The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Recently, I was GMing Call of Cthulhu for a friend, and learned something very useful. The mere fact that I had placed a GM screen in front of me added suspense to the game. My friend assumed that I was using the screen to hide secret notes on monsters, spells, and the like [which I wasn't]. So the mere presence of the screen made it seem like I had done a great deal more prep work than I really had.

The Star Trek Deep Space Nine RPG's Narrator's Toolkit contains a GM screen and a 56+ page book (Shadows and Light) for gamemasters. While neither of these items is essential for play, both will prove very useful.

The utility of the screen speaks for itself: Oz's curtain on one side, Oz's machinery on the other. The screen is printed on decent paper, and has a smooth surface that I bet will resist accidental spills. Although I find the Star Trek font a bit hard on the eyes, most of the text is in a fairly readable size. In terms of design, of course, it would probably be helpful to center the most frequently consulted tables (Difficulty, and the modifiers associated with it), and perhaps print these tables larger than others.

But it's the flip side (facing the players) that's a bit disappointing to me. I liked the color cover photo of a Dominion fighter featured in the Last Unicorn Games (LUG) catalogue. Instead, the screen and the GM's book cover feature the grainy green-gold background and Cardassian patterns used in the DS9 Core Rulebook -- with three Dominion fighters suspended within the matrix. On the positive side, the murky images do convey an air of mystery, which I'm sure was the intent.

The first two chapters of Shadows and Light establish the basic themes that emerge in outpost/frontier and "shades of grey" roleplaying (espionage and intrigue) both in general Star Trek and specifically DS9 contexts. Both this book and the Core Rulebook are quite a contrast with the Babylon 5 RPG, which provided guidance in constructing story arcs, but was of no help in establishing the atmosphere, plotlines, and characters specific to station-based SF games.

Somehow, during the course of reading this section, the framework for an outstanding post-series campaign came to me. I am in the process of fleshing out the campaign now. My idea started with the concept for an NPC ("A Vorta"), and with an establishing scene ("arrives through the wormhole, and enters DS9"). So the Narrator's Toolkit has been a worthwhile purchase.

The next two chapters provide helpful suggestions for both narrating in general, and for creating specific scenes and episodes. The final section "Bajor Sector" provides more detail on Bajor, Cardassia, the Ferenginar and Ferengi culture, and the Maquis. You also get a pretty much useless map, and a very useful write-up on another station -- Admiral Ross's Starbase 375. It would have been classy if LUG had added an Icon Link featuring the abortive Romulan Base on Durna (hint, hint) but this backround section alone makes the purchase worthwhile.

My only criticism of Shadows and Light is that some moisture (grease?) my thumb caused a big ink smear on one page. This terrified me. I did try to repeat the accident on other pages, though, without incident. Perhaps the ink was literally "not quite dry" on the copy I purchased...

So for Style, I'm giving the product a 4/5 (for the ink smudge)

For Substance, 5/5

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

Narrator's Toolkit
Author: Steven S. Long Category: game Company/Publisher: Last Unicorn Games Line: Star Trek Deep Space Nine RPG Cost: $16.00 Page count: 56 ISBN: 1-889533-10-6 SKU: LUG 35001 Capsule Review by John Everett Till on 01/01/00. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space Conspiracy	Recently, I was GMing Call of Cthulhu for a friend, and learned something very useful. The mere fact that I had placed a GM screen in front of me added suspense to the game. My friend assumed that I was using the screen to hide secret notes on monsters, spells, and the like [which I wasn't]. So the mere presence of the screen made it seem like I had done a great deal more prep work than I really had. The Star Trek Deep Space Nine RPG's Narrator's Toolkit contains a GM screen and a 56+ page book (Shadows and Light) for gamemasters. While neither of these items is essential for play, both will prove very useful. The utility of the screen speaks for itself: Oz's curtain on one side, Oz's machinery on the other. The screen is printed on decent paper, and has a smooth surface that I bet will resist accidental spills. Although I find the Star Trek font a bit hard on the eyes, most of the text is in a fairly readable size. In terms of design, of course, it would probably be helpful to center the most frequently consulted tables (Difficulty, and the modifiers associated with it), and perhaps print these tables larger than others. But it's the flip side (facing the players) that's a bit disappointing to me. I liked the color cover photo of a Dominion fighter featured in the Last Unicorn Games (LUG) catalogue. Instead, the screen and the GM's book cover feature the grainy green-gold background and Cardassian patterns used in the DS9 Core Rulebook -- with three Dominion fighters suspended within the matrix. On the positive side, the murky images do convey an air of mystery, which I'm sure was the intent. The first two chapters of Shadows and Light establish the basic themes that emerge in outpost/frontier and "shades of grey" roleplaying (espionage and intrigue) both in general Star Trek and specifically DS9 contexts. Both this book and the Core Rulebook are quite a contrast with the Babylon 5 RPG, which provided guidance in constructing story arcs, but was of no help in establishing the atmosphere, plotlines, and characters specific to station-based SF games. Somehow, during the course of reading this section, the framework for an outstanding post-series campaign came to me. I am in the process of fleshing out the campaign now. My idea started with the concept for an NPC ("A Vorta"), and with an establishing scene ("arrives through the wormhole, and enters DS9"). So the Narrator's Toolkit has been a worthwhile purchase. The next two chapters provide helpful suggestions for both narrating in general, and for creating specific scenes and episodes. The final section "Bajor Sector" provides more detail on Bajor, Cardassia, the Ferenginar and Ferengi culture, and the Maquis. You also get a pretty much useless map, and a very useful write-up on another station -- Admiral Ross's Starbase 375. It would have been classy if LUG had added an Icon Link featuring the abortive Romulan Base on Durna (hint, hint) but this backround section alone makes the purchase worthwhile. My only criticism of Shadows and Light is that some moisture (grease?) my thumb caused a big ink smear on one page. This terrified me. I did try to repeat the accident on other pages, though, without incident. Perhaps the ink was literally "not quite dry" on the copy I purchased... So for Style, I'm giving the product a 4/5 (for the ink smudge) For Substance, 5/5 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)