The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Map Pack for Dream Pod 9's Tribe 8 game sounded like a really interesting accessory: ten maps printed on parchment-like paper looking at different areas of the game's setting, Vimary, and the surrounding area. Comments on the Tribe 8 mailing list suggested that the maps would give plenty of adventure ideas.

I've just received the product and had a quick flip through, and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I've recently got the basic T8 books (rulebook, Vimary, screen + Weaver's Assistant) and am looking to run the game sometime soon. So that puts me in the category of a T8 novice, interested in the system and world but with no playing experience and a limited library of T8 books to refer to. What I was looking for in the Map Pack was detail on places to spark adventure ideas. For instance, many important parts of Vimary are given fairly basic treatments in the books due to lack of space. Unfortunately, the maps don't always add much to this.

The maps come folded in a paper envelope, and are printed on a beige paper with a semi-parchment look and feel. Knowing the game, they're probably supposed to look like skin... They're printed in a single red-brown (rust?) colour, and drawn in different styles according to who's supposed to have made them. Nine are 11 x 17 inches, a little under A3 size, and the Outlands one is bigger at about 13.5 x 18 inches. They're not huge - but then again huge maps can be a problem on a gaming table. Here are some quick comments on each map.

The Outlands - shows different territories in a wide area round Vimary, with rivers and names of main Squat tribes. Presumably ties into the 'Into the Outlands' book, which would give detail for all these. I suppose an enterprising GM could put their own flesh to the names on the map, but it's really an ad for ItO.

Vimary - this is a reprint of the overall map that appears in the rulebook. Looks a bit nicer for the players than a copy of that would, but doesn't add anything new.

The Sunken City - where Tera Sheba and her tribe hang out. This is a larger version of the map in the Vimary book, with a few more locations marked. These include underground passages - always nice - and specific buildings, e.g. "Place of Congress". Unfortunately there's no text in the books to tell us what these places are. Again, the 'Word of the Pillars' book, which deals with the Terashebans, may have that detail.

Abonom - here be Flemis! This one is really designed as a player handout, drawn by someone who escaped, and it could work well for that if you have players who really want to go there (!). For the GM it expands a bit on the map in the Vimary book, but doesn't add much you couldn't glean from that map and its text.

Hom - one of the big disappointments for me. The island of Hom is the place the Fallen (i.e. most player characters) have made their own, so GM's will devour every detail hungrily. It's natural to want to set adventures there, especially when characters are starting off, but the material in the rulebook and Vimary mostly sets it up as somewhere to go out from for adventures, unless you want to get involved in politicking among the factions of the Fallen. This map shows individual streets and a number of odd-shaped buildings in the settlement of Hom (including a building called "the Shelter"), and a few squiggly tracks in the woods, but it doesn't really add anything to what we knew already.

Dahlian caravan routes - an overall map of Vimary, with big loops identified by different symbols. We don't know what the symbols mean, and we don't know whether these are actual routes, given that a lot of them happily go over water. Well, I guess being Dahlians they can go wherever they want. On its own the map doesn't really tell us much. No doubt a sourcebook on the Dahlians would clarify - I think DP9 are working on one.

Blacktops - a Joanite map of where the main blacktops (roads) are, with the implication that they use these for travel quite a lot. A simple map, not totally clear where they fit in Vimary as there are few other landmarks, but it is new information. Do the tribes as a whole use these (images of mules and wagons wending round the cracks in the asphalt) or are they just for military/security use?

Playground - floorplans for the home of Agnes and her tribe. Two levels, a simple plan, but enough information on the main areas to allow description of a visit. This is more the kind of thing I was looking for, though I could wish it was clearer how it fits with Vimary's map of the Emporiums (e.g. which way's up?).

The Rust Wastes - distinctive style, this, obviously produced on a rickety computer by some Keeper faction... or is it? Yes, it does show a bit more than in the basic books - but again, the information the GM needs on what these places are is elsewhere (presumably with the Keeper details in the 'Tribe 8 Companion').

Duskfall Forest - this is a large area on the basic Vimary maps, but although we were told it was rife with wolves, Squats, Z'bri and Gek'roh (i.e. prime adventuring territory) there was no detail. Well, this map shows the paths through Duskfall, with good hunting sites, "Danger Zones" and ritual sites (whose?). There's also a few places with access to a cave system, but of course no info on what this is, its extent, etc., and it isn't mentioned at all in the basic books. Aargh! There's a strong impression that you'd be mad to go through here without an experienced guide and some big sticks. There's also a big presence of the Winter Wolves - a group covered in one of the other books (Outlands?) - located so you almost have to pass through it.

It would have been really useful if DP9 had included just a single page of text listing the locations on the maps with a sentence or two of description for each. One could say that the GM should exercise their own creativity for this, but surely the point of having an established setting linked to a big ongoing storyline (if one chooses to follow it) is to have a baseline of what's where - why else do maps? What if we invent our own description of a location and then find in a later product that it's something completely different, and crucial to the metaplot? I like words, and I would have liked some of them to be a base point and springboard.

I even wonder whether DP9 would have been better combining at least some of these into a single BIG map of Vimary. For instance, it would have made it easier to see where the blacktops and caravan routes go.

