The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Brave New World is yet another attempt to crack open the popular super hero genre. In a summer that's seen numerous books that provide setting support, ala Enemies of San Angelo, and new systems, ala Aberrant, or upgrades, ala Sidekick Sourcebook, it doesn't stand up.

Brave New World's narrow focus on the role that the government takes in people's lives and the freedoms that people give up to feel secured is old hat. This material has seen heavy use in Marvel Comic's X-Men titles as well as America's history during the Red Scare of the 50's. It reminds me of Reverend Lovejoy's wife on the Simpsons. "Won't someone please think of the children!" Lots of hysterics over something that's already been done, and done better.

The lifelong President of the United States, JFK, has made the act of being a 'Delta', i.e. individual with incredible powers, something that must be registered. Many groups of deltas oppose this, while those that don't work for the government. There are some strange lose ends that don't make sense though. For example, the Aquarians are building their own city at the bottom of Chicago Bay. Now these are all non-registered Deltas. Wouldn't they be a massive priority?

How does it compare with other games though? Instead of Novas, we have Deltas. Instead of material crammed into every inch of the book like Aberrant, we have large margins. Here's the space waster test. Take Aberrant, or Trinity. Lift up Brave New World next to it. Overlay it. Notice that the text of Brave New World goes the same length as the smaller Aberrant or Trinity book. Not a good sign.

But what about the game system itself? The tried and true target system. Familiar to most players, the Game Master decides upon a difficulty factor and the player rolls against it. Brave New World uses only D6, and when the die roll is a 6, you get to roll it again. Many Delta powers include bonuses to the die roll that add on to the die roll. If your bonus plus the minimum of the die roll is higher than the check, then the character doesn't need to roll.

Unfortunately, these powers are not broken up in a method that allows the players to individualize their own characters. Instead, players get a choice between ten templates that range from Blaster (Beamer), Gadgeteer (Power Armor), Goliath (Brick), and Gunner (Punisher style). The templates aren't bad and there are rules for designing your own templates, but the lack of powers is a major weakness in a market with so many game systems that allow or even encourage customization. Quirks, while not in the range of full blown powers resemble Hero Games Talents in some aspects, and GURPS Disadvantages in others. The Quirks heading holds disadvantages, background roles, and other goodies in one bag.

The so called 'Ravaged Planet' brings up some saving graces for Pinnacle. The first sightings of Deltas, their history, the birth and disappearances of the even more powerful 'Alphas'. An alpha is a delta who rises from the dead more powerful then ever. Phoenix anyone? How about the Harrowed from Deadlands? The alphas all disappeared during a battle between the Devistator and groups of deltas and alphas that becomes known as the Bicentennial Battle. This individual lives up to his name as the city of Chicago also disappears. The destruction two major American cities Atlanta and San Francisco destroyed in a limited nuclear war with Russia, gives the Game Master lots of material to work with. The value of the setting stems from its oppressiveness. The Game Master will never have to look far for opposition for the players. The setting is far from perfect though. One of the weakest links here is no time-line. I've always found it easier to reference a setting if a time-line is throw in. GURPS Supers, despite the many jeers it receives, has a timeline for the IST world. More importantly, since the whole genesis of Brave New World starts in the late 1960's, some material on racial relations would've been appropriate. Once again, GURPS Supers does mention the foiled assassination attempt on Martin Luther King Jr. No such mention here. It's an ugly question but does segregation still exist in the Brave New World? Some of the world material seems thrown in at the last second like the archetype Bargainers who gain their powers through deals with demons. Sounds a little like the Huckster from Deadlands to me. Then again, the Vampires thrown in under Chapter Thirteen, the Usual Suspects also disappointed me.

After all the talk about deltas and why no one understands their origin, to throw the supernatural in at seemingly random intervals baffles me. Don't give me vampires. Give me an Alpha that didn't disappear during the Bicentennial Battle. Heck, if they needed the space, they could've got rid of the Deaders too, or made the entry for the police and mafia condensed instead of full sheets.

