The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Dream Pod 9 is making quite a reputation for themselves for producing quality games. Tribe 8 is no exception.

Physically, the game is impressive. At 208 pages, it's not much thicker than the average game, but the artwork is much sparser than in most games and the type size is small. There's a lot of information in here. What artwork there is in the book is evocative and sometimes downright eerie. Some of it is evocative of the tribal background of the player characters, some of it is not. It all adds to the feel of the game rather than detracting from it.

Tribe 8 is run with the Silhouette system, also used in DP9's Jovian Chronicles, which I have not had the pleasure of playing. It's a good system, fairly easy to learn, but not inherently better than many other systems on the market. The magic of Tribe 8, called synthesis is intriguing, and feels appropriate to the game's background. Character creation is point-based, and requires a bit of time. Characters tend to be fairly complete when they're finished, and while min-maxing isn't impossible, anyone trying to jack up one statistic or skill will suffer a lot in other areas. Not that this will stop the truly dedicated, of course.

The packaging is good, the system is solid, but what makes Tribe 8 different from any other post-holocaust/science fiction/fantasy/alien invasion game on the market? Well, I think it might be the only game in its specific genre, but even if the market were flooded with them, Tribe 8 would be a stand-out game because of its background.

At some point in the future, civilization falls. This is only the start of humanity's woes. The bad vibes created by the collective minds of humanity brings some otherdimensional alien baddies called the Z'bri to the earth. The Z'bri round up humanity and put them in camps. Eventually, humanity is freed by eight beings known as the Fatimas. One of the fatimas, Joshua (the only male fatima) died freeing humanity from the Z'bri. The remaining seven founded the seven tribes which the humans of Vimary live.

But all is not well on Vimary. The Z'bri are still out there, and still ruling over a lot of humans. The fatimas aren't human - they seem closer to the Z'bri themselves in many ways - and their rule over the tribes seems geared mainly toward maintaining their rule. People are being thrown out of the tribes in ever-increasing numbers, and going to the city of Hom, built in the ruins of an ancient human city. Player characters are members of this "Eighth Tribe". There's a prophecy that Joshua's tribe would save humanity, but are the outcasts of the other tribes really Tribe 8?

There are people living outside the Tribal structure, like the Keepers. The Keepers are old-time technology freaks, and probably the only people you'll ever see with a gun. This isn't Gamma World where the first thing characters do after getting their starting equipment is to run out and load up on as much ancient tech as they can carry.

The game is good, the system is strong. The background is what will sell the game, though, and I think that if the setting seems interesting to you, Tribe 8 is worth buying. Once lingering question remains in my mind, though: What's the world like outside the relatively small confines of Vimary? If all 8 Tribes are entirely in Vimary, is the rest of the world ruled by Z'bri or are there other free people living in entirely different social structures?

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Tribe 8
Author: Philippe R. Boulle, Stephane Brochu, Joshua Mosquiera Asheim Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: $29.95 US Page count: 208 ISBN: 1-896-776-23-X Playtest Review by Kevin Mowery on 02/06/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Post-apocalypse	Dream Pod 9 is making quite a reputation for themselves for producing quality games. Tribe 8 is no exception. Physically, the game is impressive. At 208 pages, it's not much thicker than the average game, but the artwork is much sparser than in most games and the type size is small. There's a lot of information in here. What artwork there is in the book is evocative and sometimes downright eerie. Some of it is evocative of the tribal background of the player characters, some of it is not. It all adds to the feel of the game rather than detracting from it. Tribe 8 is run with the Silhouette system, also used in DP9's Jovian Chronicles, which I have not had the pleasure of playing. It's a good system, fairly easy to learn, but not inherently better than many other systems on the market. The magic of Tribe 8, called synthesis is intriguing, and feels appropriate to the game's background. Character creation is point-based, and requires a bit of time. Characters tend to be fairly complete when they're finished, and while min-maxing isn't impossible, anyone trying to jack up one statistic or skill will suffer a lot in other areas. Not that this will stop the truly dedicated, of course. The packaging is good, the system is solid, but what makes Tribe 8 different from any other post-holocaust/science fiction/fantasy/alien invasion game on the market? Well, I think it might be the only game in its specific genre, but even if the market were flooded with them, Tribe 8 would be a stand-out game because of its background. At some point in the future, civilization falls. This is only the start of humanity's woes. The bad vibes created by the collective minds of humanity brings some otherdimensional alien baddies called the Z'bri to the earth. The Z'bri round up humanity and put them in camps. Eventually, humanity is freed by eight beings known as the Fatimas. One of the fatimas, Joshua (the only male fatima) died freeing humanity from the Z'bri. The remaining seven founded the seven tribes which the humans of Vimary live. But all is not well on Vimary. The Z'bri are still out there, and still ruling over a lot of humans. The fatimas aren't human - they seem closer to the Z'bri themselves in many ways - and their rule over the tribes seems geared mainly toward maintaining their rule. People are being thrown out of the tribes in ever-increasing numbers, and going to the city of Hom, built in the ruins of an ancient human city. Player characters are members of this "Eighth Tribe". There's a prophecy that Joshua's tribe would save humanity, but are the outcasts of the other tribes really Tribe 8? There are people living outside the Tribal structure, like the Keepers. The Keepers are old-time technology freaks, and probably the only people you'll ever see with a gun. This isn't Gamma World where the first thing characters do after getting their starting equipment is to run out and load up on as much ancient tech as they can carry. The game is good, the system is strong. The background is what will sell the game, though, and I think that if the setting seems interesting to you, Tribe 8 is worth buying. Once lingering question remains in my mind, though: What's the world like outside the relatively small confines of Vimary? If all 8 Tribes are entirely in Vimary, is the rest of the world ruled by Z'bri or are there other free people living in entirely different social structures? Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)