No comments about Ashen Cults (Vampire: The Dark Ages).

3 comments about Arcana Evolved Spell Treasury (Arcana Evolved).

1. This book adds hundreds of new spells to the already impressive list from Arcana Unearthed and Evolved. For D&D players, many will seem familiar, but there are also plenty of new ones. Even the familiar spells are tweaked somewhat, with new names sometimes, and added heightened and diminished effects. The only problem you might have with this book is the overwhelming number of options. There is a extremely handy .pdf that can be downloaded from Monte Cooke's site that lays out all of the new and old spells in a single comprehensive list. After using this variation of the core d20 spell system, you'll never want to go back to the old Fireball, not after seeing the equivalent spell of Sorcerous Blast.



2. The Spell Treasury is great. SRD spells and plenty of new ones. Each spell listed with heightened and dimished effects.



3. This arcane handbook brings you lots of wonderful spells, all in the line of the Arcana Evolved/Unearthed, with the unique flavour and rules-application that only the guys at Malhavoc's can make.
   
   All spells come with great descriptions, heightened, diminished and other metamagic effects, including some True Name features.
   
   ¡I assure you'll enjoy it!
   
   Worth every cent of it

5 comments about Erciyes Fragments (Vampire: The Dark Ages Companions).

1. Another fascinating addition to the "legend" that created the clans. (I have read the "Book of Nod" and The Erciyes Fragments is supposed to be a more complete version although I HIGHLY recommend getting both. The Erciyes fragments also has in the margins "comments" from elder vampire clan members and/or scholars who had come previously to the secluded monestary mentioned in the book to read the "Book of Nod" and written their opinions and interpretations in the margins. Not only do you get a fascinating story, but the comments made makes a reader question even more the actual "truth". The Erciyes Fragments answers SOME questions while posing more in the end! It continues White Wolf's ever torturous tradition of mystery, intrigue, and darkness and it is a WONDERFUL supplement to both table-top and live-action Vampire the Masquerade ... although I don't recommend quoting it to an elder. *WINK* (a little gaming humour there...)



2. I found the Erciyes Fragments very interesting because I have always been interested in what kind of character Cain (real and fiction) was. This book gives you an insight about Cain from Cain. It's also very interesting how it seems like Cain almost felt like a foster father or a loving uncle to the "Sons of Seth", or Humans. He even punished his childer for killing without reason, which is part of the reasons for each clan and their unique curse. I also thought it was rather intriguing how Cain left his childer to fend for themselves during the flood. This apparently resulted in the 3rd generation's cannibalistic tendencies in the respect that the only way they could survive was to drink one another's blood. Then when the flood was over that was the only blood they preferred. This book gives a unique and extremely thrilling look at vampires and what made them what they are. I highly recommend getting the Erciyes Fragments.



3. Here's my easy description- in content it is very similar to the book of Nod. I think of it as a beuatiful sequel, the art direction immaculate, the legends and myths, stunning. Overall, it is one of the most impressive books White Wolf had yet released, full of hints, subterfuge and pondering the nature and lineage of the damned. It is well written, and interesting enough on its own without the context of the game that spawned it, Vampire: The Masquerade. As far as brilliant tomes go, I have no complaints, only adulation for the hard work that went into it. Viva unlife! (I apologize, dear reader, it is a penchant of mine to become carried away.)



4. This is also a very interesting story in many ways. The introduction details how the "documents" were recovered and we discover something which I've known as a storyteller all along -- ghouls are a vital part of Kindred existance. We see just want a ghoul will go through to service his master and himself, we see his identification with a clan, and indeed we see his own desires for knowledge -- all of these are something that other Vampire guides might lead you to think were impossible once enslaved by the blood. The "documents" themselves are written interestingly -- text from the "ancient sources" interspersed with a dialogue of commentaries through the ages each written in a unique script giving the sense of a real exchange of ideas and personalities. Some intriquing play on previous "ancient texts" as well as comfirmation of some ideas I'm sure are not unique to our game. Well worth buying and using.



5. C.S. Friedman is the author. OMG is this a good book. So thick and rich and... gah - it even makes you think. I LOVE this book.

5 comments about Fire on the Water (Lone Wolf, No. 2).

1. Este libro se podría decir que marca la pauta de la historia de toda la serie. Y es posiblemente el mejor. Un escenario perfectamente ambientado, que nos depara numerosas sorpresas. La variedad de situaciones, barco, desierto, pueblo, tunel, batalla naval... le concede un densidad admirable. Aún así a todo el que lo lee se le hace corto, no teniendo más remedio que engancharse al siguiente libro.



2. The LoneWolf series created by Joe Dever are probably the best fighting fantasy books ever written. The book #2 that is Fire on water is far better than the first one Flight from the Dark. Book #1 was too easy and short ,it took me about 40 minutes to finish it but it took me more time to finish book #2 that's just because it's much better than the first one. You'll become immediately addicted when you start reading the book, there are so many possibilities in different kinds of environment. I read it over and over again without gettting bored it's so brilliantly written. Dever takes you to a world that you are eager to explore and you won't stop until you've examined every single square feet with a magnified glass therefore I rate this book 10 it's simply the best.



3. This was about my third gamebook and up till then I was bored silly by other pretenders. I found this book simply brilliant and still read it 7 years later. It has a range of excitement going from nerve racking nail-biting stuff to simply lunch time relaxed reading. The characters are of Hercules proportions and have in depth feel as if you were there in that day and age.



