The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is how it's done, gang.

Dream Pod 9 took their first original role-playing game and revised it. Most of the time, this means trouble. Either the first edition really sucked and desperately needed a second edition, or the game is just fine but the designers don't know when to leave well enough alone. (The result of the latter instance, if the game survives, inevitably produces the former.) Regardless, the public complains loud and long before plunking down their cash and buying it anyway.

This is not so for Heavy Gear.

Dream Pod 9's original release of Heavy Gear earned plenty of acclaim and praise from players and professionals alike. It was an incredible realization of the ideals of game design. It had a simple, elegant game engine that made sense. It had excellent text that clearly explained how to use that engine. It had plenty of incredible artwork that complimented the text and gave the reader a vivid view into Terra Nova. They presented a world that took everything we knew from everyday life and recast it in to an alien place that compelled the reader to leave Earth and migrate there, fight in its wars and plot in its intrigues. I hadn't felt that compelled since I picked up a copy of the Star Wars RPG back in '87, and that had a trilogy of films to fall back upon. When I heard that Dream Pod 9 released a new edition, I almost blew a gasket. I didn't think they could make any improvements, and thus I feared that they would do unto Heavy Gear what White Wolf did unto Ars Magica. I am happy to say that Dream Pod 9 came through again. They revised it, and the result is the closest thing to the Holy Grail of Gaming- the perfect game- than is humanly possible.

What did they change? The only things that remain are the price and the paperback cover. Everything else is different. The cover artwork is new, most of the interior art is new, many of the examples are new or rewritten, and they radically changed the layout of the book from the first edition. That's a lot, and that's only the cosmetic changes. They have a new color section at the front of the book, written in the form of a secured message to an Earther covert agent from his superior. They still go over the other planets colonized by Earth, but that's about all they do. The next two pages go over the planets in Terra Nova's system, giving the same overview. Finally, they give a world map of Terra Nova. The page after that lists the major political powers on Terra Nova and displays their symbols. (This game, like Jovian Chronicles, is chocked full of symbols. I like them, but your mileage will vary.) The meat of the book is in black and white, and the first page of that section tells the reader just what major changes were made: the rules for Heavy Gear Fighter got yanked, as did the Vehicle Construction System. The mini-module is also gone, and so are the army lists. Taking their places are a built-in sourcebook for a place called "Peace River", a hefty campaigning chapter and an expanded world background. After reading the book, I concur with these changes. The loss of the construction system and the mini-module is compensated by the Peave River chapter alone. The campaigning chapter is icing on the cake, a cake that's deep and rich indeed. They expanded upon character generation, incorporating the tri-level options from Jovian Chronicles that gives the GM the choice of how cinematic he wants his game to be. Realistic PCs aren't much better than the average man, while cinematic PCs stand head and sholders above the masses. Certain rules are clarified, such as the required attributes for certain skill levels. They rewrote the combat rules, personal and table-top alike, making their seemless system smooth as silk. They revised their forms, expanding the character sheet to a full page. Vehicle sheets also got expanded to a full page, while infantry sheets are put three to a page. The last four pages have a two-page compliation of all tables and a two-page index. Both of those sections are clear, concise and easy to use. (You could easily photocopy those tables on to cardstock and make a simple GM screen out of them.)

There is nothing negative I can say about this book. It's perfect. Get a copy ASAP and get playing.

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

Heavy Gear- Into the Eye of the Storm (Second Edition)
Author: Various Authors Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Cost: $30 (US) Page count: 248 pages ISBN: 1-896776-32-9 Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 02/01/98. Genre tags: none	This is how it's done, gang. Dream Pod 9 took their first original role-playing game and revised it. Most of the time, this means trouble. Either the first edition really sucked and desperately needed a second edition, or the game is just fine but the designers don't know when to leave well enough alone. (The result of the latter instance, if the game survives, inevitably produces the former.) Regardless, the public complains loud and long before plunking down their cash and buying it anyway. This is not so for Heavy Gear. Dream Pod 9's original release of Heavy Gear earned plenty of acclaim and praise from players and professionals alike. It was an incredible realization of the ideals of game design. It had a simple, elegant game engine that made sense. It had excellent text that clearly explained how to use that engine. It had plenty of incredible artwork that complimented the text and gave the reader a vivid view into Terra Nova. They presented a world that took everything we knew from everyday life and recast it in to an alien place that compelled the reader to leave Earth and migrate there, fight in its wars and plot in its intrigues. I hadn't felt that compelled since I picked up a copy of the Star Wars RPG back in '87, and that had a trilogy of films to fall back upon. When I heard that Dream Pod 9 released a new edition, I almost blew a gasket. I didn't think they could make any improvements, and thus I feared that they would do unto Heavy Gear what White Wolf did unto Ars Magica. I am happy to say that Dream Pod 9 came through again. They revised it, and the result is the closest thing to the Holy Grail of Gaming- the perfect game- than is humanly possible. What did they change? The only things that remain are the price and the paperback cover. Everything else is different. The cover artwork is new, most of the interior art is new, many of the examples are new or rewritten, and they radically changed the layout of the book from the first edition. That's a lot, and that's only the cosmetic changes. They have a new color section at the front of the book, written in the form of a secured message to an Earther covert agent from his superior. They still go over the other planets colonized by Earth, but that's about all they do. The next two pages go over the planets in Terra Nova's system, giving the same overview. Finally, they give a world map of Terra Nova. The page after that lists the major political powers on Terra Nova and displays their symbols. (This game, like Jovian Chronicles, is chocked full of symbols. I like them, but your mileage will vary.) The meat of the book is in black and white, and the first page of that section tells the reader just what major changes were made: the rules for Heavy Gear Fighter got yanked, as did the Vehicle Construction System. The mini-module is also gone, and so are the army lists. Taking their places are a built-in sourcebook for a place called "Peace River", a hefty campaigning chapter and an expanded world background. After reading the book, I concur with these changes. The loss of the construction system and the mini-module is compensated by the Peave River chapter alone. The campaigning chapter is icing on the cake, a cake that's deep and rich indeed. They expanded upon character generation, incorporating the tri-level options from Jovian Chronicles that gives the GM the choice of how cinematic he wants his game to be. Realistic PCs aren't much better than the average man, while cinematic PCs stand head and sholders above the masses. Certain rules are clarified, such as the required attributes for certain skill levels. They rewrote the combat rules, personal and table-top alike, making their seemless system smooth as silk. They revised their forms, expanding the character sheet to a full page. Vehicle sheets also got expanded to a full page, while infantry sheets are put three to a page. The last four pages have a two-page compliation of all tables and a two-page index. Both of those sections are clear, concise and easy to use. (You could easily photocopy those tables on to cardstock and make a simple GM screen out of them.) There is nothing negative I can say about this book. It's perfect. Get a copy ASAP and get playing. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Heavy Gear- Into the Eye of the Storm (Second Edition)