The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Note: I talk about the "Story So Far..." appendix in the back of the book. Owners of the original editions of the rules can get this section for free on White Wolf's site at: http://www.white-wolf.com/TrinityStorySoFar.html

The Concept:

Trinity is an RPG from White Wolf in which the game revolves around "Psions," humans who have been altered to have psychic powers. The Psions have to face the machinations of the Aeon Trinity, the fractious national governments of Earth and sometimes their own Orders. They also have to deal with the return of an old enemy, and new alien races.

Trinity has recently been re-released as a 320 pg. softcover with an appendix containing a look behind the plots revealed in the book. It's divided into two parts, a color and a black and white section.

The Setting:

Trinity has a game-universe of huge breadth…the color section of the main rulebook describes the setting, including the history and current status of most of the solar system, as well as all of mankind's colonies. Players will usually take the role of Psions, but rules for playing normal humans are included in an informative sidebar.

The setting is definitely space-opera, but at what scale it should be played is left to the game-master. It combines elements of just about whatever science fiction you want to add, from the claustrophobic combat of the "Aliens" movies (in the Karroo Mining Colony) to dystopian intrigue in the FSA. All in all, Trinity doesn't limit GMs to any one campaign type.

The only complaint I have is that there is almost too much to the main rulebook's setting section. (Not really something to complain about, but it should be noted.) It was an overwhelming read at first, and only once I had decided what type of campaign I wanted to run did it begin to fall into place for me. Another brief complaint is that all of the setting is told from the perspective of the mysterious Aeon Trinity group, and so some of it may prove to be false on certain points...

With the addition of "The Story So Far…" section in the back of the book, a game-master no longer needs to buy further supplements to find out what's going on in the Trinity Universe. All of the main pieces of the puzzle are there to be used by an enterprising storyteller.

The Rules:

The rules are a variant of White Wolf's Storyteller System. Tests involve rolling a number of dice versus a stat + skill combinations against a target number of 7. Difficulty is increased or decreased by requiring more or less "successes." It's a simple, intuitive system and was quickly learned by my entire group, but it's also capable of a certain depth and flexibility.

Combat plays very quickly, and Psionics are well integrated into the rest of the system. Combat plays fast enough that a cinematic "anime" style fight scene is possible with the game, which was something I was shooting for. I've also played for gritty realism and managed well enough. In short, the combat system plays unobtrusively, which is a nice change.

A couple of other systems bear mentioning. The computer rules are different from the average "netrunning" systems you see in recent sci-fi games, using instead of virtual reality a set of intelligent computer agents. It's a nice change, and works well. Also, the backgrounds that players buy in the Storyteller System, such as "mentor," "allies," and "contacts" are all developed in depth for the first time (that I've seen), establishing exactly what is GM territory and what should be handled by the players.

Other Stuff:

The new book is thick and well bound. While I still like the limited edition binder that I purchased when the game first came out, the price is right for this book: a mere $14.95. It is, in fact, cheaper than many supplements for the game.

The book begins with a short story from famed science fiction author George Alec Effinger. While I am a huge fan of Effinger's work, I have to say that the story was universally panned by the gamers in my group, and it sets up the wrong type of premise for the setting information that comes later, in my opinion. One player actually wrote off the game entirely after the short story, and only quick selling allowed us to talk him into playing a game.

The art in the book is uneven. One artist, Lief Jones, seems to really have a feel for the way this future looks, and gives it something of a "Fifth Element" feel, rather than an "in the future, everyone wears trenchcoats" look. However, a lot of the illustrations are computerized images, and in many cases the developers of the game should have just gone for normal drawings. The cover art, by the way, is fantastic.

Overall

Overall, White Wolf has created a novel, fully-realized future. While originally the developers tried to keep a lot under their hat in order to build a larger, overarching story, they've toned that down a little, and for the better, in my opinion. With the addition of "The Story So Far…" and the new price, Trinity should please a large number of gamers. The highest praise comes from my players, who liked it and want to play again.

