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Other comments left by this customer: |
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Solid. I use these when I run BitD. A ton of content on these cards/
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John-
I know it has been some time and I'm a little loathe to contact you, but now I know I have to warn you. I didn't take you perhaps as seriously as I should have the first time, but now it has returned.
De Profundis.
I remember reading about it years ago when it first came out. Translated from the Polish someone said, a game unlike any other. Then within an hour of my curiosity being piqued you sent me an email. Would I like to try playing a new game you'd found, De Profundis? At the time I took it for an amusing coincidence, but now I see that it wasn't that. The book had plans. Our abortive attempt to play it, with only a few letters exchanged between us- that was the damnable thing laying a seed inside our heads. Perhaps it could not fully bring itself forth into our world yet. Perhaps the stars were not right.
I fear that they are in alignment now. For now there comes a second edition of this game-- more extensive and more dangerous.
At this point I'm certain that you will be shaking your head. The last time I spoke with you about De Profundis you looked at me as if I was mad. You claimed you'd never played such a game, never even heard of it. It had made you forget, but I remembered to an unknown purpose. Please believe me that you have played-- perhaps in my describing it again, a recollection might stir.
De Profundis is a role-playing game, though saying that may be stretching the definition. Certainly there are those who would not recognize it as such: it lacks a gamemaster (though perhaps there might be an organizing force...), a conventional play structure or even a resolution system. Instead it is closer to the shared narrative of something like Baron Munchausen or Fiasco. You may dismiss that out of hand and perhaps if you do so you might be the better for it. But let us assume that you are intrigued and wondering what kind of a 'game' this might actually be. Maybe you've started to recall our earlier encounter with it. Or perhaps not.
It styles itself as a psychodrama, an odd term. In that it suggests that the players, the participants as the book terms them, will not necessarily explore a plot-driven story. Instead they will carry out the exploration and reflective dissection of the character they decide to take on. That exploration comes through the exchange of letters, missives, notes and perhaps even ephemera. In this it resembles the style of Stoker's Dracula, that novel built from correspondence, annotations and fictitious news clippings. For a more modern version one has to look to something like Griffin & Sabine or even House of Leaves. Of course we argued over that latter book before, whether it exists as a true book or dread or simply executes a literary magic trick. But the real precursor, the spiritual and explicit grandfather of De Profundis is the work of H.P. Lovecraft.
In that sense, it is another Call of Cthulhu game, but very different. It stakes itself on discovery, rather than investigation. As a game format, it could feed on any genre-- but somehow this is more appropriate. And I suspect De Profundis has its own ideas for why the Lovecraftian Mythos must be at the core. One can play oneself, select an old Call of Cthulhu character, or even chose someone from one of the original HPL stories. That selection merely sets the scene and the background; no one has a character sheet as such. What's important is the persona they inhabit in the play of this psychodrama.
The 'rules', such as they are, provide guidelines and suggestions for how to carry out and support the mood of such play. Some might dismiss the game as simply a fancified forum thread: an exchange of letters form the narrative. It could be that, I suspect, but the text provides keys for other paths. Methods for establishing timelessness, for marking play, for the physical nature of the game carried out in actual parchment, action versus experience...all of these things. Though it may seem like a passive game, there exists a passive and an active position in the play it discusses. You might be a subject without even being aware of it. The language of the book itself draws the reader in. As I warned you...I did warn you, didn't I?...De Profundis plays with you even as it reveals its secrets.
The first half of De Profundis lays out these things in hints and suggestions-- beginning with an extensive abstract presentation of the concepts. Two smaller sections follow on how to visualize the secret world necessary for this writing. It becomes almost a relief when the tone of the dreadful thing shifts halfway through- finally becoming more meta, like a conventional rulesbook. Beware, though, even that's a trick to lull you in with the excellent discussion and make you forget the brain worm it strives to embed in your consciousness. It provides mechanical tools which some may grasp as a reference point. It may give them a sense of familiarity...but on closer examination those tables are a straw-man, a scarecrow pointing down a dark road. Wait...
