The Inside Scoop on Gaming

After having just moved, I found this little gem deep in my game collection. I recieved it for free at a Dexcon a few years back, and it sort of fell by the wayside since then. I remeber being impressed even then by the classy good looks and top-notch art of what was really a homemade production. This game's looks put a lot of the big-name companies to shame. Attractive, eyecatching art on just about every page is garunteed to hold the attention when reading about this space-opera sci-fi RPG.

Now, since this was a pre-production version, a great deal of material was left out. Essentially, what you're given here is part of the character creation system and the combat system. Just about every other detail is left out, and youre forced to piece it together from the scraps left in the book. (Void Prophets are cool and do something important, the Nari are bad, Humans are in the midst of some sort of civil war which has been dropped to deal with the invaders.) In any case, after a brief, informal Introduction, the game drops nine PC races on your head, giving enough information about each to give you a feel for them.

Especially cool are the Radiant Council (Imagine Jerry Fallwell as Darth Vader and run with it.) and the psychic colony-beings called the Aloosh.After that there's a kind of sad cocktail-napkin map of the galaxy (Was the artist off that day?) which points out an area called "Golmspace," although there's no mention of The Golm, Golms, or Golming anywhere else e in the book. Have to admit it's fun to say, though. Golm.

After that we are treated to the "Chronicler" system, and I hate to say it, but if you've ever been in anyone's Chronicle, you're probably familiar with it. Guys, you've got something with great potential here, but either market it as an all-purpose setting or come up with a new system. White Wolf did hit upon something very easy and playable with the storyteller system, but it's not public domain just yet.

AFter that there are a few Pages on equipment, but with no explanation as to what these items are, this is only so much value. I think I would like a snake or a live wire, but I'm not sure what they do (outside of six or seven damage at melee range.)

Now the concepts and ideas here are pretty good, and the art and design are absolutley incredible for this level of production, but the editing....Oooh. Ouch. It ranges from the comical to the strictly illegible.Another shot with a spellcheck as well as a grammatical overhaul are definitely in order. I won't dwell on it. I'm almost sure that these guys were rushed for the convention, and I'm really impressed with the results.

In closing, I have to say that this is an okay product that could be a really great product if someone puts thier mind to it. I'm curious about it's current status (if it has a current status- this one's dated 1995) and if anyone knows how to get in touch with Jason McAlpin, Jason Navaraez, or Ther Armageddon Factory, please let me know. My E-mail is Syanstre@aol.com, and thanks for your time.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Prophesy
Author: Armageddon Factory Staff Category: game Company/Publisher: Armageddon Factory Page count: 30 Capsule Review by Sean Jaffe on 03/26/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction	After having just moved, I found this little gem deep in my game collection. I recieved it for free at a Dexcon a few years back, and it sort of fell by the wayside since then. I remeber being impressed even then by the classy good looks and top-notch art of what was really a homemade production. This game's looks put a lot of the big-name companies to shame. Attractive, eyecatching art on just about every page is garunteed to hold the attention when reading about this space-opera sci-fi RPG. Now, since this was a pre-production version, a great deal of material was left out. Essentially, what you're given here is part of the character creation system and the combat system. Just about every other detail is left out, and youre forced to piece it together from the scraps left in the book. (Void Prophets are cool and do something important, the Nari are bad, Humans are in the midst of some sort of civil war which has been dropped to deal with the invaders.) In any case, after a brief, informal Introduction, the game drops nine PC races on your head, giving enough information about each to give you a feel for them. Especially cool are the Radiant Council (Imagine Jerry Fallwell as Darth Vader and run with it.) and the psychic colony-beings called the Aloosh.After that there's a kind of sad cocktail-napkin map of the galaxy (Was the artist off that day?) which points out an area called "Golmspace," although there's no mention of The Golm, Golms, or Golming anywhere else e in the book. Have to admit it's fun to say, though. Golm. After that we are treated to the "Chronicler" system, and I hate to say it, but if you've ever been in anyone's Chronicle, you're probably familiar with it. Guys, you've got something with great potential here, but either market it as an all-purpose setting or come up with a new system. White Wolf did hit upon something very easy and playable with the storyteller system, but it's not public domain just yet. AFter that there are a few Pages on equipment, but with no explanation as to what these items are, this is only so much value. I think I would like a snake or a live wire, but I'm not sure what they do (outside of six or seven damage at melee range.) Now the concepts and ideas here are pretty good, and the art and design are absolutley incredible for this level of production, but the editing....Oooh. Ouch. It ranges from the comical to the strictly illegible.Another shot with a spellcheck as well as a grammatical overhaul are definitely in order. I won't dwell on it. I'm almost sure that these guys were rushed for the convention, and I'm really impressed with the results. In closing, I have to say that this is an okay product that could be a really great product if someone puts thier mind to it. I'm curious about it's current status (if it has a current status- this one's dated 1995) and if anyone knows how to get in touch with Jason McAlpin, Jason Navaraez, or Ther Armageddon Factory, please let me know. My E-mail is Syanstre@aol.com, and thanks for your time. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Prophesy