The Inside Scoop on Gaming

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ?
"Dacartha Prime" is a supplement for "Maelstrom Storytelling", and deals with one of the most important city in the Thousand Realms (the game world). The book is also supposed to be a complete role-playing game, containing the "Story Engine" rules and a description of the general setting.

DOES IT LOOK GOOD ?
The book is some 140 pages long, 14 of which are about a general presentation of the world (a number of Realms, whose locations shift on the map, due to the influence of a mysterious "Maelstrom"), 72 about the city itself and 41 about the game rules and advice to the Narrator (game master). Follow a comprehensive index and a character sheet (with character creation rules summarised on it). The art itself is very dark (I mean, black & white art, mostly black), somewhat sketchy, and mostly from Chris Keefe, who reminds me somewhat of Hugo Pratt ("Corto Maltese" if you know this excellent series of Italian graphic novels) for his use of black/white contrasts. I was also happily surprised to see some pieces from Raven Mimura : his subtle drawings of strange creatures and gothic architecture contrasts with Chris Keefe depiction of an industrial city, but both serve very well the text. The book also contains "flavour articles", which are quite useless, but look good, such as a 2-page article about chemistry, using Dacarthan names for elements in an alternative Mendeleiev table.

IS IT INTERESTING ?
The setting is a big industrial city like those in the end of the 19th century in our world. There are kind of socialist revolutionaries called "poks" which are a mix of 19th century socialists and 1960's beatniks, complete with drug (ab)use and fuzzy political ideas. You've got gangsters (most of them controlled by politicians, or religious groups), Crows (the cops, or the revolvers they use), the Bourse (the upper bourgeoisie) ... People drink absinthe and smoke tobacco (or cannabis) and use some other strange drugs (such as "triple reality"). "Dacartha Prime" is all about how an industrial city can fit into a Fantasy World. Many "real world" problems have a reflection there, with some twists. The city is proud to be a "City of the Free" in a world where alien monsters trade slaves, but isn't the industry alienating people into servitude ? Drugs are really doors to "the other side", but is it worth losing touch with the (most) real world ? I must admit I wasn't too much enthusiastic about the setting at first, but the book is full of good ideas about this city, which at the same time epitomizes freedom and servitude, openness and paranoia. There are a lot of details about religion, philosophy, slang, wars, etc : there is a really complete setting inside the walls of this Metropolis. There's a beautiful map and a descriptions of each Barrio (district), along with notes about interesting places and people.

IS IT A COMPLETE ROLEPLAY GAME ?
or : do I need to buy "Maelstrom Storytelling" to completely enjoy the setting ?
Personally, I find there is a lack of information, for example about the races (we don't really know what a Venth or a Darig look like) and other cities and realms (we read their name and the kind of culture they have, but little else). But you've got the very interesting "Story Engine" system (reprinted from their "Story Engine" booklet). Also included is the "Maelstrom Plug-in" describing how the magic (both Sciences and Arts) works, and explaining some phenomenon of the setting (such as places moving around). With the information about the city, this should be enough to start a game centred on the city, with some excursions in other strange lands, most of which can be understood with simple comparisons to the real world (Belzaine = "Arabian Nights", etc.). You even have a simplified version of their (already simple) system called "Story Bones" (also available at http://www.hubrisgames.com/), in case you need it.

WHAT ABOUT THIS "STORY ENGINE" SYSTEM ?
The Story Engine is a minimalist system where your beginning character is defined by a Primary Affinity (his cultural attachment such as "Dacarthan Pok"), 3 Descriptors ("Strong" "in love" "Daredevil" ...) one Quirk ("short-sighted" ...) and 3 Affinities ("Driving" "Swords" "Dacartha" ...). The Descriptors help determine your Aspect numbers (Matter, Spirit, Mind, Chaos) kind of Attributes rated 0 and up. When you attempt something, you roll a number of dice equal to 1 (if this kind of action is compatible with your Prime Affinity) + your score in the Aspect Number pertaining to the action. If you have affinities useful to the action, they give you some automatic successes ; your number of successes is the total of your odd dice (1 which count double, 3, 5). If your number of successes beat the "Hard Rate" (difficulty number) you did well, else, you lose. You can also "burn" a descriptor to add a die to you die pool : a Descriptor can only be burned once in a Story, and the fact it is burned does not affect your Aspect Numbers. Also, the resolution is not blow-by-blow (for combat) : it is scene-based. That is, for a combat, each side rolls once, and the comparison gives the relative success of the winning side (not the eradication of the other side, hopefuly). There are some subtleties, such as "Quick Takes" (you burn a descriptor to do something original that can be useful to the resolution of the scene, such as casting a spell). "Maelstrom Storytelling", the main book, contained a first version of the system, but many things have been clarified, and the magic system is much more complete (and generic). "Story Bones" is the same system, slightly simplified (there are no "Aspect Numbers" and no resolution by scenes).