I'm sorry, I thought I heard something, but it was only the rustling of the pages. I purchased this game on pdf, but somehow everywhere I look, out of the corner of my eye I see it. It seems to have bled into my thinking about other games. I must put my copy of The Armitage Files down in the basement where it will be secure.
Where was I? Yes-- De Profundis wants to be larger, wants to be used. The Lovecraft connections reveals its true heritage, but it could easily infect other genres: fantasy, the mythic, historical...all could fall victim. I suggests that such a play could be used to complement an on-going tabletop game- to provide another perspective. There-- you see how it tries to extend its tendrils? The vivid examples of play at the end of the book stay with me even now-- creating more ideas for bringing De Profundis into the world. I even suggests how one might use this in an electronic medium without losing the atmosphere...reaching a broader audience.
Which is what it wants...I see that now.
The most important thing is that we must not allow reviews of this game to be posted on the internet-- good, bad or indifferent, they can only spark some dark thoughts at the back of readers' minds. They'll be clicking through some easy shopping site and it will pop up in a sidebar, the Adsense of Azathoth as it were. They'll buy it, download it and then they'll read it. The game itself compels me to give it a positive review-- to speak of its potency and how it can get into the consciousness. I must resist, I must not review it...
(4 Out of Five Stars)
Thumbs Up!
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What is it?
A Roman sourcebook covering the period from the founding to the end of the Republic.
To begin: if you're thinking about running a campaign set in ancient Rome, you should buy this book.
Rome: The Life and Death of the Republic is a 220-page sourcebook for Basic Role-Playing. The layout's clean and the book mostly uses classic illustrations rather than too much original art. Based on these books, I'm going to put some of their other books Stupor Mundi, Merrie England, and Dragon Lines on my wishlist.
Pick Your Rome
It's interesting to consider how Rome has appeared in various media-- there's definitely a “sexier” part of that history. Most cinematic adaptations cover the period just at end of the Republic era or after- from Julius Caesar on. Spartacus would be an exception. Certainly on television that's the case as well: I, Claudius; Rome; AD, and so on. Historical fiction tends to follow suit-- all of the Roman historical mysteries take place after the Republic has become a memory: Roberts, Rowe, Saylor, Wishaert, Downie. So its worthwhile risk for someone do produce a sourcebook which covers not that period, but an earlier one.
Like Cthulhu Invictus, Life and Death of the Republic, concerns itself with a portion of Rome's history. However, where Cthulhu Invictus cut a reasonably-sized slice for itself, Life and Death simply splits the meal in half. It still takes on a huge swath of history, something it admits to right up front. But it also provides a comprehensive overview. We get from the founding of Rome as a monarchy up through the Civil War and the collapse of the Republic. This Rome isn't a timeless abstract-- the book discusses the evolution and changes of cultural details. Green Ronin's Eternal Rome and Steve Jackson's GURPS Imperial Rome took on all of Roman history and, with the exception of the historical timeline, treated everything as static across that entire time period, Life and Death provides some details and options about how things looked in different phases of Rome's development. It breaks those explicitly down into The Monarchy, Early Republic, Middle Republic and Late Republic. It's worth noting that last period does get more attention (in terms of quotations and citation) but that makes sense.
Life and Death makes another unusual decision in focusing attention on what we classically think of as “Rome.” That is we stay in the heartland. Little attention is given to other countries within the Empire. Rome itself stands as a model for other cities in the Empire. That's a striking approach for material like this. On the one hand it means that the authors have room to deal with the core topics of their focus: Roman life, society and history. On the other hand, it does mean that GMs desiring a campaign that moves outside the confines of the Italian Peninsula will have to do some work. Some of the other Roman rpg resources might be useful, but GMs will be forgiven for feeling a little spoiled after having been given the depth of material here.
