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Weather the Cuckoo Likes Atlas Games 96 pages, perfect bound Price = $12.95

Reviewed by Lisa Padol

This review originally appeared in The Familiar #1.

This is a sourcebook for Over the Edge, detailing one of the strangest conspiracies on the island of Al Amarja, the Cut-Ups, a group dedicated to fighting Control Freaks everywhere. Robin Laws has stated that he wanted this to be the strangest sourcebook ever written. It is, although not in quite the way I had expected.

Nothing could have lived up to my expectations, but Weather the Cuckoo Likes comes very close. It opens with a scene describing a meeting of the Cut-Ups, who are then described. Next, their enemies are described. Following each description is a story idea for using the character in a campaign. The Cut-Ups and their foes are delightfully strange, and could be used to liven up any modern campaign (and perhaps some non-modern ones) with surrealism.

The organization (if one can use that term) of the Cut-Ups is described next. This is followed by the Optional Cut-Up Rules. Just as the Cut-Ups use a random word generator made from cut up newspapers to predict the future and change reality, gms and players can use one instead of rolling dice. For example, you might have to make a sentence using the words "fail", "culture", "fascinate", and "way" to see how well you do in combat. The gm assigns each word a value, depending on how relevant it is to the sentence and your action. You might come up with: "I fascinate my opponent with the way I fight, using techniques culled from various cultures, so that he will fail to realize that he's about to get his lights punched out."

Obviously, there's a strong subjective component here. GMs and players need to trust each other. This system isn't for everyone, but it's an interesting experiment. Even non-OTE GMs can use the Cut-Up method for generating everything from plotlines to the personality of an GMC.

The reality-altering technology of the Cut-Ups is described next, and the book is rounded out with two scenarios. The scenarios are the most disappointing part of Weather the Cuckoo Likes.

There's nothing wrong with the first scenario if one looks at it as a "typical" OTE scenario. However, there's nothing that makes it special as a Cut-Up adventure. The next scenario involves the pcs "rebooting" the universe, which has crashed due to the meddling of an old enemy of the Cut-Ups. The pcs must do a lot of silly things. Whether these are painfully dumb or hilariously funny depends on the players and the gm. Be very sure of your gamers before you try to run this. Neither scenario is bad, but they don't measure up to the high quality of the rest of the book. I'd be interested to know if they were included specifically to make the book run longer.

Nevertheless, Weather the Cuckoo Likes is a strange and wonderful sourcebook. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something different.

Grade: B+

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

Weather the Cuckoo Likes
Author: Robin Laws Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Over the Edge Cost: $12.95 Page count: 96 pages, perfect bound Capsule Review by Lisa Padol on 05/04/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Comedy Espionage Conspiracy	Weather the Cuckoo Likes Atlas Games 96 pages, perfect bound Price = $12.95 Reviewed by Lisa Padol This review originally appeared in The Familiar #1. This is a sourcebook for Over the Edge, detailing one of the strangest conspiracies on the island of Al Amarja, the Cut-Ups, a group dedicated to fighting Control Freaks everywhere. Robin Laws has stated that he wanted this to be the strangest sourcebook ever written. It is, although not in quite the way I had expected. Nothing could have lived up to my expectations, but Weather the Cuckoo Likes comes very close. It opens with a scene describing a meeting of the Cut-Ups, who are then described. Next, their enemies are described. Following each description is a story idea for using the character in a campaign. The Cut-Ups and their foes are delightfully strange, and could be used to liven up any modern campaign (and perhaps some non-modern ones) with surrealism. The organization (if one can use that term) of the Cut-Ups is described next. This is followed by the Optional Cut-Up Rules. Just as the Cut-Ups use a random word generator made from cut up newspapers to predict the future and change reality, gms and players can use one instead of rolling dice. For example, you might have to make a sentence using the words "fail", "culture", "fascinate", and "way" to see how well you do in combat. The gm assigns each word a value, depending on how relevant it is to the sentence and your action. You might come up with: "I fascinate my opponent with the way I fight, using techniques culled from various cultures, so that he will fail to realize that he's about to get his lights punched out." Obviously, there's a strong subjective component here. GMs and players need to trust each other. This system isn't for everyone, but it's an interesting experiment. Even non-OTE GMs can use the Cut-Up method for generating everything from plotlines to the personality of an GMC. The reality-altering technology of the Cut-Ups is described next, and the book is rounded out with two scenarios. The scenarios are the most disappointing part of Weather the Cuckoo Likes. There's nothing wrong with the first scenario if one looks at it as a "typical" OTE scenario. However, there's nothing that makes it special as a Cut-Up adventure. The next scenario involves the pcs "rebooting" the universe, which has crashed due to the meddling of an old enemy of the Cut-Ups. The pcs must do a lot of silly things. Whether these are painfully dumb or hilariously funny depends on the players and the gm. Be very sure of your gamers before you try to run this. Neither scenario is bad, but they don't measure up to the high quality of the rest of the book. I'd be interested to know if they were included specifically to make the book run longer. Nevertheless, Weather the Cuckoo Likes is a strange and wonderful sourcebook. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something different. Grade: B+ Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)