[Review]Tribe 8 Companion

Tribe 8 Companion
xiombarg@io.com

"Companion" books are usually "overflow" information that didn't make it into the main book. As such, they're usually pretty miscellaneous, and whether you want them or not usually depends if that Companion has that one rule you really wished was there. Often, the quality varies widely from section to section.

Nowhere is this more true than in the Tribe 8 Companion. In fact, one gets the feeling that a lot of the overflow from the main rulebook was already covered in the excellent Vimary sourcebook, and that they didn't have enough material left for the Tribe 8 Companion. Much like the Vimary sourcebook, I would categorize most of the information in this book, even the in-character bits, as Weaver (GM) information. The only thing I can see being "common knowledge" is the start of the section on Quest Circles (the part before the examples). More on that later.

As such, this review is filled with spoilers. There are so many I'm not even going to bother to mark them; proceed at your own risk.

Okay, this book is set after the Children of Lilith plotline, and nowhere does this show more than in the first two chapters. (The first "chapter" is really a one-page introduction.) In spots, it reads like an advertisement for the Children of Lilith supplement, which annoyed me, because I don't have that supplement, and I certainly got the feeling I'd understand some of the references better if I did own it. Since this is supposed to be a general supplement for Tribe 8, if knowing about the events outlines in Children of Lilith is so important, it would have been nice to include (perhaps in the back) a section on what happened in that plotline, so the Tribe 8 Companion could stand on its own and I could get an idea if I want to buy Children of Lilith or not.

That aside, the second chapter has some reasonably solid information on the Lost Tribes. It seems that all of Joshua's Tribe didn't die out, instead going into the wilderness to hunt the Z'bri and the more dangerous Squats and prepare the way for when the Fallen leave Vimary. In the meantime, the true Joshuans are slowly dying out. See, the Fallen aren't really Joshuans so much as those predicted by Joshua's prophecy, and the Joshuans know this, accepting it in a fatalistic way.

The section on the Marians is particularly interesting. It seems when Mary opted to die, she simply moved to the River of Dream, where sometimes the descendants of her Tribe hear her call. After Mary's death, those that did not join Agnes the Child were assimilated into the other Tribes, but some still hear the call of their original Tribe, and gain some of Mary's powers. Marians exist as a sort of secret society, a shadow Tribe, pretending to serve their birth Tribe while actually following Mary's agenda, which seems to involve the fact that the Goddess loves everyone, even Squats and Fallen. It's more complicated than that, and difficult to explain here. Interesting stuff, especially Mary's connection to the Guides that are currently aiding the Fallen.

It is also notable that while some of the Eminencies for Joshua and Mary are new, one of Joshua's Eminencies is the same as a Jacker Eminence, and one of Mary's is the same as one of the Herite Eminencies, showing the tenuous but important connection between the Lost Tribes and the Fallen.

The third chapter is about Quest Circles. These are basically heterogeneous collections of people from different Tribes joined together for a particular purpose, i.e. very much like a Cell of Fallen, except we're talking ordinary Tribals here. Basically, these seem to exist as an in-character justification for a typical PC-style group but with non-Fallen, in case the Weaver wants to run that sort of game. There are several types of Quest Circles, and the rest of the chapter has one example of each.

Unfortunately, these examples, while interesting and perhaps useful for plot purposes, fall down as examples. The example of a Harvest Circle (a Circle with a short term goal) seems to exist to persecute the Fallen, and it obviously corrupt. If the Weaver is planning on a game where the PCs do not start out Fallen, it would be nice to keep the corruption in the Fatimas under a lid for a bit. The example of a Horizon Circle (a long-term Circle), a group set up to deal with plagues and prophecies of plagues, is pretty good, if a touch short. The example of a Moon Circle (a Quest Circle created by a Fatima directly), is very interesting, being a collection of ghosts recruited to aid Baba Yaga in the River of Dream. However, I would have liked to see a more "normal" Moon Circle as an example. I assume most Moon Circles do not consist entirely of dead people. The example of a Shadow Cast Circle (a selfish Circle not approved by the Tribes) is interesting, but very, very out there; they worship the Z'bri and the Fatimas simultaneously, and can engage in a ritual that allows them to wield Synthesis and Sundering at the same time.