HOW DOES THE BOOK FIT INTO THE MAELSTROM PRODUCT LINE ?
The description of the city is quite interesting, almost as good as "Tales from the Empire" (the book about Diodet, the rival city), but the presentation is not quite as pleasant : "Tales from the Empire" was clearly laid-out, and "Dacartha Prime" is overcrowded with information (the chapters are not very clearly divided) : maybe this difference is a reflection of the background, Diodet being an sunny, artistic city full of magic, and Dacartha being a rainy city, full of smoke and machines. Scenarios (like the ones at the end of "Tales from the Empire") would also have been welcomed, though there are some story ideas here and there. So, the "Maelstrom Storytelling" canon now contains "Maelstrom Storytelling" the main book, plus "Tales from the Empire" and "Dacartha Prime", the 2 "city books". The small "Gray's Journal" (containing some ideas and scenarios) is not a must-have (and an enriched 2nd edition "Book of Gray" is planned soon) and you can download it at http://www.hubrisgame.com/. "Dacartha Prime" now makes another book quite obsolete : The "Story Engine" booklet is almost completely built of things found somewhere else (the rules and the longest short story are also to be found in "Dacartha Prime", the scenarios are found in "Tales from the Empire" and "Gray's Journal"). The only original thing in the book is a 2-page short story, which I don't find extremely interesting (for an understanding of the setting).

