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This book, written by the brilliant Nigel Findley, is equally brilliant. Imagine, if you will, taking your players on a paranoid journey through the world behind the scenes. A world where seemingly coincidences and accidents "don't make sense" but they do.

Where your strange, weird neighbor is wearing a tinfoil skull cap under his head, or you are being followed by mysterious men in black, or where your Supermarket Tabloid is telling the truth.

Welcome to the world of the Illuminati, or Conspiracy. Nigel Findley had written one GURPS book that should be in every GM's library. This book sets out on showing you, the GM, how to "illuminate" (or add the Element of Conspiracy) to your game. It does this admirably.

What is in GURPS: Illuminati?

The First Section describes the world of the Conspiracy. This section provides you with an overview of the Conspiracy, starting with it's etherial historical beginnings to how it operates today. It also describes how the Conspiracy Campaign tastes like and how it can be run. Steve Jackson also wrote an insert to give you a feel about how the Illuminati works, what it does, and what it means to you. Also, I liked it when Nigel said, every campaign is illuminated. More on that later.

The Second Section then gives you a listing of "character types" that you can play. From the Anarchist -- which wants to get rid of government, to the Paranoid -- who is, understandably, afraid of everyone from his enemies to his best friend; to the Men in Black, to finally, the Conspirators themselves. Each have thier own role in the conspiracy, and each can be turned to the Conspiracy's benifit. Each character type is engaging, and can work in almost any game (imagine a group of Anarchists in Rifts, who want to get rid of the Coalition government, only to be manipulated by the Conspiracy to kick what seems to them a thorn in their side).

The third section deals with the Illuminated Campaign. This is the campaign set in the regular world, with no other elements attached. This part is the part I liked best. Nigel teaches you how to set up one. From building a power structure and conspiracy web to teaching you how it could operate in other genres (remember, any campaign is illuminated). It also gives you some nasty examples, like how the Telecommunications Industry can control the flow of information, what information is passed on, and how the Conspiracy can use that to it's advantage. This section really provides you all the information you need in order to create a Conspiracy campaign.

Section four gives you information on who is in the Conspiracy. From the Illuminati (the Round Table incarnation), to Religious groups like the Cathars, the Knights Templar, and Organized Religion; to small, big, and mega corporations like Disney, IBM, and even RPG publishers; to organized crime, and of course, the Telecommunications Industry. This section is valuable because it provides you, the GM, a jump start in producing a powerstructure for your campaign. Want the Men-in-Black to harrass your PCs? You can link them to the FBI or CIA. Maybe the Gnomes of Zurich are more of your liking.

Section five deals with adapting the Illuminati to your existing campaign. You do this by introducing the weird happenings in your characters' home town neighborhoods (why is Mr. Beamish wearing tin foil under his hat?), on the street (Oops! I didn't mean to spill all that paint), in your workplace (all the rubber erasers were replaced by identical rubber erasers, and they were just new!), and your home (you come home to find that everything is just a little out of place). Through these little, seemingly inconsequential happenings, you introduce the Conspiracy element into your campaign. And if the characters catch on, they might wonder at is really happening. They might ask questions (which might make you smirk) like: why is my things all out of place? (remember, the conspirators would try to make it look exactly the way it did before), or why replace all the new erasers with new ones? Or why did Mr. Beamish act so strangely when we met that day on the sidewalk? After reading this section, my head filled with all sorts of weird ideas to try on my PCs.

Section six describes how the Characters might start investigating things further, and how our Conspiracy might ACT to protect themselves. Maybe they would stage accidents (Mike, watch out for the Black Limo with the 666 license plate!). How about a visit from the Men-in-Black? Maybe a rock thrown through your window would deter you from investigation? Maybe a little direct brain washing? How about breaking in and entering (see above)? Maybe an exclusive contract with the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS (remember, nothing published in the Weekly World News is ever taken seriously)!?!

The Sixth section takes it a step further: recruiting. Join the ranks of the Men-in-Black and see the world! In this section, your characters will face methods of recruitment for the Conspiracy's safety.

Everything is described in Section Six. Initiation rites, invitations, and heroes and villians working for the Conspiracy (remember, there are no bad guys). This section tells you how you can co-opt your players into the Conspiracy. Whatever your players' motives are for the conspirators, they are working for THEM now. Adventures can go around operations in the Conspiracy they work for. Are they dupes? Decoys? Treasured Agents? Only the Conspiracy (and you) know for sure.