4. i think it is a good book like all the lonewolf



5. I thought this book was not near as fun or as high of a quality as the first book (and the next books in the series). I found the adventure in this book to be not very exciting. However, there were some great aspects of this book that only start to unveil the potential for the entire series. For example, there is a part where you have to choose attack someone at a table in a tavern. You must choose who to attack by a picture in the book. I thought this was incredibly neat because not only are you choosing the direction of your adventure based on descriptions and visuals.
   
   Basically, the quest is to find the Sommerswerd and bring back an army to Holmgard. You meet many interesting characters along the way and fight some evil beings. Although there were times when I was bored in this adventure, it does have a nice conclusion to the introductory phase of the Lone Wolf adventures. I'm sure this book was much more exciting prior to reading all of the others many years ago.
   
   Lastly, this adventure series can be fun for youngsters and adults as well. I am looking forward to the time when I have young children and we can explore the world of Magnamund together. This book does a great job creating situations that promote imagination and stimulation of the mind.
   
   It only gets more epic from this point on. You are the last of the Kai warriors. Good luck!
   
   Finally, Joe Dever has authorized the free distribution and licensing of his Lone Wolf series which are available online. This resource has the unabridged editions which makes it great. I will not give out the URL as part of the reviewers agreement but with a little searching you should be able to find it. I still enjoy using the paper versions but it is still a fantastic resource.

2 comments about Veil of Night (Vampire: The Dark Ages).

1. This is a great historical geopolitical look at the Middle East of the Dark Ages for Vampire. White Wolf does a good job of showing us the Kindred of the Middle East who have been influneced by living in the geographic center of 3 major world religions. The impact of the faiths is obvious in all of the clans. White Wold has taken pains to accurately reflect the culture of the times and superimpose it onto the likely reactions of supernaturals. If you play Vampire: Dark Ages and wish to have a religious themed game or an exotic setting then this is the book for you.



2. Probably the best book for the Dark Ages setting thus far, this Year of the Scarab release focuses on the Islamic world in the context of Dark Ages: Vampire. After opening up with a short fiction of a vampire's meeting with Mohammad, and another short fiction focusing on a the lengths that ashipu (Middle Eastern vampire magicians) must go to, we get to an excellent introduction. The introduction explains what the book is an isn't, as well as giving us a lot of useful books, magazines and websites to visit concerning the real history of the Islamic world. Remember that while the west was in the "dark ages", the Islamic world was experiencing a golden age of science and learning. There is also a lexicon of Arabic and Islamic terms that are used in the book, and more specifically the context they hold in the game.
   The first chapter covers the history of Islam, giving a biography of the Prophet Mohammad, as well as a historical account of the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa. The second chapter continues by giving a look at Islamic beliefs and practices, both from mortal and vampiric perspectives. The most interesting part here is a description of the Ashirra sect, a brotherhood of Islamic vampires who seek to redeem themselves. Very good for Storytellers and players alike, as this section is almost essential for understanding how and why the Ashirra work.
   The next section is a bit of IC stuff, written by an Assamite vizier as he travels from al-Andalus across north Africa to Arabia and the Holy Land, and from there to Baghdad, Persia and finally disappearing in the east, killed by some unknown force. Think something like the vampiric equivalent to ibn Batutta. At the end are a bunch of profiles of NPCs he met along the way. Almost all of the NPCs are interesting and unique, and can easily be placed in a chronicle. The next chapter covers the various clans (all called by their Arabic names) in the Middle East, and things are quite different. As would be expected, the Assamites and Setites are dominant, but the Brujah, Nosferatu, Gangrel, Ravnos and Lasombra are also quite influencial. Indeed, all western clans (save the Tzimisce and Tremere; the Ventrue are also rare being represented only by a small Arabian bloodline) are represented to some degree, along with three bloodlines: the Salubri, Baali and Laibon.
   Some of the alternate takes on the various clans are quite interesting. For instance, the conflict between the animalistic hunters and monsters of clan Nosferatu (called Mutasharid) and the peaceful Nosferatu who have adopted Islam (known as the Hajj). Indeed, the Hajj are one of the leading groups in the Ashirra. Or the Lasombra, many of whom are devout Muslims and who are treated with respect and honor. All in all, its a pretty cool section. In the end, it also gives some descriptions of Paths followed by the Ashirr and how they differ from western paths. For instance, Path of the Bedouin becomes Tariq el-Bedouin, and is focused more on living a simple, nomadic lifestyle than becoming an animal. Special attention is paid to the Path of Blood (Tariq el-Haqim) given the prominence of the Assamites in these regions.
   Following this is the juicy chapter, chock full of everything you need to know to run a Cainite in the region. Aside from information on the different cultures and groups (such as Berbers, Moors, Kurds and so forth) and Arabic naming conventions, there are also some sample concepts and such. Some new Merits and Flaws, specific to the setting are given, along with new Traits and even a new Animalism power (used many by vampires to create animal ghouls out of animals that drink from isolated desert oasis). There is a great deal of information on Sihr, faith based blood magic used by the Hajj. A couple paths and rituals and not much else. Given that its specific to the Hajj and maybe a few Assamite sorcerers, I guess not too much detail is needed. And theres also some systems for situations Ashirra are likely to get into as well.
   And then there is the next chapter, Damascus by Night, which gives an entire ready-to-run plot focusing on the secret corrutpion in the city of Damascus. The chapter gives a pretty nice amount of information about the city of Damascus, as well as the Ashirra in the city and how many of them have been subverted by the Baali. Character profiles of major characters are also given, so everything is already set up for you to run it. This ties in nicely with the closing chapter, which focuses on various supernatural threats that Ashirra are likely to face in the night. Information on mortal dangers (like crusaders and the Knights Templar and Islamic monster hunters) is presented, alongside bits about jackal-blooded Lupines (and other shapeshifters), wizards (primarily Ahl-i-Batin and Taftani, but also Knights Templar, Hebrew qabbalists and tribal shaman), ghosts, mummies, djinn and even mysterious eastern "Kindred" from the White Tiger Court...
   Over all, this is an excellent book. I strongly recommend it to anyone intending to run a Dark Ages game, or even a game set in the Mid-East in general. The Ashirra sect supposedly survives to the modern era, though little information is given on it outside brief references in a couple other books. More information on the future of the Ashirra sect would have been appreciated. Nonetheless, this is an excellent book and well worth buying.

