The Inside Scoop on Gaming

If you're looking for the World of Darkness in outer space, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for hard science fiction in the vein of Traveller or Blue Planet, you're going to be really disappointed. If you're looking for adventureful science fantasy, with workable mechanics and a nice sense of wonder, you're in the right place.

Structurally, the book opens with over a hundred pages of background material presented from an in character perspective. It's much improved over previous White Wolf attempts at this. The first thing one notices is that there's no fancy layout getting in the way of the text; you can actually read it all without squinting.

Even more importantly, the writing is clear and informative. We get enough differing perspectives to be able to put together our own conclusions about the world. Unfortunately, some of the more central background questions are left unanswered; while it's reasonable to leave areas for further development, it's bad if those questions are among those which almost every GM will want to answer.

Oh; and there's a George Effinger story at the very beginning. Nobody should buy Aeon just for the story, and it's not as good an introduction to the world as it could be, but it's still good writing and makes an excellent teaser for his upcoming Aeon novels.

And before moving on, it's worth commenting on the physical object that holds the Aeon rules. It is the most unusual RPG packaging I've ever seen; you get a smallish spiral bound book held inside a tough black plastic case. It's really pleasant to be able to lay the book flat, so that's a definite plus, but it's easy to be concerned about the long term solidity of the binding. Reports are that it holds up well under use, and the paper seems fairly strong; if the binding works it'll be much better than traditional flat binding, and if not we'll all end up with loose-leaf Aeon books.

The background is mostly solid once you accept a few basic assumptions. It's about a century in the future; humanity is digging its way out of the results of a major war between humans and the mutated psionic Abberants. About ten years ago, human psychics (or psions) emerged, and as yet have not shown any signs of the Abberant taint. (This is one of the above-mentioned questions; Aeon makes it clear that something caused this emergence yet we're left wondering what it was.) There are six psionic orders, which range in structure from an American megacorp to a Chinese Ministry to a Columbian criminal association. Each order specializes in one of the six psionic talents.

Arranged against resurgent humanity, we have the Abberants (returning after sixty years from... somewhere else); we have an alien race known as the Chromatics; and we have of course humanity itself, divided as always. There's another alien race sort of allied with humanity, the Qin, and a mystery known as the Combine rapidly approaching the solar system. In other words, there's a lot of potential to work with.

Technology hasn't really advanced too much, which is sort of reasonable given the problems plaguing humanity. There's a growing trend towards biotech, although it's difficult to see any advantage to biotech based on what's presented in the rulebook. Overall, players won't have any trouble getting used to what the future tech can do.

The political structure of the world is a fairly reasonable extrapolation of what we have today; China and Brazil are the big superpowers, while Europe and North America suffered hugely from the Abberant War. One could easily pick nits with the extrapolation, mind you. For example, Japan has turned into a wildly technical introverted society -- which is perhaps not unlikely, but a bit of a cliche. Still, on the whole, the politics of 2102 are not unacceptable. And, more importantly, they are usable to generate interesting plots, which is one measure of success.

Earth isn't the only setting, either. Humans have settled the solar system, and Luna and Mars in particular. Further out, there are a few human colonies in other solar systems, which have been cut off from Earth by the disappearance of the psionic order specializing in teleporting. The advance of technology should result in reopened contact soon, however, and it might be interesting to set a campaign on one of the colonies to play out the effects of this.

PCs are psions. Most psions belong to the order which specializes in the talent they hold, but it's explicitly mentioned that some will belong to another order, or be freelancers. In fact, in the introductory material, the psion narrating the section on the Columbian Norca order is not a member of that order; variety is encouraged.

Beginning PCs will be significantly more powerful than humans, but not ubermen. It may take some experience with the system to learn how to design combat oriented PCs who're effective with their powers in combat. Initial attempts at this proved to be slightly under-powered in play, which can be chalked up to inexperience with the system -- and certainly high end psions are everything one could wish for.

The mechanics are enough like Storyteller so that a GM could use Aeon rules to run a game of Vampire. They share the same attributes, and the same skill plus attribute mechanic determines the size of one's dice pool. Combat is very similar, although much streamlined.

However, the changes that have been made are vast improvements without being so different that Storyteller GMs will have any trouble adapting. All rolls are at Difficulty 7, the botch mechanics have been fixed so that you don't botch more if you're more experienced, and overall the system is faster and more elegant. Andrew Bates deserves a huge round of applause for his work on this; Aeon is a very impressive design.

