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Shades of Earth

Shades of Earth
From: HinterWelt Enterprises
Reviewed by: Butch Curry

Shades of Earth is a new roleplaying game from HinterWelt Enterprises. A big improvement over HinterWelt's previous book, Shades of Earth is nonetheless not ready for prime time.

From pg 8:
"...the tone of Shades of Earth is determined by the GM and the players. It can be as happy and light as a Saturday serial or as cynical and dark as a World War II journal. It can reflect the high adventure of a pulp novel or the dark realism of the film noir genre. In the end, the choice is yours."

How does it play?
To anyone who read my review of HinterWelt's previous offering, Tales of Gaea, it's no secret that I'm no fan of their Iridium System. Suffice to say that I don't like it any more now than I did then, so I won't waste too much time retreading that old ground. I do have this to add, something that occurred to me while reading Shades of Earth: the Iridium System (the core system under Tales and Shades) is very reminiscent of a lot of homebrew systems in that it's a klunkier version of Palladium or AD&D;. Picking a core dice mechanic, whether it's d20 based, percentile based, or what have you, would go a long way towards streamlining the system, I think.

For a game that wants to be an Indiana Jones-inspired foray into pulp action or a Chandler-esque hardboiled, though, I'd say that the greatest failing of the book is not in it's system, but in it's utter failure to capture the genre (or in this case, genres plural) it's attempting to emulate. So much time and space is set aside for 'stuff' (i.e., weapons, spells, etc.) compared to that for setting and background that the message is lost. Including .45's, Nazis, and isn't pulp; having that character leaping from the wing of a biplane onto a zeppelin and sliding down into the cockpit to do battle with a Nazi vampire is. And as passing an acquaintance the book has with pulp, it seems to never have even met Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. Shades is more like a pile of ingredients than a meal, in that the pieces are all there, but they haven't really been brought together.

A genre-based RPG should, I think, be steeped in the genre it's trying to capture. Look at Mutants and Masterminds, or Call of Cthulhu, or even Haven: City of Violence. When you read a book like that, you can't help but want to run a superhero game, or a horror game, or a gritty urban crime game. You don't get that from Shades, though, and I think this is partially due to a lack of clear editorial vision. For example, there's a fair amount of real-world history is included to give some backbone to the setting, but it's as dry as any history textbook. Textbooks can certainly offer some inspiration for gaming, but from an RPG I expect things to be more colorful and directly applicable. (Godlike is a perfect example of how to do this right, for instance.) Shades tries too hard to be too many things to too many people, and ultimately fails at all of them as a result.

How does it read?
My general impression of the writing in Shades is that it's clumsy but serviceable. In other words, it'll never win any awards for best writing in an RPG, but - a few egregious editing oversights aside - it gets the idea across. It's no better or worse written than most fan-produced RPG supplements you'll find online, if that's any indication to you.

How does it look?
If I were to make one suggestion to the folks at HinterWelt (one that wasn't related to the core system, that is) it would be to hire a professional - or at least semi-professional - graphic designer to do the page layout. A professional page design would likely cut the book length by about a third (with the subsequent lower printing cost and cover price as an added bonus). The real benefit being, of course, that the book wouldn't be so rife with the absolutely painful design gaffes that make it one of the uglier RPG books on my shelf.

The artwork in Shades, though, is a far cry better than that in Tales. There are still some howlingly bad pieces scattered throughout, but they're the exception this time rather than the rule. Artists Leo Winstead Jeremy McHugh in particular deserve kudos for turning in the more interesting pieces in the book. Both their works are very stylized and unique, and offer a nice change of pace from traditional RPG art. There's a fair amount of clip art used in the book, and though the pieces selected are generally speaking appropriate - fitting in with the late 30's pulp vibe - there's just too much of it. The good art becomes a faint signal lost in the noise, and the overall look of the book is needlessly busy. 'Less is more' might be a better philosophy here.

Is it worth it?
As a standalone RPG, Shades of Earth leaves much to be desired, though it could possibly be mined as a resource for another game. It's far from the worst game product I've seen, but it's not good enough that I can recommend it. Pass on this one.

For more details on HinterWelt Enterprises and their new roleplaying game "Shades of Earth" check them out at their website HinterWelt.com, and at all of your local game stores.

(Product Summary)

Shades of Earth
From: HinterWelt Enterprises
Type of Game: RPG
Written by: William Corrie III
Cover Art by: Chris Martinez
Interior Art by: Calvin Camp, Bob Cram Jr., et al
Number of Pages: 240
Retail Price: $30.00 (US)
Item Number: HWE 2000
ISBN: 0-9740096-2-8
Email: bilbo@hinterwelt.com
Website: HinterWelt.com

Reviewed by: Butch Curry

Added: May 14th 2004
Reviewer: Butch Curry
Score:
Related Link: HinterWelt Enterprises
Hits: 259
Language: eng

  

[ Back to reviews index | Post comment ]

Shades of Earth
Posted by palehorse on 2004-05-25 10:40:27
My score:



"(1) Not to pick nits, but “it’s” = contraction of it is; you want to use “its” for possessive form of it."