Other problems are that the world isn't that advanced in terms of technology. In the Brave World Timeline, in 1963, a group of power armored assassins, Devastator's Dreadnauts, kills Jacqueline Kennedy. In the modern world, the Web is still not as advanced as in the real world. Power armor in 1963. Pretty much the same world today. Worse still, the rules on using the archetype Gadgeteer are sparse. It boils down to "Design something and if the Game Master thinks it's too powerful, he'll reject it." Not too encouraging. Perhaps by far the worse problem is that the game assumes that the players are going to take the role of Defiants and fight the government. What if they want to play as members of Delta Prime, the registered army of U.S. deltas? Wing it.

The format of Brave New World, despite the large amount of white space per page is well done. The full color section ranging from page one through forty eight, along with the templates is nothing less than great. Many of these full colored illustrations go a long way in establishing the feel of the setting. My only complaint is on the archetypes page, the authors signature overlaps onto the typed text and makes the reading of those words difficult. The reading is easy, perhaps too easy with phrases like "Most folks have seen enough John Woo movies to think that waltzing around with a gun in each fist is the way to go." The writing style flows, but in my opinion, at the cost of substance. Don't tell me what movies I've watched, explain the game mechanic of using two guns to me. Matt does this on many occasions and it forces me to wonder how much more background material could've seen the light of day in this product if he stopped with such entries as "Hey, buddy! Come here." And went into the meat of the matter.

The game looks to be well supported with Ravaged Planet, the player's guide already out with the Power Shield and Defiants, the Defiant Sourcebook soon to hit the streets. Hopefully these support books can help overcome some of the basic limitations of Brave New World.

Even at 224 pages, $30.00 is still a little too much for me to endorse others to enter the Brave New World. Download the rules and background from Pinnacles website and decide for yourself if it's worth the cost of admission. If nothing else, Brave New World makes for a good background for a GURPS IST, Aberrant crossover (Gee, on our world, we're almost worshipped), or a tried and true Heroes setting.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

