Showing posts with label conspiracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conspiracy. Show all posts

To Go (Unknown Armies) Review

To Go (Unknown Armies)
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To Go (Unknown Armies) ReviewIt's rare that I come across a role-playing game that expands my mind like Unknown Armies has. It's even more rare to find a prepackaged adventure or campaign for any RPG that can blow your mind as much as the RPG itself does. To Go is a full campaign for Unknown Armies that sticks the dynamite right in at the base of your brain and twists the detonator.
What's it about? Here's the back cover blurb:
"For a decade, the occult conspiracy known as Mak Attax has been infusing America with magickal power, one super-size fast-food meal at a time. Now the symbolic batteries of the nation are charged up and crackling. The seven chakras of the American body politic have come alive, and the great kundalini serpent is winding its way across the landscape. The lords of the occult underground are riding its tail, fighting for a prize so big nobody even knows what it is. And this is no mere street saga. All the heavy hitters are stepping up to the plate, while the ascended archetypes of the Invisible Clergy choose sides and dispatch their avatars to the front lines. The stakes have never been higher and when the dust settles, your cabal of mystic high-rollers will cast the dice."
Basically, To Go is a road movie and all that it entails. The PCs go chasing after the kundalini spirit from coast to coast, with episodes in seven cities along the way. Each city symbolizes (as a chakra point) some element of America so the events that take place in those cities tend to be metaphors. This is sometimes subtle (in the episode dealing with justice) or gaudy (in the episode dealing with luck and fortune). The thematic connections between the events and the locations they take place in is a really nice touch.
The overall feel of To Go reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman's American Gods in theme and tone. There are also a good deal of gonzo Hunter S. Thompson moments as well. I like the kitschy feel the campaign lends itself to. I can easily imagine the PCs in road trip mode, driving across the Nevada desert in a beat up old sky-blue Chevy, listening to some static-y easy listening station on the radio. The spaces between the main episodes in the cities a GM can fill with his own ideas, and once you start grooving on the riffs the campaign itself is laying down, you can come up with some really whack scenarios to lay on your PCs. Driving across the U.S. can be a very surreal experience!
The opportunities for role-playing in the campaign are numerous and sometimes quite involved. There is plenty for good group of players to chew on. All the major NPCs are well developed with real motivations and goals. Even the minor NPCs provide good characterizations. One thing I like about the characters in Unknown Armies scenarios is, when they're crazy, they're really crazy. Some of the characters in To Go are pretty funny (despite being dangerous lunatics). This fits well with the sort of black comedy you often seem to find in Unknown Armies scenarios.
There are a couple of set piece action scenes, but this isn't Feng Shui and I wouldn't try to play it that way. If your players are taking the Unknown Armies approach to violence seriously (that is, try to avoid a fight) they'll probably come through unscathed (though a couple of times, you just gotta do what you gotta do). But really, this campaign is all about the role-playing and the bulk of the episodes give the PCs plenty of tough choices and interesting moral questions.
Another thing I like about this book is the art. There isn't a lot, only one full-page piece per chapter. But each picture is a snapshot of events in the chapter. The done in a clean, comic book style, that is both detailed and efficient. What I like about it is the pictures follow four "PCs" through the campaign - a big bald tough guy, a sort of skateboard chick, a guy in a suit, and an old granny. As the campaign develops, so do these characters (in the pictures). By the last picture, a couple of them are bandaged from injuries taken earlier in the campaign. The diversity of the characters suggests the comedy inherent in the kind of cabal of characters likely to get involved in an Unknown Armies campaign. Very effective artwork if you ask me.
I can't find too much wrong with this campaign. Maybe I'm biased. Having written something like this myself, I know how hard it is to write a full campaign for publication. Perhaps the only fault could be the railroading necessary to all prepackaged campaigns. In To Go, the plot rails aren't so rigid anyway, and Stolze gets away with it mostly by simply setting scenes and goals for the characters and letting everyone go to it, then figuring out the results afterwards. This is not a campaign for beginning GMs. Given the kind of leeway the PCs have in resolving events in this campaign, the GM had better be able to deal with the unexpected.
The other sticking point might be the power level. To Go is written for the "cosmic" level of play, and assumes the PCs (and thus the players) are familiar with the way things work in the Unknown Armies world. Actually I don't think this is such a problem for a crew of smart players who are into UA, but it could present a bit of a learning curve to newbies (though zooming around that curve could be fun!)
I hate Greg Stolze because he's so damned good! I want to write like him! He catches the essence of the UA game world and puts it all into this campaign. To Go is a real gem and I'm looking forward to running it.To Go (Unknown Armies) OverviewFor a decade, the occult conspiracy known as Mak Attax has been infusing America with magickal power, one super-size fast-food meal at a time. Now the symbolic batteries of the nation are charged up and crackling. The seven chakras of the American body politic have come alive, and the great kundalini serpent is winding its way across the landscape. The lords of the occult underground are riding its tail, fighting for a prize so big nobody even knows what it is. And this is no mere street saga. All the heavy hitters are stepping up to the plate, while the ascended archetypes of the Invisible Clergy choose sides and dispatch their avatars to the front lines. The stakes have never been higher and when the dust settles, your cabal of mystic high-rollers will cast the dice.This massive campaign packs more action, adventure, horror, and mystic intrigue into one book than anything Unknown Armies has done before. It's an epic that takes you through the spiritual power centers of America and beyond, to a final confrontation in a reality like nothing on this globe of earth. What will you risk to change the world?

