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Brave New World doesn't come out for another month, but I had the pleasure of previewing it at Origins '99 in a demo game. So my knowledge of the book itself comes solely from the photocopy of the rules that the GM was using.

Physically, it should be a nice-looking game, up to the standards of Pinnacle (who also made the visually-stunning Deadlands: the Weird West and Deadlands: Hell on Earth). Judging from the artwork on the website, it may even surpass those two games.

Brave New World is a superhero game with a twist (there were several superhero games being introduced at Origins this year, all of them "with a twist"). Brave New World has a couple of twists. The first is that the superbeings, called deltas, gain their powers after a near-death experience--or possibly after dying and returning; I wasn't able to figure that out and I got two different stories from two different people at Pinnacle, but the near-death experience story came from the designer, so I'm going with that one for now. Deltas who have a near-death experience may become alphas (the process was described as making the jump between the power level of Spiderman and Superman). The second twist is that after Superior, the first alpha and the man who single-handedly won WWII for the Allies, saved Kennedy from an assassination attempt by a group of evil deltas, Kennedy created the Delta Registration Act and declared a state of martial law until the crisis had passed. Thirty-odd years later, he's still President. Players take the roles of members of the resistance.

The game-world is neat, but it's the rules that will make a superhero game sink or swim. The rules for Brave New World are easy to learn, versatile, and someone new to the game, or even new to gaming, can start playing in about five minutes. The rules are an adaptation to the original Deadlands system, and I think an improvement--it's easier to figure the odds on any die roll, the game doesn't require multiple card decks and specific numbers of colored poker chips, and so forth. Each stat is rated from one to five d6, possibly with an add for superpowers. Sixes are re-rolled, and the highest die is kept. Skills are added to the end result.

The superpowers are both the most brilliant part of Brave New World and its downfall. Each player chooses a power group for his character, super-strength, super-speed, uncanny ability with guns or hand-to-hand combat, the ability to fly or shoot energy beams, etc. You don't gain new powers as you get more experience (unless you become an alpha, but that's beyond the scope of the current game), but you can learn to use your pre-existing powers better. In a talk with the designer, he pointed out to me that point-based superhero systems to build your own powers had been done by Champions and GURPS Supers and he didn't want to reinvent the wheel. If people wanted to use those rules for his game, he said, that was fine. The reasoning behind the power packages is that Spiderman never learns to fly and Batman never gains the strength to toss buildings around (comic fans, if you know of an issue where one of these things happens, keep it to yourself--you get my point, at least). The problem with it is that there's a large handful of packages in the main rulebook, and extra packages will be in every supplement. If I start out with the main rules and choose a super-strong character, then another book comes out with something I want more, I need to make a new character. The other problem, and a more minor one, is that I don't always "get" the power packages. Bricks, energy projectors, speedsters, and gadgeteers are all in the main rulebook and they're all well and good. There's also a package for someone who deals with demons. I suppose this could be called the "John Constantine Tribute Character," but it seems out of place among all the four-color hero types in the rest of the book.

Regardless of minor flaws, Brave New World promises to be an exciting and interesting entry into the genre of superheroic role-playing games.

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

Brave New World
Author: Matt Forbeck Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group Line: Brave New World Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Kevin Mowery on 07/07/99. Genre tags: Modern_day	Brave New World doesn't come out for another month, but I had the pleasure of previewing it at Origins '99 in a demo game. So my knowledge of the book itself comes solely from the photocopy of the rules that the GM was using. Physically, it should be a nice-looking game, up to the standards of Pinnacle (who also made the visually-stunning Deadlands: the Weird West and Deadlands: Hell on Earth). Judging from the artwork on the website, it may even surpass those two games. Brave New World is a superhero game with a twist (there were several superhero games being introduced at Origins this year, all of them "with a twist"). Brave New World has a couple of twists. The first is that the superbeings, called deltas, gain their powers after a near-death experience--or possibly after dying and returning; I wasn't able to figure that out and I got two different stories from two different people at Pinnacle, but the near-death experience story came from the designer, so I'm going with that one for now. Deltas who have a near-death experience may become alphas (the process was described as making the jump between the power level of Spiderman and Superman). The second twist is that after Superior, the first alpha and the man who single-handedly won WWII for the Allies, saved Kennedy from an assassination attempt by a group of evil deltas, Kennedy created the Delta Registration Act and declared a state of martial law until the crisis had passed. Thirty-odd years later, he's still President. Players take the roles of members of the resistance. The game-world is neat, but it's the rules that will make a superhero game sink or swim. The rules for Brave New World are easy to learn, versatile, and someone new to the game, or even new to gaming, can start playing in about five minutes. The rules are an adaptation to the original Deadlands system, and I think an improvement--it's easier to figure the odds on any die roll, the game doesn't require multiple card decks and specific numbers of colored poker chips, and so forth. Each stat is rated from one to five d6, possibly with an add for superpowers. Sixes are re-rolled, and the highest die is kept. Skills are added to the end result. The superpowers are both the most brilliant part of Brave New World and its downfall. Each player chooses a power group for his character, super-strength, super-speed, uncanny ability with guns or hand-to-hand combat, the ability to fly or shoot energy beams, etc. You don't gain new powers as you get more experience (unless you become an alpha, but that's beyond the scope of the current game), but you can learn to use your pre-existing powers better. In a talk with the designer, he pointed out to me that point-based superhero systems to build your own powers had been done by Champions and GURPS Supers and he didn't want to reinvent the wheel. If people wanted to use those rules for his game, he said, that was fine. The reasoning behind the power packages is that Spiderman never learns to fly and Batman never gains the strength to toss buildings around (comic fans, if you know of an issue where one of these things happens, keep it to yourself--you get my point, at least). The problem with it is that there's a large handful of packages in the main rulebook, and extra packages will be in every supplement. If I start out with the main rules and choose a super-strong character, then another book comes out with something I want more, I need to make a new character. The other problem, and a more minor one, is that I don't always "get" the power packages. Bricks, energy projectors, speedsters, and gadgeteers are all in the main rulebook and they're all well and good. There's also a package for someone who deals with demons. I suppose this could be called the "John Constantine Tribute Character," but it seems out of place among all the four-color hero types in the rest of the book. Regardless of minor flaws, Brave New World promises to be an exciting and interesting entry into the genre of superheroic role-playing games. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)