The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Calling The Stage a setting for The Window is a little constraining and conjures up images of sourcebooks filled with system-specific tables, stats, rules and what not.

It isn't.

As a matter of fact, there isn't a single rule in sight in the whole eighteen-page document, not even for the rule-lite Window roleplaying system. What you do get is a narrative text filled with information of secret societies, groups and powerful individuals that are striving to shape the face of the world.

The text is written in the voice of Susan Donelly, a member of the Knight of St. Jerome. The Knights, who she says have been present in several forms since the fall of Rome and which we can suppose to have been the Templar Knights at some point, take a somewhat neutral stance towards all of this groups and strive to document them and preserve what knowledge they have acquired.

The document is written with the purpose of being a overview of the Order for new members, and to give them some basic knowledge about the main groups and individuals that the Order keeps tabs on. As such, the text is divided in five sections: an introductory Welcome, the Terminus, the Immortal, Forces Unseen, and finally Shadow Groups. So as not to spoil the fun of reading it I won't go into detail about any of them here, but will instead concentrate on other aspects of The Stage.

As I mentioned before, The Stage is written as a narration (and the writing is quite good I must say). What does it mean for storytellers? Mainly, that you're not reading a supplement for a gaming system but instead an account of the world through the eyes of a person that knows what is really going on. As such, the writing tends to inspire ideas for whatever system you happen to be running at the moment, be it Dark Conspiracy, Call of Cthulhu or something else entirely.

One of the great things about this approach is how flexible it makes things for the storyteller. If your characters are going to belong to the Knights of St. Jerome, the included in The Stage is the least they should know about the real world and you should have no trouble with giving it to them. But since there aren't any special rules regarding your characters, they may well be from one of the Shadow Groups or work unknowingly for one of the other factions. For my Delta Green campaign I'm planning to slowly introduce the players to part of the Stage, with DG being one of the Shadow Groups that are hinted at.

With the writing being good, the setting imaginative and (something I hadn't mentioned) having good art to go along with it, it would that nothing could be wrong. Unfortunately, there are a few things that need to be mentioned. First, it's too short and the few pages given to each group just leave you wishing for more. Second, there are some basic things that should be explained but aren't. For example, it is written for the new members to the Knights, but there isn't any hierarcy given for them: who should the players answer to? What is the internal power structure? After reading the stage again, these sort of things appear to have been left out for the sake of keeping the narrative tone throughout the text, but they are sorely missing.

In any case, The Stage is a good compendium of secret societies and an interesting look to the world behind the real world. And with it being freely available, you could do worse than giving it a look.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Stage - A contemporary horror setting for The Window roleplaying system
Author: Phillip Challis (text and illustrations), Scott Lininger (illustrations) Category: game Company/Publisher: Methods in the Madness Cost: Free Page count: 18 ISBN: http://www.mimgames.com/ Capsule Review by Ricardo J. Méndez on 11/02/98. Genre tags: Modern_day Horror Conspiracy Gothic Generic	Calling The Stage a setting for The Window is a little constraining and conjures up images of sourcebooks filled with system-specific tables, stats, rules and what not. It isn't. As a matter of fact, there isn't a single rule in sight in the whole eighteen-page document, not even for the rule-lite Window roleplaying system. What you do get is a narrative text filled with information of secret societies, groups and powerful individuals that are striving to shape the face of the world. The text is written in the voice of Susan Donelly, a member of the Knight of St. Jerome. The Knights, who she says have been present in several forms since the fall of Rome and which we can suppose to have been the Templar Knights at some point, take a somewhat neutral stance towards all of this groups and strive to document them and preserve what knowledge they have acquired. The document is written with the purpose of being a overview of the Order for new members, and to give them some basic knowledge about the main groups and individuals that the Order keeps tabs on. As such, the text is divided in five sections: an introductory Welcome, the Terminus, the Immortal, Forces Unseen, and finally Shadow Groups. So as not to spoil the fun of reading it I won't go into detail about any of them here, but will instead concentrate on other aspects of The Stage. As I mentioned before, The Stage is written as a narration (and the writing is quite good I must say). What does it mean for storytellers? Mainly, that you're not reading a supplement for a gaming system but instead an account of the world through the eyes of a person that knows what is really going on. As such, the writing tends to inspire ideas for whatever system you happen to be running at the moment, be it Dark Conspiracy, Call of Cthulhu or something else entirely. One of the great things about this approach is how flexible it makes things for the storyteller. If your characters are going to belong to the Knights of St. Jerome, the included in The Stage is the least they should know about the real world and you should have no trouble with giving it to them. But since there aren't any special rules regarding your characters, they may well be from one of the Shadow Groups or work unknowingly for one of the other factions. For my Delta Green campaign I'm planning to slowly introduce the players to part of the Stage, with DG being one of the Shadow Groups that are hinted at. With the writing being good, the setting imaginative and (something I hadn't mentioned) having good art to go along with it, it would that nothing could be wrong. Unfortunately, there are a few things that need to be mentioned. First, it's too short and the few pages given to each group just leave you wishing for more. Second, there are some basic things that should be explained but aren't. For example, it is written for the new members to the Knights, but there isn't any hierarcy given for them: who should the players answer to? What is the internal power structure? After reading the stage again, these sort of things appear to have been left out for the sake of keeping the narrative tone throughout the text, but they are sorely missing. In any case, The Stage is a good compendium of secret societies and an interesting look to the world behind the real world. And with it being freely available, you could do worse than giving it a look. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Stage - A contemporary horror setting for The Window roleplaying system