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Break Today (Unknown Armies) Review

Break Today (Unknown Armies)
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Break Today (Unknown Armies) ReviewThis is one of the most fun reads I've had in while. The book describes what is in essence an occult conspiracy run by fry cooks of Mickey D's. The background and characters would not be out of place in a mage, or feng shui campaign.Break Today (Unknown Armies) OverviewHey, foodtube -- have some fries with your universal transcendance! The bizarre occult conspiracy known as Mak Attax wants to upsize your soul, one fast-food burger at a time, until we all go dancing out the doorways of the luminous clown's thousands of mystically aligned restaurants and into a bold new future of magickal enlightenment. The men and women of Mak Attax are dreamers, cranks, agitators, crackpots, idealists, saboteurs, poseurs, fanatics, and everything in between. The rest of the Occult Underground thinks they're either complete losers or the most dangerous threat the world has ever faced. But no matter what the Maks hang tough, wash their hands regularly, and serve up a value meal of mojo their way.Contents include: The Mak Attax Story - Major GMCs - Assorted Crews - New Artifacts - New Rituals - New Archetypes - Four New Magick Schools: Anagram Gematria, Plutophagy, Herpemancy, and Geomancy - Rules for Familiars - Scenario Hooks - And 100% Pure Canola Oil.

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Weep (Unknown Armies) Review

Weep (Unknown Armies)
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Weep (Unknown Armies) ReviewI'll be sincere, I wasn't very impressed by Unknown Armies.
Yes, it was a good book and wasn't expensive, but after tons os modern-conspirational-supernatural-horror-RPG, the things that made UA shine didn't justfy all the hype for me.
But the sourcebooks are another matter.
I would call most of them masterpieces and the ones not included at this category, just great.
I would rate Weep in the first category.
It's not just a adventure module but a book full of ideas, inspirations if you mind, that can put a SOUL not just in UA, but in any other similar RPG setting.
If I have any complains about this book is:
* They are so good thay I just can't decide which one use first.
* Now I MUST buy the next UA sourcebook "Ascension of the Magdalene" ;)
Thank you for all the people of Atlas Games.Weep (Unknown Armies) OverviewYOU DID IT.There's no such thing as a safe decision. When the chips are down andyou have to make a choice, somebody's gonna get hurt somehow, andyou're the one they'll blame. All you can do is clutch yourrationalizations to your chest and sprint for glory.Here's six spins on the wheel of destiny:* "Swap Meet" by Rick Neal: The Avatars of the Merchant are ready to deal, if you're ready to pay. * "Garden Full of Weeds" by James Palmer: In the heart of the city, even nightmares live in fear. * "Stoon Lake" and "Drink to That" by Greg Stolze: Can you find the courage to do the wrong thing? * "A Few Of My Favorite Things" by John Tynes: The gun, the bible, and the flag built this nation, but they're tearing it apart. * "The Green Glass Grail" by Chad Underkoffler: This town's got six kinds of trouble, and there's a bullet for every one of 'em.