1 comments about Mage Secrets of the Ruined Temple (Mage the Awakening).

1. One of the major themes of Mage the Awakening is exploration, and one of the major areas for that exploration is the ruins of ancient Atlantis. This being a World of Darkness book, there's a lot more to it, of course. The myth of Atlantis is the defining myth of the Mage worldview, whether they accept that and believe it or not. The first chapter delves into the myths and stories about Atlantis. Quite a lot of players from the old World of Darkness despised the choice to make the origin for true Mages. Part of that, perhaps a large part, was that it gave a clear and fixed beginning for Mages ... supposedly. The first chapter is a mind-spinning recounting of Mage research on Atlantis. Where was it? An island in the mid-Atlantic, of course. Or the continent of Antarctica. Or the Americas. Or New Zealand. Or in East Asia, the Middle East, the Sahara, the Mediterranean, Britain (that was new to me), Iceland, Scandinavia ... pick a location on land or sea, and some mage has evidence Atlantis was there. Then there the theories of a hollow Earth or a planet where the asteroid field now is. It is a wonderfully written chapter, and most of it is based on real-world claims, too. The best part of it may be that it links mages together, through time and across continents, in their research and travels because of Atlantis.
   
   The second and third chapters get into the fine details of exploration. The second chapter deals with the concepts of exploration, why mages go looking, how they get leads to lost ruins or artifacts. There are extensive descriptions of all the types of things that could be in a ruin: challenges, guardians, other explorers, weird creatures that escaped from experiments or were attracted to an uninhabited ruin, and of course pages of descriptions of all kinds of traps, magical and sometimes not. Naturally, there are also descriptions of all the kinds of treasures and artifacts and such the explorers may find. The third chapter goes into specifics, setting out example guardians, spirits and weird creatures, and example items and artifacts.
   
   The fourth chapter is still about exploration, but not so much about Atlantis. It is about the Astral Realms, a topic not covered in much detail by Mage books at this point. This section goes into considerable detail about the Temenos in general and various realms in particular. I find the concept itself fascinating, and the image of thousands of generations of mages exploring here and constructing citadels, libraries and universities is awe-inspiring. Then the chapter moves on to the creatures of the Temenos, and how those things can escape into the material world, and it inspires fear as well. Any player or storyteller interested in the Mastigos and inner demons should find this chapter really interesting and useful.
   
   Rather unusually, the book has an appendix which contains a conclusion rounding off the book as a whole. The appendix is about Atlantean High Speech, and goes into technical but clear details of how languages are constructed. It is also about the efforts of mages to reconstruct that language. There is subtle but powerful theme running through this section: in Atlantis, whatever it was, one mage feuded with another, but as a group they were united. Until the Celestial War divided them, that is. Now the main goal of plundering a ruin is to gain magic items and spells that can empower one cabal, or one lone mage, against all the rest. But recording and translating the High Speech would enhance the lives of all the Awakened - with the catch that they have to work together to even begin such a project. It is a sobering reminder that knowledge is power when you hoard it, but can become wisdom when you spread it around, a very fitting image for this game.

5 comments about Ex Machina: Tri-Stat Cyberpunk Genre.

1. Having been an avid roleplayer for over 18 years, games have come and gone, some good, some bad, but most are about the same. This book, and the system that governs it is simply different. The boys and girls over at Guardians of Order (the publisher), really must know what they are doing, because when I started to read the Ex Machina book and the Tri-stat dx system core book, it was like a breath of fresh air was put back in my gaming enthusiasm. Honestly speaking, my desire to game anymore has been diminishing for about 5 years now do to the same old storylines and boring systems that I have been using form the beginning, but the Tri-stat system is so unbelievably flexible and simple, and that it takes away all the limits that are imposed upon other cookie-cutter systems. Not to mention, that once coupled with the inventive and wonderfully written ideas and settings that are contained in this particular tome, you have a combo that really is exciting.
   
   The Ex Machina book is loaded with information and comes with four, yes thats four, different settings to run your cyberpunk dreams. Keep in mind that these are just examples and you can easily create one of your own, if properly motivated. Excellent writting, unique points of view, and vivid descriptions make this book a home run for anyone looking for a change to a better way of doing things. Buy this book and support a company that obviously is more interested in thier work than the bottom line, as they give the core rules for free on thier website!