Character generation wasn't neglected, either. The point system is more or less intact, but the straightjacket of the Storyteller priority system has been loosened considerably. One no longer has to decide whether one is better at Skills, Talents, or Knowledges; they're all Skills these days. If the GM chooses, one can even avoid the old Physical/Social/Mental distinction for attributes and simply assign one's attribute points as one wills.

On the negative side, combat wasn't fixed enough. Aeon falls prey to the common mistake of assuming that "cinematic" means "not deadly." It can easily take four shots from a pistol to put someone down, and a fistfight lasts forever.

The mechanics and the setting will support a variety of genres and campaigns. From personal experience, the Abberants make it very easy to run a horror game; it would be equally easy to run a game oriented towards the expansion of humanity into the stars. If you want political maneuvering and shady dealings, it's there. Aeon provides a very flexible engine.

The key is remembering that the powers of the PCs put the game firmly into what we may think of as comic book reality; this doesn't mean it's a four color superhero game, just that one should be ready for all the PCs to do amazing things, and that even the grittiest Aeon games will have a touch of unreality to them.

Some GMs will have problems arising from that. Psions tend to have plot-breaking powers: the ability to sense life, the ability to control machines, and of course the always troublesome ability to read minds. It's hard enough structuring a Champions plot that can deal with the potential for a telepathic superhero; how do you deal with the possibility that all your PCs may read minds?

With experience it becomes easier, and it's not as if White Wolf games haven't run into this in the past. (Pity the Mage GM above all others.) Still, it's something to keep firmly in mind if you intend to run Aeon. Keep track of what the powers can't do, as well as what they can.

