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Chaosium Digest Volume 07 Number 01
Chaosium Digest Volume 7, Number 1
Date: Sunday, July 17, 1994
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
Review: Nexus (Steve Hatherly) PLAY THIS BOOK
Review: Nexus (Alan Glover) PLAY THIS BOOK
Review: The SF BRP Games (Shannon Appel) MISC
--------------------
From: Steve@flar.demon.co.uk (Steve Hatherley)
Subject: Review: Nexus
System: PLAY THIS BOOK
Nexus
Written by Rick Dutton and Walter O Freitag
Published by Chaosium, 136 pages.
Reviewed by Steve Hatherley
There is a terminology problem here. In his introduction, Sandy
Petersen describes Nexus as "Live Action Roleplaying" - which to me
means running around in the woods and bashing people with rubber
swords. Nexus describes itself as "Interactive Literature" which,
apart from being resoundingly pretentious, sounds like a great way to
describe solo gamebooks. Then there is a third term, "Freeform,"
which originates (I think) in Australia and doesn't seem to mean very
much at all.
Anyway, I like freeforms (er, whatever). I love the interaction, the
roleplaying, the scheming, the plotting and the sheer scale of it all.
I like being caught up in grand plots and magnificent designs. It's
an experience quite unlike anything else in roleplaying. But, I've
never tried running one. This is partly because they seem to require
a huge amount of effort, and partly because I am not sure where to
begin. (And the fact that I would rather play has not helped.)
But I am interested in seeing how they work - which is why I bought
Nexus.
Nexus describes an Interactive Literature event set in an SF
convention requiring 44 players and 5 GMs. The game involves strange
alien beings, time travellers, plagues, ghosts and a whole bunch of
assorted weirdos from the best of science fiction. And yes, while I
now appreciate the effort involved, it is still a vast amount of work.
Playing looks far easier and much more fun!
Physically, Nexus is a softback book nearly half of which is character
descriptions. The rest of the book is filled with rules, handouts and
advice for GMs. Lots of advice, fortunately, except for the section
covering the grand finale, which is nebulous and vague. This is
presumably because endings are so dependent on how the rest of the
game has gone. Still, it feels a little thin, even so.
The few rules are kind of weird. Melee is resolved using "Combat
Factors" to reach an outcome and gunfire is resolved by placing sticky
dots on your target. I've not used either rule before, but I guess
they work. (Anyway, combat is not the point in freeforms.)
The book claims that it has two aims. First, it presents an
Interactive Literature event for anybody to run. Second, it is a
guide for would-be designers. So how does it do?
Had I bought Nexus with the intention of running it, I would have been
disappointed. Apart from a few errors (part of the Packet Stuffing
Guide is missing, mysterious "blue sheets" are mentioned), the
attention to detail is sloppy. For example, one character is
described as a martial artist but doesn't get the Martial Training
ability. Okay, so these are hardly critical flaws in the book, but
there is enough to deal with without catering to the errors and
omissions. And yes, there is an awful lot left to do - photocopying
the characters, handouts, rules (at least 44 copies of those!) and so
on. Then there are the Suggested Game Cards - you have to work those
out for yourself.
On the other hand, as a guide for would-be designers, the book is
great. There is a wealth of material on what to do, and when, and
how. Nexus has enough ideas and plot devices to use as a springboard
for other games. (About the only thing it doesn't describe is how to
get to your plot in the first place, but that's probably a matter of
blood, sweat and tears.)
This is the reason I bought Nexus - it works for me.
However, I wonder who Chaosium thinks will buy Nexus. Sure, there are
those like myself who are curious about the behind-the-scenes action
at an Interactive Literature event. But who else? How many people
are actually going to find 44 players (and 5 GMs) with a spare weekend
spare to play it? How many conventions are there?
Nexus is Volume 1 of the "Play This Book" series. The next one had
better be more accessible or I can't see the series stretching to a
third volume.
Cheers,
Steve
--------------------
From: Alan Glover <alan@pinesoft.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Review: Nexus
System: PLAY THIS BOOK
Nexus by Rick Dutton & Walter Freitag, published by Chaosium (#6500)
Nexus marks another new direction for Chaosium, following on from
their publication of non-interactive fiction (I'm referring to books
such as Castle of Eyes or Cthulhu's Heirs). It is a guidebook for
one, well-specified live action roleplaying adventure.
However, it is properly termed 'interactive literature'. It differs
from some forms of LRP in that combat is not resolved by hitting each
other for instance.
The adventure itself is designed for 44 players, a number of
game-masters plus several 'gamemothers', who are people with no
interest in the action that possess the social and emotional skills to
keep those in it comfortable (including the GMs!).
