The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is a collection of six adventures for Over the Edge. Since the rpg is already weird and surreal, there is a certain pressure on the authors of OTE support material to find new ways of making an adventure surreal. The authors of Forgotten Lives do an admirable job in this respect.

The most normal of the adventures are "In the SACQ" and "The Furchtegott File". The former makes the assumption that the PCs have a reputation as a team of operatives which gets things done. This is the standard assumption in a Cyberpunk game, but it is not necessarily a safe assumption for an OTE game. Apart from that, "In the SACQ" is a well done, fast paced, high stakes espionage adventure, although it was one I could not playtest due to the particular mix of characters my loyal playtesters created.

"The Furchtegott File" is also a high stakes espionage adventure, but it deals with the problem of character motivation by supplying four wonderfully bizarre pregenerated characters. These characters are presumed to be adversaries, not allies, all competing for the same mcguffin. In addition, there are several teams of NPCs looking for the mcguffin. To simplify matters for the GM, "The Furchtegott File" has two charts, one for generating rumors about the location of the mcguffin and one for determining the results of clashes between competing groups of NPCs.

This one cries out for playtesting. I like the concept, but I cannot tell how well it works in play. Unfortunately, my playtesters did not want pregenerated characters, nor were their own PCs suitable for this adventure. I will add an addendum to this review if I manage to run "The Furchtegott File" at a convention.

"Party Crashers" is suitable for just about any group. The set up? The PCs are invited to a party thrown by a guy who loves inviting half of the island of Al Amarja to his parties. The party is indeed unusual, even by Al Amarjan standards, but as we discovered during the playtest, it is absolutely essential for the GM to create a list of things that will happen at the party.

The party crashers of the title creeped everyone out. Running them well is a challenge, however, and GMs should realize that this adventure might kill off an entire party. The problem is that the more interesting a group is, by my standards -- that is, the less it is like a team of commandoes -- the more it is likely to bite the dust. GMs need to be reasonably good at improvising, and the players must be on the ball. This is a scenario for experienced GMs, not beginners, and sensitivity to the mood of the players is essential.

While "Party Crashers" did not go as well as I had hoped, "Misplaced Childhood" went better than I had expected, although we did not have a chance to finish it (and then I learned that one of my players read the rest of the scenario. Sigh. I am not going to tell a player that he cannot read a book he spent good money on). The PCs see a young man insisting that a waitress is his mother, although she cannot possibly be old enough for that.

This scenario is easily adaptable to different types of groups, from ordinary folks to teams of secret agents. With very little work, GMs can put one of the PCs in the role of the young man, who turns out to be a pawn in a complicated plot of one of the island's many conspiracies. This plot is complex enough that GMs can use it as the springboard of a campaign, but flexible enough that they can keep it manageable for PCs who are not secret agents or fighting machines.

"The Jackboot Stomp" is my favorite adventure in Forgotten Lives. It deals with the past history of the island, interweaving it with a bizarre but true story of Hitler's Germany. "The Jackboot Stomp" is really a mini-campaign, so I could not playtest all of it, but I wove parts of it into the adventures I did playtest, as is suggested in the book. It worked quite well, as the players followed the changes to the leadership of the Ares gang with surprise.

These changes resulted in a good working relationship between Ares and the PCs in "Morphia Soup," probably the strangest adventure in Forgotten Lives. It is contained in "Dreaming on the Verge of Strife," which presents background on those conspiracies, old and new, which manipulate dreams.

This was a lot of fun to run, as the players were first confused by the shifts between dreams and reality, and then happy to play along. It also demonstrated how flexible OTE is: While we were gaming, Wyeth, this review's special guest playtester, wandered by and asked if he could join. I handed him four dice and told him that he was a member of the Ares gang. He had no trouble following the action or figuring out the rules of the game.

Apart from a lackluster cover, the art of Forgotten Lives is good throughout, and the layout is clean and easy on the eyes. I recommend this one to all OTE fans, and to anyone who interested in surreal and/or espionage adventures. Meanwhile, buy all your fruit juice from Bobby Punch, and be sure to eat at The Floating Lady. Both are endorsed by the Ares Gang.

