The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I should probably start off by saying that while Over the Edge holds a special place in my heart, I'm not a big user of Over the Edge supplements. I'm usually the type that likes to buy new supplements and take ideas from pre-made adventures, but with Over the Edge, the main rulebook is so chock full of plots, characters, strange ideas and general weirdness that I improvised a twice-a-month game for a year before I bought my first one. Eventually, I ended up getting just about all the first edition material -- I didn't directly use much of it, but whenever I needed a new idea or character, I skimmed through the books, which were just as full of good ideas as the main one.

Now, after a couple of years, Over the Edge is back with a new edition and a brand new adventure anthology: Forgotten Lives. And I'm pleased to report that it's more of the same.

The most noticeable differences between Forgotten Lives and any of the first edition books are, I'm glad to say, cosmetic, and mostly for the better. In the years since the first edition of Over the Edge, Atlas Games has taken a more "professional" approach to the production values of its games. The bindings are better, the art is better (the cover of Forgotten Lives is excellent), and the typefaces and layout are a lot easier to read. At 112 pages, Forgotten Lives is the longest book ever published for Over the Edge, and more in line with what you're likely to expect from a gaming supplement (many of the first edition books checked in at a mere 16 pages).

Of course, on the island of Al Amarja, the PC's can be anything from samurai cab drivers to psychics to superhumanly strong biological simulacra to talking cats. Characters like these could easily derail any linear plot thrown at them, so the authors have wisely decided not to try. Instead, the adventures are free-form — the characters and events are established a rough timeline is given, and the PC's are thrown into the middle. Of course, this means the GM is going to have to scramble to improvise around PC actions while trying to maintain the game's internal consistency, but doing so is, I think, one of the great pleasures of being a Over the Edge GM in the first place, and Over the Edge really isn't a game for beginners, anyway.

Another task that is likely to require a bit of GM work and ingenuity is the concept of a slowly building plot, which is one of the key ideas to a successful Over the Edge campaign, and which most of the adventures use. Instead of unfolding over a single session as discrete entities, these adventures are intended to be slowly built up on the edge of player awareness. So while the PC's are on a completely unrelated mission, or working at their day jobs, or relaxing, they witness an event or hear a tidbit of information that relates to the story the GM has planned. During the next session, the PC's learn another bit of information or meet an NPC unrelated to their current task, but related to the overall plot, and so on over several sessions, until it all comes to a head.

Obviously, if you're a GM foreshadowing half a dozen published adventures, plus your own stories, plus all of the subplots of the individual PC's, your players are going to be overwhelmed with information, which is the point. Watching the increasingly bizarre threads entangle and interweave themselves, to eventually be resolved and then split into a bunch of new threads is another of the great things about playing Over the Edge, and I'm glad an effort has been made here to support and encourage this challenging and rewarding style of play. And if you really do want to run a one-shot Over the Edge game, the last adventure, by Greg Stolze, is specifically designed for it and comes complete with pregenerated PC's.

If I have one complaint about Forgotten Lives, it's that the adventures seem needlessly PG-rated. The drug use, violence and unconventional sexuality that were part of the anything goes Al Amarjan setting of many of the first edition supplements is quite muted here, and I miss it. I'm not saying Over the Edge should be exploitative or prurient, but it should have an Edge. I really dislike the conventional industry wisdom that states that nothing remotely offensive should be part of an RPG, and I was glad that the first edition wasn't afraid to give us something a bit more sophisticated. But if you compare Forgotten Lives to many of the books, films and comics Over the Edge draws inspiration from, or first edition books like "Wildest Dreams," it starts to look almost puritanically tame. Hopefully, this is a temporary anomaly, and future second edition Over the Edge products will be less innocuous, but I do think it is cause for at least a little concern.

Overall, though, I'm pleased with, if not especially ecstatic about, the adventures in Forgotten Lives. I doubt I'll run any exactly as written, but then, that's not the point. The ideas are good, the characters are mostly interesting (though there are a few irritating cliches and stereotypes), and the plots would fit into most any campaign. It doesn't quite have the sparkle of some of the best first edition books (like The Players' Survival Guide or Weather the Cuckoo Likes), but it is solid, well done, and imaginative.