2. If you break the book up into two sections with the first being the rules and the second being story, I give it a 1 for the first and a 4 for the second. The rules system is heavily weighted towards stats with no balance in numbers, A super master in one skill can be beaten by a novice as long as the novice has higher stats. In addition, just about everything costs character points. Want a car? It'll cost you. Also, as a cyberpunk game, it should be saying something about programming and using the net beyond what it does. It says nothing past a few pages of hacking and virtual usage. Finally, to quote the game itself, "cyberpunk is about brand names". You expect "Zeise" eyes and "Kono" monoblades. You get none of this. No brand names, no special equipment, it's all up to you to build it. Very poor in my opinion.
   The second part is almost all story in 4 different 'worlds' and while it is an interesting read, it falls down due to the first part being incomplete.
   I'm not sorry I bought it, but I would rather not have paid as much as I did.



3. This whole system (Tri-Stat dX) is a great open rules system, what the other reviews may say about rating it a 1 don't do it justice, it is a critically acclaimed system used for Silver Age Sentinel's and BESM (Big Eyes Small Mouth) Game systems, it is worth looking into just for that, what makes this book a definate buy, is the settings, which are inventive, and breath new life into the cyberpunk genre, not all of them are for the faint of heart, and are very gritty, most being negative-utopia's. I recomend this to anyone who is into the cyperpunk genre.
   5 out of 5



4. Ex Machina Review:
   Ever look at Cyberpunk games and think, ?Oh ma Gosh! Like, gag me with a spoon, like, this is so like yesterday.? Let's face it, the genre is so Big Hair, Culture Club, Japan Inc, Duran Duran, Ramones, and leg warmer'd out it's just sad. I look at Cyberpunk and I think; ?why is there an image of Richard Simmons sweating to the Replicants in my mind??
   
   So why am I looking at a new Cyberpunk game, when I have this bias that the genre is, in essence, a deader horse than the Japanese economy? Largely because this game seems to agree ? this is the cyberpunk genre, and you will recognize it fairly quickly upon opening the book, but it is the genre as we see it in today's science fiction, and not trapped in the 80s like older competing games and some of the other new rivals. Nor is it, thankfully, like another current competitor has been described to me; so obscure that you just can't wrap your head around what's going on and how to play it.
   
   The book is split into sections for the genre history, the game rules, running and playing the genre, and finally ? four complete and separate settings with entirely different themes. Most of the past Cyberpunk RPGs gave you a single predetermined setting around which the entire game revolved, so this itself is something of a notable step in a new direction.
   
   There may be sixteen chapters to Ex Machina, but I'm going to cover it by the major sections.
   
   The Genre Section:
   In the genre section we get a ten page introduction into the history and themes of the Cyberpunk genre, starting in its pre-roots of the seventies, moving into the labeling of the genre around the time of Gibson's Neuromancer, and eventually wrapping up with the modern 'post-Cyberpunk' genre.
   
   There is some coverage of how the genre has been forced to change with times ? after all much of what 80s Cyberpunk considered radical is part of the mundane reality of today's world ? Wireless, Hand held Computers, Sprawl, the Net, Genetically modified foods, Globalized Mega Corporations, lessoning of nations and nationality ? or are experimental but real such as Cloning, optical computers, synthetic but real diamonds, single molecule machines, and Neural interfaces. Modern Cyberpunk still looks to the dark side of tomorrow, but the tomorrow of today is not the tomorrow of yesterday.
   
   From there we get a bit on the dX game engine Guardians of Order uses as one of its two house systems, the usual 'what is roleplaying' commentary, and a brief intro on each of the four settings. These intros wet your taste for what is to come, although the IOSHI entry is so vague as to leave at least me completely confused yet throughly intrigued ? seeming to talk about skill chips and split patents rather than the society thus resulting.
   
   Tri-Stat rules for the Cyberpunk genre:
   Tri-Stat has managed to solidly establish itself as -the- dominant cinematic rules light RPG. All past Cyberpunk games have been neither of these two factors, which brings us to a natural point of suspicion about this new RPG - are we looking at a bag of apples trying to be oranges?
   
   I'm going to try and show that while it may be the ideal game of apples, it has managed to conquer the realm of oranges as well - that this has ended up as the the best take on a Cyberpunk rules set I've seen to date despite some problems I did end up having with it. As for my ability to compare, I had R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013 within days of its release, I had a similar jump on for Cyber Hero, Shadowrun, GURPS Cyberpunk, and even ICE's Cyberspace. I went through the 80s, and for Science fictions fans, the Cyberpunk genre was our pet rock and I admit I was there with everyone else.
   • Tri-stat has a very simple core - you have three stats, Body, Mind, and Spirit. In any task you roll two dice and hope to get under a number determined by your value in those stats plus whatever skill is relevant. Further rules allow for opposed rolls, degrees of success, and so on. Injury is a hit point system, and damage is always going to be ACV plus 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of some number - barring critical hits, where ACV is more or less your 'base to-hit' number.
   • Characters are built on points without classes or levels, and a defects system exists to give you more points by defining weak points in the character.
     
     The skills list is large, and has specializations to give it further focus - if you know law, you could then specialize into a field of law. Guns, a type of gun. Etc.
     
