The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This long awaited supplement was supposed to be the climactic peak of Pinnacle's Hell on Earth game. This was to be the point where all secrets were told and the epic adventure that parties were to be discussing for years.

It obviously was fun to write, Hensley throws everything but the kitchen sink into this one. All of the major villains of Hell on Earth appear, independently of one another, who all happen to meet in the same place, and kick the snot out of one another while a hapless party gets to watch. And that's the problem, they get to watch. Huge amounts of flavor text, hours and hours of big battles where the party makes no difference. The folks at Pinnacle should have just written a novel, instead of written an adventure where the Marshall merely dictates a novel to the PC's while allowing them the honor of rolling dice every so often.

And that's the first half. The second half, though having more for a party to do, is not that much better. Not that it doesn't lack for ambition. Unfortunately, it's just a courier mission with supposedly THE most dangerous item in existance (Which never causes the party an ounce of inconvenience and is actually about as malignant as a toaster). Unfortunately, there isn't that much on board The Unity (The derilect spaceship in orbit around Earth). Some combats, very little good loot, and a nasty computer that wont activate the ships engines unless one of the party kills another.

Yep, that's the idea. To complete the adventure, one party member must kill another. This was an interesting idea, but on analysis, a bad idea. At this point in the adventure, one of the characters has to die, there is no opportunity for making another, and there is still a bit more to go. There is a big sidebar about how to handle this scene and that it's roleplaying at it's finest, yadda, yadda. What I WOULD have liked to see was a sidebar discussing what that player was supposed to do during the rest of the adventure. Was this the time to send him out for pizza? Interesting, but not fun. This seemed placed here to start fights and to purposefully make sure at least one person in the party was going to have no fun for the rest of the session. A bad move.

Then there is a climactic fight with a monster, an attack from Demons as the ship folds through space (Monsters which are immune to everything but one kind of weapon, and no clues as to what that kind of weapon is. I thought the guys at Pinnacle smarter than that), and a crash landing on an alien planet. The trip is one way, and the alien planet an advert for their upcoming RPG, Lost colony. And the adventure finishes. And that's it, it finishes. Supposedly, the Party has just dealt a stunning blow to the forces of Evil, when, in fact, all that has happened is the Hyper Evil Box of Total Malignance opened, and nothing happened (Yes true believers, you can read that flavor text all you want, but the box opens and nothing happens to the party at all!).

In short, the adventure is odd to read, and doesn't look like it would be in the least bit fun to play. It's lethal, arbitrary, and shows all the bad habits that 10 year old GM's make when they run adventures.

The Unity
The Unity Capsule Review by Damon Sutton on 18/04/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse) Though ambitious, it's not a very good adventure. One would have expected much better from this comany. Product: The Unity Author: Shane Hensley Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Line: Deadlands: Hell on Earth Cost: 20.00 Page count: Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Damon Sutton on 18/04/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction Horror Space Post-apocalyse	This long awaited supplement was supposed to be the climactic peak of Pinnacle's Hell on Earth game. This was to be the point where all secrets were told and the epic adventure that parties were to be discussing for years. It obviously was fun to write, Hensley throws everything but the kitchen sink into this one. All of the major villains of Hell on Earth appear, independently of one another, who all happen to meet in the same place, and kick the snot out of one another while a hapless party gets to watch. And that's the problem, they get to watch. Huge amounts of flavor text, hours and hours of big battles where the party makes no difference. The folks at Pinnacle should have just written a novel, instead of written an adventure where the Marshall merely dictates a novel to the PC's while allowing them the honor of rolling dice every so often. And that's the first half. The second half, though having more for a party to do, is not that much better. Not that it doesn't lack for ambition. Unfortunately, it's just a courier mission with supposedly THE most dangerous item in existance (Which never causes the party an ounce of inconvenience and is actually about as malignant as a toaster). Unfortunately, there isn't that much on board The Unity (The derilect spaceship in orbit around Earth). Some combats, very little good loot, and a nasty computer that wont activate the ships engines unless one of the party kills another. Yep, that's the idea. To complete the adventure, one party member must kill another. This was an interesting idea, but on analysis, a bad idea. At this point in the adventure, one of the characters has to die, there is no opportunity for making another, and there is still a bit more to go. There is a big sidebar about how to handle this scene and that it's roleplaying at it's finest, yadda, yadda. What I WOULD have liked to see was a sidebar discussing what that player was supposed to do during the rest of the adventure. Was this the time to send him out for pizza? Interesting, but not fun. This seemed placed here to start fights and to purposefully make sure at least one person in the party was going to have no fun for the rest of the session. A bad move. Then there is a climactic fight with a monster, an attack from Demons as the ship folds through space (Monsters which are immune to everything but one kind of weapon, and no clues as to what that kind of weapon is. I thought the guys at Pinnacle smarter than that), and a crash landing on an alien planet. The trip is one way, and the alien planet an advert for their upcoming RPG, Lost colony. And the adventure finishes. And that's it, it finishes. Supposedly, the Party has just dealt a stunning blow to the forces of Evil, when, in fact, all that has happened is the Hyper Evil Box of Total Malignance opened, and nothing happened (Yes true believers, you can read that flavor text all you want, but the box opens and nothing happens to the party at all!). In short, the adventure is odd to read, and doesn't look like it would be in the least bit fun to play. It's lethal, arbitrary, and shows all the bad habits that 10 year old GM's make when they run adventures.