The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Sometimes fate smiles on a gamemaster. In the course of a campaign the players will decide to have their characters move out of the area they normally operate in, at which point one of three things happens. Either the gamemaster arranges things so the PCs can't change their area of operation, he wings things every session, or the company that publishes the game you play releases a sourcebook detailing the exact area your players want to move the campaign to. Such was the case for me when Lost Angels came out, detailing the city of Lost Angels and its inhabitants.

The first 41 pages are for the players to read, the last report filed by Agency operatives before leaving Lost Angels. Grimme has declared his city an independent state, where only his religion is allowed, upon penalty of death. This portion of the book is very well-written, with several adventure hooks that can easily be written up into full-length adventures. I've only one complaint on this section, concerning a Bayou Vermilion-owned train engine developed by mad scientists; while a nice idea, the ghost rock necessary for such a contraption would probably make it cost-ineffective.

Next up is some Edges, Hindrances, and character templates, none of which are anything to write home about. Following them is a section on a form of shamanism known as Anahuac; think Indian Shamans with a Mexican feel to their supernatural abilities and you've got the jist of it.

Then comes the Marshal's section of the book, with the six most worthless pages ever to be found in any Deadlands book published. I honestly feel sorry for anyone who read pages 69-74 of this book and actually learned something from them, as the ideas and concepts covered are so basic that anyone planning to run a horror RPG should already know them. And the review of Fear Levels and the "quick tip" on using them were filler, nothing more. As for the rest of the Marshal's section I have only a few complaints. First, while I've grown used to Pinnacle doing their "you'll to wait to learn the secret of [fill in the blank]" schtick, I wish that whenever they would say this they would also tell us exactly what future product all will be revealed to us. Second, in two cases (which I won't name in case a player is reading this) the author is very vague in his explanation of events detailed in the players' section of the book, so the reader doesn't know if those items are going to be covered in future supplements or are going to be left unanswered. I'd hate to waste my time making an adventure based on something Pinnacle plans to release a book on. There's also three instances where the author did not properly research the powers and equipment he gave to characters. We have a Harrowed with Black Magic powers, yet does not possess the Faith: Black Magic skill needed to use Black Magic. Said Harrowed also has the Charnel Breath Harrowed power, but does not possess the Fightin: Brawlin' skill needed to use the power; I somehow doubt the skill default rule would allow him to use the Fightin': Knife skill he has for Charnel Breath. Finally, there's a hulking undead monstrosity toting a shotgun and being a sort of urban legend in part of Lost Angels. Yup, you guessed it, the critter has no skill in shooting whatsoever. Still, most of the Marshal's section is well-written and worth reading.

Then there's the chapter on Patchwork science, for all you would-be Doctor Frankensteins out there. I was prepared not to like this section, feeling it a waste to devote so many pages to something for non-player characters only. Upon reading it I found it very enjoyable, spawning many perverse ideas to use on my posse.

Finally, there's the adventure at the end of the book. This is without doubt one of the top three adventures to be published for Deadlands: The Weird West, combining detective work, persuasion, and good-old fashioned violence to produced a quality adventure. My only complaints about the scenario are that halfway through the adventure the posse can encounter a VERY deadly abomination, having little warning of its presence before they run into it, and in the final battle of the story the posse faces a group which automatically outnumbers them more than two-to-one, get a +2 to attack when they pair up on a single posse member, and the posse has a -2 to all Fighting' attacks against them. There's also a tie-in to the South O' The Border book, but as I do not have that work I can't comment on how effective it is.