The Last Few Sections tell you how the Conspiracy operates in the Real World (if there is one, of course, you can't be sure) as well as in various campaign types. For instance, want to use the book for your Pendragon Campaign? Have the players try to figure out what Morgan le Fay, Morgause, and Mordred are planning, and be co-opted by them. Want to use the book in your D&D Campaign? Set up a Conspiracy to take control of Kingdom A, and lead the heroes along.

Maybe Science fiction is your flavor? Set up a conspiracy to control a certain techology (bio-ware, for instance) and lead your players along in that. These last sections give truth to the axiom: any Campaign is illuminated, but only the GM knows for sure. Oh, lest I forget, there is a very last section where Nigel says you can hold off your players. This section provides you with all the gimmicks the Illuminati uses to control the "sheep who get to close."

Memory control, insanity, paranoia, lies, weird happenings, brain washing, hypnosis, etc. You can use these methods to control your PCs when they get to close, if they get to close, or they are about to blow one facet of the Conspiracy's cover open (one too many).

OVERALL

This Book is very brilliant in it's execution. I really liked the book when I got it. I found the art (although not so good) to really add to the material being presented. Although it didn't have the air of mystery I expected, the book gleefully leaves that up to the GM to build when necessary.

As such, I found this book to be the only GURPS: book I really needed to create an illuminated campaign, and the best one I have so far. Despite the way I feel about the people playing GURPS, this GURPS genre book is so engaging and so interesting that I would not be doing Nigel D. Findley any justice if I didn't incorporate his work into any of my campaigns at least once. This book is truly Nigel's best work, a testament to his genius in game design.

I recommend it highly to everyone, despite the quality of the art. I give it a 5 in the Substance Category, and a 5 in the Style Category. They were well deserved.

FNORD!

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

Topics	Author	Date	Latest Reply
The Return of Fnord, 30 years later (2) new	Angus MacDonald	08-14-2000 23:27	08-15-2000 16:05 new