     Characters get their real game mechanical depth from a system of 'attributes' which functions as a combination of perks, powers, special gear, and other unusual abilities. On first glance many of these will seem out of place in the Cyberpunk genre. Attributes such as Mind Control, Healing, and Creation (creates objects) for example, on the surface take leaps of logic to fit in. However note that what you are looking at here is a 'game effects' system ? where you take attributes and assign to them a special effect. Mind Control might have limits to be a drug induced effect, while Healing and Creation might represent nanites. Caution should be used by a GM with the attributes section. Tri-stat does not 'game balance' its meta system all that thoroughly and you can easily build game breaking concepts ? such as a Special Attack with both Accuracy and Autofire combined with Combat Technique: Accuracy. Taking both types of accuracy thus enables a character to Trick Shot an Autofire attack and possibly do hundreds of points of damage every round reliably if the attack's base damage is high enough (such as being to deliver 10 hits every round of a 20 point attack ? the second lowest setting). This may be seen as a system buster by some ? a reason to avoid tri-stat ? however this lack of strong built in balance also allows you to simulate many more unusual concepts. Provided you have a GM who pays attention and players willing to compromise, the balance issues can be easily governed and you will be able to reap the benefits of so open a game engine.
     
     The attributes section also contains a list of tri-stat dX attributes not found in Ex Machina ? many of these, such as Teleport and Pocket Dimension are obvious, but others such as Computer Scanning and Owns Big Mecha seem as if they really should have been in the list. Computer Scanning I could understand from looking it up in Silver Age Sentinels ? it is something of a short cut to getting data out of machines that runs right past the difficulty of breaking into a secure system. Owns Big Mecha however, seems to me the ideal way of representing vehicles, and without explanation for its cut I was left a bit confused.
     
     An explanation for that does come somewhat in the templates section. Templates are prebuilt packages to shorten the work of character creation, and one of them -The Teleoperator- suggests using Item Of Power to represent vehicles. The templates are used to give us professions, non humans (such as androids, bioroids, AIs, and so on), and cyberware. I'll cover cyberware under gear, as for the other templates each is built as a list of things you apply to the character, a total point cost, and notes on customization. The list includes all of the 'basic assumptions' of the genre as classic Cyberpunk understands it, with more templates in the four settings for less common ideas.
     
     Finally in character generation we have the earlier mentioned defects. GURPS and Hero players will know these as disadvantages. In tri-stat they -usually- each come on a scale of one to three and are bought either for specific attributes or the character in general. Some of them are specific as in GURPS, such as Phobia, and others are more general like in Hero, such as Restriction. The chapter begins with a discussion on their role in the game, and guidelines for the limits of how many of them you can get (normally from 3 to 5). Taking them will normally give your character 1 to 3 more points each, and given that the norm of Ex Machina is a 75-100 point character, they will not be a major part of your point total ? viable characters can thus be made without them, much like in Mutants and Masterminds rather than what you see in GURPS or Hero.
   • Combat ? or, is this Video Game Cyberpunk?
     I've heard it said that tri-stat doesn't offer enough tactical options to make for exciting game play in combat. On the list of facts that agree with this the game has only three stats which all play equal importance in combat accuracy and damage, only four stages for damage (25, 50, 75, or 100% of maximum), and movement does not require a play mat ? in fact with fast enough characters it can become awkward. Countering the claim however is a list of maneuvers and modifiers about as long as that seen in d20. It is a hit point system, but there are optional rules for tracking impairment from injury. Armor stops damage, and there are no hit locations though called shots can be used to target specifics. On the downside the team attack from Silver Age Sentinels is not in this game, but it really doesn't fit the genre anyway. The system is cinematic and not exactly all that gritty. It's lethality will vary depending on gear and attributes chosen. It is probably not as lethal as R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013/2020, but more lethal than Shadowrun 1.0 (but not 3.0).
     
     Consider the average character will have around 80 health points [(Body + Soul) x 5], and that the average gun does 13-14 damage per hit [ACV 8 + 62.5% of 8 or 10]. It will take about 7 hits to kill.
     The 62.5 I got from assuming that most hits will do 50% or 75% of max, only every now and then will you get 25% or 100%, and very rarely a crtical (200% once every 64 attacks).
     
     On the other hand, a character with martial arts is likely to do the same damage (massive damage level 1), and if they have a cyberarm, 5 more than that per average hit. A ranged character could in theory also get massive damage to reflect a marksman, and without such melee is more than likely going to be the most lethal option present.
     
     To the rescue on this built in lack of danger to combat comes the shock system ? whereby if you take more than a certain amount of damage in a single hit you go into shock for a while and become a sitting duck. Coupled with this is a system whereby the same amount of damage will cause you to start bleeding out and eventually die if you do not get medical attention. On downside of that is once you start bleeding you will ALWAYS need surgery or eventually die.
     
     Even with the variety of maneuvers, the shock system, and the options for injury there are still very few variables to track, so it does play fast, and you will rarely get bogged down in book lookup during combat.
     
     Now consider the classic test from Shadowrun 1.0 ? can Mary Joe NPC kill herself? If a typical human takes a light gun, puts it to her head and shoots, what will happen in Ex Machina? In the real world this is usually instant death. In Ex Machina Mary is likely to have a Health of 40 and do 12 damage ? assuming she can hit with a total attack aimed called shot (a roll of -4 or less on 2d8 - so she can only shoot her head if she rolls a 2 unless the GM gives her a difficulty modifier or assumes no roll needed). Even with a critical hit she will still be alive. She will however, critical or not, exceed her shock value and thus begin to bleed out - hitting zero in 28 rounds (~ 2minutes 20 seconds). In addition if you use the optional injury rules she will have trouble not going into 'shock' and thus being unable to act for a few rounds while bleeding out. Otherwise if she makes a shock roll she will still be free to take actions during this time ? such as drive to a hospital and get patched up. The saving grace on this comes if she has, as suggested on page 84 for henchmen, the "Not so Tough" defect. If she had it at 3 BP, even a non critical could kill her in one shot given the rules for Catastrophic damage. So Mary Joe can commit suicide, but only if she is a henchman will she go down fast.
     