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Hush Hush (Unknown Armies) Review

Hush Hush (Unknown Armies)
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Hush Hush (Unknown Armies) ReviewUnknown Armies surprises more and more with every release. In the 'core' rulebook I had found the Sleepers to be the least interesting of the occult groups at play. After reading through Hush Hush, they are my favorite. This book is rife with plot and game seeds and introduces some insanely skewed NPCs. UA has such a great mix of pop and sub culture icons that certain elements of the book are noticeably derivative. This does not lead to a mess of regurgitated references but plays off them (see if you can spot the darker twist on Being John Malkovich).
This book gives you great command over how and why the Sleepers operate. They are men in black cleaners of the occult world.
Hush Hush is not without some flaws but is still a great supplement for UA. With Stratosphere, PostModern Magick and now Hush Hush the fertile UA universe is rife for destruction.Hush Hush (Unknown Armies) OverviewIf I die in my sleep, at least I'll know who did it. The Sleepers are the bedtime-story bogeymen of the occult underground. They keep the existence of magick a secret from the mundane world, lest the sleeping tiger wake and devour us all. If you make too much unnatural noise, if you leave witnesses to your workings, or if you just can't shut your pie hole about how you can melt your face on command, the Sleepers will come for you in the deeps of night and tell it you straight: hush hush, little mage, for dead men cast no spells. Listen close and you can hear their secrets: stories of the sleepers, true and otherwise; recruitment, training, and ops; safehouses, personnel, resources, and case files. But keep it to yourself — or else.

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Unknown Armies (2nd Edition) Review

Unknown Armies (2nd Edition)
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Unknown Armies (2nd Edition) ReviewUnknown Armies is great. If you are a fan of Tim Powers or Ken Hite, or even know who they are, then you want this book. The various levels the game can take (street, global, or cosmic) add a good twist. My players keep saying: We don't know what that is because you wont let us read ahead! For tone, setting, and over all feel this is a great RPG.
The downside: Unless you have played Unknown Armies 1st Edition, this is a completly new system. The broad possibilites of skill sets are great, if you have people who like making those things up. My group is a mix and so we had some people who were not as happy about that. One of the biggest complaints so far is in the descriptors of levels for madness and skills. Especially the skills. The difference between a 40s Speed Stat (picking one at random here) and a 60s Speed stat is difficult to understand. Number wise its no problem, the descriptions could have been better.
So far thats the main problem, but we are still learning the system. Overall the ideas are great, but some of the mechanics, at least in their descriptions, are a bit disappointing.Unknown Armies (2nd Edition) OverviewWhat will you risk to change the world?The acclaimed RPG of modern occult intrigue returns in a stunning new hardcover edition. Completely reorganized, largely rewritten, and jam-packed with new art, the second edition of Unknown Armies isn't just better. It kicks metaphysical ass!We've remixed the book based on the level of campaign you want to play: Street, Global, or Cosmic. At street level, you're outsiders to the secret world of magick, ordinary people entering a land of mystery and peril. At global level, you're mojo-wielding cabalists in the occult underground, pursuing your arcane agendas and plotting against your rivals. At cosmic level, you're in tune with the cosmos itself, fighting to shape the next incarnation of reality. Background material is divided up as well, so new players in a street-level campaign only read what the GM wants them to know.But the beats don't stop there: Much more information for new players, to get them into the mindset of the game and help them make better characters and stronger campaigns. * New character-creation options, including Trigger Events, Paradigm Skills, and power levels scaled to match the level of campaign you're playing. * Numerous rules tweaks, including a new initiative system, Fuzzy Logic skill checks, player-directed combat modifiers, amped-up martial arts rules, a new experience system, and more, all dedicated to upgrading UA's innovative percentile system into a lean and precise tool for fast play and player empowerment. * More magick for non-adepts: Authentic Thaumaturgy, new rituals and artifacts, and revised versions of Proxy Magick and Tilts allow the freewheeling use of symbolic, sympathetic magick by anyone with the will to make it happen. * Twelve schools of magick (up from seven in UA1) for obsessed adepts, including revised versions of published schools (Bibliomancy, Personamancy, and Urbanomancy) and two new schools (Videomancy and Narcotic Alchemy). * Fourteen avatars (up from eight in UA1) for archetypalists, including revised versions of published avatars (The Messenger, The Mother, The Mystic Hermaphrodite, and the True King) and two new avatars (The MVP and The Warrior). * More resources for the GM, including specific guidance on combat, wounds, skill checks, campaign building, and other critical issues. * New cover art and design, new interior art and design, and a hardcover binding to keep this game in line.

