The Inside Scoop on Gaming

First off, I bought the book sight unseen from an ebay auction. It was inexpensive; it was unfamiliar; I felt like taking a chance.

My first impression--when I saw the cover--was that it was professionally done. It has a black cover with a very stylized face on the front, similar in some ways to some of the more detailed representations of heat-vision on television. Very slick.

The inside is all black and white except for the eleven full-color prints of oil paintings done by artist, Sheri Bowers. The book is laid out in such a way that one immediately feels the heavy overtones. The game deals with conspiracies and borders on the far side of the supernatural. The layout and design of the book is reminiscent of the 2nd edition of Conspiracy X main book. Very evocative, and very slickly done.

It starts out with a 20-page comic book... It was well drawn, but looked like it was intentionally simplified... Why do so many game books now start out with comics in the front? White wolf did it, and it was a nice touch at first. Now it's starting to come across as page-filler. I've got to meet that perfect-bound multiple of 4 or 16 rule. There is a matching comic segment at the end of the book--just like in Werewolf: The Apocalypse. This segment looks rushed. And doesn't really add much, except perhaps a sense of closure to the story started in the beginning.

The overall game is designed to allow you to play regular humans who have more or less suddenly woken up with various psionic abilities. The majority of those who become "Dreambender" seem to gain their abilities from some sort of higher power--an alien force. Although the characters never have physical contact with these "Mentors," they play the mentor's pawn in various vast political games against other mentors (vaguely like younger vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade). I'm not real keen on the idea of waking up suddenly, and having power granted from a superior being, but at least they make a good case for it... and there is an alternative. You can play an "Unclaimed"--one who has power that does not appear to come from a Mentor. This seems a lot like the Caitiff in Vampire: The Masquerade, too... I wonder how easy it is to avoid this comparison when you're dealing with high levels of conspiracy.

Each dreambender has or will attain levels of expertise in the psionic powers, such as: Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, Biokinesis, Telesthesia (farsight), Teletempora (retrognition, precognition), Empathesia (emotion-control in others), Telepathy. The starting character begins with no abilities in any of these powers--but they have the potential to grow these abilities, where, presumably, normal mortals don't. And with the growth of these abilities, the ripples they make in the cosmic awareness grow... so others with "The Power" can recognize each other (Kind of like in Highlander...).

Being a dreambender, and having the power is not all fun and glory, though. Other dreambenders might be hunting you, in order to absorb your power and increase their own (hmmmm, again like Vampire: The Masquerade). In addition, the government, having learned of the existence of these powers, actively seeks to recruit dreambenders to their purposes.... Sometimes this coincides with the Mentor's purpose, sometimes not... And you only have a limited amount of power. In order to replenish your power, you must sleep--and allow yourself to dream. Meditation will help, but not nearly as well as real sleep. The Unclaimed, however, don't sleep much at all...

Overall, however, the system seems very well thought out. There's very little system presented for the actual powers, though... as if the authors thought it was self-explanatory. You have rankings in each power, but no explanation of what differentiates one skill rank from another. What difference does it make if I've got a power ranking of three or five? I was also a little disappointed at not being able to create a character that could do funky things immediately... but I suppose the character would grow into his abilities...

I decided to go out on the net and look for any other books related to the game... I didn't find anything. When I did a name lookup on Nexus TransMedia Corp and Aztech new Media Inc, I found very little. I didn't find much on Nexus, but Aztech New Media has no mention of this game or game line (or any role-playing game product, for that matter) on their web page. They sell bundled software now... The web page that was so boldly presented at the back of the book and all the extra material they promised for players of this game.... Well, it doesn't exist. www.thepowerrpg.com has probably long faded into the mist.

My guess is that the game had some trouble finding a proper niche, and given the distributor situation, and the similarity to games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Conspiracy X, the publishers thought it best to cut their losses, and move on to other things. So, in the end, if you buy this book, you're on your own.... Which really isn't a bad thing, is it?

Beautiful artwork, well thought out system, bad timing.