Forgotten Lives

written by John W. Baitchal, Keith Baker, Scott McDaniel, Chris Pramas,
Greg Stolze, and Jeff Tidball

for Over the Edge

Trident, Inc. and Atlas Games
P. O. Box 131233
Roseville, MN 55113
http://members.aol.com/atlasgames

112 pages, perfect bound
Price = $19.95

Grade: B+

Reviewed by Lisa Padol

Playtesters:

Joshua Kronengold, Naomi Rivkis, Matthew Stevens

Special Guest Playtester: Wyeth Peterson

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Forgotten Lives
Author: John W. Baichtal, Keith Baker, Scott McDaniel, Chris Pramas, Greg Stolze, and Jeff Tidball Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Cost: $19.95 Page count: 112 ISBN: 1-887801-51-0 Playtest Review by Lisa Padol on 04/22/98. Genre tags: none	This is a collection of six adventures for Over the Edge. Since the rpg is already weird and surreal, there is a certain pressure on the authors of OTE support material to find new ways of making an adventure surreal. The authors of Forgotten Lives do an admirable job in this respect. The most normal of the adventures are "In the SACQ" and "The Furchtegott File". The former makes the assumption that the PCs have a reputation as a team of operatives which gets things done. This is the standard assumption in a Cyberpunk game, but it is not necessarily a safe assumption for an OTE game. Apart from that, "In the SACQ" is a well done, fast paced, high stakes espionage adventure, although it was one I could not playtest due to the particular mix of characters my loyal playtesters created. "The Furchtegott File" is also a high stakes espionage adventure, but it deals with the problem of character motivation by supplying four wonderfully bizarre pregenerated characters. These characters are presumed to be adversaries, not allies, all competing for the same mcguffin. In addition, there are several teams of NPCs looking for the mcguffin. To simplify matters for the GM, "The Furchtegott File" has two charts, one for generating rumors about the location of the mcguffin and one for determining the results of clashes between competing groups of NPCs. This one cries out for playtesting. I like the concept, but I cannot tell how well it works in play. Unfortunately, my playtesters did not want pregenerated characters, nor were their own PCs suitable for this adventure. I will add an addendum to this review if I manage to run "The Furchtegott File" at a convention. "Party Crashers" is suitable for just about any group. The set up? The PCs are invited to a party thrown by a guy who loves inviting half of the island of Al Amarja to his parties. The party is indeed unusual, even by Al Amarjan standards, but as we discovered during the playtest, it is absolutely essential for the GM to create a list of things that will happen at the party. The party crashers of the title creeped everyone out. Running them well is a challenge, however, and GMs should realize that this adventure might kill off an entire party. The problem is that the more interesting a group is, by my standards -- that is, the less it is like a team of commandoes -- the more it is likely to bite the dust. GMs need to be reasonably good at improvising, and the players must be on the ball. This is a scenario for experienced GMs, not beginners, and sensitivity to the mood of the players is essential. While "Party Crashers" did not go as well as I had hoped, "Misplaced Childhood" went better than I had expected, although we did not have a chance to finish it (and then I learned that one of my players read the rest of the scenario. Sigh. I am not going to tell a player that he cannot read a book he spent good money on). The PCs see a young man insisting that a waitress is his mother, although she cannot possibly be old enough for that. This scenario is easily adaptable to different types of groups, from ordinary folks to teams of secret agents. With very little work, GMs can put one of the PCs in the role of the young man, who turns out to be a pawn in a complicated plot of one of the island's many conspiracies. This plot is complex enough that GMs can use it as the springboard of a campaign, but flexible enough that they can keep it manageable for PCs who are not secret agents or fighting machines. "The Jackboot Stomp" is my favorite adventure in Forgotten Lives. It deals with the past history of the island, interweaving it with a bizarre but true story of Hitler's Germany. "The Jackboot Stomp" is really a mini-campaign, so I could not playtest all of it, but I wove parts of it into the adventures I did playtest, as is suggested in the book. It worked quite well, as the players followed the changes to the leadership of the Ares gang with surprise. These changes resulted in a good working relationship between Ares and the PCs in "Morphia Soup," probably the strangest adventure in Forgotten Lives. It is contained in "Dreaming on the Verge of Strife," which presents background on those conspiracies, old and new, which manipulate dreams. This was a lot of fun to run, as the players were first confused by the shifts between dreams and reality, and then happy to play along. It also demonstrated how flexible OTE is: While we were gaming, Wyeth, this review's special guest playtester, wandered by and asked if he could join. I handed him four dice and told him that he was a member of the Ares gang. He had no trouble following the action or figuring out the rules of the game. Apart from a lackluster cover, the art of Forgotten Lives is good throughout, and the layout is clean and easy on the eyes. I recommend this one to all OTE fans, and to anyone who interested in surreal and/or espionage adventures. Meanwhile, buy all your fruit juice from Bobby Punch, and be sure to eat at The Floating Lady. Both are endorsed by the Ares Gang. Forgotten Lives written by John W. Baitchal, Keith Baker, Scott McDaniel, Chris Pramas, Greg Stolze, and Jeff Tidball for Over the Edge Trident, Inc. and Atlas Games P. O. Box 131233 Roseville, MN 55113 http://members.aol.com/atlasgames 112 pages, perfect bound Price = $19.95 Grade: B+ Reviewed by Lisa Padol Playtesters: Joshua Kronengold, Naomi Rivkis, Matthew Stevens Special Guest Playtester: Wyeth Peterson Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)