The fourth chapter is about the Keepers. It's well-written, solid, and interesting, if a touch short. I find it amusing the Keepers are essentially the descendants of survivalists, and the "Bunker 13" reference was particular amusing, if one is a fan of the post-apocalypse video game Fallout. More NPCs are presented, and one gets a good feel for Keeper culture, including how they in many ways are the same as (individualistic, stubborn, curious), yet different from (focused on the past rather than the future) the Fallen.

Now, I have to take a deep breath before talking about the fifth chapter, an adventure called "St. Christopher." I'll start by saying one good thing: The idea of a Z'bri Heart-stone, and its connection the Guides, is interesting, and could make for an interesting adventure.

Too bad this adventure is not it. I would like to say something glib like "This adventure was created by several people, and it shows" since the Credits show three people worked on it, but that would be a lie. The adventure reads as a self-consistent whole. The problem is, that self-consistent whole is self-consistently very, very bad. Plus, its utility is limited: it's designed for a Quest Circle of ordinary Tribals rather than Fallen, which I still consider to be the focus of the game, Quest Circles notwithstanding.

I will try to keep this short, and calm, but you'll forgive me if I rant. Let me open by saying that if I wasn't reviewing this product, I wouldn't have finished reading the adventure. That's how bad it was. For starters, the adventure is very linear. Extremely linear. As in a word from the Old Times leapt to my lips: "Railroad." Actual quote: "In the confusion, despite the Player Character's best efforts, Malachai escapes with Ahr'haabt." Wow, I just love adventures where the PCs can have no effect on events, especially events that are happening right next to them, within arm's reach. Most of the adventure reads like a bad novel, with a single roll or gratuitous combat tossed in here and there to remind the players that the adventure is, in theory, interactive.

This wouldn't even be so bad (hey, at least the players get to hear a story) if the dialogue and story wasn’t so very, very bad. I'm not going to quote any of it here, it's painful, and the effect is cumulative. You'd have to read it all to get a true feel for how bad it really is. Also, in connection with the linearity above, the adventure is rife with mind control. Yes, this is a major theme of the Z'bri, but it isn't handled very well in this adventure. Really, it amounts to "You have this mysterious urge to follow the plot."

The less said about this adventure, the better. Let us move on.

The next chapter is another adventure, this one for Fallen characters, called "Sangreal." While a touch linear, unlike the previous adventure, the author actually makes an reasonable attempt to allow the PCs to go their own way. It's rife with Arthurian symbolism, though the Holy Grail the PCs are after is very Tribe 8 in nature: It is a piece of Joshua that has been blessed by Mary, making it one of the only artifacts in existence to have been blessed by two Fatimas. While confused in spots (there is a bit where reference is made to an NPC that can in no way be with the PCs at the time), it's a pretty good adventure, with a solid mythic feel. And unlike the previous adventure, the dialogue isn't insipid or dull, which is a bonus.

The seventh chapter is out-of-character Weaver information, with details on how to run games centered around the Lost Tribes, unFallen Quest Circles, and the Keepers rather than the Fallen, and how to use all of these sorts of characters in games that do focus on the Fallen. Included is character generation information for all these sorts of characters, which is particularly nice.

There is also an essay on the population of Vimary, broken down by Tribe and affiliation, and an excellent section on economics, which goes into what each Tribe produces and what each Tribe wants. There's even a haggling system for people who'd rather roll than roleplay such interactions out. Now you can get some idea of how much of a Magdelite's "Pleasure Services" you can get for a pillow. Finally, the book ends with some errata for the first edition of the Tribe 8 main rulebook, and a fairly useful FAQ on Synthesis.

Overall, I would give this product a C, and that's very much an average. Some parts are good, some a very bad, and some are mediocre, but useful. I'm glad I have this book on my shelf, but I'm exactly excited about it. Whether or not it's valuable depends on how much use you have for the information in it; I certainly don't see anyone buying it for the adventures, even if the second one isn't bad.