It happens.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Power
Author: Quentin Blasingame, Fulvio Ciano, james Gadbois, Steven Leve, Hugh Adam Simpson Category: game Company/Publisher: Aztech new Media Corp. Line: N/A Page count: 244 ISBN: 1-894095-00-6 Capsule Review by Jason W. Tice on 05/15/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Espionage Conspiracy	First off, I bought the book sight unseen from an ebay auction. It was inexpensive; it was unfamiliar; I felt like taking a chance. My first impression--when I saw the cover--was that it was professionally done. It has a black cover with a very stylized face on the front, similar in some ways to some of the more detailed representations of heat-vision on television. Very slick. The inside is all black and white except for the eleven full-color prints of oil paintings done by artist, Sheri Bowers. The book is laid out in such a way that one immediately feels the heavy overtones. The game deals with conspiracies and borders on the far side of the supernatural. The layout and design of the book is reminiscent of the 2nd edition of Conspiracy X main book. Very evocative, and very slickly done. It starts out with a 20-page comic book... It was well drawn, but looked like it was intentionally simplified... Why do so many game books now start out with comics in the front? White wolf did it, and it was a nice touch at first. Now it's starting to come across as page-filler. I've got to meet that perfect-bound multiple of 4 or 16 rule. There is a matching comic segment at the end of the book--just like in Werewolf: The Apocalypse. This segment looks rushed. And doesn't really add much, except perhaps a sense of closure to the story started in the beginning. The overall game is designed to allow you to play regular humans who have more or less suddenly woken up with various psionic abilities. The majority of those who become "Dreambender" seem to gain their abilities from some sort of higher power--an alien force. Although the characters never have physical contact with these "Mentors," they play the mentor's pawn in various vast political games against other mentors (vaguely like younger vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade). I'm not real keen on the idea of waking up suddenly, and having power granted from a superior being, but at least they make a good case for it... and there is an alternative. You can play an "Unclaimed"--one who has power that does not appear to come from a Mentor. This seems a lot like the Caitiff in Vampire: The Masquerade, too... I wonder how easy it is to avoid this comparison when you're dealing with high levels of conspiracy. Each dreambender has or will attain levels of expertise in the psionic powers, such as: Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis, Biokinesis, Telesthesia (farsight), Teletempora (retrognition, precognition), Empathesia (emotion-control in others), Telepathy. The starting character begins with no abilities in any of these powers--but they have the potential to grow these abilities, where, presumably, normal mortals don't. And with the growth of these abilities, the ripples they make in the cosmic awareness grow... so others with "The Power" can recognize each other (Kind of like in Highlander...). Being a dreambender, and having the power is not all fun and glory, though. Other dreambenders might be hunting you, in order to absorb your power and increase their own (hmmmm, again like Vampire: The Masquerade). In addition, the government, having learned of the existence of these powers, actively seeks to recruit dreambenders to their purposes.... Sometimes this coincides with the Mentor's purpose, sometimes not... And you only have a limited amount of power. In order to replenish your power, you must sleep--and allow yourself to dream. Meditation will help, but not nearly as well as real sleep. The Unclaimed, however, don't sleep much at all... Overall, however, the system seems very well thought out. There's very little system presented for the actual powers, though... as if the authors thought it was self-explanatory. You have rankings in each power, but no explanation of what differentiates one skill rank from another. What difference does it make if I've got a power ranking of three or five? I was also a little disappointed at not being able to create a character that could do funky things immediately... but I suppose the character would grow into his abilities... I decided to go out on the net and look for any other books related to the game... I didn't find anything. When I did a name lookup on Nexus TransMedia Corp and Aztech new Media Inc, I found very little. I didn't find much on Nexus, but Aztech New Media has no mention of this game or game line (or any role-playing game product, for that matter) on their web page. They sell bundled software now... The web page that was so boldly presented at the back of the book and all the extra material they promised for players of this game.... Well, it doesn't exist. www.thepowerrpg.com has probably long faded into the mist. My guess is that the game had some trouble finding a proper niche, and given the distributor situation, and the similarity to games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Conspiracy X, the publishers thought it best to cut their losses, and move on to other things. So, in the end, if you buy this book, you're on your own.... Which really isn't a bad thing, is it? Beautiful artwork, well thought out system, bad timing. It happens. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)