So do I recommend Lost Angels? For those running a campaign in the Great Maze I say yes. For those willing to pay $20.00 for an incredible 18 page adventure I also say yes. For those with campaigns set elsewhere in the Weird West I'd ask for it as a birthday gift or wait until your game store is having a sale, as so much of the information in the book cannot be easily transported out of Grimme's city.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Lost Angels
Author: Matt Forbeck with John Goff and Paul Beakley Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group Line: Deadlands: The Weird West Cost: 20.00 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-889546-39-9 SKU: 1019 Playtest Review by Ralph Dula on 04/17/00. Genre tags: Horror Old_West	Sometimes fate smiles on a gamemaster. In the course of a campaign the players will decide to have their characters move out of the area they normally operate in, at which point one of three things happens. Either the gamemaster arranges things so the PCs can't change their area of operation, he wings things every session, or the company that publishes the game you play releases a sourcebook detailing the exact area your players want to move the campaign to. Such was the case for me when Lost Angels came out, detailing the city of Lost Angels and its inhabitants. The first 41 pages are for the players to read, the last report filed by Agency operatives before leaving Lost Angels. Grimme has declared his city an independent state, where only his religion is allowed, upon penalty of death. This portion of the book is very well-written, with several adventure hooks that can easily be written up into full-length adventures. I've only one complaint on this section, concerning a Bayou Vermilion-owned train engine developed by mad scientists; while a nice idea, the ghost rock necessary for such a contraption would probably make it cost-ineffective. Next up is some Edges, Hindrances, and character templates, none of which are anything to write home about. Following them is a section on a form of shamanism known as Anahuac; think Indian Shamans with a Mexican feel to their supernatural abilities and you've got the jist of it. Then comes the Marshal's section of the book, with the six most worthless pages ever to be found in any Deadlands book published. I honestly feel sorry for anyone who read pages 69-74 of this book and actually learned something from them, as the ideas and concepts covered are so basic that anyone planning to run a horror RPG should already know them. And the review of Fear Levels and the "quick tip" on using them were filler, nothing more. As for the rest of the Marshal's section I have only a few complaints. First, while I've grown used to Pinnacle doing their "you'll to wait to learn the secret of [fill in the blank]" schtick, I wish that whenever they would say this they would also tell us exactly what future product all will be revealed to us. Second, in two cases (which I won't name in case a player is reading this) the author is very vague in his explanation of events detailed in the players' section of the book, so the reader doesn't know if those items are going to be covered in future supplements or are going to be left unanswered. I'd hate to waste my time making an adventure based on something Pinnacle plans to release a book on. There's also three instances where the author did not properly research the powers and equipment he gave to characters. We have a Harrowed with Black Magic powers, yet does not possess the Faith: Black Magic skill needed to use Black Magic. Said Harrowed also has the Charnel Breath Harrowed power, but does not possess the Fightin: Brawlin' skill needed to use the power; I somehow doubt the skill default rule would allow him to use the Fightin': Knife skill he has for Charnel Breath. Finally, there's a hulking undead monstrosity toting a shotgun and being a sort of urban legend in part of Lost Angels. Yup, you guessed it, the critter has no skill in shooting whatsoever. Still, most of the Marshal's section is well-written and worth reading. Then there's the chapter on Patchwork science, for all you would-be Doctor Frankensteins out there. I was prepared not to like this section, feeling it a waste to devote so many pages to something for non-player characters only. Upon reading it I found it very enjoyable, spawning many perverse ideas to use on my posse. Finally, there's the adventure at the end of the book. This is without doubt one of the top three adventures to be published for Deadlands: The Weird West, combining detective work, persuasion, and good-old fashioned violence to produced a quality adventure. My only complaints about the scenario are that halfway through the adventure the posse can encounter a VERY deadly abomination, having little warning of its presence before they run into it, and in the final battle of the story the posse faces a group which automatically outnumbers them more than two-to-one, get a +2 to attack when they pair up on a single posse member, and the posse has a -2 to all Fighting' attacks against them. There's also a tie-in to the South O' The Border book, but as I do not have that work I can't comment on how effective it is. So do I recommend Lost Angels? For those running a campaign in the Great Maze I say yes. For those willing to pay $20.00 for an incredible 18 page adventure I also say yes. For those with campaigns set elsewhere in the Weird West I'd ask for it as a birthday gift or wait until your game store is having a sale, as so much of the information in the book cannot be easily transported out of Grimme's city. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty)