The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I remember when I first heard of the Tribe 8 Companion. I was reading the information on becoming a freelancer for Dream Pod 9 and came across a list of books that are in the works. I saw the title Tribe 8 Companion and was instantly reminded of White Wolf's Player Guide series, which was a second book published for one of their games, which included new rules and character types. The description made me instantly not want to buy the book. It said, "Contains information on the Lost Tribes." This made me think once more of White Wolf, who always introduced new Clans/Tribes/Guilds etc. in their Player's Guides, some that were never mentioned before. Upon reading the content list I discovered that they meant the Joshuan and Marian tribes. This made me feel much better.

I forgot about the Companion for a while, not important to me since it wasn't out yet. Then Philippe Boulle posted the Advanced Combat Rules that would be found in the Companion on the T8 Mailing List. The people on the list were encouraged to give feedback on these new rules, and we did. I was just happy to be able to get a sneak peak at the rules, but because of some comments I made Mr. Boulle decided I deserved a thank you in the book and a free copy. That is the story of how I came across the book.

The book itself is excellent. The pre-conception that it is a White Wolf Player's Guide is completely incorrect, the book designed more for Weavers then players. It includes information of the Joshuan and Marian Tribes, similar to the type of information found on the other tribes found in the Rulebook. Since the book was published after the events of Children of Lilith there are a lot of references to that book, especially when explaining the Lost Tribe's opinions on the matter. I found the first two chapters to be extremely well written, full of emotion and empathy for these Lost Tribes.

The third chapter gives information about running Tribal cycles, listing the Tribal equivalent to a Fallen cell. These circles give excellent ways to run a cycle the combines different tribes doing things they don't usually do. It also gives some back-story on the events of Children of Lilith, including information on the Harvest Circle responsible for uncovering the secrets of Lilith.

Chapter four is about the Keepers, and is again well written. It expands what the Weaver knows about the Keepers, including various factions within Keeper society. It also provides a better understanding of their technology level. I enjoy reading this chapter because of the truths it provides about the origin of the Keepers, and may change your opinion of that crazy guy on the hill stockpiling weapons. This chapter is a great resource for Weavers who want to include Keepers in their campaign either as NPCs or PCs.

Chapter five and six are two quests, one which is a part of the ongoing Tribe 8 story, and the other which simply adds flavour to the world. I'm not a fan of pre-generated quests, usually because when I play them it goes something like this. "It's a cold and windy day in Bazaar, the crowd seems nervous, as if the entire group consciousness is awaiting the arrival of, something. Hmm, oh, here's a good description of the crowd. 'Bazaar was hot and dusty; another summer's day in Vimary…' Doh!" I'm serious, it happened. Having grown up in AD&D land I automatically avoid pre-generated campaigns, mostly because the rewards are out of tune with the flavour of my story. Plus they usually run along the lines of figuring out traps and puzzles. I prefer characters to willingly kill themselves because that is what their character would do. Although if that is the reason they are doing it, luck sometimes steps in and saves their sorry rears. These Quests are good because they provide more NPCs. Every sourcebook, no matter what the subject, should include NPCs. DP9, and in particular their Heavy Gear line, are very good for including a massive amount of NPCs, I've had to catalogue them just to keep up. In the Quest St. Christopher and the Croatan there is an exciting look at life with the Z'bri, before they showed their true colours.

I think chapter seven is one of the best in the books, especially for Weavers using Keepers, or Lost Tribes in their cycles. It provides possible themes, tips for running the cycle using these new characters, etc. Then comes the answer to every player's prayers. A section that expands on the barter system, allowing people to actually get what they want and need. This section alone make the book a must have for any Weaver who is having trouble with characters who want to buy stuff. It provides information on which tribe wants what, and how much the value it. It also tells you how valuable hired labour is as a alternative to using goods to trade. Almost as helpful is a section explaining the population of Vimary, allowing you to visualize just how many people are living in Bazaar, Hom, Westholm, etc. Not only is this extremely helpful for Weavers, it also displays the amount of thought DP9 puts into their games, how detailed they make things. In fact, DP9 games are like a Swiss watch, intricate and detailed, yet runs like a charm.

Included in chapter seven is the advanced combat rules. While they are obviously inspired by past attempts at advanced combat rules such as AD&D Combat and Tactics, they are specifically designed for the Tribe 8 game. They are a move away from the common "I hit him" combat that many Weavers fall asleep to during a game. Of course, how well they work will depend on the players. Typical hackers and slashers will benefit from these rules only in the final show-down between good and evil. For the rest of the time "I hit him" will suffice, the boredom of that type of combat less then the hassle of trying to teach people new rules.

However, if you already have a group of players who are descriptive in their combat you don't have to teach anyone new rules. All you have to do is keep the list of maneuvers handy, and when one of your players says "I raise the sword above my head and bring it down, cleaving through the Gek'roh's head." All you have to do is look up Heavy Blow and Head Shot, add the correct modifiers, and tell the player what happened. My group usually does try special attacks like that, and now I can easily and consistently give them bonuses or negatives to the attack. These new combat rules also fix some of the problems when DP9 shoved their mostly gun orientated combat modifiers into Tribe 8. It didn't seem right that to not be penalized characters had to stand absolutely still while attacking.

