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Four events that bring the Aberrant setting ever closer to chaos. Aberrant Worldwide Phase II continues the progression of Aberrant towards Trinity, when novas, the superhuman protagonists of Aberrant, have become antagonists. It follows Phase I, which moved the setting forward from 2008 to 2011, here advancing to 2015. The Aberrant War is still a long way off, 2049, but it seems a lot closer than that.

The Pope of Babylon involves conspiracies within the Vatican and the possible destruction of the Pope's power. The villains of the piece are a slightly overcooked cult whose motives beyond gaining power within the Catholic church and opposing novas are never made entirely clear. It also demonstrates another of the dangers of mixing reality and fiction. I imagine Catholic readers could find the portrayal of Pope John Paul II as a supporter of theirs rather insulting.

Green And Pleasant Land features the return of my favourite factual error from Aberrant: The Directive, the confusing of England and Britain. In this case it is particularly bad, because the plot concerns (possibly) exclusively English revivalism. Players from Wales will also note that their country does not appear to exist. It is the most straightforward superhero adventure here, complete with a mega-intelligent villain whose plan isn't very intelligent, a lead-in used in about a quarter of Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and the opportunity to fight then team up with a special guest nova. It is also the story that advances the setting least. While the mastermind could in theory take control of the country, it isn't very likely, and the repercussions of his attempt aren't dissimilar from those in Worldwide Phase I's story Gabriel, or in the following chapter. While it's workable and includes some interesting ideas, it seems the weakest of the four chapters.

Dominion also concerns the fear of superhumans taking over a country. It sketches in the necessary clues for the characters to uncover a conspiracy, then effectively hands all the essential clues to them in a folder. The authors note that this is an act of desperation on the part of their source. A good storyteller should concoct his or her own way into the plot, however. The story deliberately paints the conspiracy as irredeemable villains, a first for the game. While each has a motivation, most of them boil down to their being amoral or cruel and stop there. While the intention is that the players question why their characters fight them, it might have been more interesting if their arguments had been more tempting. The only one most player characters are likely to have any real sympathy for will almost certainly be too busy to talk to them. It is also noted that this should, run correctly, be an extremely dangerous scenario. This may not fit the tone of all Aberrant games, although it suits the Worldwide series very well.

Where Heaven Ends, unlike most of the series, would seem to clearly work better with a particular power group (here the Aberrants) than with others. It begins with Team Tomorrow, the game's Justice League with a somewhat grey ethical agenda, mounting a frontal attack on The Amp Room, previously the "Rick's Cafe Americain" of the game setting, and covers the chaos and upheaval that follows the strike. It does this very well, with images of despairing refugees, field hospitals guarded by nervous soldiers, sports halls turned into mortuaries and the effects of random superhuman violence. It is let down by the conclusion, which brings in an antagonist with a weak motivation (his shallowness is noted by the authors) and whose gimmick, while grotesque, can easily seem absurd. Without giving anything away, it reminded me of an infamous scene in Monty Python's Meaning of Life. A villain more interesting to the characters could easily be substituted in his place, perhaps one whose agenda mirrors their own but whose methods are immoral, or an entirely different conclusion could be created. It doesn't help that one of the canon NPCs in jeopardy is Ragnarockette, holder of Team Tomorrow's most embarrassing codename.

Throughout Worldwide Phase II, various assumptions are made in the name of canon, and they leave unanswered questions. For example, the Aberrants still exist as a group after the Slider murder was (hopefully) solved at the end of Phase I. Caestus Pax, leader of Team Tomorrow, stays out of sight throughout, prompting questions as to his role after the events of the earlier book. The structure of the Teragen does not appear to have changed since the game's timeline began, despite the future of the sect laid out in their own sourcebook. Presumably nothing has happened about this as yet in the canon setting.

The art is by a different illustrator for each story, with the exception of Where Heaven Ends, with illustrations by Jeff Rebner and character portraits by someone else. The authors and artists aren't credited as to which chapter they worked on, which is annoying as I only recognise the art of Jeff Rebner and Leif Jones. I particularly like the rich pencils of The Pope of Babylon, while the illustrations in Green and Pleasant Land vary from atmospheric to overly sketchy. The cover by "Christoher Moeller" (I assume Christopher) depicts the attack on the Amp Room. It is very well executed, although it adds to my inability to take Ragnarockette seriously, as she leads the assault in shoulder armour and fishnet stockings.

If planning to run the Worldwide series, I'd recommend foreshadowing some of the events in Phase II, introducing important characters in advance and so on. Some of the villains of Dominion could appear as elites in previous conflicts, some possibly less cynical and selfish than they are here, while the main NPCs in Green And Pleasant Land have quite a high profile, and their introduction can be noted in the dates of press releases at the start of the chapter. These handouts, by the way, include a large number of extraneous spaces in the middle of words.