The Divisions
The book breaks down into fourteen chapters of varying length. While there are some sidebars and notes, we don't really get to any extensive mechanics and campaigns material until about page 120. In that first set of chapters we get coverage of Roman Society (20p.), Roman Culture (20p.), the city of Rome (25p.), The Games (12p.), The Army (18p.), and Philosophy and Religion (15p). Throughout the author provides extensive and interesting quotations from primary sources. Most chapters provide some ideas for player and adventures seeds in boxed text. All of these sections are well written and interesting. The section of the games is especially interesting-- showing how they grew out of other rituals and evolved from funerary rites. The discussion of other kinds of games and how those might be used in play is good. I also liked seeing the details on the changes in weapons, armor and service over time in the section on the army. Author Pete Nash also stops to discuss philosophies of the empire, an important factor. I could go on-- suffice as to say that the material is rich and covers a great deal of ground.
I should stop off an mention the tone and approach of this material; some may find it a little off-putting. Life and Death aims at achieving a kind of accuracy-- providing material so GMs can run a more realistic game. The focus isn't on verisimilitude, but simulation. The material talks about the kinds of attitudes, approaches, and mores which we in the modern world might find objectionable (especially on the issues of familial authority, women and slaves). It suggests that players will have to adjust to that. I think that's easier said than done. The book takes an authoritative approach-- providing facts and details, but with less on the topic of how that might get shown in play. Mind you the writing is strong enough to support that rigid approach. And there are some scenario suggestions for a few entry points.
Basic Role-Playing is a fairly simple system, so that material doesn't get in the way too much. Even once we get to the chapter on characters-- there's still more descriptive text than BRP rules. The section which follows on Roman Magic takes an interesting and open approach-- showing how the Romans spoke about magic and then how those ideas could be used in one of several approaches. GMs can pick from games which have no magic, psychological magic, or true magic. The guidelines given will take some work to put into practice, but the author gives the GM some excellent tools. Fifteen pages on creatures and monsters do provide stats but also some notes on use.
The material on campaigns will be generally useful to anyone thinking about a Roman campaign. It suggests several frames and talks about the kinds of details necessary to them. There's some discussion of alternate campaigns but these are more tidbit than meal. The lists of ten scenario ideas for different topics (Charioteering, Animals, Disasters) is excellent and I would have loved a few more pages of those. We also get some NPCs statted out and notable persons described. Interestingly the book waits until one of the last chapter to actually break out the historical timeline and walk through the 700 years. That's a good choice and one that reinforces earlier material and keeps it from being overwhelming. That's done as a table with events described in four areas (War, Politics & Law, Religion, the City). The book wraps up with a series of useful appendices as well as excellent maps.
Overall
This is a book for history buffs-- those who like a serious approach. But it is also incredibly rich for anyone wanting to carry off the spirit of Rome in a campaign. It doesn't do some things like a sense of the Empire or an approach to the supernatural which other books (like Cthulhu Invictus) do. But it is the most comprehensive, well-done and rich historical sourcebooks I've ever read. I can only how we might see more from this publisher, perhaps covering Rome under the Emperors or a book providing a look at the other parts of the Empire in this period.
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What is it?
A "Supernatural Noir" campaign sourcebook and setting for HeroQuest 2e.
Imagine the Crossovers...
Nameless Streets identifies itself as Paranormal Noir, a genre occupied by at least a couple of other rpgs. The newly released Dresden Files RPG is the most obvious of those, but we should also consider The Edge of Midnight which covered some of the same ground but with an alt universe open-magic approach. I may be wrong, but I don't think White Wolf ever did a Noir sourcebook for either old or new World of Darkness. Generally Nameless Streets presents a campaign frame which takes its cues from the rash of recent fantastic lit with detective protagonists (Anita Blake, Rachel Morgan, Harry Dresden, Allie Beckstrom, Harper Blaine, Joanne Baldwin, Kara Gillian, Jane Yellowrock, Kate Connor...holy cr*p there are a lot of these series...like the Harlequin Romances for a new generation...)
Take a Gander
I should note I'm working from a purchased PDF-- the graphic design is pretty good, although I was a little put off at first by the text design. The green page background takes getting used to. I would have liked a print version with the pdf as well. I do love the cover though-- one of the best I've seen recently.
