The Inside Scoop on Gaming

As much as I've played role-playing games over the years, I don't give in to buying a game that often. But this time I could not hold back. A game that claimed it could unify all RPGs under one sytem, could adapt to any form of literature, in summary--a universal rpg. I gave in to the hype, gave in to the mixed reviews and bought it. It's safe to say, it was money well spent. Yes, $50 for a game is hard to swallow, but actually well worth it.

The game has a lot to offer, lots of possibility here. I don't like games that take more than an hour to put together a character, but character generation is fun here. It's an "I" game, but there is a note that says you may take an existing character from another game and I assume this means you could generate one, too.

On a print quality scale, the book isn't put together too well, probably at a local print shop, but the author makes up for it by signing and stamping the book (I, by the way, got a pretty low #) so if for any reason the book takes off, it will be a collector's item (remember Chain Mail?) I hope this is where it's headed. The art--- so-so, funny but not painted or anything like that. Not many pages are wasted here. So when you get nearly 600 pages, don't expect art in half of it like the big guys do. Another bad thing is some places needed illustrations that didn't have them, but I think it averaged about a drawing per chapter. Also, the only place I've seen this for sale is on the internet (http://members.aol.com/NagaWorld/purchase.html). My local hobby shop didn't even know how to get it, which forced me to buy it off the net (also didn't get my special discount from the shop, @#$%!) but I was pleased with how fast it got here. There's also a Book of Worlds volume 1 included in the package, something I overlooked when I ordered and it makes the book even more worth it. While I won't get into this book, I will say the art is a notch better, the format is better and I'd even give that book a 5 on Style.

The game is not something I read through and got playing right away, I'll admit that. The vast size of the book alone made me very unsociable for the next six weeks, but it was very comprehenable. The authors show good writing style, and I didn't see any other names in listed in the credits as far as editors go, so kudos to a good job on that! The fonts are perfect, lack of background color on the plain text pages don't leave you dizzy like TSR books or FASA books. I also got wind of an online game on AOL at some point which was being run by one of the creators. I sat in a game which consisted of one person and the referee and it gave me enough of an idea on where to go with my game.

Let's just say this, when playing an "I" game be prepared to catch flack over your rating over the players' abilities versus what they feel they should get. But when I roughed out an idea to the players about the fact their scores can go up, they backed off a little. Naga World makes for a good starting point(as explained in the Book of Worlds)my players devoted some time there building up scores and organizing equipment before venturing off. The idea that 200 pounds of additional equipment can be "versed" throughout the verse was a pretty original approach. Also, "bias" which is the effect the surrounding world had on an object was pretty fun to toy with, it gives the referee more control than most games, but not to the point where he or she abuses it. In one scenario a player of mine's spellbook was affected by "bias" and some of the spells did the opposite of what was intended. Not too original of an approach on my part, but a prime example.

Without saying too much more, I'll level with you, this game does exactly what it sets out to do. It puts all the rules in one complete, no-frills, no wasted time, and most of all easy-to-read book. I am satisfied with that. This may be the only review I ever give, so I'll make I'll sum this all up, it's worth it, folks. Spend $50, get a game and everything else becomes a module, what more could you want. High marks from me and hope when more products come out from these guys they live up to this one. And a note to the authors--do something about the site, it's hard for me to follow and took me awhile before I could figure out how to get the game.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Multiverser:The Game
Author: E.R. Jones and M.Joseph Young Category: game Company/Publisher: Valdron Inc. Cost: 49.95 Page count: 500 ISBN: http://members.aol.com/NagaWorld/mv.html Playtest Review by Breton Stron on 11/15/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Far_Future Space Comedy Anime Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse Old_West Vampire Gothic Asian/Far_East Diceless Generic Live-action	As much as I've played role-playing games over the years, I don't give in to buying a game that often. But this time I could not hold back. A game that claimed it could unify all RPGs under one sytem, could adapt to any form of literature, in summary--a universal rpg. I gave in to the hype, gave in to the mixed reviews and bought it. It's safe to say, it was money well spent. Yes, $50 for a game is hard to swallow, but actually well worth it. The game has a lot to offer, lots of possibility here. I don't like games that take more than an hour to put together a character, but character generation is fun here. It's an "I" game, but there is a note that says you may take an existing character from another game and I assume this means you could generate one, too. On a print quality scale, the book isn't put together too well, probably at a local print shop, but the author makes up for it by signing and stamping the book (I, by the way, got a pretty low #) so if for any reason the book takes off, it will be a collector's item (remember Chain Mail?) I hope this is where it's headed. The art--- so-so, funny but not painted or anything like that. Not many pages are wasted here. So when you get nearly 600 pages, don't expect art in half of it like the big guys do. Another bad thing is some places needed illustrations that didn't have them, but I think it averaged about a drawing per chapter. Also, the only place I've seen this for sale is on the internet (http://members.aol.com/NagaWorld/purchase.html). My local hobby shop didn't even know how to get it, which forced me to buy it off the net (also didn't get my special discount from the shop, @#$%!) but I was pleased with how fast it got here. There's also a Book of Worlds volume 1 included in the package, something I overlooked when I ordered and it makes the book even more worth it. While I won't get into this book, I will say the art is a notch better, the format is better and I'd even give that book a 5 on Style. The game is not something I read through and got playing right away, I'll admit that. The vast size of the book alone made me very unsociable for the next six weeks, but it was very comprehenable. The authors show good writing style, and I didn't see any other names in listed in the credits as far as editors go, so kudos to a good job on that! The fonts are perfect, lack of background color on the plain text pages don't leave you dizzy like TSR books or FASA books. I also got wind of an online game on AOL at some point which was being run by one of the creators. I sat in a game which consisted of one person and the referee and it gave me enough of an idea on where to go with my game. Let's just say this, when playing an "I" game be prepared to catch flack over your rating over the players' abilities versus what they feel they should get. But when I roughed out an idea to the players about the fact their scores can go up, they backed off a little. Naga World makes for a good starting point(as explained in the Book of Worlds)my players devoted some time there building up scores and organizing equipment before venturing off. The idea that 200 pounds of additional equipment can be "versed" throughout the verse was a pretty original approach. Also, "bias" which is the effect the surrounding world had on an object was pretty fun to toy with, it gives the referee more control than most games, but not to the point where he or she abuses it. In one scenario a player of mine's spellbook was affected by "bias" and some of the spells did the opposite of what was intended. Not too original of an approach on my part, but a prime example. Without saying too much more, I'll level with you, this game does exactly what it sets out to do. It puts all the rules in one complete, no-frills, no wasted time, and most of all easy-to-read book. I am satisfied with that. This may be the only review I ever give, so I'll make I'll sum this all up, it's worth it, folks. Spend $50, get a game and everything else becomes a module, what more could you want. High marks from me and hope when more products come out from these guys they live up to this one. And a note to the authors--do something about the site, it's hard for me to follow and took me awhile before I could figure out how to get the game. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Multiverser:The Game