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Bargainers (A Brave New World Sourcebook)

Spoiler Warning

If you are a BNW player then please don't read this review- it will spoil your enjoyment of the mysteries of the game setting. Even if you are a Bargainer player, get your GM's permission to read beyond first.

Introduction.

Bargainers as described in the main rule book are one of the most powerful and flexible delta packages, able to adopt other peoples powers pretty much at will. There is some mention of them making deals with demons, which was a bit unusual when compared with the rest of the BNW setting, but could be dismissed as the Hellblazer and Etrigan influence from the comic books. No other mention was made of demons or Bargainers in the GM section and most people dismissed them as a last minute oddity that had little place in the rest of the BNW canon.

Players Section

'Bargainers Sourcebook' turns those assumptions on their head and turns BNW into a superhero version of In Nomine. Angels and demons exist in the world and their celestial war is being fought across the various interconnected Realms of existence (Be it Heaven, Hell, or Earth.) The forces of Light work through the Covenant (described in Ravaged Planet) whilst Lucifer Morningstar and his demons make unholy pacts with the special class of deltas named Bargainers. Bargainers special ability isn't that they can make magical totems themselves, instead they can merely hear the voices of supernatural creatures from other realms. These creatures can tell the Bargainer how to summon them and make deals with them for spells or totems.

While the original didn't cover this in anything but the most cursory of details, Bargainers makes it clear that there is a price for this power. Each totem or spell requires a specific deal with a demon for it to work. For example to get a 10 minute translation spell, a bargainer might have to trip up a blind person. However, to enchant a powerful delta totem the Bargainer must do something 'cruel and evil, that advances the Hellish cause'. Though no specific examples (other than selling their soul) is given, this could include anything from desecrating a church, murdering someone, to raping a nun. In short, depending on your style of game, Bargainers could be very sick puppies, and its hard to describe them as heroes. This isn't so much John Constantine as Kult. It also depends on a series of Spirit rolls that represent the characters skill at bargaining.

Once these basics are established, the book gives a comprehensive look at Bargainer society, luminaries, meetings (such as the annual BargainCon where Bargainers secretly get together in Vegas to compare demons and summoning techniques and compare totem sizes) and the art of the deal. Surprisingly this whole section is handled very well, going into some detail about the different Bargainer organisations, the influence of Harry Houdini (the first Bargainer and arguably the first Delta as well!) and what to watch out for when dealing with demons. There is also an interesting chapter on Bargainers main enemies. Not only do the angels and Covenant feel that the only good Bargainer is a dead one, but Delta Prime has an automatic imprisonment policy for Bargainers (because even other paranormals don't like people who make Faustian deals with the devil.) It also covers the dangers of annoying the forces of Hell [such as being boycotted Hell, effectively stripping the Bargainer of his abilities, or being driven mad by demonic shouting in their heads for the rest of eternity. (Sort of schizophrenia with attitude.)]

There then follows the obligatory game rules section which out line the bargaining procedure and dice rolling, as well as new totems and spells and some common archetypes. One interesting observation from this is that delta powers count as magic. And deltas count as supernatural creatures on par with demons, vampires and angels! It looks like the metaplot is being turned on its head here, with deltas not being merely genetic mutants who had a near death experience, but something close to Deadlands Harrowed.

However, I do have one problem with this section. Forbeck seems to automatically assume that Bargainers will only make deals for totems, and even then the totem works only in a certain limited way e.g. it only works if visible, or in hand. Yet the whole negotiation process appears less encumbered. Theoretically a bargainer and a demon could make any deal, whether for mutliple power totems, or information, or even demonic assassins. All that is required is for the Bargainer to pay the highest of prices. Now from a game balance point of view, I can see why you wouldnt want to allow this, but there is no in-game justification.