GURPS: Illuminati
Author: Nigel D. Findley Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: 19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-223-3 SKU: 60160 Playtest Review by Elton Robb on 08/05/00. Genre tags: Conspiracy	This book, written by the brilliant Nigel Findley, is equally brilliant. Imagine, if you will, taking your players on a paranoid journey through the world behind the scenes. A world where seemingly coincidences and accidents "don't make sense" but they do. Where your strange, weird neighbor is wearing a tinfoil skull cap under his head, or you are being followed by mysterious men in black, or where your Supermarket Tabloid is telling the truth. Welcome to the world of the Illuminati, or Conspiracy. Nigel Findley had written one GURPS book that should be in every GM's library. This book sets out on showing you, the GM, how to "illuminate" (or add the Element of Conspiracy) to your game. It does this admirably. What is in GURPS: Illuminati? The First Section describes the world of the Conspiracy. This section provides you with an overview of the Conspiracy, starting with it's etherial historical beginnings to how it operates today. It also describes how the Conspiracy Campaign tastes like and how it can be run. Steve Jackson also wrote an insert to give you a feel about how the Illuminati works, what it does, and what it means to you. Also, I liked it when Nigel said, every campaign is illuminated. More on that later. The Second Section then gives you a listing of "character types" that you can play. From the Anarchist -- which wants to get rid of government, to the Paranoid -- who is, understandably, afraid of everyone from his enemies to his best friend; to the Men in Black, to finally, the Conspirators themselves. Each have thier own role in the conspiracy, and each can be turned to the Conspiracy's benifit. Each character type is engaging, and can work in almost any game (imagine a group of Anarchists in Rifts, who want to get rid of the Coalition government, only to be manipulated by the Conspiracy to kick what seems to them a thorn in their side). The third section deals with the Illuminated Campaign. This is the campaign set in the regular world, with no other elements attached. This part is the part I liked best. Nigel teaches you how to set up one. From building a power structure and conspiracy web to teaching you how it could operate in other genres (remember, any campaign is illuminated). It also gives you some nasty examples, like how the Telecommunications Industry can control the flow of information, what information is passed on, and how the Conspiracy can use that to it's advantage. This section really provides you all the information you need in order to create a Conspiracy campaign. Section four gives you information on who is in the Conspiracy. From the Illuminati (the Round Table incarnation), to Religious groups like the Cathars, the Knights Templar, and Organized Religion; to small, big, and mega corporations like Disney, IBM, and even RPG publishers; to organized crime, and of course, the Telecommunications Industry. This section is valuable because it provides you, the GM, a jump start in producing a powerstructure for your campaign. Want the Men-in-Black to harrass your PCs? You can link them to the FBI or CIA. Maybe the Gnomes of Zurich are more of your liking. Section five deals with adapting the Illuminati to your existing campaign. You do this by introducing the weird happenings in your characters' home town neighborhoods (why is Mr. Beamish wearing tin foil under his hat?), on the street (Oops! I didn't mean to spill all that paint), in your workplace (all the rubber erasers were replaced by identical rubber erasers, and they were just new!), and your home (you come home to find that everything is just a little out of place). Through these little, seemingly inconsequential happenings, you introduce the Conspiracy element into your campaign. And if the characters catch on, they might wonder at is really happening. They might ask questions (which might make you smirk) like: why is my things all out of place? (remember, the conspirators would try to make it look exactly the way it did before), or why replace all the new erasers with new ones? Or why did Mr. Beamish act so strangely when we met that day on the sidewalk? After reading this section, my head filled with all sorts of weird ideas to try on my PCs. Section six describes how the Characters might start investigating things further, and how our Conspiracy might ACT to protect themselves. Maybe they would stage accidents (Mike, watch out for the Black Limo with the 666 license plate!). How about a visit from the Men-in-Black? Maybe a rock thrown through your window would deter you from investigation? Maybe a little direct brain washing? How about breaking in and entering (see above)? Maybe an exclusive contract with the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS (remember, nothing published in the Weekly World News is ever taken seriously)!?! The Sixth section takes it a step further: recruiting. Join the ranks of the Men-in-Black and see the world! In this section, your characters will face methods of recruitment for the Conspiracy's safety. Everything is described in Section Six. Initiation rites, invitations, and heroes and villians working for the Conspiracy (remember, there are no bad guys). This section tells you how you can co-opt your players into the Conspiracy. Whatever your players' motives are for the conspirators, they are working for THEM now. Adventures can go around operations in the Conspiracy they work for. Are they dupes? Decoys? Treasured Agents? Only the Conspiracy (and you) know for sure. The Last Few Sections tell you how the Conspiracy operates in the Real World (if there is one, of course, you can't be sure) as well as in various campaign types. For instance, want to use the book for your Pendragon Campaign? Have the players try to figure out what Morgan le Fay, Morgause, and Mordred are planning, and be co-opted by them. Want to use the book in your D&D Campaign? Set up a Conspiracy to take control of Kingdom A, and lead the heroes along. Maybe Science fiction is your flavor? Set up a conspiracy to control a certain techology (bio-ware, for instance) and lead your players along in that. These last sections give truth to the axiom: any Campaign is illuminated, but only the GM knows for sure. Oh, lest I forget, there is a very last section where Nigel says you can hold off your players. This section provides you with all the gimmicks the Illuminati uses to control the "sheep who get to close." Memory control, insanity, paranoia, lies, weird happenings, brain washing, hypnosis, etc. You can use these methods to control your PCs when they get to close, if they get to close, or they are about to blow one facet of the Conspiracy's cover open (one too many). OVERALL This Book is very brilliant in it's execution. I really liked the book when I got it. I found the art (although not so good) to really add to the material being presented. Although it didn't have the air of mystery I expected, the book gleefully leaves that up to the GM to build when necessary. As such, I found this book to be the only GURPS: book I really needed to create an illuminated campaign, and the best one I have so far. Despite the way I feel about the people playing GURPS, this GURPS genre book is so engaging and so interesting that I would not be doing Nigel D. Findley any justice if I didn't incorporate his work into any of my campaigns at least once. This book is truly Nigel's best work, a testament to his genius in game design. I recommend it highly to everyone, despite the quality of the art. I give it a 5 in the Substance Category, and a 5 in the Style Category. They were well deserved. FNORD! Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)