In conclusion, it's not an expensive product as gaming stuff goes, and the maps could be nice handouts for your players - as long as you're prepared to get them smeared with Coke and chocolate, of course. (The maps, not the players. Depending on how close you are to your group...) It's probably better as an addition to a fairly complete Tribe 8 collection, to give atmospheric pictures of places already known about - other GM's will get less value out of it.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Tribe 8 Map Pack
Author: unknown Category: game Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9 Line: Tribe 8 Cost: UKP 5.99 Page count: n/a SKU: DP9-811 Capsule Review by Tim Gray on 02/25/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Post-apocalypse	The Map Pack for Dream Pod 9's Tribe 8 game sounded like a really interesting accessory: ten maps printed on parchment-like paper looking at different areas of the game's setting, Vimary, and the surrounding area. Comments on the Tribe 8 mailing list suggested that the maps would give plenty of adventure ideas. I've just received the product and had a quick flip through, and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I've recently got the basic T8 books (rulebook, Vimary, screen + Weaver's Assistant) and am looking to run the game sometime soon. So that puts me in the category of a T8 novice, interested in the system and world but with no playing experience and a limited library of T8 books to refer to. What I was looking for in the Map Pack was detail on places to spark adventure ideas. For instance, many important parts of Vimary are given fairly basic treatments in the books due to lack of space. Unfortunately, the maps don't always add much to this. The maps come folded in a paper envelope, and are printed on a beige paper with a semi-parchment look and feel. Knowing the game, they're probably supposed to look like skin... They're printed in a single red-brown (rust?) colour, and drawn in different styles according to who's supposed to have made them. Nine are 11 x 17 inches, a little under A3 size, and the Outlands one is bigger at about 13.5 x 18 inches. They're not huge - but then again huge maps can be a problem on a gaming table. Here are some quick comments on each map. The Outlands - shows different territories in a wide area round Vimary, with rivers and names of main Squat tribes. Presumably ties into the 'Into the Outlands' book, which would give detail for all these. I suppose an enterprising GM could put their own flesh to the names on the map, but it's really an ad for ItO. Vimary - this is a reprint of the overall map that appears in the rulebook. Looks a bit nicer for the players than a copy of that would, but doesn't add anything new. The Sunken City - where Tera Sheba and her tribe hang out. This is a larger version of the map in the Vimary book, with a few more locations marked. These include underground passages - always nice - and specific buildings, e.g. "Place of Congress". Unfortunately there's no text in the books to tell us what these places are. Again, the 'Word of the Pillars' book, which deals with the Terashebans, may have that detail. Abonom - here be Flemis! This one is really designed as a player handout, drawn by someone who escaped, and it could work well for that if you have players who really want to go there (!). For the GM it expands a bit on the map in the Vimary book, but doesn't add much you couldn't glean from that map and its text. Hom - one of the big disappointments for me. The island of Hom is the place the Fallen (i.e. most player characters) have made their own, so GM's will devour every detail hungrily. It's natural to want to set adventures there, especially when characters are starting off, but the material in the rulebook and Vimary mostly sets it up as somewhere to go out from for adventures, unless you want to get involved in politicking among the factions of the Fallen. This map shows individual streets and a number of odd-shaped buildings in the settlement of Hom (including a building called "the Shelter"), and a few squiggly tracks in the woods, but it doesn't really add anything to what we knew already. Dahlian caravan routes - an overall map of Vimary, with big loops identified by different symbols. We don't know what the symbols mean, and we don't know whether these are actual routes, given that a lot of them happily go over water. Well, I guess being Dahlians they can go wherever they want. On its own the map doesn't really tell us much. No doubt a sourcebook on the Dahlians would clarify - I think DP9 are working on one. Blacktops - a Joanite map of where the main blacktops (roads) are, with the implication that they use these for travel quite a lot. A simple map, not totally clear where they fit in Vimary as there are few other landmarks, but it is new information. Do the tribes as a whole use these (images of mules and wagons wending round the cracks in the asphalt) or are they just for military/security use? Playground - floorplans for the home of Agnes and her tribe. Two levels, a simple plan, but enough information on the main areas to allow description of a visit. This is more the kind of thing I was looking for, though I could wish it was clearer how it fits with Vimary's map of the Emporiums (e.g. which way's up?). The Rust Wastes - distinctive style, this, obviously produced on a rickety computer by some Keeper faction... or is it? Yes, it does show a bit more than in the basic books - but again, the information the GM needs on what these places are is elsewhere (presumably with the Keeper details in the 'Tribe 8 Companion'). Duskfall Forest - this is a large area on the basic Vimary maps, but although we were told it was rife with wolves, Squats, Z'bri and Gek'roh (i.e. prime adventuring territory) there was no detail. Well, this map shows the paths through Duskfall, with good hunting sites, "Danger Zones" and ritual sites (whose?). There's also a few places with access to a cave system, but of course no info on what this is, its extent, etc., and it isn't mentioned at all in the basic books. Aargh! There's a strong impression that you'd be mad to go through here without an experienced guide and some big sticks. There's also a big presence of the Winter Wolves - a group covered in one of the other books (Outlands?) - located so you almost have to pass through it. It would have been really useful if DP9 had included just a single page of text listing the locations on the maps with a sentence or two of description for each. One could say that the GM should exercise their own creativity for this, but surely the point of having an established setting linked to a big ongoing storyline (if one chooses to follow it) is to have a baseline of what's where - why else do maps? What if we invent our own description of a location and then find in a later product that it's something completely different, and crucial to the metaplot? I like words, and I would have liked some of them to be a base point and springboard. I even wonder whether DP9 would have been better combining at least some of these into a single BIG map of Vimary. For instance, it would have made it easier to see where the blacktops and caravan routes go. In conclusion, it's not an expensive product as gaming stuff goes, and the maps could be nice handouts for your players - as long as you're prepared to get them smeared with Coke and chocolate, of course. (The maps, not the players. Depending on how close you are to your group...) It's probably better as an addition to a fairly complete Tribe 8 collection, to give atmospheric pictures of places already known about - other GM's will get less value out of it. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

Tribe 8 Map Pack