"I knew she was trouble when she first walked into my office. The Dame was poison..."
"Indy! Throw me the statue! Quick, before it closes!"
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows..."
I never thought I'd see that day that someone managed to create a game that could cover all these three elements of pulp ficiton in one system. Ever wondered what would have happened if Sam Spade, Indiana Jones and The Shadow existed at the same time? Adventure! can show you.
Setting is everything
First off, Adventure! (Don't forget the exclamation mark) is set around the middle of the 1920s - between WWI and WWII - and fills in the major gaps in the Trinity Continuum. For those not in the know, Trinity - Aberrant - Adventure! are all part of a single metaplot that has spans a 200 year time frame. While each gameline has its own mini-metaplot (Ever thought you'd hear that?) there is an over all storyline, with Adventure! providing the missing details. Note that this game is complete. White Wolf does not intend to publish anymore material for the Adventure! line, and so they worked hard to fit it all into the one book.
Keeping the tone
The book is packaged as if it were a pulp novel - albeit in trade paperback size - and this look is kept throughout the book. The first half is a combination of fiction and setting information - this is some of the best writing White Wolf has produced in ages, and special credit to Greg Stolze and Warren Ellis for producing evocative fiction that helps set the tone of the game.
The Rules Cover over half the book and are so well designed that Adventure! works as a general pulp action game, allowing the GM to totally abandon the setting if s/he wants without losing anything in the process. I am personally a big fan of cinematic style roleplaying, and Adventure! takes this concept further than most games. Characters are called "Inspired" - due to a scientific experiment in telluric energies, some people start to display unusual powers. The game splits these up into Heroic, Psychic and Dynamic. Basically Heroic "knacks" are the abilities that mimic the strange physics of pulp action. The Femme Fatale, the jack of all trades, the One Man Army, these are all covered. Then Psychic Knacks provide the magical, mystical powers of the mind - while Dynamic is focused on proto-superheroes like the novas of Aberrant.
Contrary to what some may think, these powers work well together and provide a great variety of character concepts. But the best innovation is Inspiration. This is a trait that allows the players to gain control over the game setting. Inspiration can be used to mimic all those great Cliffhanger sequences we remember. Character on a runaway train with out any brakes? Spend some Inspiration and the GM may let there be an emergency brake hidden behind a compartment. Or the Character may remember that by combining a certain set of wires will cause the engine to cut out. Or maybe you DID arrange for someone to fly over and pick you up off the train... the possibilities are almost endless.
Summary
I have always been of the opinion that the Trinity/Aberrant gamelines have been a long underapprecitated gem of the roleplaying industry. Too bright and fluffy for the Goth crowd and too closely connected to White Wolf for anyone who would appreciate these games, Adventure! is a beautiful addition to the setting. Imaginative, Innovative and fun; I can't recommend this game enough to all of you who enjoyed Feng Shui, HKAT, 7th Sea and all the other cinematic games that fly in the face of the mature, realist gamers who prefer to have characters die whenever they attempt and act of derring-do. Two Thumbs up.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)