Overall, the excellent presentation, the improved mechanics, and the colorful and evocative world make Aeon both stylish and substantial. It's not a good system for those who demand stringent realism, and the chances are GMs will want to make some tweaks to both system and world. Still, if you like near future science fiction with a healthy dose of sense of wonder, you're likely to be pleased with Aeon.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aeon Limited Edition
Author: Andrew Bates, et al Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Cost: $30.00 Page count: 318 (152 color) ISBN: 1-56504-757-5 Playtest Review by Bryant Durrell on 11/04/97. Genre tags: none	If you're looking for the World of Darkness in outer space, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for hard science fiction in the vein of Traveller or Blue Planet, you're going to be really disappointed. If you're looking for adventureful science fantasy, with workable mechanics and a nice sense of wonder, you're in the right place. Structurally, the book opens with over a hundred pages of background material presented from an in character perspective. It's much improved over previous White Wolf attempts at this. The first thing one notices is that there's no fancy layout getting in the way of the text; you can actually read it all without squinting. Even more importantly, the writing is clear and informative. We get enough differing perspectives to be able to put together our own conclusions about the world. Unfortunately, some of the more central background questions are left unanswered; while it's reasonable to leave areas for further development, it's bad if those questions are among those which almost every GM will want to answer. Oh; and there's a George Effinger story at the very beginning. Nobody should buy Aeon just for the story, and it's not as good an introduction to the world as it could be, but it's still good writing and makes an excellent teaser for his upcoming Aeon novels. And before moving on, it's worth commenting on the physical object that holds the Aeon rules. It is the most unusual RPG packaging I've ever seen; you get a smallish spiral bound book held inside a tough black plastic case. It's really pleasant to be able to lay the book flat, so that's a definite plus, but it's easy to be concerned about the long term solidity of the binding. Reports are that it holds up well under use, and the paper seems fairly strong; if the binding works it'll be much better than traditional flat binding, and if not we'll all end up with loose-leaf Aeon books. The background is mostly solid once you accept a few basic assumptions. It's about a century in the future; humanity is digging its way out of the results of a major war between humans and the mutated psionic Abberants. About ten years ago, human psychics (or psions) emerged, and as yet have not shown any signs of the Abberant taint. (This is one of the above-mentioned questions; Aeon makes it clear that something caused this emergence yet we're left wondering what it was.) There are six psionic orders, which range in structure from an American megacorp to a Chinese Ministry to a Columbian criminal association. Each order specializes in one of the six psionic talents. Arranged against resurgent humanity, we have the Abberants (returning after sixty years from... somewhere else); we have an alien race known as the Chromatics; and we have of course humanity itself, divided as always. There's another alien race sort of allied with humanity, the Qin, and a mystery known as the Combine rapidly approaching the solar system. In other words, there's a lot of potential to work with. Technology hasn't really advanced too much, which is sort of reasonable given the problems plaguing humanity. There's a growing trend towards biotech, although it's difficult to see any advantage to biotech based on what's presented in the rulebook. Overall, players won't have any trouble getting used to what the future tech can do. The political structure of the world is a fairly reasonable extrapolation of what we have today; China and Brazil are the big superpowers, while Europe and North America suffered hugely from the Abberant War. One could easily pick nits with the extrapolation, mind you. For example, Japan has turned into a wildly technical introverted society -- which is perhaps not unlikely, but a bit of a cliche. Still, on the whole, the politics of 2102 are not unacceptable. And, more importantly, they are usable to generate interesting plots, which is one measure of success. Earth isn't the only setting, either. Humans have settled the solar system, and Luna and Mars in particular. Further out, there are a few human colonies in other solar systems, which have been cut off from Earth by the disappearance of the psionic order specializing in teleporting. The advance of technology should result in reopened contact soon, however, and it might be interesting to set a campaign on one of the colonies to play out the effects of this. PCs are psions. Most psions belong to the order which specializes in the talent they hold, but it's explicitly mentioned that some will belong to another order, or be freelancers. In fact, in the introductory material, the psion narrating the section on the Columbian Norca order is not a member of that order; variety is encouraged. Beginning PCs will be significantly more powerful than humans, but not ubermen. It may take some experience with the system to learn how to design combat oriented PCs who're effective with their powers in combat. Initial attempts at this proved to be slightly under-powered in play, which can be chalked up to inexperience with the system -- and certainly high end psions are everything one could wish for. The mechanics are enough like Storyteller so that a GM could use Aeon rules to run a game of Vampire. They share the same attributes, and the same skill plus attribute mechanic determines the size of one's dice pool. Combat is very similar, although much streamlined. However, the changes that have been made are vast improvements without being so different that Storyteller GMs will have any trouble adapting. All rolls are at Difficulty 7, the botch mechanics have been fixed so that you don't botch more if you're more experienced, and overall the system is faster and more elegant. Andrew Bates deserves a huge round of applause for his work on this; Aeon is a very impressive design. Character generation wasn't neglected, either. The point system is more or less intact, but the straightjacket of the Storyteller priority system has been loosened considerably. One no longer has to decide whether one is better at Skills, Talents, or Knowledges; they're all Skills these days. If the GM chooses, one can even avoid the old Physical/Social/Mental distinction for attributes and simply assign one's attribute points as one wills. On the negative side, combat wasn't fixed enough. Aeon falls prey to the common mistake of assuming that "cinematic" means "not deadly." It can easily take four shots from a pistol to put someone down, and a fistfight lasts forever. The mechanics and the setting will support a variety of genres and campaigns. From personal experience, the Abberants make it very easy to run a horror game; it would be equally easy to run a game oriented towards the expansion of humanity into the stars. If you want political maneuvering and shady dealings, it's there. Aeon provides a very flexible engine. The key is remembering that the powers of the PCs put the game firmly into what we may think of as comic book reality; this doesn't mean it's a four color superhero game, just that one should be ready for all the PCs to do amazing things, and that even the grittiest Aeon games will have a touch of unreality to them. Some GMs will have problems arising from that. Psions tend to have plot-breaking powers: the ability to sense life, the ability to control machines, and of course the always troublesome ability to read minds. It's hard enough structuring a Champions plot that can deal with the potential for a telepathic superhero; how do you deal with the possibility that all your PCs may read minds? With experience it becomes easier, and it's not as if White Wolf games haven't run into this in the past. (Pity the Mage GM above all others.) Still, it's something to keep firmly in mind if you intend to run Aeon. Keep track of what the powers can't do, as well as what they can. Overall, the excellent presentation, the improved mechanics, and the colorful and evocative world make Aeon both stylish and substantial. It's not a good system for those who demand stringent realism, and the chances are GMs will want to make some tweaks to both system and world. Still, if you like near future science fiction with a healthy dose of sense of wonder, you're likely to be pleased with Aeon. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Aeon Limited Edition