Thanks for pointing that out.

Next time I review one of your books I''ll be sure to keep track of the editorial and spelling errors so I can return the favor.

Butch Curry
GamingReport.com

Shades of Earth
Posted by Hinterwelt on 2004-05-24 21:31:50
My score:



Hello. This is Linda Corrie, CEO and head editor for HinterWelt Enterprises. I’m here to respond to Mr. Curry’s review of Shades of Earth, our alternate history RPG.

To start with, I also see no point in rehashing comments about our Iridium System. We use the same system in all our core rules, from fantasy to alternate history to sci-fi. Mr. Curry’s opinions, and my rebuttal, are listed elsewhere for anyone who wishes to read them. I’d rather deal with the specific issues raised about Shades of Earth in this review.

How Does It Play?
Mr. Curry’s main criticism against Shades seems to be “…it''s (1) utter failure to capture the genre (or in this case, genres plural) it''s attempting to emulate”; in other words, the pulp isn’t pulpy enough, the noir isn’t dark enough, etc. I see it differently. As stated in our introduction (quoted in the review), the choice of tone is up to the GM and players. Bring as much (or as little) pulp, noir, realism, etc. to the game as you wish. Our system is designed to accommodate multiple genres and a wide variety of playing styles. While I believe that is a strength in our system, I can appreciate that Mr. Curry prefers a more single minded approach. It is up to the reader to decide what he or she wants in a system. The choice is yours.

We have combined this multiple genre idea into the concept of ‘alternate history’. That’s why we put “Earth History With a Twist” on our front cover. We also describe the game on the inside title page (and all advertising) as an alternate history role playing game. That’s also why we put in all the real world history, in order to aid the players in expanding their choice of setting. Players who are not interested in actual history can merrily skip those sections and base their story on Indiana Jones. The choice is yours.

How Does It Look?
This is a hard point to argue, since by definition the look of a book is pure opinion, and Mr. Curry is certainly entitled to his. We showed our pre-release copy to play testers and retailers, and got some great feedback. Strangely enough, they overwhelmingly enjoyed the ‘clip-art’, especially the retooled WWII propaganda posters. They also praised the liberal use of art and felt the type and layout were easy on the eyes.

The amusing thing is that Mr. Curry and I are accurately describing the same book, just with different predispositions. What he is looking for and what HinterWelt is offering, are two different things. There is no right or wrong opinion here, it’s really all a matter of what you, the reader, are looking for. The choice is yours.

Is It Worth It?
Obviously I think Shades is worth it; I’m proud to stand by all of HinterWelt’s products. What I want out of a game system is apparently not what Mr. Curry wants out of one. I enjoy the flexibility the Iridium System offers in general, and the setting options Shades offers in particular. However, I freely admit that this approach is not for everyone. Once again, the choice is yours.

Closing Thoughts
If you are interested in another independent review of Shades, please go here: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9808.phtml
Or you can check out our HTML version of the entire book (no art): http://shades.hinterwelt.com/SOEHTML/AETOC.html

(1) Not to pick nits, but “it’s” = contraction of it is; you want to use “its” for possessive form of it.

Linda Corrie
CEO HinterWelt Enterprises
Chief Editor

Shades of Earth
Posted by palehorse on 2004-05-24 11:00:14
My score:



Let me see if I can address your points individually:

1) The tone: The tone of the review is what it is. When I don''t like a book, I let me feelings be known, for good or for ill, so the particular tone of a review doesn''t require explanation or apology.

2) The art: Ask a game publisher if they think the artwork in a book is important or not some time. (Or I can save you some time: it is important. And if you don''t feel it''s a fair area for critique, then when you come to the part of my reviews that says "How does it look?" you can just skip ahead to the next paragraph.)

3) Complaints from an earlier game: Shades of Earth uses the same core system as Tales; anything I had to say about it (except for the few additional comments I added for this review) would''ve just been the same thing all over again. Anyone who''s really interested in what I think about it can read that review, and will get the added benefit of Linda Corrie''s (one of the Hinterwelt owners) polite and well-stated rebuttal.

4) Why I didn''t pass on it: I review those products that the editors send to me. I suppose I could only review books that I think I''ll enjoy. But as a professional reviewer, I don''t have that luxury any more than Roger Ebert has when it comes to the latest Adam Sandler movie.

Butch Curry
Staff Reviewer, GamingReport.com

Shades of Earth
Posted by Anonymous on 2004-05-23 21:35:50
My score:



I beleive that Mr. Curry''s review is a bit bitchy- he seems to relish taking shots at things that aren''t relevant to the system (the art, please how petty can one be) or rehashes his previous complaints from a review of another game put out by the same people- if you didn''t like the ffirst game, what is your purpose in trashing the second one- a more professional reviewer would have passed on this.






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