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

Trinity
Author: Multiple Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studios Line: Trinity Cost: 14.95 Page count: 320 ISBN: 1-56504-622-6 Playtest Review by Eric Brennan on 05/25/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Space Espionage	Note: I talk about the "Story So Far..." appendix in the back of the book. Owners of the original editions of the rules can get this section for free on White Wolf's site at: http://www.white-wolf.com/TrinityStorySoFar.html The Concept: Trinity is an RPG from White Wolf in which the game revolves around "Psions," humans who have been altered to have psychic powers. The Psions have to face the machinations of the Aeon Trinity, the fractious national governments of Earth and sometimes their own Orders. They also have to deal with the return of an old enemy, and new alien races. Trinity has recently been re-released as a 320 pg. softcover with an appendix containing a look behind the plots revealed in the book. It's divided into two parts, a color and a black and white section. The Setting: Trinity has a game-universe of huge breadth…the color section of the main rulebook describes the setting, including the history and current status of most of the solar system, as well as all of mankind's colonies. Players will usually take the role of Psions, but rules for playing normal humans are included in an informative sidebar. The setting is definitely space-opera, but at what scale it should be played is left to the game-master. It combines elements of just about whatever science fiction you want to add, from the claustrophobic combat of the "Aliens" movies (in the Karroo Mining Colony) to dystopian intrigue in the FSA. All in all, Trinity doesn't limit GMs to any one campaign type. The only complaint I have is that there is almost too much to the main rulebook's setting section. (Not really something to complain about, but it should be noted.) It was an overwhelming read at first, and only once I had decided what type of campaign I wanted to run did it begin to fall into place for me. Another brief complaint is that all of the setting is told from the perspective of the mysterious Aeon Trinity group, and so some of it may prove to be false on certain points... With the addition of "The Story So Far…" section in the back of the book, a game-master no longer needs to buy further supplements to find out what's going on in the Trinity Universe. All of the main pieces of the puzzle are there to be used by an enterprising storyteller. The Rules: The rules are a variant of White Wolf's Storyteller System. Tests involve rolling a number of dice versus a stat + skill combinations against a target number of 7. Difficulty is increased or decreased by requiring more or less "successes." It's a simple, intuitive system and was quickly learned by my entire group, but it's also capable of a certain depth and flexibility. Combat plays very quickly, and Psionics are well integrated into the rest of the system. Combat plays fast enough that a cinematic "anime" style fight scene is possible with the game, which was something I was shooting for. I've also played for gritty realism and managed well enough. In short, the combat system plays unobtrusively, which is a nice change. A couple of other systems bear mentioning. The computer rules are different from the average "netrunning" systems you see in recent sci-fi games, using instead of virtual reality a set of intelligent computer agents. It's a nice change, and works well. Also, the backgrounds that players buy in the Storyteller System, such as "mentor," "allies," and "contacts" are all developed in depth for the first time (that I've seen), establishing exactly what is GM territory and what should be handled by the players. Other Stuff: The new book is thick and well bound. While I still like the limited edition binder that I purchased when the game first came out, the price is right for this book: a mere $14.95. It is, in fact, cheaper than many supplements for the game. The book begins with a short story from famed science fiction author George Alec Effinger. While I am a huge fan of Effinger's work, I have to say that the story was universally panned by the gamers in my group, and it sets up the wrong type of premise for the setting information that comes later, in my opinion. One player actually wrote off the game entirely after the short story, and only quick selling allowed us to talk him into playing a game. The art in the book is uneven. One artist, Lief Jones, seems to really have a feel for the way this future looks, and gives it something of a "Fifth Element" feel, rather than an "in the future, everyone wears trenchcoats" look. However, a lot of the illustrations are computerized images, and in many cases the developers of the game should have just gone for normal drawings. The cover art, by the way, is fantastic. Overall Overall, White Wolf has created a novel, fully-realized future. While originally the developers tried to keep a lot under their hat in order to build a larger, overarching story, they've toned that down a little, and for the better, in my opinion. With the addition of "The Story So Far…" and the new price, Trinity should please a large number of gamers. The highest praise comes from my players, who liked it and want to play again. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)