Eh.
Well, it's about time for my bi-weekly blog update. Sorry for the delay, dear reader (trust me, I'd rather be worrying about the blog than the other crap I have been). The wisdom I've earned over the last month is, "Never say, 'It can't possibly get worse.' It always always can." Day jobs are hell, and college professors live in the lowest pit - and I'm not even studying with them! Pfff.
But on to the update. I've been on Stargate: System Lords, off System Lords; on Stargate: Season One, off Season one; and now I'm on System Lords again, with an eye towards Mastermind, one of the 2004 Spycraft books, over the last 3 weeks or so. I still know dick-all about the line, but I'm intrigued by certain aspects. I'm cooking up some rightfully evil stuff for System Lords that should be a lot of fun to kick your friendly neighborhood SGC team's ass with. Whooha! I've also finished building about half my modular wargaming table, so that's gonna be a lot of fun methinks. It's only been in the works for about 5 years *groan*
Aside from Spycraft stuff, I've been doing a little buying, so that leads to our latest book On The Game Table. So without further ado...
On the Game Table: Millenium's End - err, anything but the main book
I don't know about you, but I've always dug the technothriller. While I wouldn't call myself a Clancy- or Ludlumphile, I've always dug spy flicks that dig on this genre - The Recruit, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, The Bourne Identity, Clear and Present Danger, and yes, even those crummy Mission: Impossible flicks. Technothrillers are kinda like modern day science fiction - they have heroes who are real people, gadgets that are real gadgets, and touch on the cutting edge of threats to world peace (like terrorism and organized crime). Fun stuff. Spycraft does a servicable job in letting you play in the technothriller, but it occassionally goes the Bond route in a big way too - and with the setting of Shadoforce Archer as the flagship, well, it gets further away from technothrillers in a lot of ways.
But before Spycraft and after Top Secret: SI, there was a big old vacuum in the espionage gaming genre. Into the fore steps Millenium's End, a little game from the now-defunct Chameleon Eclectic (and also by Charles Ryan, AKA head writer of the much-reviled d20 Modern). Millenium's End is a technothriller game set at -- wait for it -- the end of the millenium, as the world is going through huge social, political and technological upheavals. It's almost like a proto-cyberpunk world - poverty has crippled a majority of the world, bush wars are breaking out all over the place, the cities are devolving into dangerous concrete jungles, you know, that kind of stuff. Players play agents of Black Eagle Investigations, a private investigation, security and corporate espionage firm that works all over the world.
Seems like a pretty cool stuff, right? Let me preface that I have not played ME before, but I have talked to some people that have, and most have said, as one game designer called it, "unplayably bad." On top of it, the books ain't much to look at - plain text on most pages with very sparse graphic design, even more sparse art, and gigantic margins (though I kinda like these - plenty of room for notes). I'm not here to judge the system or the graphic design - as I noted above, this is 'anything BUT the main book.' What got ME into OtGT is not the main book or the rules, but the supplements. These things are freakin' AMAZING resources for the GM/GC who wants to run a technothriller game, hands down.
At the top of my list is Terror/Counterterror - not surprisingly, a book on terrorist groups and the groups that fight them. Chapter 1 gets into what a terrorist group is, devoid of rules (very lucky for us). Chapter 2 is a fairly complete list of the terrorists of ME; histories of the organizations, their agendas, leaders, structure, activities resources and so on and so forth - great stuff for any spy campaign, some of which are real (IRA) or not (Worldwide Islamic Jihad). Chapter 3: Counterterrorist Agencies covers the groups who fight terror, ranging from real world units like Germany's GSG-9 to imaginary groups like Firewall. Chapter 4: Resources contains the only stats of the book, but the archetypes presented are presented with detailed descriptions of psychology and hooks, making them useful for any game, while the Maps are fantastic for all self-respecting counter terrorism units. A truly great book that should be useful in virtually any spy game.
Right behind this is the GM's Companion, a fine supplement for GMs running nearly ANY modern game. Like most GM-centered books, this book includes info on running games, but it also fills out how to run a thriller, including constructing properly intricate plots, running NPCs effectively, and the like. I'm a fan of the checksheets in the book, such as "Trait of Memorable NPCs" or "Great Things to Do with Flubbed Rolls" - they're short and an excellent nudge if you find yourself stuck mid-session. Chapter 2 is all hooks for stories (again no stats - bad for ME, good for us). Chapter 3 is the best - 45 pages of maps and descriptions for filling in the details (bars, yachts, offices, terrorist training camps, fast food joints, cult compounds, etc.), NPCs, lots of computer network layouts (even without the main rules, they provide enough detail you could probably use this as a basis for computer hacking rules in Spycraft) and lots of little goodies. For the inexperienced GM, this book may seem incomplete, but for most of us vets, it's just the right amount of detail to hit the genre just right. Sweetness.
Finally, there's the Miami Sourcebook. This is how cities should be. It's a great look at the city of Miami (obviously), in Millenium's End terms. According to my colleagues at Paradigm Concepts, the book is so good you can actually use it to find your way around and hit the best tourist traps, restaraunts and landmarks. The book is just about the city, with very little frills, but I think any GM using this book would be overjoyed at the loving detail and character that seems from this gem.
So there you have it; Millenium's End - so-so game, fantastic Spycraft resource. Do yourself a favor and hit eBay or Bartertown and see if you can't dig one up. Your technothriller will love you for it.