Synthesis is also cleared up in this chapter. Indeed the seventh chapter seems like a definitive answer to all the questions that have ever been asked on the mailing list. Other small details are also corrected, such as what the heck a click is, why people in heavy armour are worse of then people not wearing armour at all. Indeed the new armour rules are fascinating, allowing players to mix and match different armour types on different parts of their bodies. While this could lead to some extra book keeping it does better represent the scavenging way of life of the tribes, where everyone in heavy armour isn't wearing the exact same kind.

Every book has its faults. Fortunately the Companion doesn't suffer as many as other books. Typos and similar errors are few and far between, which is always nice to see because they always reduce the effectiveness of a story, and since the background and histories in a Tribe 8 book are always stories, typos are very damaging. There is one tacky error by DP9. It is okay to refer to another book for more information on a certain subject. This is a reference, and is very helpful to readers. However, when you refer to another book (for the same reasons) but mention that it is "on sale now" the reference becomes a sales pitch, a tacky advertisement. I don't mind ads in the back of books, but in the body of the text, written so as to draw the reader into the story, advertisements have no place. It only occurred once in the book, and I hope it will never happen again. Refer to the book, yes, and if you want to advertise its availability, put a full page ad in the back of the book.

Also, in St. Christopher and the Croatan I found the set of 3 traps to be more dungeon crawling then tapestry weaving. It is very hard to write cycles for players you've never even met, and often times the cycle becomes a bit of a logic puzzle for the players, instead of the characters. Now, I mentioned that I don't like to use pre-generated quests. However, I read both because I wanted to review them and because they were interesting, possibly a good stepping stone for a custom made quest.

All in all I think this book is great, a must-have for Weavers who want to expand their views of Vimary and the world in which it lies. Most RPGs include a little story along with their descriptions of the world to give players an idea of the flavour of the game. Since Tribe 8's world descriptions are stories Weavers and players are able to become more comfortable playing characters in the world. On its own, these stories are good, but because of DP9's dedication to quality in their work they are also books in their own right, creating emotion and pathos for the subjects of the stories. They make you feel a Marian's loss, a Joshuan's anger, a Keepers' sense of survival. They draw you into the world so completely that you wonder if it might not be such a bad idea to bottle some water and store some tins of food, you know, just in case.

