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The first supplement for "Unknown Armies" consists of 5 stand-alone modules that have pregenerated characters that are integral to the plots of each. Atlas stated that they were trying to push the envelope with these modules to make gamemasters out there fear the chaos that would ensue by sticking their players in these maddening scenarios. I agree totally with their efforts for I was salivating at the secrets that most of the premade characters would be keeping from their fellow players. Terror will surely ensue once everyone has put their cards on the table at the end of certain scenarios.

The scenarios that stand out are especially the ones created by Greg Stolze. The first being "Jail Break", a prison break and hostage situation in an old farm house that has the players using a wide range of characters. Players could be a wife beating inmate, an immigrant inventor, or a lawyer that happened to get caught in the middle of the chaos. In a game where one shot with a pistol can mean certain death for most characters, this plays quite well with the inmates waving around a 9mm in the hostages faces. Players are pitted against one other mostly with hostages trying to escape from inmates with their lives.

This adds forsome very interesting play where players cannot communicate amongst each other openly, and must use their brains to take advantage of what they spot as flaws in their opposing players. Throughout the adventure are slight seeds of terror beyond what is actually apparent to each PC. Just when your players think they have everything figured out, something will come lurking from a characters background or from the darkness that will scar the players for life.

"Strange Days" follows with eeire happenings in a small fishing village that has the Characters helping a powerful and mysterious boss uncover an acient artifact. Of course, when the characters get their it slowly becomes apparent that this artifact and village are in for deadly ride. This scenario is my 4th favorite out of the five. This rating is given because it waskind of mediocure compared to the others in the book.

"Joy and Sorrow" is a scenario where the Characters are all deeply troubled and must deal with them in a surrealistic environment where something greater than the PC's troubles are at stake. J&S was my least favorite of the included scenarios because of the amount of writing that the Players will have to put forth in order for the scenario to work well. My Players especially wouldn't provide me with enough material to even get the adventure started.

My second favorite adventure (also written by Greg Stolze) "Fly to Heaven" is about a terrorist aboard an airplane filled with passengers with richly detailed backgrounds. Players only play passengers not terrorists in this one but, the PC's they have to choose from are so interesting that one cannot go wrong no matter which Character they choose to play. Surprises and twists within the story, PC's, and NPC's make this one for the adventure hall of fame. PC's will be shocked, scared, and in awe throughout this whole adventure.

The final Scenario is "And I Feel Fine" and is my third favorite in the book. The PC's are cut off one morning from all forms of communcation to the outside from within their small trailer park. Using isolation, paranoia, and the threat of something evil lurking "out there", the Characters basically have the task of staying alive. This task becomes harder as the PC's start to realize that this all might be in their heads, or that one of them might be the "evil" that is lurking, or the fact that they might be the only ones left in the world. PC's have to work together as they also slowly discover each other's pasts, which creates for suspected allies becoming suspected adversaries in the blink of an eye. Good roleplaying is essential on the part of the PC's in order to make this scnario take off. This is because the GM will be playing off the PC's movements and decisions. This shouldn't be a problem being that Atlas has again provided excellent premade characters with many facets for the Players to exploit.

GM's around can read through a one-shot very quick, assign characters, and let the mayhem proceed. The only problem some GM's out their may have is in the number of Players they will need to play some of the scenarios. In "Jail Break" for example, I do not think it will be as effective with less than five players. Also, Gamemasters cannot fill in for the lack of players by acting as both PC and GM because the knowledge that the GM would have would so outweigh the balance of the adventure. Overall I would say that Atlas has scored a major hit with their first first supplement for "Unknown Armies", and I think it is a must buy for any horror RPG fan out there.

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

One Shots
Author: Tim Dedopulos, Geoffrey C Grabowski, Nicole Lindros, Greg Stolze & John Tynes Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Unknown Armies Cost: 14.95 Page count: 80 ISBN: 700040060018 SKU: ag6001 Capsule Review by Eric Caswell on 08/23/99. Genre tags: Horror	The first supplement for "Unknown Armies" consists of 5 stand-alone modules that have pregenerated characters that are integral to the plots of each. Atlas stated that they were trying to push the envelope with these modules to make gamemasters out there fear the chaos that would ensue by sticking their players in these maddening scenarios. I agree totally with their efforts for I was salivating at the secrets that most of the premade characters would be keeping from their fellow players. Terror will surely ensue once everyone has put their cards on the table at the end of certain scenarios. The scenarios that stand out are especially the ones created by Greg Stolze. The first being "Jail Break", a prison break and hostage situation in an old farm house that has the players using a wide range of characters. Players could be a wife beating inmate, an immigrant inventor, or a lawyer that happened to get caught in the middle of the chaos. In a game where one shot with a pistol can mean certain death for most characters, this plays quite well with the inmates waving around a 9mm in the hostages faces. Players are pitted against one other mostly with hostages trying to escape from inmates with their lives. This adds forsome very interesting play where players cannot communicate amongst each other openly, and must use their brains to take advantage of what they spot as flaws in their opposing players. Throughout the adventure are slight seeds of terror beyond what is actually apparent to each PC. Just when your players think they have everything figured out, something will come lurking from a characters background or from the darkness that will scar the players for life. "Strange Days" follows with eeire happenings in a small fishing village that has the Characters helping a powerful and mysterious boss uncover an acient artifact. Of course, when the characters get their it slowly becomes apparent that this artifact and village are in for deadly ride. This scenario is my 4th favorite out of the five. This rating is given because it waskind of mediocure compared to the others in the book. "Joy and Sorrow" is a scenario where the Characters are all deeply troubled and must deal with them in a surrealistic environment where something greater than the PC's troubles are at stake. J&S was my least favorite of the included scenarios because of the amount of writing that the Players will have to put forth in order for the scenario to work well. My Players especially wouldn't provide me with enough material to even get the adventure started. My second favorite adventure (also written by Greg Stolze) "Fly to Heaven" is about a terrorist aboard an airplane filled with passengers with richly detailed backgrounds. Players only play passengers not terrorists in this one but, the PC's they have to choose from are so interesting that one cannot go wrong no matter which Character they choose to play. Surprises and twists within the story, PC's, and NPC's make this one for the adventure hall of fame. PC's will be shocked, scared, and in awe throughout this whole adventure. The final Scenario is "And I Feel Fine" and is my third favorite in the book. The PC's are cut off one morning from all forms of communcation to the outside from within their small trailer park. Using isolation, paranoia, and the threat of something evil lurking "out there", the Characters basically have the task of staying alive. This task becomes harder as the PC's start to realize that this all might be in their heads, or that one of them might be the "evil" that is lurking, or the fact that they might be the only ones left in the world. PC's have to work together as they also slowly discover each other's pasts, which creates for suspected allies becoming suspected adversaries in the blink of an eye. Good roleplaying is essential on the part of the PC's in order to make this scnario take off. This is because the GM will be playing off the PC's movements and decisions. This shouldn't be a problem being that Atlas has again provided excellent premade characters with many facets for the Players to exploit. GM's around can read through a one-shot very quick, assign characters, and let the mayhem proceed. The only problem some GM's out their may have is in the number of Players they will need to play some of the scenarios. In "Jail Break" for example, I do not think it will be as effective with less than five players. Also, Gamemasters cannot fill in for the lack of players by acting as both PC and GM because the knowledge that the GM would have would so outweigh the balance of the adventure. Overall I would say that Atlas has scored a major hit with their first first supplement for "Unknown Armies", and I think it is a must buy for any horror RPG fan out there. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

One Shots