The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The story of why I am reviewing this book has its own strange history. The original reviewer slated for it, you see, was classified: deleted and as a result, you can imagine my slight trepidation at reviewing it myself. But, we had promised, and indeed, if we hadn't agreed to review this, no doubt classified: deleted would, well, the consequences are too much to grasp.

First, my opinion. I enjoyed reading this book, much as I like curling up with a good bit of modern day mystery fiction. Much as my current faves ("Unknown Armies" and "Delta Green"), this was a book I wasn't looking to run a game with, oh no. It was a book I would, instead, mine ideas from to put into my existing games.

Sure, it has its own rules, and they are quite playable. In fact, it's a straightforward system and I'm sure people who like rules will be pleased with it. But I sort of skip that stuff to get to the meat. note to self: if he mentions 'meat' again, excise.

And this book has a tasty premise. The basis of 'Spookshow' is that, quite simply, there are a certain percentage of ghosts that get recruited by powers-that-be to be real-world spooks: spies, assassins, etc. A true covert agenda. In fact, I don't believe it.

We're talking required reading for Mulder and Scully here. This book is diabolically logical. It takes a known replace with "teeny twist" on our reality, and then runs with it.

Okay, take it as a given that there are ghosts. A next logical step is that people would find out there are really ghosts. From this, well, you can imagine the sorts of people who would be interested in that knowledge, and want to surpress it.

Said groups are given names and identities, and characters get various functions and skills within it, in such a way that there is a clear direction to take, but without overly defining things. There are few things worse actually, there are many things worse than a setting that leaves the players as pawns at the whim of omniscient machinery, and luckily this one escapes that fate. would that I had escaped mine...

You can see why I suggest this is a great supplement for existing games. If you balk at the idea of buying a whole book for just helping another game, well, you have two choices.

Buy it and use its mechanics
Buy it anyway. It has nice illustrations (some appear cribbed from movies and other oh-god-i-hope-they-are-public-domain sources). It's nicely laid it. It's pretty. It has a pretty cover. It's favorably priced. And it has ideas, man, ideas!

Keep going

What? Where was I... right. Now, take the ghost's point of view. You're in your usually fettered angstian existence (though not being forged into an ashtray, that's a different game...) and suddenly you get an employment offer that makes use of your special talents.

This game definitely scores well in the empowerment scheme, making a strong urban fantasy setting with lots of guns and cool plots.

So can I be faulted for skipping the rules and focusing on the setting? yes.

Hmmm... who said that? Strange, my typing seems to have some glitches right now. Anyway, I am quite convinced this book is really Aaron trying to let us know the truth of this world, and that publishing it as a game is simply a ploy. The true evidence of this is... hey, wait, whyisntmykeybrdwrkkkg buy this. you have been warned.

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

Spookshow
Author: Aaron Rosenberg Category: game Company/Publisher: Clockworks Line: indy Cost: 25.00 Page count: 208 ISBN: 1-892544405 SKU: CLK0020 Capsule Review by Sandy Antunes on 08/02/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Espionage Conspiracy	The story of why I am reviewing this book has its own strange history. The original reviewer slated for it, you see, was classified: deleted and as a result, you can imagine my slight trepidation at reviewing it myself. But, we had promised, and indeed, if we hadn't agreed to review this, no doubt classified: deleted would, well, the consequences are too much to grasp. First, my opinion. I enjoyed reading this book, much as I like curling up with a good bit of modern day mystery fiction. Much as my current faves ("Unknown Armies" and "Delta Green"), this was a book I wasn't looking to run a game with, oh no. It was a book I would, instead, mine ideas from to put into my existing games. Sure, it has its own rules, and they are quite playable. In fact, it's a straightforward system and I'm sure people who like rules will be pleased with it. But I sort of skip that stuff to get to the meat. note to self: if he mentions 'meat' again, excise. And this book has a tasty premise. The basis of 'Spookshow' is that, quite simply, there are a certain percentage of ghosts that get recruited by powers-that-be to be real-world spooks: spies, assassins, etc. A true covert agenda. In fact, I don't believe it. We're talking required reading for Mulder and Scully here. This book is diabolically logical. It takes a known replace with "teeny twist" on our reality, and then runs with it. Okay, take it as a given that there are ghosts. A next logical step is that people would find out there are really ghosts. From this, well, you can imagine the sorts of people who would be interested in that knowledge, and want to surpress it. Said groups are given names and identities, and characters get various functions and skills within it, in such a way that there is a clear direction to take, but without overly defining things. There are few things worse actually, there are many things worse than a setting that leaves the players as pawns at the whim of omniscient machinery, and luckily this one escapes that fate. would that I had escaped mine... You can see why I suggest this is a great supplement for existing games. If you balk at the idea of buying a whole book for just helping another game, well, you have two choices. Buy it and use its mechanics Buy it anyway. It has nice illustrations (some appear cribbed from movies and other oh-god-i-hope-they-are-public-domain sources). It's nicely laid it. It's pretty. It has a pretty cover. It's favorably priced. And it has ideas, man, ideas! Keep going What? Where was I... right. Now, take the ghost's point of view. You're in your usually fettered angstian existence (though not being forged into an ashtray, that's a different game...) and suddenly you get an employment offer that makes use of your special talents. This game definitely scores well in the empowerment scheme, making a strong urban fantasy setting with lots of guns and cool plots. So can I be faulted for skipping the rules and focusing on the setting? yes. Hmmm... who said that? Strange, my typing seems to have some glitches right now. Anyway, I am quite convinced this book is really Aaron trying to let us know the truth of this world, and that publishing it as a game is simply a ploy. The true evidence of this is... hey, wait, whyisntmykeybrdwrkkkg buy this. you have been warned. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)