I would recommend Forgotten Lives to any Over the Edge GM looking for ready-made ideas to work into his or her campaign — if you already hav the main rulebook, you know there's no escaping the above-average preparation time Over the Edge requires of its GM's, but a good book of adventures like these is an invaluable tool for creating interesting subplots and providing inspiration and characters for your own stories. If you're new to Over the Edge GMing, you'll find a lot of stuff here to help you get started. If you've been playing for a while, you probably already know if you want to use something like this -- if you think you do, you probably won'tbe disappointed with Forgotten Lives.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Forgotten Lives
Author: Scott McDaniel, Jeff Tidball, John W. Baichtal, Chris Pramas, Keith Baker, Greg Stolze Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Cost: $19.95 Page count: 112 ISBN: 1-887801-51-0 Capsule Review by Eric Brochu on 02/01/98. Genre tags: none	I should probably start off by saying that while Over the Edge holds a special place in my heart, I'm not a big user of Over the Edge supplements. I'm usually the type that likes to buy new supplements and take ideas from pre-made adventures, but with Over the Edge, the main rulebook is so chock full of plots, characters, strange ideas and general weirdness that I improvised a twice-a-month game for a year before I bought my first one. Eventually, I ended up getting just about all the first edition material -- I didn't directly use much of it, but whenever I needed a new idea or character, I skimmed through the books, which were just as full of good ideas as the main one. Now, after a couple of years, Over the Edge is back with a new edition and a brand new adventure anthology: Forgotten Lives. And I'm pleased to report that it's more of the same. The most noticeable differences between Forgotten Lives and any of the first edition books are, I'm glad to say, cosmetic, and mostly for the better. In the years since the first edition of Over the Edge, Atlas Games has taken a more "professional" approach to the production values of its games. The bindings are better, the art is better (the cover of Forgotten Lives is excellent), and the typefaces and layout are a lot easier to read. At 112 pages, Forgotten Lives is the longest book ever published for Over the Edge, and more in line with what you're likely to expect from a gaming supplement (many of the first edition books checked in at a mere 16 pages). Of course, on the island of Al Amarja, the PC's can be anything from samurai cab drivers to psychics to superhumanly strong biological simulacra to talking cats. Characters like these could easily derail any linear plot thrown at them, so the authors have wisely decided not to try. Instead, the adventures are free-form — the characters and events are established a rough timeline is given, and the PC's are thrown into the middle. Of course, this means the GM is going to have to scramble to improvise around PC actions while trying to maintain the game's internal consistency, but doing so is, I think, one of the great pleasures of being a Over the Edge GM in the first place, and Over the Edge really isn't a game for beginners, anyway. Another task that is likely to require a bit of GM work and ingenuity is the concept of a slowly building plot, which is one of the key ideas to a successful Over the Edge campaign, and which most of the adventures use. Instead of unfolding over a single session as discrete entities, these adventures are intended to be slowly built up on the edge of player awareness. So while the PC's are on a completely unrelated mission, or working at their day jobs, or relaxing, they witness an event or hear a tidbit of information that relates to the story the GM has planned. During the next session, the PC's learn another bit of information or meet an NPC unrelated to their current task, but related to the overall plot, and so on over several sessions, until it all comes to a head. Obviously, if you're a GM foreshadowing half a dozen published adventures, plus your own stories, plus all of the subplots of the individual PC's, your players are going to be overwhelmed with information, which is the point. Watching the increasingly bizarre threads entangle and interweave themselves, to eventually be resolved and then split into a bunch of new threads is another of the great things about playing Over the Edge, and I'm glad an effort has been made here to support and encourage this challenging and rewarding style of play. And if you really do want to run a one-shot Over the Edge game, the last adventure, by Greg Stolze, is specifically designed for it and comes complete with pregenerated PC's. If I have one complaint about Forgotten Lives, it's that the adventures seem needlessly PG-rated. The drug use, violence and unconventional sexuality that were part of the anything goes Al Amarjan setting of many of the first edition supplements is quite muted here, and I miss it. I'm not saying Over the Edge should be exploitative or prurient, but it should have an Edge. I really dislike the conventional industry wisdom that states that nothing remotely offensive should be part of an RPG, and I was glad that the first edition wasn't afraid to give us something a bit more sophisticated. But if you compare Forgotten Lives to many of the books, films and comics Over the Edge draws inspiration from, or first edition books like "Wildest Dreams," it starts to look almost puritanically tame. Hopefully, this is a temporary anomaly, and future second edition Over the Edge products will be less innocuous, but I do think it is cause for at least a little concern. Overall, though, I'm pleased with, if not especially ecstatic about, the adventures in Forgotten Lives. I doubt I'll run any exactly as written, but then, that's not the point. The ideas are good, the characters are mostly interesting (though there are a few irritating cliches and stereotypes), and the plots would fit into most any campaign. It doesn't quite have the sparkle of some of the best first edition books (like The Players' Survival Guide or Weather the Cuckoo Likes), but it is solid, well done, and imaginative. I would recommend Forgotten Lives to any Over the Edge GM looking for ready-made ideas to work into his or her campaign — if you already hav the main rulebook, you know there's no escaping the above-average preparation time Over the Edge requires of its GM's, but a good book of adventures like these is an invaluable tool for creating interesting subplots and providing inspiration and characters for your own stories. If you're new to Over the Edge GMing, you'll find a lot of stuff here to help you get started. If you've been playing for a while, you probably already know if you want to use something like this -- if you think you do, you probably won'tbe disappointed with Forgotten Lives. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)