     The choice to use or not use the injury rules will play a large role in how deadly the system plays out. If you want gritty and brutal use them. People won't die instantly, but they will wear down very fast. You could also consider lowering the points given to PCs, or assuming the Massive Damage attribute is common to anyone who makes heavy use of guns. The system at its default is fairly cinematic and non lethal to PCs and major NPCs, but turn on the right options and you can make it deadly.
   • Gear
     The technology chapter starts with looking at the hard science versus dramatic and technology advancement level of your setting and using this to consider what is likely to be easy or hard to find, if at all. Next we get information on setting up background technologies ? power sources, the state of biomedicine, and nanotechnology. Then come the goods. Ex Machina traces gear not with cash, but in an abstraction through the Gadgets attribute. Each rank in Gadgets lets you have a number of gadgets ? minor and major. Minor gadgets are things somewhat hard or expensive to get, and major gadgets are things usually illegal, restricted, or otherwise very difficult to acquire. Normal everyday stuff is Mundane, and your character can have as much of that as you can explain away. In Ex Machina, you do not have to track how many pairs of underwear you bought, or even your cellphone / PDA, but you do have to track your gun, your wheels, and your grenade launcher. This is another aspect of the cinematic nature of the tri-stat system and honestly ? it is a welcome relief. Most newer modern and future age games are moving on to abstract wealth systems, but players of older Cyberpunk games are all too used to tracking their Japan Inc. dollars for every little toothbrush (more than likely you didn't actually go that far down, but officially you were supposed to)... The gear present in the book is fairly standard stuff for the genre today. If you haven't updated your understanding of Cyberpunk since the 80s, some of it will seem advanced ? such as having cellphones so cheap your character can strap a few thousand onto himself as a fashion statement, or having a Net that allows for wireless access. Yeah, its about time the future caught up with 1995. You get a good solid list of toys for your characters here, but you will need several ranks in gadgets to get more than a small selection. A lot of things which are Mundane are simply not listed, so a downside is that you don't have a style and fashion list like many other Cyberpunk RPGs did. The vehicles section, after giving us a list to buy in the normal manner presents an optional system for buying them as 'items of power,' and notes this can be used to for powered armor suits as well ? and then gives a few examples of such. That one is is probably most likely to see use among the anime crowd, but it is nice to see the idea handled.
     
     I'll step back for a second and look at Cyberware ? unlike other gear cyberware is acquired as if it were a template of attributes. You pay points for each bit of cyberware that has an actual game effect. Biotech works much the same. By contrast Wetware ? skills and personas on chips or copied into implanted hard drives are handled using the Gadgets method of other gear. Nothing in the system makes the acquisition of Cybernetics dehumanizing (about time too), nor does anything prevent the adaptation of subtle or minor cyberware. Tri-stat's attributes are something of a meta-system for building powers, and you can thus put in just about anything. The text of the chapter also covers designing new Cyberware, customizing what you have for 'off-brand' goods, the medical process of installing cyberware and biotech, fire sharing your wetware, recording your memories and uploading your mind.
   • Networking ? or, the bane of Cyberpunk gaming
     Nearly every system for handling networks in past proved to be a failure for players. Usually on the end of leaving the group sitting around while the GM handles some video game like abstraction for the one or two members who operate in a cyberspace written by people who've never been online.
     
     Ex Machina does present such a system for those who want it, but it also presents a second system rooted more in researching passwords, doing online research, stealing personal data chips, and doing actual 'hacking.' This can be done at the keys or neurally, and either way it works through skill checks to find and manipulate data while avoiding detection and security. There's no iconic interface, no game of Pac-Man.
     
     The second system is that iconic system created by early Cyberpunk authors who had no computer knowledge, and yet now popular with the public imagination of gamers ? even as the rest of the world gets online and finally realizes how silly it was. It works as a massive 3D world laid over the real world where you wander around with your avatar battling other avatars and will seem familiar to fans of the 80s RPGs. Game effects wise it reminds me of the method used in Cyber Hero ? you use a dimension hopping power placed into a device and an assume an alternate form with a new set of abilities once there. The system in Cyber Hero was amazingly unpopular with Hero fans of the day, but this system looks to be handled a little better. It still suffers the classic problem of sidelining the other players ? unless you run the VR side by side with the real time (as in how it works in the IOSHI setting). Me, I intend to use the first system, the one based on advancing actual real understandings of computer technology into a neural interface.
   
   GMing the Genre:
   Chapter 12 of the book discusses GMing Ex Machina, and begins with the usual stuff about being interesting, making campaigns and adventures, handing out experience, and thinking of themes. There's a very activist stance taken here ? the book not only suggests you cheat and make house rules, it declares that doing so is the only way to be a good GM; ?If you want your players to think you are the best Game Master in the world, you only have one option: cheat, and cheat often. ... there are no rules about 'being fair'? (p. 145). Most of us know better than to say something like that ? the world is full of a variety of different styles and some of them fudge the rules, some don't. Whether or not they do is not the best way to judge their success. Beyond that, the other advice is good. If you find yourself liking Ex Machina or any other RPG from Guardians of Order and this statement on rules is a little heavy handed for you this company is probably going to end up being a frustrating experience. Whenever rules are incomplete or fail in some test the usual response is to suggest ignoring them without explaining their normal application or even how best to judge when to do this. Unfortunately the same response tends to follow when the rules -are- working, but you don't understand them... It's a good rules set, and a design group with good ideas, but they have a frustrating way of presenting themselves. If you're a Dramatist GM this is perfect for you ? it works great if the goal is an engaging story -above- all else. If you're a Gamist it might work for you if you have a good sense of when to change rules for gaming action / challenges, but can blow up on you if you misjudge it or are inconsistent. The Simulationist GM however, is likely to find this stance very difficult ? the perspective would seem to be that modeling a system to accurately simulate the needs of the genre is the wrong approach, that Simulationist gamers are in error in their style choice.
   