System-Light or Light System?
HeroQuest 2e provides a feather-light generic system. The abstract nature of character creation, infinite possibilities for abilities, and avoidance of individual systems for gear and equipment means that any campaign sourcebook for this game will have to focus on the setting over the mechanics. At most the materiel will present some options, a frame or frames for handling magic and maybe a few minor variation sub-systems.
In this case, NS presents a few options. Flaws as abilities are given some depth with some new uses and as a means of generating Hero Points in play. It also suggests a fix for one of my concerns with HQ, dividing session-expendable Hero Points from character advancement. Most of the rules presents here are more suggestions and ideas rather than any significant alterations to the HQ engine.
Setting the Scene
Nameless Streets suggests a Portland, Oregon setting which seems a good choice. Most urban fantastic series tend to grab on to a particular city and make it theirs. At least in my mind, Portland's removed enough to provide some mystery. Probably the most significant presentation of the paranormal background for the setting comes in the section discussing Agencies-- what this setting calls communities. The rules suggest the PCs putting together and agency and then provides a set of examples of existing ones in Portland, complete with interesting NPCs. I like the way the book handles this-- a collaborative process for the start of a campaign. I've mentioned before my fondness for these kinds of approaches, and I can see borrowing some ideas from Reign to flesh this out.
HeroQuest suggests the creation of “Genre packs” to set up the basics for different settings. Nameless Streets provides one specific to Paranormal Noir. It includes a Baker's Dozen of archetypes, an extensive discussion on investigation in the real world vs. this one, and some example keyword sets for Private Investigators. The book makes a strange shift character creation to GM-centered material before switching back to how magic works.
Show Us the Magic
In HeroQuest magic operates the same as any other ability-- though how the GM structures that can vary from campaign to campaign. Some magical powers draw from a character's being a particular kind of supernatural creature (vampire, etc). But for more classic magic Nameless Streets opts to have a magical style as an “umbrella” keyword, with different abilities beneath that umbrella. NS first presents a fairly general structure to magic-- a difference between Low Magic, as a practical and sympathetic art, and High Magic, ritualized and exploratory. That's well-laid out, but pretty conventional if you're familiar with modern urban fantasy. NS then presents five magical styles-- which again are interesting and different from one another, but at the same time nothing new in this area. More color or specific community affiliations with these styles would have made them connect with the setting presented here. If you're building a Supernatural Portland setting, more than a generic paranormal game, then the system mechanics and details ought to be tied into the particulars.
One of the nice bits of freedom that HeroQuest gives is the ability to run a supernatural creature without a lot of excess rules baggage. Nameless Streets provides a typical set of such creatures-- with a focus on what playing those might feel like in the setting. This section covers everything from Angels to Animated Corpses to Djinn to Oni. There's a clear sense that the authors have followed all of the modern urban fantasy series and made them workable here.
Mysterious Mysteries
Nameless Streets also follows some other recent rpgs in taking time to discuss the mystery genre and how those stories get played out in a game like this. The book provides some structural ideas-- including design advice. There's an interesting mechanic presented here which has the GM building a mystery in the same way that they might a character. I'm curious to try that out to see what results. Several sample cases and adventure seeds are presented to help the GM walk through that process. The book ends with about ten pages of discussion of Portland as a campaign site, though from a very high level. I would have liked to have seen more material here-- about the structure and kinds of supernatural things going on in Portland. As it is, the most campaign interesting stuff comes in the section on the various sample groups and agencies. There's a great deal of potential there-- but Nameless Streets feels caught between two approaches, on the one hand a game presenting a specific supernatural city with its own rules and structures. On the other hand, a generic frame for doing any kind of modern fantastic game.
Portability
Having been done in HQ means that there's a relatively thin layer of mechanics which a GM might have to remove to port this over to another system. There's some nice campaign structure ideas here-- but it is more about a frame for a modern fantastic game than anything else. If you're running that kind of campaign right now or plan to, it is definitely worth a read through as a resource.