Although it could be run in its own right, the intended setting is as
an adjunct to some kind of convention - ideally a SF one.
Since each of the 44 players starts out with such a tiny shred of the
overall picture, it would be easy to give out spoilers by making just
about any comment on the plot at all ... so I'll leave the plot alone;
aside from saying that it fits in well enough at a SF con, and would
be a bit harder to sustain in its own right.
Nexus gives exquisite detail about the entire staging of the event,
including what props need to be made, advice about staging the event
and organising it, and how to actually run it on the day (well,
weekend actually).
The modus operandi for the game involves phone contact to a Control
Room. At first glance, this might seem expensive, but remember that
in the case of a convention you'd just be making calls between
internal extensions so there'd actually be no cost involved. Most
players have some contact or code word to employ which connects them
with their mentor, resource, gang, henchmen, computer access, or
whatever.
Players have numbered badges rather than names, to avoid instantly
identifying 'strangers' within the game. When a player has a badge on
they're in play. When they don't, they either are out of play or
weren't playing in the first case.
The book is full of practical advice for both the GMs and the players.
It also makes no attempt to hide the fact that as the game progresses
it will gradually become bigger than the sum of the talents involved
in it. In a tabletop game, the GM usually at least knows what is
going on even if they can't influence it without undue
interventionism. In a live action game it is just not possible for
five GMs to be aware of everything that 44 players are plotting,
scheming, and realising, so the game will get out of control,
typically around Saturday evening according to the overview.
Although, of necessity, much of the introductory and overview sections
are heavily tutorial, they are generally written with a levity and
enthusiasm which makes it easy to pass over. One quote, from the
section about choosing assistant GMs illustrates this well:
* You will need 3-4 fellow GMs to help you prepare and run the game
at full speed.
These should be people you can trust to get things done, to be
imaginative, to get things done, to get along with each other, and
to get things done.
Having read it thoroughly, I certainly feel confident enough to
consider trying to run Nexus sometime; though getting a project of
this sort off the ground requires a lot of time and committment, to
say nothing of finding around 60 people and a handy SF convention.
I only have one concern, which is commercial rather than practical.
Only GMs should read Nexus; so the actual sales of the book could be
relatively low. That said, I suppose the ratio is similar - in a
tabletop game there's 1 GM to around 6 players, here there are 5 GMs +
support to 44 players. However, the missing factor is the fiction
value. Some players still buy scenario books for their fictional
value, and it's easier to deal with a knowledgable player in a
hands-on environment such as a table-top game.
I hope the series it successful - this is certainly a powerful debut.
The downside is that the following point has to be made strongly. Buy
the book if you are considering running (or assisting in running) the
game. Do NOT buy it if you are going to play the game (or at least,
not until afterwards...).
--------------------
From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel)
Subject: Review: The SF BRP Games
System: Misc (BRP, Ringworld, Other Suns)
At Origins last weekend, I picked up a copy of Other Suns, a BRP
Science Fiction game published about ten years ago by FGU. Thus,
finally having a copy of all three SF BRP games that have been
published in the US, I decided to write up a review of them. So
below, you'll find comments on Future World (1/3 of Worlds of Wonder,
Chaosium, 1982), Other Suns (FGU, 1983) and Ringworld (Chaosium,
1984). Unfortunately, all of these games are now out of print, but
with a little bit of work, they can still be uncovered in net.auctions
and con flea markets. I've purchased my copies of all three games in
the last couple of years.
FUTURE WORLD
by Steve Perrin and Gordon Monson
published by Chaosium as a part of WORLDS OF WONDER (2008-X)
Worlds of Wonder was an interesting product. It detailed three
different genres, Future World, Magic World and Super World, all
centered around the city of Wonder, a place which offered portals onto
all of reality. A 16 page Basic Role Playing book was the heart of
the product, and all three Worlds were built upon it.
Future World's biggest fault is its size. It is only sixteen pages
long, and thus there's really not enough room to fully detail a
science fiction environment. Two pages outline a background for
Future World, although I suspect that most gamemasters would be more
inclined to use a setting from their favorite novel or their own
imagination. Another two and a half pages are spent on a scenerio.
And that leaves just twelve and a half pages of actual rules.
Character Creation is probably the strongest point of Future World.
In a very Traveller-esque system, the players cycle through a number
of terms before they enter play, getting percentage increases in
skills each term. Although the system is extremely simple, and the
only roll made each term is to determine if you can enter a new career
or re-enlist, the sense of history that your character develops is
still quite good. Characters can be of other races, or even robots.