GM's Section

The GM's section follows (so players stop reading now) and this is quite interesting. We learn that Harry Houdini became an alpha and is still around, and that the war of Realms is actually fighting for human souls. We also find out a bit about Delta Primes covert use of Bargainers as Men-in-Black who hunt their brethren and discover some more NPC secrets. Its all appropriately conspiratorial and intrigue ridden, though some peoples motivations are not adequately explained or justified. There's also a bit on roleplaying the demonic side of the deal, but as mentioned before, there are no clear guidelines given on what demons require for each type of totem.

Conclusions

This is a hard book to sum up. Certainly most of this information on the true nature of reality or bargainers abilities should have been included in the main rulebook. Strangely though, it doesn't even mesh well, because whilst the Bargainer is going round being an anti-hero and acquiring power and worrying about the War in Heaven, his companions are just busy trying to overthrow Kennedy and dodging the Delta Prime goon squad. Its at a different level entirely. And even despite this, its not clear what the Bargainers should be doing. There is some mention of them fighting for humanity's side in the realm war, but its not clear what they actually do. Attack both clergy and satanists? Set up demons and angels to battle each other? Amass power for when the Apocalypse comes? Visually the book is presented well, though it still suffers from wide margins, wasted space and repetition. As to the meat of the book, it takes BNW in a rather bizarre and unique direction. After all, can you imagine a superhero like Spiderman or Wolverine beating up an angel? How about a Doctor Manhattan class alpha slapping round Lucifer himself?

As always with Brave New World products, Forbeck answers some questions, and reveals a bit more of his imaginative and original setting, but doesn't follow through, either in terms of information or execution. If, like me, you can borrow this book, or buy it cheaply, then its worth it for filling in a big hole in the BNW metaplot. Its also a good buy for Bargainer players. However, I still maintain that this info should have been in the main rulebook.

Style - 4 a cool and imaginative atmosphere
Substance - 3 good material that turns BNW on his head. Unfortunately its doesnt follow through on plot and bargain ideas.