Brave New World
Author: Matt Forbeck Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Line: Brave New World Cost: $30.00 Page count: 224 ISBN: 1889546623 SKU: 53000 Capsule Review by Joe G Kushner on 09/28/99. Genre tags: Superhero	Brave New World is yet another attempt to crack open the popular super hero genre. In a summer that's seen numerous books that provide setting support, ala Enemies of San Angelo, and new systems, ala Aberrant, or upgrades, ala Sidekick Sourcebook, it doesn't stand up. Brave New World's narrow focus on the role that the government takes in people's lives and the freedoms that people give up to feel secured is old hat. This material has seen heavy use in Marvel Comic's X-Men titles as well as America's history during the Red Scare of the 50's. It reminds me of Reverend Lovejoy's wife on the Simpsons. "Won't someone please think of the children!" Lots of hysterics over something that's already been done, and done better. The lifelong President of the United States, JFK, has made the act of being a 'Delta', i.e. individual with incredible powers, something that must be registered. Many groups of deltas oppose this, while those that don't work for the government. There are some strange lose ends that don't make sense though. For example, the Aquarians are building their own city at the bottom of Chicago Bay. Now these are all non-registered Deltas. Wouldn't they be a massive priority? How does it compare with other games though? Instead of Novas, we have Deltas. Instead of material crammed into every inch of the book like Aberrant, we have large margins. Here's the space waster test. Take Aberrant, or Trinity. Lift up Brave New World next to it. Overlay it. Notice that the text of Brave New World goes the same length as the smaller Aberrant or Trinity book. Not a good sign. But what about the game system itself? The tried and true target system. Familiar to most players, the Game Master decides upon a difficulty factor and the player rolls against it. Brave New World uses only D6, and when the die roll is a 6, you get to roll it again. Many Delta powers include bonuses to the die roll that add on to the die roll. If your bonus plus the minimum of the die roll is higher than the check, then the character doesn't need to roll. Unfortunately, these powers are not broken up in a method that allows the players to individualize their own characters. Instead, players get a choice between ten templates that range from Blaster (Beamer), Gadgeteer (Power Armor), Goliath (Brick), and Gunner (Punisher style). The templates aren't bad and there are rules for designing your own templates, but the lack of powers is a major weakness in a market with so many game systems that allow or even encourage customization. Quirks, while not in the range of full blown powers resemble Hero Games Talents in some aspects, and GURPS Disadvantages in others. The Quirks heading holds disadvantages, background roles, and other goodies in one bag. The so called 'Ravaged Planet' brings up some saving graces for Pinnacle. The first sightings of Deltas, their history, the birth and disappearances of the even more powerful 'Alphas'. An alpha is a delta who rises from the dead more powerful then ever. Phoenix anyone? How about the Harrowed from Deadlands? The alphas all disappeared during a battle between the Devistator and groups of deltas and alphas that becomes known as the Bicentennial Battle. This individual lives up to his name as the city of Chicago also disappears. The destruction two major American cities Atlanta and San Francisco destroyed in a limited nuclear war with Russia, gives the Game Master lots of material to work with. The value of the setting stems from its oppressiveness. The Game Master will never have to look far for opposition for the players. The setting is far from perfect though. One of the weakest links here is no time-line. I've always found it easier to reference a setting if a time-line is throw in. GURPS Supers, despite the many jeers it receives, has a timeline for the IST world. More importantly, since the whole genesis of Brave New World starts in the late 1960's, some material on racial relations would've been appropriate. Once again, GURPS Supers does mention the foiled assassination attempt on Martin Luther King Jr. No such mention here. It's an ugly question but does segregation still exist in the Brave New World? Some of the world material seems thrown in at the last second like the archetype Bargainers who gain their powers through deals with demons. Sounds a little like the Huckster from Deadlands to me. Then again, the Vampires thrown in under Chapter Thirteen, the Usual Suspects also disappointed me. After all the talk about deltas and why no one understands their origin, to throw the supernatural in at seemingly random intervals baffles me. Don't give me vampires. Give me an Alpha that didn't disappear during the Bicentennial Battle. Heck, if they needed the space, they could've got rid of the Deaders too, or made the entry for the police and mafia condensed instead of full sheets. Other problems are that the world isn't that advanced in terms of technology. In the Brave World Timeline, in 1963, a group of power armored assassins, Devastator's Dreadnauts, kills Jacqueline Kennedy. In the modern world, the Web is still not as advanced as in the real world. Power armor in 1963. Pretty much the same world today. Worse still, the rules on using the archetype Gadgeteer are sparse. It boils down to "Design something and if the Game Master thinks it's too powerful, he'll reject it." Not too encouraging. Perhaps by far the worse problem is that the game assumes that the players are going to take the role of Defiants and fight the government. What if they want to play as members of Delta Prime, the registered army of U.S. deltas? Wing it. The format of Brave New World, despite the large amount of white space per page is well done. The full color section ranging from page one through forty eight, along with the templates is nothing less than great. Many of these full colored illustrations go a long way in establishing the feel of the setting. My only complaint is on the archetypes page, the authors signature overlaps onto the typed text and makes the reading of those words difficult. The reading is easy, perhaps too easy with phrases like "Most folks have seen enough John Woo movies to think that waltzing around with a gun in each fist is the way to go." The writing style flows, but in my opinion, at the cost of substance. Don't tell me what movies I've watched, explain the game mechanic of using two guns to me. Matt does this on many occasions and it forces me to wonder how much more background material could've seen the light of day in this product if he stopped with such entries as "Hey, buddy! Come here." And went into the meat of the matter. The game looks to be well supported with Ravaged Planet, the player's guide already out with the Power Shield and Defiants, the Defiant Sourcebook soon to hit the streets. Hopefully these support books can help overcome some of the basic limitations of Brave New World. Even at 224 pages, $30.00 is still a little too much for me to endorse others to enter the Brave New World. Download the rules and background from Pinnacles website and decide for yourself if it's worth the cost of admission. If nothing else, Brave New World makes for a good background for a GURPS IST, Aberrant crossover (Gee, on our world, we're almost worshipped), or a tried and true Heroes setting. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 2 (Sparse)