I like the "Maelstrom Storytelling" series, so far ; when you read their books, you know the authors love the world they are creating, and try hard to create original things (a success with both their "city books"). Their editorial choices are sometimes hard to understand (like the "Story Engine" book) but I really wish they keep enriching their shifting world.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dacartha Prime
Author: Christian Aldridge Category: game Company/Publisher: Hubris Games Line: Maelstrom Storytelling Cost: $20.00 U.S. Page count: 140 ISBN: 0 9660736 4 9 SKU: HG1004 Capsule Review by Philippe Tromeur on 09/04/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day Post-apocalypse Gothic Generic	WHAT IS THIS BOOK ? "Dacartha Prime" is a supplement for "Maelstrom Storytelling", and deals with one of the most important city in the Thousand Realms (the game world). The book is also supposed to be a complete role-playing game, containing the "Story Engine" rules and a description of the general setting. DOES IT LOOK GOOD ? The book is some 140 pages long, 14 of which are about a general presentation of the world (a number of Realms, whose locations shift on the map, due to the influence of a mysterious "Maelstrom"), 72 about the city itself and 41 about the game rules and advice to the Narrator (game master). Follow a comprehensive index and a character sheet (with character creation rules summarised on it). The art itself is very dark (I mean, black & white art, mostly black), somewhat sketchy, and mostly from Chris Keefe, who reminds me somewhat of Hugo Pratt ("Corto Maltese" if you know this excellent series of Italian graphic novels) for his use of black/white contrasts. I was also happily surprised to see some pieces from Raven Mimura : his subtle drawings of strange creatures and gothic architecture contrasts with Chris Keefe depiction of an industrial city, but both serve very well the text. The book also contains "flavour articles", which are quite useless, but look good, such as a 2-page article about chemistry, using Dacarthan names for elements in an alternative Mendeleiev table. IS IT INTERESTING ? The setting is a big industrial city like those in the end of the 19th century in our world. There are kind of socialist revolutionaries called "poks" which are a mix of 19th century socialists and 1960's beatniks, complete with drug (ab)use and fuzzy political ideas. You've got gangsters (most of them controlled by politicians, or religious groups), Crows (the cops, or the revolvers they use), the Bourse (the upper bourgeoisie) ... People drink absinthe and smoke tobacco (or cannabis) and use some other strange drugs (such as "triple reality"). "Dacartha Prime" is all about how an industrial city can fit into a Fantasy World. Many "real world" problems have a reflection there, with some twists. The city is proud to be a "City of the Free" in a world where alien monsters trade slaves, but isn't the industry alienating people into servitude ? Drugs are really doors to "the other side", but is it worth losing touch with the (most) real world ? I must admit I wasn't too much enthusiastic about the setting at first, but the book is full of good ideas about this city, which at the same time epitomizes freedom and servitude, openness and paranoia. There are a lot of details about religion, philosophy, slang, wars, etc : there is a really complete setting inside the walls of this Metropolis. There's a beautiful map and a descriptions of each Barrio (district), along with notes about interesting places and people. IS IT A COMPLETE ROLEPLAY GAME ? or : do I need to buy "Maelstrom Storytelling" to completely enjoy the setting ? Personally, I find there is a lack of information, for example about the races (we don't really know what a Venth or a Darig look like) and other cities and realms (we read their name and the kind of culture they have, but little else). But you've got the very interesting "Story Engine" system (reprinted from their "Story Engine" booklet). Also included is the "Maelstrom Plug-in" describing how the magic (both Sciences and Arts) works, and explaining some phenomenon of the setting (such as places moving around). With the information about the city, this should be enough to start a game centred on the city, with some excursions in other strange lands, most of which can be understood with simple comparisons to the real world (Belzaine = "Arabian Nights", etc.). You even have a simplified version of their (already simple) system called "Story Bones" (also available at http://www.hubrisgames.com/), in case you need it. WHAT ABOUT THIS "STORY ENGINE" SYSTEM ? The Story Engine is a minimalist system where your beginning character is defined by a Primary Affinity (his cultural attachment such as "Dacarthan Pok"), 3 Descriptors ("Strong" "in love" "Daredevil" ...) one Quirk ("short-sighted" ...) and 3 Affinities ("Driving" "Swords" "Dacartha" ...). The Descriptors help determine your Aspect numbers (Matter, Spirit, Mind, Chaos) kind of Attributes rated 0 and up. When you attempt something, you roll a number of dice equal to 1 (if this kind of action is compatible with your Prime Affinity) + your score in the Aspect Number pertaining to the action. If you have affinities useful to the action, they give you some automatic successes ; your number of successes is the total of your odd dice (1 which count double, 3, 5). If your number of successes beat the "Hard Rate" (difficulty number) you did well, else, you lose. You can also "burn" a descriptor to add a die to you die pool : a Descriptor can only be burned once in a Story, and the fact it is burned does not affect your Aspect Numbers. Also, the resolution is not blow-by-blow (for combat) : it is scene-based. That is, for a combat, each side rolls once, and the comparison gives the relative success of the winning side (not the eradication of the other side, hopefuly). There are some subtleties, such as "Quick Takes" (you burn a descriptor to do something original that can be useful to the resolution of the scene, such as casting a spell). "Maelstrom Storytelling", the main book, contained a first version of the system, but many things have been clarified, and the magic system is much more complete (and generic). "Story Bones" is the same system, slightly simplified (there are no "Aspect Numbers" and no resolution by scenes). HOW DOES THE BOOK FIT INTO THE MAELSTROM PRODUCT LINE ? The description of the city is quite interesting, almost as good as "Tales from the Empire" (the book about Diodet, the rival city), but the presentation is not quite as pleasant : "Tales from the Empire" was clearly laid-out, and "Dacartha Prime" is overcrowded with information (the chapters are not very clearly divided) : maybe this difference is a reflection of the background, Diodet being an sunny, artistic city full of magic, and Dacartha being a rainy city, full of smoke and machines. Scenarios (like the ones at the end of "Tales from the Empire") would also have been welcomed, though there are some story ideas here and there. So, the "Maelstrom Storytelling" canon now contains "Maelstrom Storytelling" the main book, plus "Tales from the Empire" and "Dacartha Prime", the 2 "city books". The small "Gray's Journal" (containing some ideas and scenarios) is not a must-have (and an enriched 2nd edition "Book of Gray" is planned soon) and you can download it at http://www.hubrisgame.com/. "Dacartha Prime" now makes another book quite obsolete : The "Story Engine" booklet is almost completely built of things found somewhere else (the rules and the longest short story are also to be found in "Dacartha Prime", the scenarios are found in "Tales from the Empire" and "Gray's Journal"). The only original thing in the book is a 2-page short story, which I don't find extremely interesting (for an understanding of the setting). I like the "Maelstrom Storytelling" series, so far ; when you read their books, you know the authors love the world they are creating, and try hard to create original things (a success with both their "city books"). Their editorial choices are sometimes hard to understand (like the "Story Engine" book) but I really wish they keep enriching their shifting world. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)