Bargainers
Author: Matt Forbeck Category: game Company/Publisher: AEG Line: Brave New World Cost: £13 Capsule Review by Stephen Joseph Ellis on 09/26/00. Genre tags: Modern day Conspiracy Superhero	Bargainers (A Brave New World Sourcebook) Spoiler Warning If you are a BNW player then please don't read this review- it will spoil your enjoyment of the mysteries of the game setting. Even if you are a Bargainer player, get your GM's permission to read beyond first. Introduction. Bargainers as described in the main rule book are one of the most powerful and flexible delta packages, able to adopt other peoples powers pretty much at will. There is some mention of them making deals with demons, which was a bit unusual when compared with the rest of the BNW setting, but could be dismissed as the Hellblazer and Etrigan influence from the comic books. No other mention was made of demons or Bargainers in the GM section and most people dismissed them as a last minute oddity that had little place in the rest of the BNW canon. Players Section 'Bargainers Sourcebook' turns those assumptions on their head and turns BNW into a superhero version of In Nomine. Angels and demons exist in the world and their celestial war is being fought across the various interconnected Realms of existence (Be it Heaven, Hell, or Earth.) The forces of Light work through the Covenant (described in Ravaged Planet) whilst Lucifer Morningstar and his demons make unholy pacts with the special class of deltas named Bargainers. Bargainers special ability isn't that they can make magical totems themselves, instead they can merely hear the voices of supernatural creatures from other realms. These creatures can tell the Bargainer how to summon them and make deals with them for spells or totems. While the original didn't cover this in anything but the most cursory of details, Bargainers makes it clear that there is a price for this power. Each totem or spell requires a specific deal with a demon for it to work. For example to get a 10 minute translation spell, a bargainer might have to trip up a blind person. However, to enchant a powerful delta totem the Bargainer must do something 'cruel and evil, that advances the Hellish cause'. Though no specific examples (other than selling their soul) is given, this could include anything from desecrating a church, murdering someone, to raping a nun. In short, depending on your style of game, Bargainers could be very sick puppies, and its hard to describe them as heroes. This isn't so much John Constantine as Kult. It also depends on a series of Spirit rolls that represent the characters skill at bargaining. Once these basics are established, the book gives a comprehensive look at Bargainer society, luminaries, meetings (such as the annual BargainCon where Bargainers secretly get together in Vegas to compare demons and summoning techniques and compare totem sizes) and the art of the deal. Surprisingly this whole section is handled very well, going into some detail about the different Bargainer organisations, the influence of Harry Houdini (the first Bargainer and arguably the first Delta as well!) and what to watch out for when dealing with demons. There is also an interesting chapter on Bargainers main enemies. Not only do the angels and Covenant feel that the only good Bargainer is a dead one, but Delta Prime has an automatic imprisonment policy for Bargainers (because even other paranormals don't like people who make Faustian deals with the devil.) It also covers the dangers of annoying the forces of Hell [such as being boycotted Hell, effectively stripping the Bargainer of his abilities, or being driven mad by demonic shouting in their heads for the rest of eternity. (Sort of schizophrenia with attitude.)] There then follows the obligatory game rules section which out line the bargaining procedure and dice rolling, as well as new totems and spells and some common archetypes. One interesting observation from this is that delta powers count as magic. And deltas count as supernatural creatures on par with demons, vampires and angels! It looks like the metaplot is being turned on its head here, with deltas not being merely genetic mutants who had a near death experience, but something close to Deadlands Harrowed. However, I do have one problem with this section. Forbeck seems to automatically assume that Bargainers will only make deals for totems, and even then the totem works only in a certain limited way e.g. it only works if visible, or in hand. Yet the whole negotiation process appears less encumbered. Theoretically a bargainer and a demon could make any deal, whether for mutliple power totems, or information, or even demonic assassins. All that is required is for the Bargainer to pay the highest of prices. Now from a game balance point of view, I can see why you wouldnt want to allow this, but there is no in-game justification. GM's Section The GM's section follows (so players stop reading now) and this is quite interesting. We learn that Harry Houdini became an alpha and is still around, and that the war of Realms is actually fighting for human souls. We also find out a bit about Delta Primes covert use of Bargainers as Men-in-Black who hunt their brethren and discover some more NPC secrets. Its all appropriately conspiratorial and intrigue ridden, though some peoples motivations are not adequately explained or justified. There's also a bit on roleplaying the demonic side of the deal, but as mentioned before, there are no clear guidelines given on what demons require for each type of totem. Conclusions This is a hard book to sum up. Certainly most of this information on the true nature of reality or bargainers abilities should have been included in the main rulebook. Strangely though, it doesn't even mesh well, because whilst the Bargainer is going round being an anti-hero and acquiring power and worrying about the War in Heaven, his companions are just busy trying to overthrow Kennedy and dodging the Delta Prime goon squad. Its at a different level entirely. And even despite this, its not clear what the Bargainers should be doing. There is some mention of them fighting for humanity's side in the realm war, but its not clear what they actually do. Attack both clergy and satanists? Set up demons and angels to battle each other? Amass power for when the Apocalypse comes? Visually the book is presented well, though it still suffers from wide margins, wasted space and repetition. As to the meat of the book, it takes BNW in a rather bizarre and unique direction. After all, can you imagine a superhero like Spiderman or Wolverine beating up an angel? How about a Doctor Manhattan class alpha slapping round Lucifer himself? As always with Brave New World products, Forbeck answers some questions, and reveals a bit more of his imaginative and original setting, but doesn't follow through, either in terms of information or execution. If, like me, you can borrow this book, or buy it cheaply, then its worth it for filling in a big hole in the BNW metaplot. Its also a good buy for Bargainer players. However, I still maintain that this info should have been in the main rulebook. Style - 4 a cool and imaginative atmosphere Substance - 3 good material that turns BNW on his head. Unfortunately its doesnt follow through on plot and bargain ideas.