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

Tribe 8 Companion
Author: Phil Anderson, Amanda Kool, Marion Anderson, Philippe Boulle, Micheal Butler, Hilary Doda, John Morrow, Joshua Asheim, Lucien Soulban Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: $19.95 Page count: 112 Capsule Review by Tyler Provick on 03/25/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Horror Post-apocalypse Gothic	I remember when I first heard of the Tribe 8 Companion. I was reading the information on becoming a freelancer for Dream Pod 9 and came across a list of books that are in the works. I saw the title Tribe 8 Companion and was instantly reminded of White Wolf's Player Guide series, which was a second book published for one of their games, which included new rules and character types. The description made me instantly not want to buy the book. It said, "Contains information on the Lost Tribes." This made me think once more of White Wolf, who always introduced new Clans/Tribes/Guilds etc. in their Player's Guides, some that were never mentioned before. Upon reading the content list I discovered that they meant the Joshuan and Marian tribes. This made me feel much better. I forgot about the Companion for a while, not important to me since it wasn't out yet. Then Philippe Boulle posted the Advanced Combat Rules that would be found in the Companion on the T8 Mailing List. The people on the list were encouraged to give feedback on these new rules, and we did. I was just happy to be able to get a sneak peak at the rules, but because of some comments I made Mr. Boulle decided I deserved a thank you in the book and a free copy. That is the story of how I came across the book. The book itself is excellent. The pre-conception that it is a White Wolf Player's Guide is completely incorrect, the book designed more for Weavers then players. It includes information of the Joshuan and Marian Tribes, similar to the type of information found on the other tribes found in the Rulebook. Since the book was published after the events of Children of Lilith there are a lot of references to that book, especially when explaining the Lost Tribe's opinions on the matter. I found the first two chapters to be extremely well written, full of emotion and empathy for these Lost Tribes. The third chapter gives information about running Tribal cycles, listing the Tribal equivalent to a Fallen cell. These circles give excellent ways to run a cycle the combines different tribes doing things they don't usually do. It also gives some back-story on the events of Children of Lilith, including information on the Harvest Circle responsible for uncovering the secrets of Lilith. Chapter four is about the Keepers, and is again well written. It expands what the Weaver knows about the Keepers, including various factions within Keeper society. It also provides a better understanding of their technology level. I enjoy reading this chapter because of the truths it provides about the origin of the Keepers, and may change your opinion of that crazy guy on the hill stockpiling weapons. This chapter is a great resource for Weavers who want to include Keepers in their campaign either as NPCs or PCs. Chapter five and six are two quests, one which is a part of the ongoing Tribe 8 story, and the other which simply adds flavour to the world. I'm not a fan of pre-generated quests, usually because when I play them it goes something like this. "It's a cold and windy day in Bazaar, the crowd seems nervous, as if the entire group consciousness is awaiting the arrival of, something. Hmm, oh, here's a good description of the crowd. 'Bazaar was hot and dusty; another summer's day in Vimary…' Doh!" I'm serious, it happened. Having grown up in AD&D land I automatically avoid pre-generated campaigns, mostly because the rewards are out of tune with the flavour of my story. Plus they usually run along the lines of figuring out traps and puzzles. I prefer characters to willingly kill themselves because that is what their character would do. Although if that is the reason they are doing it, luck sometimes steps in and saves their sorry rears. These Quests are good because they provide more NPCs. Every sourcebook, no matter what the subject, should include NPCs. DP9, and in particular their Heavy Gear line, are very good for including a massive amount of NPCs, I've had to catalogue them just to keep up. In the Quest St. Christopher and the Croatan there is an exciting look at life with the Z'bri, before they showed their true colours. I think chapter seven is one of the best in the books, especially for Weavers using Keepers, or Lost Tribes in their cycles. It provides possible themes, tips for running the cycle using these new characters, etc. Then comes the answer to every player's prayers. A section that expands on the barter system, allowing people to actually get what they want and need. This section alone make the book a must have for any Weaver who is having trouble with characters who want to buy stuff. It provides information on which tribe wants what, and how much the value it. It also tells you how valuable hired labour is as a alternative to using goods to trade. Almost as helpful is a section explaining the population of Vimary, allowing you to visualize just how many people are living in Bazaar, Hom, Westholm, etc. Not only is this extremely helpful for Weavers, it also displays the amount of thought DP9 puts into their games, how detailed they make things. In fact, DP9 games are like a Swiss watch, intricate and detailed, yet runs like a charm. Included in chapter seven is the advanced combat rules. While they are obviously inspired by past attempts at advanced combat rules such as AD&D Combat and Tactics, they are specifically designed for the Tribe 8 game. They are a move away from the common "I hit him" combat that many Weavers fall asleep to during a game. Of course, how well they work will depend on the players. Typical hackers and slashers will benefit from these rules only in the final show-down between good and evil. For the rest of the time "I hit him" will suffice, the boredom of that type of combat less then the hassle of trying to teach people new rules. However, if you already have a group of players who are descriptive in their combat you don't have to teach anyone new rules. All you have to do is keep the list of maneuvers handy, and when one of your players says "I raise the sword above my head and bring it down, cleaving through the Gek'roh's head." All you have to do is look up Heavy Blow and Head Shot, add the correct modifiers, and tell the player what happened. My group usually does try special attacks like that, and now I can easily and consistently give them bonuses or negatives to the attack. These new combat rules also fix some of the problems when DP9 shoved their mostly gun orientated combat modifiers into Tribe 8. It didn't seem right that to not be penalized characters had to stand absolutely still while attacking. Synthesis is also cleared up in this chapter. Indeed the seventh chapter seems like a definitive answer to all the questions that have ever been asked on the mailing list. Other small details are also corrected, such as what the heck a click is, why people in heavy armour are worse of then people not wearing armour at all. Indeed the new armour rules are fascinating, allowing players to mix and match different armour types on different parts of their bodies. While this could lead to some extra book keeping it does better represent the scavenging way of life of the tribes, where everyone in heavy armour isn't wearing the exact same kind. Every book has its faults. Fortunately the Companion doesn't suffer as many as other books. Typos and similar errors are few and far between, which is always nice to see because they always reduce the effectiveness of a story, and since the background and histories in a Tribe 8 book are always stories, typos are very damaging. There is one tacky error by DP9. It is okay to refer to another book for more information on a certain subject. This is a reference, and is very helpful to readers. However, when you refer to another book (for the same reasons) but mention that it is "on sale now" the reference becomes a sales pitch, a tacky advertisement. I don't mind ads in the back of books, but in the body of the text, written so as to draw the reader into the story, advertisements have no place. It only occurred once in the book, and I hope it will never happen again. Refer to the book, yes, and if you want to advertise its availability, put a full page ad in the back of the book. Also, in St. Christopher and the Croatan I found the set of 3 traps to be more dungeon crawling then tapestry weaving. It is very hard to write cycles for players you've never even met, and often times the cycle becomes a bit of a logic puzzle for the players, instead of the characters. Now, I mentioned that I don't like to use pre-generated quests. However, I read both because I wanted to review them and because they were interesting, possibly a good stepping stone for a custom made quest. All in all I think this book is great, a must-have for Weavers who want to expand their views of Vimary and the world in which it lies. Most RPGs include a little story along with their descriptions of the world to give players an idea of the flavour of the game. Since Tribe 8's world descriptions are stories Weavers and players are able to become more comfortable playing characters in the world. On its own, these stories are good, but because of DP9's dedication to quality in their work they are also books in their own right, creating emotion and pathos for the subjects of the stories. They make you feel a Marian's loss, a Joshuan's anger, a Keepers' sense of survival. They draw you into the world so completely that you wonder if it might not be such a bad idea to bottle some water and store some tins of food, you know, just in case. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)