These choices are simply represented by different dice rolls for the
starting characteristics.
The rest of Future World is pretty much made up of equipment. Several
pages of somewhat hightech equipment are detailed, including
computers, force screens, and many of the typical SF weapons, such as
lasers and force swords.
Overall, I don't think that there is enough of Future World to really
run a SF BRP games. However, I think that the ideas would be very
useful in conjunction with one of the other two products that I review
below. The character creation system could be modified to produce a
superb SF BRP character creation system, and the equipment could be
used as a great addendum. However, there's just too much missing,
such as rules for SF vehicles, starships and worldbuilding, to use
FUTUREWORLD to run SF BRP without a lot of extra work.
OTHER SUNS
by Niall Shapero
published by FGU (#2201)
Many people probably don't realize that Other Suns is a BRP game.
Apparently, at one time, Chaosium was considering publishing it, but
creative differences eventually left it in FGU's lap.
Other Suns is set in a universe of funny animals. You'll find
walking, talking foxes, bears, cats and many more. However, if funny
animals aren't really your cup of tea, the background can be ignored
easily enough, and just the game system used.
Both Character Creation and the standard mechanics are modified
somewhat from the BRP standard. You'll find extra characteristics
(eg. BuiLD and Telepathic Strike Capability) and different rules to do
some things (eg. an action point system is used for combat), but this
is all pretty minor. Combat is further supplemented by pages of
high-tech weapons and armor, more than enough to make most
militaristic SF gamers happy. Finally, the main book in Other Suns is
padded out by 16 pages of skills (included tons of terrific SF skills,
such as RoboPsychology), two pages on Psionics (a bit scant),
information on making a living and descriptions of the intelligent
species of the Other Suns universe.
If Other Suns had stopped there, it would have been OK. However,
there is a whole second book that makes it terrific, on Starships &
World Building. A complete starship construction system is included,
and several examples are provided. A couple of pages detail ground
and air vehicles, medical technology and gadgets. Then, 25 pages are
used to detail a world building system.
There are a few things missing from Other Suns. There really isn't
enough detail on future technology in general. The character
generation system is a bit more simplistic than I like (meaning that
I've been spoiled by Traveller). However, overall Other Suns is an
excellent product. If you want to play a space opera game, spanning
many worlds, this is the system to use. The best part is that its not
that hard to find. I've seen it in game shops as recently as a few
years ago. When people auction off copies, they're usually pretty
cheap.
RINGWORLD
RINGWORLD COMPANION
by Sherman Kahn & lots of other people
published by Chaosium (2501-X & 2502)
And then, there's Ringworld. The most recently published BRP game is
also the hardest to get a hold of, no doubt due to popularity of Larry
Niven's Known Space series. The overall system is quite good, and
very true to Niven's books, but I think the setting just wasn't quite
what people wanted in a science-fiction game. More on that in a sec.
Ringworld does a beautiful job of detailing Niven's universe. There
are extensive details on the Ringworld, full stats on the alien
species of Known Space and information on all the different planets
described in Niven's books.
In addition, Ringworld makes some really good changes to the BRP
system. Character creation takes into account home planets, skills
span many futuristic technologies and rules are given for radiation,
psionics and many items of technology (in fact there is a whole book
all about technology, 36 pages long).
I'd have no problem recommending Ringworld as the best BRP SF system
out there, lightyears ahead of the rest, if not for one thing: the
emphasis of the game. Ringworld is a game about exploring Ringworld.
As a result, the information on starships is scant, there aren't any
detailed world creation systems and the adventures are all about
exploring Ringworld itself. If Ringworld had instead been the game of
Known Space, I think it would have been a real hit that would still be
alive today. However, it is, instead, restricted to one (VERY large)
planet, and does not allow the space-faring adventure that one expects
of a SF game.
A quick note on the Ringworld Companion. It's a great supplement to
the game, full of new aliens, new animals and new technology. There
are also a few pages on starships and hyperspace which do a little to
make Ringworld more space-oriented.
CONCLUSION
So, you want to play a BRP SF game? If you want a complete,
consistant system, Other Suns will do the job. It's not too hard to
find a copy. Ringworld provides an even stronger basic system, full
of great technology and interesting aliens. However, I think you'd
need to borrow Spaceship and World construction rules from Others Suns
if you wanted a solid space opera game. Futureworld has a few
interesting ideas, which could add spice to any SF BRP game, but
really isn't complete enough to use on its own.
And, lest I forget the Chaosium Digest, make sure you check out V6.5.
Stefan Aust there does a superb job of putting together a set of rules
for Traveller/BRP in an article that I really enjoyed.
Shannon
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's
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