The Inside Scoop on Gaming

By the gods! Has this man no shame?

Yes, Raven c.s. McCracken wrote a suppliment for The World of Synnibarr. No, he didn't stop with the power-gaming when he wrote it.

The forward says it all: he wrote this from the point of view of Fate addressing lesser beings, like gods. He didn't want to write this book, because it's full of things like prejudice, hatred and politics- all things he admits in print that he dislikes.

The front of the book has a poorly-written short story about a master Mage Warrior and his vampire apprentice, and how they intersect with a naive Amazon and a couple of villians. (I'd rather watch Showgirls than read this story.) It gets marginally better after this point.

The next section introduces a couple of patches into the Synnibarr game engine. Does it help? A little, but that's like saying that Win98 sucks less than Win95- it's still Windows. It also has his confession that the game was intended to be an unabashed power-game, and that he's grown out of it. If he has, neither I nor any of my players- most of whom like Synnibarr far better than I do- haven't noticed.

This skepticism bears out when the first of the racial profiles begins. Every race is profiled, and the original classes get mixed in. The majority of them get some new bennie, if not an outright power boost. While the cultural information is welcome, it's uninspired. (An exception are the Elves, who's PsiElf guild is a revived Gestapo. That's different, if not creative.) The attempt to upgun the non-guild characters, while neccesary, doesn't pan out. McCracken attempted to balance the game and failed. At least he was honest enough to say so, which makes him mearly incompetant instead of malevolant.

The skepticism continues with the section on Contra, the Elder God of Oblivion and his "mearly" god-level minion. The powers of the so-called "Dark Light" make playing anyone else worthless- there is no hope, not even in the Call-of-Cthulu sense- and McCracken forgot to leave PCs any means to do their job: save the Centiverse.

The additional errata and optional rules in the back hammer home the disgust I felt all along. I didn't even spend my money on the book, and I still feel cheated. Everything in this book, save the Nazi Elves, I've seen or heard of years before. McCracken needs to get with the program and see what's really on the cutting-edge of role-playing these days; at this rate, he'll discover White Wolf by 2000 C.E.

This book sucks more than the rulebook. Be afraid.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

The Ultimate Adventurer's Guide
Author: Raven c.s. McCracken Category: game Company/Publisher: Wonderworld Press Cost: $25 (US) Page count: 250 pages ISBN: 1-881171-01-9 Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 03/03/98. Genre tags: none	By the gods! Has this man no shame? Yes, Raven c.s. McCracken wrote a suppliment for The World of Synnibarr. No, he didn't stop with the power-gaming when he wrote it. The forward says it all: he wrote this from the point of view of Fate addressing lesser beings, like gods. He didn't want to write this book, because it's full of things like prejudice, hatred and politics- all things he admits in print that he dislikes. The front of the book has a poorly-written short story about a master Mage Warrior and his vampire apprentice, and how they intersect with a naive Amazon and a couple of villians. (I'd rather watch Showgirls than read this story.) It gets marginally better after this point. The next section introduces a couple of patches into the Synnibarr game engine. Does it help? A little, but that's like saying that Win98 sucks less than Win95- it's still Windows. It also has his confession that the game was intended to be an unabashed power-game, and that he's grown out of it. If he has, neither I nor any of my players- most of whom like Synnibarr far better than I do- haven't noticed. This skepticism bears out when the first of the racial profiles begins. Every race is profiled, and the original classes get mixed in. The majority of them get some new bennie, if not an outright power boost. While the cultural information is welcome, it's uninspired. (An exception are the Elves, who's PsiElf guild is a revived Gestapo. That's different, if not creative.) The attempt to upgun the non-guild characters, while neccesary, doesn't pan out. McCracken attempted to balance the game and failed. At least he was honest enough to say so, which makes him mearly incompetant instead of malevolant. The skepticism continues with the section on Contra, the Elder God of Oblivion and his "mearly" god-level minion. The powers of the so-called "Dark Light" make playing anyone else worthless- there is no hope, not even in the Call-of-Cthulu sense- and McCracken forgot to leave PCs any means to do their job: save the Centiverse. The additional errata and optional rules in the back hammer home the disgust I felt all along. I didn't even spend my money on the book, and I still feel cheated. Everything in this book, save the Nazi Elves, I've seen or heard of years before. McCracken needs to get with the program and see what's really on the cutting-edge of role-playing these days; at this rate, he'll discover White Wolf by 2000 C.E. This book sucks more than the rulebook. Be afraid. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

The Ultimate Adventurer's Guide