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Aurora Australis is the first ArtHaus release for White Wolf's RPG Trinity, carrying on the series of 'combination sourcebooks' split between the Psi Orders and the locations they have most influence over. In this case, it covers the Legions Order and the Austronesian Union, a political grouping that includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian islands. Since Australia was the main immigration center for refugees from America and Europe after a massive war sixty years earlier in the game's timeline, it is a cosmopolitan and varied place. The only other SF RPG book that gives this area any real coverage is the Pacific Rim Sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2020, so this is essentially a new area for games.

Previous Trinity releases began with a color background section which players could read, giving a good view of the Order and region without giving away future plotlines (although they would sometimes cover previous plot developments from adventures and other supplements, annoyingly if you hadn't played them yet) and a black and white section containing rules, secret background information and plot ideas for the Storyteller. Aurora Australis does not have a colour section. This change, in the fourth of the combination sourcebooks, has some unfortunate side effects (see below).

In 2122, the current date in the Trinity plotline, the Legions Order is the largest of the Psi Orders (Trinity's divisions of humans with mental powers, each group being expert in one area and largely unable to use the others). The Legions have the most combat-based aptitude of the Orders, Psychokinesis, which is divided into Cryokinesis, Pyrokinesis, and Telekinesis. They are essentially walking freeze rays, flamethrowers and blunt instruments. At higher levels, they are flying liquid nitrogen and napalm airstrikes and massdrivers. There are twenty-five thousand of them, with seventy-five thousand highly trained no-psychic warriors supporting them. They exist to protect the world from outside attack, although naturally certain world governments regard them as a threat.

Following a short story, the first chapter of Aurora Australis discusses them in detail, covering the separate Legions (based in separate continents, or for specific purposes), tactics, and history. Nearly all of this is readable by players with a Legionnaire character or interested in the game world. Note "nearly".

As mentioned above, Aurora Australis is the first ArtHaus book for Trinity. What this means in practical terms is that there is no color section, the result of which is a less clear separation between sections players can read and those reserved for Storytellers. This effect unfortunately extends to the whole book, so rules points and plot suggestions crop up throughout the book. Most specifically, at one point in the history section of the otherwise player-friendly Legions chapter the text refers explicitly to a background event players aren't supposed to know, covered in 'The Story So Far' section of the new edition rulebook which was labelled "Spoiler Alert! This section is for Storytellers only!" This is careless and irritating.

The second chapter covers Psychokinesis, adding new optional powers and abilities which make the power more versatile and even more scary. This section includes rules, further breaking down the distinction between sections, and includes a few things the Legions are keeping quiet, so while Legion players can read it other players really should not.

The third chapter, Austronesia, is an overview of the union, covering its political setup, geographical sites of interest and cultural developments. This is generally solid, with a mix of background color, rumors, plot hints and adventure hooks. There are a few goofs, of course. There actually are camel ranches in Australia right now, strangely enough, which the book claims as a development more than seventy years in the future resulting from immigration Some of the slang has been mistranslated - 'hooligan' and 'yobbo' don't mean what they claim, for example - and there's only really Australian slang, no island terms or even New Zealand variations. By comparison, Cyberpunk's Pacific Rim Sourcebook is much stronger on language. On the whole, though, this is a good section.

Chapter Four, Storyteller Information, is where all the spoilers should go. What it does include is information and advice on running Legions games, more detail on some plot points - the names of those responsible for a growing problem, and the plans (and in one case statistics) of Aberrants, the Psi Orders' main enemies - and also some details that should probably have been in players' sections, on military tactics and Austronesian law.

The fifth chapter covers Technology. It's short, because the Legions aren't generally technical, and the most valuable information to players may be the armor value of the Legion uniforms, but it contains some interesting devices. Micromechanical computers, with no electronics, are naturally resistant to normal anti-computer attacks.

The final chapter, Dramatis Personae, gives details on the leaders of the Legions, Legionnaires of note and prominent Austronesians. While the sections on most of these are brief sketches, enough to run them as non-player characters if need be, the piece on the Legions' Proxy (founder) includes a little on how to play her and a lot of sensitive information about advance plans for a variety of potential threats. It also includes character templates in the Trinity style, fully developed characters with starting PCs' ability levels.

An appendix includes a timeline, which contains no spoilers. This means it can be read by players, but also that none of the references are explained. Finally, there is a bibliography and filmography, which is good for sources on the Legions but has nothing on Australia or the other countries detailed.