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Net Impact Review

Net Impact
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Net Impact ReviewNet Impact by Donald J. Bingle is not your dad's spy novel. This is a modern spy thriller about a realistic agent working for a shadow company, The Subsidiary, affiliated with several different sovereign nations. The details are crisp and main character is a fully drawn man with an exciting career in espionage, but a terrible life at home, as he rarely sees his wife and son, who are becoming more and more upset with his always gone lifestyle. His marriage is in serious trouble as he is sent on a mission to New Zealand to stop the transfer of unmanned drone plans and goes from there as our he uncovers the truth about a very diabolical plot apropos for our modern internet age.
The most fascinating thing about the novel is the inclusion of the fictional virtual world of Reality 2 Be, think Second Life, where a lot of secret and illegal activity happens--which is not fiction. I had no idea, but in the virtual worlds of the internet money is transferred, criminals conduct clandestine meetings, and rebels and terrorists get together right under the nose of the world governments who have no idea of how to monitor and police the virtual worlds. Sure, we've seen spies infiltrate the lairs of the bad guys, but I hadn't seen one infiltrate a virtual world before, and it was cool to see how the plot brought the virtual and real world together in a very fascinating twist.
The strength of the book is the accurate main character, who is so good at what he does, but not in a sort of silly James Bond way. This is more of a Jason Bourne crossed with that cool uncle of yours who was a lineman in football, then army ranger, and a cop before he became a private consultant. He's a realistic spy, who uses his keen intellect and pragmatic philosophy to get the job done--and he's known for causing mass destruction, but he gets the mission accomplished no matter what. Sure, there are a few gunfights, fires, computer hacking moments, and big explosions, but OMG, the ending is pretty amazing and I didn't see that one coming. I'm pretty certain no spy has ever used what this guy used to accomplish the mission at the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as well as Bingle's other novels, Forced Conversion and Greensword. His short fiction has always entertained me as well, and I look forward to his next project.
Net Impact is a short, punchy, realistic spy thriller for the modern age, and once you read this, you'll never look at the internet the same way again.
Paul Genesse, author and editor
Net Impact OverviewDick Thornby is not Hollywood's idea of a spy.In his rough and tumble job there are no tailored Italian suits, no bimbos eager to please, and no massive underground fortresses built by evil overlords seeking world domination-just an endless series of sinister threats to the safety and security of the billions of mundane citizens of the planet.Sure, Dick's tough and he knows a few tricks to help him get out of a tight spot, even if his boss accuses him of over-reliance on an abundance of explosives.But he's also got a mortgage, a wife upset by his frequent absences on "business" trips, and an increasingly alienated teen-age son who spends way too much time playing in gaming worlds on the computer.When a mission to bust up an arms exchange in New Zealand goes spectacularly bad, ending with the showy destruction of the Dunedin port facility, Dick is thrown into a maze of conflict involving Hong Kong arms dealers, cyber-criminals, Chinese government goons attempting to suppress computer access by dissidents, and even militant Maoris seeking rocket launchers to shoot down tourist-laden jumbo jets.Then a young computer expert back at the Philadelphia headquarters for The Subsidiary, an international espionage agency created in the aftermath of 9/11, discovers that the bad guys are involved in a vast conspiracy.Dick is forced to partner with the espionage neophyte to battle evil on multiple fronts, leading to a final confrontation that incorporates real-world conspiracy theories and cutting-edge technology.In the end, Dick can save his partner, save his marriage, save his son, or save the world, but he can't do it all.

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