The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This book, as far as I can tell, is apparently one of those little pamphlet books that come in those old-time box sets (of which you don't see around very much anymore - generally a good thing). A slim little waif of material, it makes me wish I had the entire boxed set to peruse.

Simple and straight to the point, the Apocalypse Gamemaster's Book is a general reference aid for role playing games in general, not limited directly to one game line (although it is heavily slanted toward something along the lines of AD&D). The production values are not very high, the book obviously was not marketed on the weight of appearance, but the art is simple (even oddly surreal at times) and the layout works. It's the content that is the point of this book.

It begins with a discussion on how to use the book (referring frequently to Tumult and Tribluation, which is apparently the companion volume in the Apocalypse boxed set) as well as a look at why one would want to play and apocalyptic campaign.

The next chapter gives an in-depth look at the types of apocalypses that you could use. Not every "end of the world" has to be an End of the World. Sometimes what might be seen as the End or an Apocalypse can "merely" be a radical transformation. Tweet looks at the considerations one must look at for everything from a Catasrophe to a case of Divine Judgement. Each type of apocalypse is also accompanied by at least one example from history (or folklore) and one for a role-playing game. It is a very nice format that easily lends itself to most any end times campaign.

The next chapter is elements of the campaign, and looks at how various groups deal with the end. It is very fantasy setting focused, looking at guilds, royalty, religion, demons and sentinels (who I am assuming are angels) and how they would deal with the end approaching or even passing. Who might gain power and who might lose it. In particular, I liked the discussion on religion and the End, because Tweet looks at religion from many viewpoints, from the route to salvation to the cause of the end. The royalty section is nice as well, bringing up the idea of the both the King as Savior and the Accursed King.

Then Tweet moves into a look at how the Apocalypse itself would progress. He gives general advice, looks at how life changes, how refugees can impact the game, and how it could affect the supernatural world. Perhaps the most useful section in the book, it certainly helped me, as I'm running a Gehenna game in my Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle now. Some things to remember to do during an apocalypse include Revealing Secrets and Breaking the Rules (taking the latter into consideration, I become more comfortable with the dhampir from White Wolf's Time of Thin Blood. They, as a sign of the End, are supposed to break the rules.

Finally, Tweet takes some space to consider what to do once the apocalypse is over. The End does not mean that everything has to end, and some interesting ideas on how to alter a setting or create a completely new one are introduced. Tweet also looks again at some thing he mentioned earlier, like how do the refugees affect the world after the "End" and what if the cause of the apocalypse did not go away entirely, what if it resurfaces later? I got this free from a friend of mine because he knows how much of a fan of post-apocalyptic and "The End times are nigh!" game material and such I am. It turned out to be rather useful, all I can really complain about is that it was much too short. I think that these "generic use" supplements are surprisingly useful, I wish that they would catch on more, I see little of them.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Apocalypse Gamemaster's Book
Author: Jonathan Tweet Category: game Company/Publisher: Mayfair Games Inc. Line: Role-Aides Cost: I got this free from a friend since the rest of the boxed set was missing Page count: 56 ISBN: 0-923763-83-X Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 07/12/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Post-apocalypse Generic	This book, as far as I can tell, is apparently one of those little pamphlet books that come in those old-time box sets (of which you don't see around very much anymore - generally a good thing). A slim little waif of material, it makes me wish I had the entire boxed set to peruse. Simple and straight to the point, the Apocalypse Gamemaster's Book is a general reference aid for role playing games in general, not limited directly to one game line (although it is heavily slanted toward something along the lines of AD&D). The production values are not very high, the book obviously was not marketed on the weight of appearance, but the art is simple (even oddly surreal at times) and the layout works. It's the content that is the point of this book. It begins with a discussion on how to use the book (referring frequently to Tumult and Tribluation, which is apparently the companion volume in the Apocalypse boxed set) as well as a look at why one would want to play and apocalyptic campaign. The next chapter gives an in-depth look at the types of apocalypses that you could use. Not every "end of the world" has to be an End of the World. Sometimes what might be seen as the End or an Apocalypse can "merely" be a radical transformation. Tweet looks at the considerations one must look at for everything from a Catasrophe to a case of Divine Judgement. Each type of apocalypse is also accompanied by at least one example from history (or folklore) and one for a role-playing game. It is a very nice format that easily lends itself to most any end times campaign. The next chapter is elements of the campaign, and looks at how various groups deal with the end. It is very fantasy setting focused, looking at guilds, royalty, religion, demons and sentinels (who I am assuming are angels) and how they would deal with the end approaching or even passing. Who might gain power and who might lose it. In particular, I liked the discussion on religion and the End, because Tweet looks at religion from many viewpoints, from the route to salvation to the cause of the end. The royalty section is nice as well, bringing up the idea of the both the King as Savior and the Accursed King. Then Tweet moves into a look at how the Apocalypse itself would progress. He gives general advice, looks at how life changes, how refugees can impact the game, and how it could affect the supernatural world. Perhaps the most useful section in the book, it certainly helped me, as I'm running a Gehenna game in my Vampire: the Masquerade chronicle now. Some things to remember to do during an apocalypse include Revealing Secrets and Breaking the Rules (taking the latter into consideration, I become more comfortable with the dhampir from White Wolf's Time of Thin Blood. They, as a sign of the End, are supposed to break the rules. Finally, Tweet takes some space to consider what to do once the apocalypse is over. The End does not mean that everything has to end, and some interesting ideas on how to alter a setting or create a completely new one are introduced. Tweet also looks again at some thing he mentioned earlier, like how do the refugees affect the world after the "End" and what if the cause of the apocalypse did not go away entirely, what if it resurfaces later? I got this free from a friend of mine because he knows how much of a fan of post-apocalyptic and "The End times are nigh!" game material and such I am. It turned out to be rather useful, all I can really complain about is that it was much too short. I think that these "generic use" supplements are surprisingly useful, I wish that they would catch on more, I see little of them. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)