The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Authors: Johan Sjoberg and Stefan Ljungqvist, Translation into English: Thomas Osterlie, Ola Tjornbo

Perhaps it's due to such things as the Swedish Chef and the Swedish Bikini Team that Swedes have such a hatred for the world.

First they subjected the gaming community to Kult, and now we have Gemini.

Gemini is set in this particular world's version of Late Medieval Europe. The Church of the One (based heavily on the Roman Catholic Church) has lost control over 8 of the 12 provinces in the area after two centuries of warring between its own forces and the uprising of the nobility. The forces of Darkness, as foretold by prophecy, have won entrance into the world and it is up to the reincarnation of The One (and his twin and thus the name Gemini) to stop them.

Player characters are able to play as a Human, Elf, or Dwarf, all of whom have slightly bent takes on the usual D&D/Tolkien derivatives.

Dwarfs are suspicious of other dwarves due to a betrayal several generations ago. Their greatest heroes are those who are born physically and/or mentally deformed (the mark of some long forgotten curse).

Elves are born from a single queen (there are no other females in the elven nation) and one of four lovers. Each of the Queen's lovers are considered the patriarchs of their clan, and all members of the clan take from them certain qualities. An elf's status in the clan is dependant upon how powerful their tie is to the ancestors of the elves. There's an actual word in the guide for this, but it's probably just Swedish for old.

Now, we come to the meat of any game. Mechanics.

There are six attributes, purchased out of a pool of 78 points (1-11 is one for one, 12+ costs 2). Secondary attributes are age, reaction, endurance, damage bonus, sword hand, social status, movement, nature, weight allowance, and wellbeing.

By this time, the astute reader has noticed that we seem to have a lot of stats here. Indeed, the character sheet is 2 pages long for regular player characters; 3 for mages.

Classes, or careers as they are referred to in the game are chosen by the player and should fit into their choice of attributes. Career descriptions give vague guidelines as to how to choose skills, as well as pre-requisites and requirements. There is a large variety of skills ranging from hunter to monk to knight to templar.

Magic is a vague guideline type system based off of the five elements and power. Magic is also the provice of darkness and thus any mage is constantly tempted into darkness; the book telling stories of several leaders of the Church falling because of it.

For combat resolution and tests, a 20 sided dice is rolled against a difficulty number. Fairly straightforward, even though combat does involve body part damage.

Overall, it's not a bad game; but fails to flesh out a compelling and interesting gameworld and mechanic to make it standout in a somewhat increasingly crowded field. Those looking for a dark RPG (apocalyptic sci-fi or medieval) may be interested in picking it up for a general perusal, but it sadly fails to be 'the one'.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Gemini
Author: Johan Sjoberg Stefan Ljungqvist Category: game Company/Publisher: Cell Line: Gemini Cost: 24.99 Page count: 237 ISBN: 91-89304-00-4 SKU: CE1-1000 Capsule Review by Josh Hall on 07/25/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Post-apocalypse	Authors: Johan Sjoberg and Stefan Ljungqvist, Translation into English: Thomas Osterlie, Ola Tjornbo Perhaps it's due to such things as the Swedish Chef and the Swedish Bikini Team that Swedes have such a hatred for the world. First they subjected the gaming community to Kult, and now we have Gemini. Gemini is set in this particular world's version of Late Medieval Europe. The Church of the One (based heavily on the Roman Catholic Church) has lost control over 8 of the 12 provinces in the area after two centuries of warring between its own forces and the uprising of the nobility. The forces of Darkness, as foretold by prophecy, have won entrance into the world and it is up to the reincarnation of The One (and his twin and thus the name Gemini) to stop them. Player characters are able to play as a Human, Elf, or Dwarf, all of whom have slightly bent takes on the usual D&D/Tolkien derivatives. Dwarfs are suspicious of other dwarves due to a betrayal several generations ago. Their greatest heroes are those who are born physically and/or mentally deformed (the mark of some long forgotten curse). Elves are born from a single queen (there are no other females in the elven nation) and one of four lovers. Each of the Queen's lovers are considered the patriarchs of their clan, and all members of the clan take from them certain qualities. An elf's status in the clan is dependant upon how powerful their tie is to the ancestors of the elves. There's an actual word in the guide for this, but it's probably just Swedish for old. Now, we come to the meat of any game. Mechanics. There are six attributes, purchased out of a pool of 78 points (1-11 is one for one, 12+ costs 2). Secondary attributes are age, reaction, endurance, damage bonus, sword hand, social status, movement, nature, weight allowance, and wellbeing. By this time, the astute reader has noticed that we seem to have a lot of stats here. Indeed, the character sheet is 2 pages long for regular player characters; 3 for mages. Classes, or careers as they are referred to in the game are chosen by the player and should fit into their choice of attributes. Career descriptions give vague guidelines as to how to choose skills, as well as pre-requisites and requirements. There is a large variety of skills ranging from hunter to monk to knight to templar. Magic is a vague guideline type system based off of the five elements and power. Magic is also the provice of darkness and thus any mage is constantly tempted into darkness; the book telling stories of several leaders of the Church falling because of it. For combat resolution and tests, a 20 sided dice is rolled against a difficulty number. Fairly straightforward, even though combat does involve body part damage. Overall, it's not a bad game; but fails to flesh out a compelling and interesting gameworld and mechanic to make it standout in a somewhat increasingly crowded field. Those looking for a dark RPG (apocalyptic sci-fi or medieval) may be interested in picking it up for a general perusal, but it sadly fails to be 'the one'. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)