Hello And Welcome
Welcome, he said jauntily, to "Out of the Box," or as it says in the box (paradoxically) above these words somewhere, "Kenneth Hite's Out of the Box." This is not a warning to those who have a strong interest in seeing me kept in a box, although such people no doubt exist. This is, in fact, a statement of ownership and responsibility -- this column is my box of mostly-judicious opinions on roleplaying games, the game industry, and so forth and so on. I take them out, often in tandem with a new (or new-ish, deadlines and ship dates being the unfortunate things they are) item from the Bigass Game Review Pile, compare the two, and illumination is spread. In a previous incarnation, we used to have interviews with game design luminaries; perhaps we shall again in this. For more information, read on -- I've updated my introduction from the last time I moved my box to a new digital home, for those of you Gaming Report fiends slavering over new content.
Describe Your Box And Explain Your Outitude
For those of you new to "Out of the Box," perhaps a bit of head-shaking is going on. Who is this guy, you ask, and what is he talking about, and why should I listen? Good questions, all -- bear with me, O querulous one, and all shall be made plain. I'm Kenneth Hite, and I'm currently a roleplaying game designer working (along with many of my benchmates in the former Last Unicorn Games ensemble) for Decipher, Inc., on their new Star Trek Roleplaying Game line. I've been a professional RPG writer and editor full time for about six years (after a couple of freelancing years) and I've played RPGs pretty much continuously since about 1979, to the occasional dismay and continued chagrin of my nearest and dearest. Ever since February of 1997, I've written this roleplaying news-and-reviews column, jauntily titled "Out of the Box" in blithe disregard for the fact that the vast majority of RPGs were never in boxes to begin with.
My news, you'll discover soon enough, comes to you with biases intact -- which is to say, I utilize said writing, editing, and playing experience to inform my commentary for your benefit and entertainment. However, I make every effort to foreground my biases so that should you, the reader, be of a rigorously epistemological bent, you can extract the Truth from my subjective viewpoint. Speaking of my biases, then -- forward. I love roleplaying games, most of all horror RPGs, and most especially Call of Cthulhu, which I and all right-thinking folk consider the pinnacle of RPG design and execution. I prefer worlds to systems, and straightforward, elegant systems to clever, intricate ones. I am currently not only in the pay of Decipher, but also of Chaosium and Steve Jackson Games. I've also written for Pinnacle, Iron Crown Enterprises, White Wolf, Pagan Publishing, Atlas Games, and (in the form of Dragon magazine articles) for Wizards of the Coast, my former employers. You shall have to determine for yourself whether these fine people have purchased my good opinion, or merely my good writing -- but, of course, much of the reason I write for them in the first place is my good opinion of their games. Mull that over on your tintype, then, as we go forth.
Thou Shalt Have No Other Roleplaying Settings Before Me
What's the first fantasy setting? Easy, the epics of Gilgamesh. What's the best-selling fantasy setting? Easy, the Old Testament. What's wrong with the gaming industry, that these two haven't met in a thunderous good campaign book before? That one, you'll have to answer for yourself. Scott Bennie takes a stab at the thunder (and risks the lightning) with Testament (239-page black and white softcover, $32.95), billed as "Roleplaying in the Biblical Age." This is essentially a D20 setting based on about a millennium and a half of human history, myth, and religious lore, from roughly 2000 B.C. to 500 B.C. -- from Abraham to Ezra, in biblical terms -- although the supported gaming eras get at least a couple of paragraphs back to the era before the Flood and forward to the Maccabees. Testament presents side-by-side treatment of Israel, Canaan, Egypt, and Babylonia as cultures suitable for fantasy game treatment, complete with sins (to be taken off Piety, an optional variation on alignment), gods, and other useful info. The standard thesis seems to be "God is the god of the Israelites, Ra is the god of the Egyptians, Baal is the god of the Canaanites, etc." with a diplomatic silence on what happens if they fight.
No, there aren't any stats for God. Don't be childish. There aren't stats for Ra, either, though.
Moses, on the other hand, is a 3rd-level Paladin, 7th-level Levite, 10th-level Prophet. He would kick Imhotep's ass.
There's also a lot of cool Biblical monsters (including a half-Nephilim template, for all the really crazy gamers out there), artifacts (yes, including the Ark of the Covenant), spells, and prestige classes including temple prostitute, prophet, and so forth. The maps and art are adequate, the index is better than that, and there's a big, wonderful, Cecil B. DeMille of a mass combat system for that Armageddony flavor. ("And the Lord slew the Philistines, and made their hit points as nothing.") All of the facts seem sound; the interpretations are, if anything, somewhat on the conservative side of archaeology and historical religious scholarship. The DM advice is mostly respectful, while still embracing the glorious drama of humanity's oldest living (and most important) epic tales of good and evil. PCs are encouraged to take flaws, to walk in the footsteps of their god, and to help their people multiply upon the earth. Moses couldn't have said it better himself -- even with a Diplomacy of +24.
Run! It's The Dreaded Privy Chancellor!
Pretty much the only thing actively wrong with Chris Aylott's Dynasties & Demagogues (160-page black and white hardback, $28.95) from Atlas Games is that there's precious little attention given to dynasties in it. It's not a "kingdom-level" D20 simulation, or even something with which to model the long-term developments in a kingdom (such as, say, Pendragon did with such verve). What it is, is a in-depth toolkit, lesson plan, and arsenal for political gaming. After a few turns in the Maze of Bureaucracy (one of the more brilliant adaptations of the D20 rules to political danger in the book), most players will be climbing over themselves to return to the temple of elemental evil. However, players who fancy a duel of political wit will find much to savor (and useful rules to resolve it) in the "Political Maneuvers" system, which turns political debate, essentially, into Spycraft-style car chases. Personality Feats try manfully to adapt "action points" as rewards for roleplaying -- nice if you need it, I suppose, and a good nod to the key element in political games, namely, personalities. (There's also plenty of "politically themed" magic and such, like the Fly On The Wall, for those who see politics games as large, silk-covered urban rogueries. This, too, is good.) Very focused prestige classes (the "discreet companion," for example), a number of excellent political-style feats, and so forth complete the crunch. A lot of sample organizations, situations, PoliSci 101 (anarchy and democracy and feudalism and so forth explained) and even a "how to build it" adventure help lead DMs into political gaming in the same wise as the rules lead players. As a result, if you think you might be interested in a political game, where social class is almost as important as character class, and access to the king beats Mighty Cleave any day, Dynasties & Demagogues can show you the ropes. If you already drink byzantine conspiracy with your mother's milk (which may, after all, be poisoned by your hated rival), there's plenty here to add spice to your metaphorical beverage. All this, plus D20 stats for Kropotkin (which leave off his geographical and Arctic-explorer skills, but never mind) -- if you can't make this book work for your courtly campaign, blame your political enemies.
A Week From Now
Yes, I know I said this would be a biweekly column up front. Oh, I didn't? Well, I'm jolly well saying it now. Anyhow, this next time frame is complicated by the presence of GenCon, from which I return on Monday the 28th to find two tendencies at war -- the "regular columnist" tendency, which I can assure those of you who followed me from the Gamer's Realm site that I do, in fact possess; and the "report on GenCon you idiot" tendency, which is self-explanatory. Since I'm spending the weekend after that at ConJuration in Cambridge, England, I'm defaulting to "you idiot," and we'll have next fortnight's column a week early, and similar for the ConJuration con report which will also touch sommat on British gaming, gamers, and game designers. So, that said, I'll see you in a week, with the GenCon report, including whatever it is that the Wolfies are being so cagey about, and perhaps my thoughts on Dungeons & Dragons 3.5.
