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I can forgive a lot for the imagination that goes into the gruesome denouement of this tale. I personally don't much like the particular technology that underpins the story and seems to justify any sort of magical occurrence in recent SF. Its background seems a little too contrived. But if the players will never know about it and the GM can justify it as a necessary leap of logic to make the science-horror work, maybe it's nothing to worry about.
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Creator Reply: |
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Hi Jim C.
Sorry it’s taken a while for me to reply to you; I wanted to have something to show – that is an update to the product based on reviews – before replying. Firstly, can I say; thank you, thank you, and thank you. The first thank you is for the feedback; any feedback in gratefully accepted. We can’t make things better if we don’t have other peoples’ takes on things. Secondly, thank you for not blurting out the secret core of the adventure. Others would probably have not been so considerate. And third, thank you for speaking your mind and giving me something to work with. While 5 star ‘it’s just awesome’ reviews are good for the ego, they are not that good for improving the product. I like reviews that tell me something that I can do to make things better.
Your dislike of the underlying technology of the adventure is not surprising given the way Hollywood has abused it in the past. I do agree that they use it as a cure-all in their storylines - I hope you can see that I only use it as a basis for far more complex and scary shenanigans. The recent remake of a classic 50’s sci-fi springs to mind, however, there it was alien produced. As there are no aliens in vanilla Rapture, everything that happens is due to humankind up until the Rapture itself. Thus, in the secret history, it is mankind’s doing. I can’t do much about your feeling that the secret history section is contrived – it’s been accepted as cannon now by the Universe’s author, and is already referenced to in multiple new works that are in production. But having said that, I lead on to one of the new additions to the product that I hope you, Jim, will access and read, as it was specifically written to address your (and anyone else’s) issues with the ‘underlying technology.’ It’s the Technology Sate of Play document, and it outlines where that tech is in real life, up to the present day, as well as where we see it progressing and fitting into the timeline of Rapture: The End of Days. Dislike or no, this tech is fundamental to advances we’ve made in many facets of production and manufacturing in real life, and it is only going to increase. Given that this adventure occurs over 600 years in the future, I think that it’s quite possible that advancements to that point, even with the 200 years of ‘The Great Gap’ in there, is plenty of time for it to mature into what is presented. Well that’s our opinion, anyway.
The other addition I made to the product, based on your comments, was to tie the secret history into the adventure officially. Now there is an audio clue and transcript that can be used by the GM (at the appropriate juncture) to tie it in. I hope that the players will want to read the full secret history after the game’s conclusion, so they can fully understand the effort we put in to not only making the Rapture Universe a rich playing field for your games, but an internally constant one as well.
Thanks again for your comments, and I hope this update improves your consideration of our products. We aim for Gaming Excellence, and if you speak, we listen.
Best Regards,
Ray Duell
StoryWeaver Games
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Return to Perdition is a one-off adventure for 'Rapture: End of Days'. At 50 pages, plus a HUGE variety of quality supporting downloads including maps and audio clips, you will get more than you bargained for!
The adventure runs like the outline for a movie - not a script - but the background, plot, synopsis, actors, motivations, and a true sci-fi horror finale. It provides plenty of opportunity for GM customisation and for players to take it in multiple directions.
After playing the advanture through the one thing that struck me was 'hey, the horror did not go out the window once the big-bad-guy was releaved.' I hope everyone appreciates just how difficult a feat this is! It reminded me of the early Cthulhu material in lots of good ways, but with a really cool twisted setting that was just plain spooky from the opening.
The 'Tips for Terror' and play examples I think are essential for any setting that is vastly different from what you already know - and beleive me 'Rapture' is - and these do a good job of explaining the best style for running the adventure.
The actual writing style is informal, with lots of dark-humor in the sidebars which may/may-not be your preference? At the very least it makes for easy reading.
In truth there are a few layout errors but I only noticed them when I went looking for them, and overall it is a quality product.
The 'GMs secret background information' was interesting, but I got the feeling that I either had to be so familiar with it that it rolled of my tounge, or I should avoid mentioning it and stick to the core adventure. Some guidance on that would have been useful.
The character section deserved a few more details or more guidance, however, the 'summary tables' of characters are something that I think a lot of other games can pick up on, as they will make running the game a lot simpler for a GM.
All-in-all this is a very busy 'sandbox' and I'm sure a lot of the ideas and even characters (who survive ; ) would find a place in other Rapture settings. I would have liked to have seen a 'flowchart' summary of the options available in the game, to cut down in the cross-referencing the GM will have to do, but the options are certainly plenty and there for the taking.
Enjoy!
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Creator Reply: |
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Hi Patrick T,
Thank you for your clear, concise and well balanced review. We worked hard to make it a fun, creepy, scary experience, and keep the horror going after the big reveal. I’m glad you liked it. ‘Tips for Terror’ has been expanded in the recent update, now talking about ways to expediently keep track of characters, paperwork, and playing audio and sound effects to great effect. We’ve also done a bug hunt, tweaked and tickled everything, and added 2 pages worth of new material, to bring the core file up to exactly 50 pages (inc. cover). Now with all that material, you were quite right; it was rather had to find what you needed quickly, so I’ve gone in and created a GM’s cheat sheet. It has a flow chart for the adventure (as per your suggestion), as well as all the dice related rules that were scattered throughout the adventure, now all on the one page, and on the back is a ‘master threats table,’ with all the dice and necessary description detail for all the NPC’s you’ll want to keep track of during the game. I recommend printing it out on a double-sided page, and then scribbling all over it during play. Likewise, with the Crew Tracking Sheet either on a PC/tablet or printed out, you can keep track of all the characters easily and quickly, saving time, confusion and making your game of Transit to Perdition run as smooth as glass.
All in all, thanks to yours’ and others’ comments, with this update - including minor changes gleaned from running the module multiple times at Cons - Transit to Perdition is now the Sci-Fi horror GM’s sweet, sweet, tasty treat! Do download the update and enjoy!
Best Regards,
Ray Duell
StoryWeaver Games
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