   One actual issue I do see with the game is in the advancement system. It is slow, possibly painfully so. Roughly speaking you will get about 1.1 character points every 4 sessions. It will take about a year of weekly play to go up by 1/7 of your character's original points, with that total you will be able to perhaps buy about 3 ranks of attributes assuming the average costing attribute. From a GMs point of view ? you should thus make sure starting characters have enough points to completely capture the character concepts from day one, and assume points from experience only work to address how that concept changes, albeit slowly. That, or up the amount of experience you give out ? a common solution chosen by GMs of other tri-stat games if the online forums for them are indicative of any real world trends. Most people online give an advancement point or two per session and not every few sessions. I think I've seen as high as five in Silver Age Sentinels threads. As play of Ex Machina spreads the online community will probably come up with a norm for this issue, and I look forward to seeing the readers of this review in those discussions when they do come about (in other words, I'm telling you to get involved).
   
   The next 5 pages of this 12 page plus 2 page art spread chapter cover GMing the Cyberpunk genre in particular as opposed to GMing in general. How to handle a genre has always been a strong point of tri-stat games ? with long and detailed essays on the topic ? and this book is no exception. We begin with an essay on what it means to be marginalized, to face prejudice, to refuse the system or try to reform it, and how protagonists become empowered. A very common complaint about Cyberpunk gaming is that it captures the Cyber and the Punk, but misses everything the two words combined stand for. This essay is where Ex Machina seeks to help you run a Cyberpunk game and not a Cybered Punks game. After this we get essays on overcoming human limits, getting style down, and examining core elements of the genre. You get to look at grunge, the value of an information culture, branding, corporate power, the lack of clear evil, shifting cultures, lost data (I read a New York Times article on this just the other day in fact ? a prediction that the information age will actually lose mass amounts of data from conflicting storage standards and decaying media ? but the note in Ex Machina is more about the ease of digital secrets getting around when you do something as foolish as drop your keychain drive by accident ? as any resident of the Silicon Valley can attest, the plot that begins with ?you find a memory chip sitting left on the table in the cafe by the last guy...? is not all that absurd, in fact that chip is sitting on my desk right now), and the general ubiquitous nature of tech. A sidebar covers organized crime and the section ends in a short inspiration list.
   
   Finally we get 3 pages on new ways to handle your gaming fix. Here the book covers setting up a website, using email, running a game in email or chat, lan-party gaming (have the players bring their laptops), convention gaming, keeping things simple, sharing Gming, and even going freeform. This is all handled with a series of short essays that more wet your tastes than give you the full tools to do what they suggest. It is still a very handy section though ? and the information it imparts should lead you in the right direction for whatever fix you choose.
   
   The Four Settings:
   The book jumps right in, with the next four chapters each giving us one setting. Now don't think you're being shortchanged a complete setting here ? this stuff starts on page 158 and the book goes out to page 343 before it finishes with the settings. At two columns and a small typeface you're getting more out of each of these than most Cyberpunk games gave in their core rules for their one single setting. Each of these settings comes from a different author and thus has a different writing style ? from not only each other but the main book as well. This can at times be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which writer you find clearest or most organized to your way of thinking.
   • Heaven Over Mountain
     The premise here is a giant biotech beanstalk going from ground to orbit, with cities all along the way. The Tower of Babel made real in Columbia. We start with a history of the project which at times reads like a Libertarian manifesto ? but this is fiction, and in fiction we make an assumption and go with it ? such as the idea that corporate openness would end oppression and corruption. Aside from that little cheap shot from the political scientist in me the premise is really novel and I found myself really liking this setting. It isn't very dystopian however, unless you consider the presence of Chinese, still under what looks like the same government, to itself be a nightmare. After the history we get a layout of the elevator, from the basic manner in which it works to a guide to the cities along it ? each with its own distinct theme, and then a little bit about space beyond and the problems society has faced in making use of it. From there we get notes on major players in the setting and how they work together or against each other's interests, a little bit on the nature of living in an artificial world, and some current events you can use. After that we get a look at campaign themes from the point of view of being visitors, residents, specialists on hire, or drifters (people living on the outside of elevator). Finally we have some game elements specific to this setting ? a chart on the status of different technologies, some elements of biotech, a few near space vehicles, and optional rules for culture shock and stress
     
     Heaven Over Mountain is likely to be more of a social game of intrigue and culture themes than an action game. You can stage action along the elevator, particularly with specialists and drifters, but it is not the focus of the setting. This one is the setting for exploring the idea of alienation in a future perhaps outpacing the people occupying it. It lacks much of the dystopian character of Cyberpunk, there's no great failing in the society, mankind has not been forced to give up its soul to a dark future, in fact it looks as if the elevator is going to eventually lead to a capitalist's paradise. That said, shake it up a bit and you can find a campaign in there. After all, not telling us the horrible truth and injustice behind it all doesn't mean it isn't there ? just that you won't have players coming in and meta gaming a foreknowledge of it.
     
