The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Nearly every year Steve Jackson Games produces something that gets me thinking, "What the hell are they thinking? That'll never sell." Years ago I couldn't understand why they would produce Planet Krishna, until I got that hot little book in my hands, and when I read about this compendium of 52 historical characters I thought that they were insane. Who needs a book with only 52 historical characters? I do.

This book is stunningly applicable across a wide variety of genres. If you like alternate earth things then this is your book. The book is divided into various periods, and each period has an introduction that spotlights some fantastic personages who never existed. These along with an abundance of imaginative sidebars are wonderful sparks to the alternative imagination. If you like running historical campaigns, then this is your book. There is an abundance of excellent historical information here. I you want a solution to power gaming, then it might be found in this book...nothing makes players more humble than comparing themselves with "real" historic personages. Its amazing what can be done with a few points...not everything has to be min/maxed.

Each personage (ranging in time from the ancients to H.P. Lovecraft) has a two page spread. Statistics are here, with an explanation of how these might be different earlier or later in this personage's life. There is also a nice amount of meaty historical discussion in a brief biography, along with a nice bibliography for further reading. I really enjoyed the sidebar in each entry. Titled "What If?" each sidebar goes into various things that might have gone differently in that personage's life, and how that might have affected later history. This is the meat to any alternate history campaign, but these sidebars also contain useful information for a wide variety of other campaigns (Illuminati, Horror, Voodoo, etc.) including ideas on how how to disguise these historic personages within these other campaign types.

The book looks wonderful. The art is spot on, and the books design is gorgeous. Alain Dawson and Jack Elmy have done another bang up job! Phil Masters has also done what I considered to be impossible, making an indispensible book out of something that I felt would be dispensible. How could I have doubted Steve Jackson Games? This book gets an "A."

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

GURPS Who's Who 1
Author: compiled by Phil Masters Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: 19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-367-1 Capsule Review by Scott Shafer on 05/24/99. Genre tags: Historical	Nearly every year Steve Jackson Games produces something that gets me thinking, "What the hell are they thinking? That'll never sell." Years ago I couldn't understand why they would produce Planet Krishna, until I got that hot little book in my hands, and when I read about this compendium of 52 historical characters I thought that they were insane. Who needs a book with only 52 historical characters? I do. This book is stunningly applicable across a wide variety of genres. If you like alternate earth things then this is your book. The book is divided into various periods, and each period has an introduction that spotlights some fantastic personages who never existed. These along with an abundance of imaginative sidebars are wonderful sparks to the alternative imagination. If you like running historical campaigns, then this is your book. There is an abundance of excellent historical information here. I you want a solution to power gaming, then it might be found in this book...nothing makes players more humble than comparing themselves with "real" historic personages. Its amazing what can be done with a few points...not everything has to be min/maxed. Each personage (ranging in time from the ancients to H.P. Lovecraft) has a two page spread. Statistics are here, with an explanation of how these might be different earlier or later in this personage's life. There is also a nice amount of meaty historical discussion in a brief biography, along with a nice bibliography for further reading. I really enjoyed the sidebar in each entry. Titled "What If?" each sidebar goes into various things that might have gone differently in that personage's life, and how that might have affected later history. This is the meat to any alternate history campaign, but these sidebars also contain useful information for a wide variety of other campaigns (Illuminati, Horror, Voodoo, etc.) including ideas on how how to disguise these historic personages within these other campaign types. The book looks wonderful. The art is spot on, and the books design is gorgeous. Alain Dawson and Jack Elmy have done another bang up job! Phil Masters has also done what I considered to be impossible, making an indispensible book out of something that I felt would be dispensible. How could I have doubted Steve Jackson Games? This book gets an "A." Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

GURPS Who's Who 1