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Unknown Armies really has to be one of the best recent games released. Hell, it's one of the best games ever. It has an almost divinely inspired game system and a great setting that is a refreshing take on the whole "modern occult" thing. After reading the basic book, the more I thought about the game, the more I liked it - the better it got. I couldn't wait for the first "real supplement." One Shots was the first publication, but being only a collection of one shot adventures, I didn't buy it (partially because my friend of mine has been drafted as the official Unknown Armies game master - he's the best at it). When I found out about Lawyers, Guns and Money (from a review right here on RPGnet, oddly enough), I was very excited. I was more drooling after the upcoming Post-Modern Magick, but I wouldn't pass this up either.

the look, the feel

Lawyers, Guns and Money is a pretty nicely bound book. It's done in largely the same way as the basic volume (John Tynes once again taking in layout and photography, for some of the original shots for the book, go here). For some strange reason, the book keeps reminding my of Delta Green, with the in-depth personalities and psychologies for everyone as well as the extensive appendices. The illustrations throughout the book are, on the whole, better than those in the basic book, which varied from really nice to really horrible. Everything here is at the very least okay, with several gems (many of them chapter openings like in the basic book). Many of Tynes' own photos (especially those on the insides of both covers) really add another layer of creepy surreality. The man has quite the multitalented range of skills. The writing, on the whole, is excellent. It remains intelligent, useful and entertaining without, only rarely dipping into a conversational tone that doesn't fit the material at all, grating on the nerves a bit.

In summary: this book is damn well done.

all that New Inquisition stuff

So what's in the book? Lots of stuff, and not enough. It starts off with quite a doozey of a story. I was amazed at how long the story was, for introductory gaming fiction at least, and I was also surprised to find myself intensely interested the whole way through. Next is the history of the New Inquisition. Short, quick, and to the point, in three pages Stolze tells us how Alex Abel got to where he is, why the Inquisition was born, how it came into the world, and just why he is so obsessed with what he's doing. The "falling of the keys" illustrates not only the nature of the world in Unknown Armies, but it is done in just the right way. It's just an obvious example of the so many right touches that make Unknown Armies a brilliant game.

Chapter two is all about how the New Inquisition is organized, and just how it deals with the rest of the occult underground (answer: with the end of a gun) and how they try to get done just what they want to get done. The different kinds of teams that Alex Abel has set up together are explained, from the hit squads to bookworm research groups. The various levels of security clearance (and what each level really knows) are also clearly laid out, and easily implemented. After that come the toys, large and small, normal and wacked-out. The information on the mundane devices of the New Inquisition are nice and solid (and informative) and all of the unnatural devices are almost downright inspired (my personal favorites are the damnation rounds, hatred injections and the Wrecker). This is another prime example of why I love Unknown Armies.

The next nearly 20 pages are filled up with NPCs in the New Inquisition, and I have to say that it is a testament to Stolze's skill that I not only read the whole thing, but enjoyed reading it. Few games manage to do that, the only ones that spring to mind are Vimary from Dream Pod 9 and Children of the Night from White Wolf. Usually I have no patience for pages and pages of character histories and stats, but I actually have to say that these are genuinely useful and very well done.

Chapter five is all about secrets, and such blunt revelation is nice. There are several pages of plot hooks and ideas that simply scream "Use me!" when you read them, although a few of them also scream "Future supplement!" (one ever says it). Again, this is another one of those right touches that characterizes the game, the sense of inspired grandeur.

Then comes the "crunchy bits," as Stolze refers to them (actually, he refers to Robin Laws referring to them). The appendices (A through D) have new skills, rules for car chases, dossiers on various subjects and two sample missions. The new skills are all great (but then reading nearly any kind of skill for Unknown Armies is at least amusing) and the rules for car chases seems to be simple and useful enough. It manages to simulate something new using the same rules, not creating some complicated set of strictures. The dossiers (presented in a webpage format, the blank template for which can be downloaded from the Atlas Game website) are filled with similarly interesting characters, ripe for tossing straight down the player's gullets and chock full of damned good ideas. The missions follow a similar trend of quality, although I think that the first one (Fresh, dealing with demons and really getting a feel of horror) is better than the second (Exhausted, all about a pillow). Then again, Exhausted would make for a really nice surreal story. "So you flew all around the country, shot up some militia men, kidnapped a woman, handed your buddy over to a sex cult and you're willing to pay $100,000 without blinking? What do you want?" "You're pillow."

Why aren't you playing Unknown Armies now?

You should be. You should also own this book, because it's a worth sequel and a damn fine book on its own. Its major flaw is that it doesn't remain as amazingly excited all the way through, but I suppose that I can't be too disappointed that a discussion of tear gas can't be as cool as describing how damnation rounds or liquid hate works.