   • Underground
     Underworld is entirely the 'dys' side of dystopia ? this isn't paradise lost, its hell found. The idea is that a US acting on a fear of terrorism has taken over every 'rogue state' it could find and orbitally blasted anyone complicit in aiding those states (read as: anyone who asked questions). Then in the guise of democratization they moved in American megacorps for reconstruction and put the locals under their thumbs. Special economic zones were created to promote capitalism (Wait, weren't we talking about democracy? What does capitalism have to do with that? - or so the European might ask... before the US bombed his cities out of existence for raising the question). Left to their own devices, the corps have turned these special walled off cities into 'workers paradises' (read: life is cheap, and you're cheaper). In many ways what this gives you on the inside is something like what 80s Cyberpunk gaming often delivered ? roving street gangs, remote corps, nameless scenery people, and PCs as bottom feeders in a game of survival.
     
     The Underworld is essentially a corporate run prison labor camp, and if you think that idea is absurd you have not been paying attention to how the prison system already works in the USA and how we already structure some of our overseas worker camps (particularly in Latin America at present). Underworld simply takes that and couples it to our current idea of security over freedom and extends the two out to their logical end point.
     
     The whole world is not this way, in fact outside of these 'secure economic zones' the world might be a paradise of luxury for any ally of the US (or not), and soon to be occupied and converted over or bombed out of existence for anyone else.
     
     The setting presents this basic picture, then moves on to a number of people living within it at different levels ? showing us first the type and then a sample or two. We get worker drones, drifters, corps, security, media, organized crime, gangs and so on.
     
     The biggest complaint I have over this setting deals with timeline issues. The Underworlds have been in place for decades, six to be exact, one note even mentions great grandparents of current adults having been born in them ? but the power corps used to make them was put into law by the current president. He head of security in Underworld 9 (the location we focus on, built over a city in occupied / liberated Thailand) has held his position for four years, during which time he put down a major revolt that happened seven years ago... There's a lot of this sort of thing in Underworld, and it jars at times even if none of it is actually major or relevant to the likely PCs.
     
     Outside of the that the setting is novel in its utter desperation and hopelessness. There is no way out of Underworld ? not even in a body bag (in fact you're more likely to be eaten than recycled). This is a setting about pure survival on the margins.
     
   • IOSHI
     The name of this setting is likely to result in it being claimed by the Sailor Moon meets Akira crowd, but with luck the rest of us will be able to stake a hold on it as well ? because at least to me, this one looks to be the diamond in a pack of gems for those who can wrap their heads around it.
     
     The introduction to IOSHI is perhaps the most confusing bit of text in the entire book; ?The development of human knowledge is strictly limited by the sophistication of the techniques used to organize and convey that knowledge. Thus, oral tradition gives way to writing, private collections to libraries, digital libraries to the web, and finally the worm to IOSHI ('the well')? (p. 247). My response to that amounts to ¿Que? It is not helped by the intro blurb at the beginning of the book; ?IOSHI conveys knowledge in the traditional fashion: datajacked into a two-level personal library stored on a chip in one's brain. It serves as a significant boon to anyone who can afford personal or professional access. ... IOSHI is a patented technology. Getting to the state of art isn't just a matter of money; it's a matter of legal entanglement... usually a few hundred corporations own very small pieces of you? (p. 11). This all very nice and interesting in a confusing sort of way, but it still doesn't tell me what the setting is about. This one will take reading in depth, and I will try to give you the theme in plain terms.
     
     The basic premise seems to be a post-national world defined by interest groups and mobile workforces rather than nations and loyal wage slaves. The philosophy, or discourse behind this is a socio-economic construct called 'Sparta.' A person might move thirty times in a month, work for dozens of different corporations and never seem ill at ease about any of it. Life is online in every sense, with an iconic net (IOSHI) overlaying the physical world and itself seeming more real that reality ? the apartment next to you might be a foreign place listed as far aw
   
   
   
   • Plain and simple, this sistem rocks! A bit difficult at start, due to massive details on each stat and its usage, but when you get it, a whole new world of opportunities lies at your feet! I was a big fan of Cyberpunk 2020, but now i would NEVER came back to that sistem, now that i know of Ex Machina.
     A little defect: there is no charachter sheet, you gotta do it yourself. Do'h! :-/
   
   
   

No comments about Elfs: A Guide to the Aldryami (Runequest: Glorantha).

3 comments about The Wolfrider's Guide to the World of Elfquest.

1. I got this book as a present and I'm glad I did. I had just gotten into elfquest and had no idea what was going on and this book gives summaries of events in the comics, past character, and present character summaries. It is very well written and pays great attention to detail.



2. This book really helps you understand the characters and plot a lot more. if you are like me then this book is for you.



3. I've followed Elfquest since the days of the black and white oversize comincs, through the Marvel reprints, and then onto the Donning and other color volume reprints, back to the comics. The series has been around over 25 years and the multi-generational story can be hard to follow if you're gifted with something in the middle, or even luckier, all 15 volumes simulatenously. This is a great reference for that, and it helps with the nuances that might escape you on the first read. It's also good for the stuff that's gone out of print or is hard to find.

   It's also a great reference for those us who just want to drift through the pages and enjoy. It's almost as good as re-reading the stories themselves if you don't have time to savor the story itself.

No comments about THS In the Well (Transhuman Space).