Summary
Nameless Streets gave me some ideas. It provided a concrete example of how HeroQuest could be used for a modern game. I suspect if I were going to run a Persona or Shin Megami Tensai campaign, I'd look first to HeroQuest. It also provided some thematic inspiration for what I might do with a modern paranormal detective game. I'm a little disappointed that the book doesn't have more on the specific Portland setting. Given the competition for eyeballs in this genre, I can see the value of being generic. However the risk of building more particular material would have been worth it. That being said, I'm pleased I picked this up and would recommend it.
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Content is primarily restricted to rooms and corridors. Very good if you're trying to do an Aliens or Space Hulk flavored adventure. Tight areas, small rooms, etc. Almost feels like they took a dungeon set and updated the graphics. Would have been better with some more modular set ups for building larger rooms and areas.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Every possible combination of corridor, bends, doorways and small rooms imaginable. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Less useful for certain kinds of game set ups with less claustrophic atmosphere. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
Its actually quite easy to build larger rooms take any tile set required (make sure the background is constant, there are several different) then take a pair of scissors and cut the walls off, trim along any boundaries you may wish to remove or include then affix to thin card, If this isn't exactly what is required then let me know your requirements (to kevins@uk-gamers.net)and I will look through the several expansion sets available to this the base tiles set and let you know exactly which set has the tiles you require. All the expansions share the same same backgrounds etc. As we have several products in this range it may just be that you picked the wrong item this time, nice that you thought our graphics were worthy of linking with the grand daddy of sci-fi board games, and as you say this set has every combination of corridors, bends, doorways and small rooms you could ever wish for from this the "Base Set"
Kevin |
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Disappointed. Generally mediocre design and not much to the set. <br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Clean images. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not as much material as I'd hoped. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>
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The system is escellent, the layout is excellent, the graphics are amazing. If you've looked at the teasers and are at all interested in the setting as presented you should check it out. If you're a fan of the Mutants and Masterminds system, you should look at how they modified it. If you want to see a very different take on d20 you should also think about getting it.
However: be warned, the setting is not everyone's cup of tea and it runs deeply through the presentation. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A very pretty set of tiles to use with an Asian/Samurai style game. The pieces work together well. The spacing is excellent for tabletop use and the design is uniformly superb. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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One the one hand you get lots of figures. On the other hand a number of them are truly crappy or else print incredibly lightly. I you really want paper minis for this period, then it is a decent value. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Feh. I don't care for the trifold set up. Don't fit with the other paper minis available. Images are set up very strangely and inconsistently across the minis. Actually images range from OK to good. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>
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I liked this system in Mutants and Masterminds and in Blue Rose. It is nice to have a really excellent system put out in this clean and accessible verison. They've done a great job of adapting things. While I don't necessarily see the need for classes, since in MnM you can do everything with levels and points, it still works. Nicely and cleanly laid out and presented. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Really excellent. A nice addition to the game system. Godd color text and nice set of rules. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Layout is great; having both a print and screen version is superb. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
Thank Lowell. Glad that you found the print and screen versions useful. We realise that this adds to the size of the file, but it's something we thought that people might find to be handy.
Cheers
Malcolm |
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This is a great book and a great tmeplate for building other kinds of cities. The technique of putting the power in the hands of the players is interesting. Some of the material adaptable to other settings. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: An incredibly interesting approach to handling a city setting. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Clip art images, but with this series I don't mind so much. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Tremendous. By far the best tech/gadget creation rules I've seen. Others, like Hero and Gurps go to the overly complicated and insanely technical. While some end up having no flavor (DC Heroes for example). This does a great job of finding the middle ground. Excellent examples, great layout and a really useful system. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Pretty much everything. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Normally I'd find at least one negative but this I really enjoyed. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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The quality of the old ADnD products varies. I'd hoped to find more useful information for a FR campaign. This is scattershot and not all that interesting. Better to go with one of the Campaign modules. Of all of the old TSR stuff I've gotten, this feels the most dated and goofy. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>
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