-Derek Guder
-Kintaro Oe
-kabael
-the McGuffin Group

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Author: Greg Stolze Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Unknown Armies Cost: $19.95 Page count: 125 ISBN: 1-887801-78-2 SKU: AG 6002 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 11/29/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror Espionage Conspiracy	Unknown Armies really has to be one of the best recent games released. Hell, it's one of the best games ever. It has an almost divinely inspired game system and a great setting that is a refreshing take on the whole "modern occult" thing. After reading the basic book, the more I thought about the game, the more I liked it - the better it got. I couldn't wait for the first "real supplement." One Shots was the first publication, but being only a collection of one shot adventures, I didn't buy it (partially because my friend of mine has been drafted as the official Unknown Armies game master - he's the best at it). When I found out about Lawyers, Guns and Money (from a review right here on RPGnet, oddly enough), I was very excited. I was more drooling after the upcoming Post-Modern Magick, but I wouldn't pass this up either. the look, the feel Lawyers, Guns and Money is a pretty nicely bound book. It's done in largely the same way as the basic volume (John Tynes once again taking in layout and photography, for some of the original shots for the book, go here). For some strange reason, the book keeps reminding my of Delta Green, with the in-depth personalities and psychologies for everyone as well as the extensive appendices. The illustrations throughout the book are, on the whole, better than those in the basic book, which varied from really nice to really horrible. Everything here is at the very least okay, with several gems (many of them chapter openings like in the basic book). Many of Tynes' own photos (especially those on the insides of both covers) really add another layer of creepy surreality. The man has quite the multitalented range of skills. The writing, on the whole, is excellent. It remains intelligent, useful and entertaining without, only rarely dipping into a conversational tone that doesn't fit the material at all, grating on the nerves a bit. In summary: this book is damn well done. all that New Inquisition stuff So what's in the book? Lots of stuff, and not enough. It starts off with quite a doozey of a story. I was amazed at how long the story was, for introductory gaming fiction at least, and I was also surprised to find myself intensely interested the whole way through. Next is the history of the New Inquisition. Short, quick, and to the point, in three pages Stolze tells us how Alex Abel got to where he is, why the Inquisition was born, how it came into the world, and just why he is so obsessed with what he's doing. The "falling of the keys" illustrates not only the nature of the world in Unknown Armies, but it is done in just the right way. It's just an obvious example of the so many right touches that make Unknown Armies a brilliant game. Chapter two is all about how the New Inquisition is organized, and just how it deals with the rest of the occult underground (answer: with the end of a gun) and how they try to get done just what they want to get done. The different kinds of teams that Alex Abel has set up together are explained, from the hit squads to bookworm research groups. The various levels of security clearance (and what each level really knows) are also clearly laid out, and easily implemented. After that come the toys, large and small, normal and wacked-out. The information on the mundane devices of the New Inquisition are nice and solid (and informative) and all of the unnatural devices are almost downright inspired (my personal favorites are the damnation rounds, hatred injections and the Wrecker). This is another prime example of why I love Unknown Armies. The next nearly 20 pages are filled up with NPCs in the New Inquisition, and I have to say that it is a testament to Stolze's skill that I not only read the whole thing, but enjoyed reading it. Few games manage to do that, the only ones that spring to mind are Vimary from Dream Pod 9 and Children of the Night from White Wolf. Usually I have no patience for pages and pages of character histories and stats, but I actually have to say that these are genuinely useful and very well done. Chapter five is all about secrets, and such blunt revelation is nice. There are several pages of plot hooks and ideas that simply scream "Use me!" when you read them, although a few of them also scream "Future supplement!" (one ever says it). Again, this is another one of those right touches that characterizes the game, the sense of inspired grandeur. Then comes the "crunchy bits," as Stolze refers to them (actually, he refers to Robin Laws referring to them). The appendices (A through D) have new skills, rules for car chases, dossiers on various subjects and two sample missions. The new skills are all great (but then reading nearly any kind of skill for Unknown Armies is at least amusing) and the rules for car chases seems to be simple and useful enough. It manages to simulate something new using the same rules, not creating some complicated set of strictures. The dossiers (presented in a webpage format, the blank template for which can be downloaded from the Atlas Game website) are filled with similarly interesting characters, ripe for tossing straight down the player's gullets and chock full of damned good ideas. The missions follow a similar trend of quality, although I think that the first one (Fresh, dealing with demons and really getting a feel of horror) is better than the second (Exhausted, all about a pillow). Then again, Exhausted would make for a really nice surreal story. "So you flew all around the country, shot up some militia men, kidnapped a woman, handed your buddy over to a sex cult and you're willing to pay $100,000 without blinking? What do you want?" "You're pillow." Why aren't you playing Unknown Armies now? You should be. You should also own this book, because it's a worth sequel and a damn fine book on its own. Its major flaw is that it doesn't remain as amazingly excited all the way through, but I suppose that I can't be too disappointed that a discussion of tear gas can't be as cool as describing how damnation rounds or liquid hate works. -Derek Guder -Kintaro Oe -kabael -the McGuffin Group Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

the look, the feel

all that New Inquisition stuff

Why aren't you playing Unknown Armies now?