All in all, Aurora Australis adds to the Trinity setting, increases knowledge of the Legions Order, and has enough ideas to spark a Storyteller's imagination. My only real complaint is the lack of division between sections. The loss of color is slightly disappointing. This admixture of player and Storyteller information, after three books in the combination sourcebook series and other books in the Trinity line have separated them clearly, is extremely annoying. It shouldn't put Trinity Storytellers reading the book, but it should do so for players.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Aurora Australis: Psi Order legions & Austronesia sourcebook
Author: James Kiley (Legions material) Scott Nimmo (Austronesia material); additional writing Bruce Baugh (Austronesia material) Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf ArtHaus Line: Trinity Cost: $19.95 U.S. Page count: 144 ISBN: 1-56504-764-8 SKU: WW9006 Capsule Review by Craig Oxbrow on 04/03/00. Genre tags: Science_fiction Conspiracy Superhero	Aurora Australis is the first ArtHaus release for White Wolf's RPG Trinity, carrying on the series of 'combination sourcebooks' split between the Psi Orders and the locations they have most influence over. In this case, it covers the Legions Order and the Austronesian Union, a political grouping that includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian islands. Since Australia was the main immigration center for refugees from America and Europe after a massive war sixty years earlier in the game's timeline, it is a cosmopolitan and varied place. The only other SF RPG book that gives this area any real coverage is the Pacific Rim Sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2020, so this is essentially a new area for games. Previous Trinity releases began with a color background section which players could read, giving a good view of the Order and region without giving away future plotlines (although they would sometimes cover previous plot developments from adventures and other supplements, annoyingly if you hadn't played them yet) and a black and white section containing rules, secret background information and plot ideas for the Storyteller. Aurora Australis does not have a colour section. This change, in the fourth of the combination sourcebooks, has some unfortunate side effects (see below). In 2122, the current date in the Trinity plotline, the Legions Order is the largest of the Psi Orders (Trinity's divisions of humans with mental powers, each group being expert in one area and largely unable to use the others). The Legions have the most combat-based aptitude of the Orders, Psychokinesis, which is divided into Cryokinesis, Pyrokinesis, and Telekinesis. They are essentially walking freeze rays, flamethrowers and blunt instruments. At higher levels, they are flying liquid nitrogen and napalm airstrikes and massdrivers. There are twenty-five thousand of them, with seventy-five thousand highly trained no-psychic warriors supporting them. They exist to protect the world from outside attack, although naturally certain world governments regard them as a threat. Following a short story, the first chapter of Aurora Australis discusses them in detail, covering the separate Legions (based in separate continents, or for specific purposes), tactics, and history. Nearly all of this is readable by players with a Legionnaire character or interested in the game world. Note "nearly". As mentioned above, Aurora Australis is the first ArtHaus book for Trinity. What this means in practical terms is that there is no color section, the result of which is a less clear separation between sections players can read and those reserved for Storytellers. This effect unfortunately extends to the whole book, so rules points and plot suggestions crop up throughout the book. Most specifically, at one point in the history section of the otherwise player-friendly Legions chapter the text refers explicitly to a background event players aren't supposed to know, covered in 'The Story So Far' section of the new edition rulebook which was labelled "Spoiler Alert! This section is for Storytellers only!" This is careless and irritating. The second chapter covers Psychokinesis, adding new optional powers and abilities which make the power more versatile and even more scary. This section includes rules, further breaking down the distinction between sections, and includes a few things the Legions are keeping quiet, so while Legion players can read it other players really should not. The third chapter, Austronesia, is an overview of the union, covering its political setup, geographical sites of interest and cultural developments. This is generally solid, with a mix of background color, rumors, plot hints and adventure hooks. There are a few goofs, of course. There actually are camel ranches in Australia right now, strangely enough, which the book claims as a development more than seventy years in the future resulting from immigration Some of the slang has been mistranslated - 'hooligan' and 'yobbo' don't mean what they claim, for example - and there's only really Australian slang, no island terms or even New Zealand variations. By comparison, Cyberpunk's Pacific Rim Sourcebook is much stronger on language. On the whole, though, this is a good section. Chapter Four, Storyteller Information, is where all the spoilers should go. What it does include is information and advice on running Legions games, more detail on some plot points - the names of those responsible for a growing problem, and the plans (and in one case statistics) of Aberrants, the Psi Orders' main enemies - and also some details that should probably have been in players' sections, on military tactics and Austronesian law. The fifth chapter covers Technology. It's short, because the Legions aren't generally technical, and the most valuable information to players may be the armor value of the Legion uniforms, but it contains some interesting devices. Micromechanical computers, with no electronics, are naturally resistant to normal anti-computer attacks. The final chapter, Dramatis Personae, gives details on the leaders of the Legions, Legionnaires of note and prominent Austronesians. While the sections on most of these are brief sketches, enough to run them as non-player characters if need be, the piece on the Legions' Proxy (founder) includes a little on how to play her and a lot of sensitive information about advance plans for a variety of potential threats. It also includes character templates in the Trinity style, fully developed characters with starting PCs' ability levels. An appendix includes a timeline, which contains no spoilers. This means it can be read by players, but also that none of the references are explained. Finally, there is a bibliography and filmography, which is good for sources on the Legions but has nothing on Australia or the other countries detailed. All in all, Aurora Australis adds to the Trinity setting, increases knowledge of the Legions Order, and has enough ideas to spark a Storyteller's imagination. My only real complaint is the lack of division between sections. The loss of color is slightly disappointing. This admixture of player and Storyteller information, after three books in the combination sourcebook series and other books in the Trinity line have separated them clearly, is extremely annoying. It shouldn't put Trinity Storytellers reading the book, but it should do so for players. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average)

Aurora Australis: Psi Order legions & Austronesia sourcebook