Well, it's about time for my bi-weekly blog update. Sorry for the delay, dear reader (trust me, I'd rather be worrying about the blog than the other crap I have been). The wisdom I've earned over the last month is, "Never say, 'It can't possibly get worse.' It always always can." Day jobs are hell, and college professors live in the lowest pit - and I'm not even studying with them! Pfff.
But on to the update. I've been on Stargate: System Lords, off System Lords; on Stargate: Season One, off Season one; and now I'm on System Lords again, with an eye towards Mastermind, one of the 2004 Spycraft books, over the last 3 weeks or so. I still know dick-all about the line, but I'm intrigued by certain aspects. I'm cooking up some rightfully evil stuff for System Lords that should be a lot of fun to kick your friendly neighborhood SGC team's ass with. Whooha! I've also finished building about half my modular wargaming table, so that's gonna be a lot of fun methinks. It's only been in the works for about 5 years *groan*
Aside from Spycraft stuff, I've been doing a little buying, so that leads to our latest book On The Game Table. So without further ado...
On the Game Table: Millenium's End - err, anything but the main book
I don't know about you, but I've always dug the technothriller. While I wouldn't call myself a Clancy- or Ludlumphile, I've always dug spy flicks that dig on this genre - The Recruit, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, The Bourne Identity, Clear and Present Danger, and yes, even those crummy Mission: Impossible flicks. Technothrillers are kinda like modern day science fiction - they have heroes who are real people, gadgets that are real gadgets, and touch on the cutting edge of threats to world peace (like terrorism and organized crime). Fun stuff. Spycraft does a servicable job in letting you play in the technothriller, but it occassionally goes the Bond route in a big way too - and with the setting of Shadoforce Archer as the flagship, well, it gets further away from technothrillers in a lot of ways.
But before Spycraft and after Top Secret: SI, there was a big old vacuum in the espionage gaming genre. Into the fore steps Millenium's End, a little game from the now-defunct Chameleon Eclectic (and also by Charles Ryan, AKA head writer of the much-reviled d20 Modern). Millenium's End is a technothriller game set at -- wait for it -- the end of the millenium, as the world is going through huge social, political and technological upheavals. It's almost like a proto-cyberpunk world - poverty has crippled a majority of the world, bush wars are breaking out all over the place, the cities are devolving into dangerous concrete jungles, you know, that kind of stuff. Players play agents of Black Eagle Investigations, a private investigation, security and corporate espionage firm that works all over the world.
Seems like a pretty cool stuff, right? Let me preface that I have not played ME before, but I have talked to some people that have, and most have said, as one game designer called it, "unplayably bad." On top of it, the books ain't much to look at - plain text on most pages with very sparse graphic design, even more sparse art, and gigantic margins (though I kinda like these - plenty of room for notes). I'm not here to judge the system or the graphic design - as I noted above, this is 'anything BUT the main book.' What got ME into OtGT is not the main book or the rules, but the supplements. These things are freakin' AMAZING resources for the GM/GC who wants to run a technothriller game, hands down.
At the top of my list is Terror/Counterterror - not surprisingly, a book on terrorist groups and the groups that fight them. Chapter 1 gets into what a terrorist group is, devoid of rules (very lucky for us). Chapter 2 is a fairly complete list of the terrorists of ME; histories of the organizations, their agendas, leaders, structure, activities resources and so on and so forth - great stuff for any spy campaign, some of which are real (IRA) or not (Worldwide Islamic Jihad). Chapter 3: Counterterrorist Agencies covers the groups who fight terror, ranging from real world units like Germany's GSG-9 to imaginary groups like Firewall. Chapter 4: Resources contains the only stats of the book, but the archetypes presented are presented with detailed descriptions of psychology and hooks, making them useful for any game, while the Maps are fantastic for all self-respecting counter terrorism units. A truly great book that should be useful in virtually any spy game.
Right behind this is the GM's Companion, a fine supplement for GMs running nearly ANY modern game. Like most GM-centered books, this book includes info on running games, but it also fills out how to run a thriller, including constructing properly intricate plots, running NPCs effectively, and the like. I'm a fan of the checksheets in the book, such as "Trait of Memorable NPCs" or "Great Things to Do with Flubbed Rolls" - they're short and an excellent nudge if you find yourself stuck mid-session. Chapter 2 is all hooks for stories (again no stats - bad for ME, good for us). Chapter 3 is the best - 45 pages of maps and descriptions for filling in the details (bars, yachts, offices, terrorist training camps, fast food joints, cult compounds, etc.), NPCs, lots of computer network layouts (even without the main rules, they provide enough detail you could probably use this as a basis for computer hacking rules in Spycraft) and lots of little goodies. For the inexperienced GM, this book may seem incomplete, but for most of us vets, it's just the right amount of detail to hit the genre just right. Sweetness.
Finally, there's the Miami Sourcebook. This is how cities should be. It's a great look at the city of Miami (obviously), in Millenium's End terms. According to my colleagues at Paradigm Concepts, the book is so good you can actually use it to find your way around and hit the best tourist traps, restaraunts and landmarks. The book is just about the city, with very little frills, but I think any GM using this book would be overjoyed at the loving detail and character that seems from this gem.
So there you have it; Millenium's End - so-so game, fantastic Spycraft resource. Do yourself a favor and hit eBay or Bartertown and see if you can't dig one up. Your technothriller will love you for it.
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