it in.

The Verdict

Overall, I really like what Steve Kenson has done with this book.
Shadowrun players will enjoy the wealth of new options available,
while GMs will find a treasure trove of new weapons and obstacles to throw
at their players. This book is packed with great ideas and well worth its
$20.00 cover price.