In all, Phase II continues the development of the Aberrant setting, further setting it apart from typical superhero worlds ruled by the edict "no change, just the illusion of change". I still wonder if the increasing levels of tension can really be sustained until the Aberrant War of 2049, the date set in Trinity. By the end of Phase II, that war seems just around the corner, not thirty-four years away.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Aberrant Worldwide Phase II
Author: Deird're Brooks, Steven Michael DiPesa, Lucien Soulban Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Aberrant Cost: $19.95 Page count: 160 ISBN: 1-56504-686-2 SKU: WW8510 Capsule Review by Craig Oxbrow on 11/28/00. Genre tags: Science fiction Modern day Conspiracy Superhero	Four events that bring the Aberrant setting ever closer to chaos. Aberrant Worldwide Phase II continues the progression of Aberrant towards Trinity, when novas, the superhuman protagonists of Aberrant, have become antagonists. It follows Phase I, which moved the setting forward from 2008 to 2011, here advancing to 2015. The Aberrant War is still a long way off, 2049, but it seems a lot closer than that. The Pope of Babylon involves conspiracies within the Vatican and the possible destruction of the Pope's power. The villains of the piece are a slightly overcooked cult whose motives beyond gaining power within the Catholic church and opposing novas are never made entirely clear. It also demonstrates another of the dangers of mixing reality and fiction. I imagine Catholic readers could find the portrayal of Pope John Paul II as a supporter of theirs rather insulting. Green And Pleasant Land features the return of my favourite factual error from Aberrant: The Directive, the confusing of England and Britain. In this case it is particularly bad, because the plot concerns (possibly) exclusively English revivalism. Players from Wales will also note that their country does not appear to exist. It is the most straightforward superhero adventure here, complete with a mega-intelligent villain whose plan isn't very intelligent, a lead-in used in about a quarter of Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and the opportunity to fight then team up with a special guest nova. It is also the story that advances the setting least. While the mastermind could in theory take control of the country, it isn't very likely, and the repercussions of his attempt aren't dissimilar from those in Worldwide Phase I's story Gabriel, or in the following chapter. While it's workable and includes some interesting ideas, it seems the weakest of the four chapters. Dominion also concerns the fear of superhumans taking over a country. It sketches in the necessary clues for the characters to uncover a conspiracy, then effectively hands all the essential clues to them in a folder. The authors note that this is an act of desperation on the part of their source. A good storyteller should concoct his or her own way into the plot, however. The story deliberately paints the conspiracy as irredeemable villains, a first for the game. While each has a motivation, most of them boil down to their being amoral or cruel and stop there. While the intention is that the players question why their characters fight them, it might have been more interesting if their arguments had been more tempting. The only one most player characters are likely to have any real sympathy for will almost certainly be too busy to talk to them. It is also noted that this should, run correctly, be an extremely dangerous scenario. This may not fit the tone of all Aberrant games, although it suits the Worldwide series very well. Where Heaven Ends, unlike most of the series, would seem to clearly work better with a particular power group (here the Aberrants) than with others. It begins with Team Tomorrow, the game's Justice League with a somewhat grey ethical agenda, mounting a frontal attack on The Amp Room, previously the "Rick's Cafe Americain" of the game setting, and covers the chaos and upheaval that follows the strike. It does this very well, with images of despairing refugees, field hospitals guarded by nervous soldiers, sports halls turned into mortuaries and the effects of random superhuman violence. It is let down by the conclusion, which brings in an antagonist with a weak motivation (his shallowness is noted by the authors) and whose gimmick, while grotesque, can easily seem absurd. Without giving anything away, it reminded me of an infamous scene in Monty Python's Meaning of Life. A villain more interesting to the characters could easily be substituted in his place, perhaps one whose agenda mirrors their own but whose methods are immoral, or an entirely different conclusion could be created. It doesn't help that one of the canon NPCs in jeopardy is Ragnarockette, holder of Team Tomorrow's most embarrassing codename. Throughout Worldwide Phase II, various assumptions are made in the name of canon, and they leave unanswered questions. For example, the Aberrants still exist as a group after the Slider murder was (hopefully) solved at the end of Phase I. Caestus Pax, leader of Team Tomorrow, stays out of sight throughout, prompting questions as to his role after the events of the earlier book. The structure of the Teragen does not appear to have changed since the game's timeline began, despite the future of the sect laid out in their own sourcebook. Presumably nothing has happened about this as yet in the canon setting. The art is by a different illustrator for each story, with the exception of Where Heaven Ends, with illustrations by Jeff Rebner and character portraits by someone else. The authors and artists aren't credited as to which chapter they worked on, which is annoying as I only recognise the art of Jeff Rebner and Leif Jones. I particularly like the rich pencils of The Pope of Babylon, while the illustrations in Green and Pleasant Land vary from atmospheric to overly sketchy. The cover by "Christoher Moeller" (I assume Christopher) depicts the attack on the Amp Room. It is very well executed, although it adds to my inability to take Ragnarockette seriously, as she leads the assault in shoulder armour and fishnet stockings. If planning to run the Worldwide series, I'd recommend foreshadowing some of the events in Phase II, introducing important characters in advance and so on. Some of the villains of Dominion could appear as elites in previous conflicts, some possibly less cynical and selfish than they are here, while the main NPCs in Green And Pleasant Land have quite a high profile, and their introduction can be noted in the dates of press releases at the start of the chapter. These handouts, by the way, include a large number of extraneous spaces in the middle of words. In all, Phase II continues the development of the Aberrant setting, further setting it apart from typical superhero worlds ruled by the edict "no change, just the illusion of change". I still wonder if the increasing levels of tension can really be sustained until the Aberrant War of 2049, the date set in Trinity. By the end of Phase II, that war seems just around the corner, not thirty-four years away. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)