The Inside Scoop on Gaming

There's a line somewhere about too many cooks spoiling the soup, and as time has come and gone it has become increasingly evident that In Nomine has an awful lot of cooks. A lot of cooks in the writing, and a lot of cooks in the art as well. The original art of Dan Smith, has been replaced by a committee of people who range from the "allright," to the "my God what were they thinking?" What started out well as a promising game and system seems to be coming to a screaming halt with its latest releases. "Heaven and Hell" was terrible, and the "Angelic Player's Guide" only seems to be continuing this downward spiral.

This is purportedly a player's guide, with more hints on playing angelic player characters, than what are found in the In Nomine rulebook. There are some expanded descriptions of the various choirs (but the new choir from "The Marches" is neglected), and while the section of the Kyriotate possessors is helpful it is still too sketchy. There are expanded discussions around relationships with angelic superiors, but this book only mentions those superiors who are found in the main rulebook, none of the new superiors, mentioned in the Feast of Blades adventure and other releases, are covered. There are discussions on falling, on being in mixed angelic/demonic parties, angelic reproduction (with a new song), some new weapons, car chase rules, and a section on character creation--but nothing in here wasn't covered more succinctly in the main rulebooks. Rather than inspiring us to take upon these roles of angels, this book just gets lost in a morass of indifferent writing and explanat! ions. None of it stands out, and none of it is essential for any campaign.

Now there are some things that are not in the main rulebook, that this book helpfully expounds upon, most notably the history of the angels. This section is somewhat helpful in explaining the game's cosmology, but it also leads to some problems. Ostensibly the Fall resulted from a disagreement regarding the value of humanity. The garden of Eden was a kind of contest in which people were tested. It would determine whether or not humans would earn the respect of angels, and whether or not a human's free will would also be respected in turn. To the rebellious angels the humans failed the test, but to the loyal angels the humans passed with flying colors. In its most simplistic terms angels liked people, and demons didn't. Demons saw people as replacing them, and angels saw their role to be secondary to human beings, with their gift of free will. One side fell and began the tasking of damning humans, while the other side took up the task of saving them. This is all well and good, but for the sake of dramatic tension within the game this battle is still being fought on the side of the angels--some love humans, but others hate them. Why go to the trouble of developing this wonderful history, and then tell players to disregard it? Why can't the angels be the good guys? After all that's what the back cover states!

How do angels save people? Why even bother saving them if they're still debating whether humans are worthwhile or not? Is the conflict merely within themselves, or do people have a place? Very little is said in here about the human race, which is supposed to be the main source of conflict between angels and demons.

I've often felt that this game has often struggled with the cosmic overtones of good and evil. Throughout the products it often seems like there is an effort to draw demons more sympathetically, and to make the angels a bunch of tight-assed do-gooders. I don't like the angels here. I wouldn't want to meet the angels here. I don't know whether to laugh at them, or to cry with them. I just don't care about them-- and in a product about angels I just don't think that I should end up feeling so indifferent about these angels.

I was attracted to this game because it seemed to offer the chance to play two extremes of good and evil, but in an editorial decision it seems that the sides were to be put a little closer together. Now I don't care about any of them, and I don't care for this book. The book gets an "F."

However, I do issue one caution. C.S. Lewis once was asked after he had published "The Screwtape Letter" why he didn't write a book about the angelic side of things. He wrote that from his point of view demons were much easier to write about, because angels were too separated from us. They were too pure, too grand, while demons in their sin-sick stench were quite similar to us. Some idiot Christian writer tried to do C.S. Lewis better by writing a book of letters from an angels perspective, and this guy was no C.S. Lewis--he failed. Angels are just intrinsically difficult to deal with, and in some ways we deal with them by making them more like us. On second thought, I give this book a "D." It gets upgraded for having such a difficult subject.

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

Angelic Player's Guide
Author: James Cambias, Sam Chupp, David Edelstein, Matthew Grau, Steve Kenson, Mike Nystul, Derek Pearcy and S. John Ross Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Cost: 19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-340-X Playtest Review by Scott Shafer on 06/20/98. Genre tags: none	There's a line somewhere about too many cooks spoiling the soup, and as time has come and gone it has become increasingly evident that In Nomine has an awful lot of cooks. A lot of cooks in the writing, and a lot of cooks in the art as well. The original art of Dan Smith, has been replaced by a committee of people who range from the "allright," to the "my God what were they thinking?" What started out well as a promising game and system seems to be coming to a screaming halt with its latest releases. "Heaven and Hell" was terrible, and the "Angelic Player's Guide" only seems to be continuing this downward spiral. This is purportedly a player's guide, with more hints on playing angelic player characters, than what are found in the In Nomine rulebook. There are some expanded descriptions of the various choirs (but the new choir from "The Marches" is neglected), and while the section of the Kyriotate possessors is helpful it is still too sketchy. There are expanded discussions around relationships with angelic superiors, but this book only mentions those superiors who are found in the main rulebook, none of the new superiors, mentioned in the Feast of Blades adventure and other releases, are covered. There are discussions on falling, on being in mixed angelic/demonic parties, angelic reproduction (with a new song), some new weapons, car chase rules, and a section on character creation--but nothing in here wasn't covered more succinctly in the main rulebooks. Rather than inspiring us to take upon these roles of angels, this book just gets lost in a morass of indifferent writing and explanat! ions. None of it stands out, and none of it is essential for any campaign. Now there are some things that are not in the main rulebook, that this book helpfully expounds upon, most notably the history of the angels. This section is somewhat helpful in explaining the game's cosmology, but it also leads to some problems. Ostensibly the Fall resulted from a disagreement regarding the value of humanity. The garden of Eden was a kind of contest in which people were tested. It would determine whether or not humans would earn the respect of angels, and whether or not a human's free will would also be respected in turn. To the rebellious angels the humans failed the test, but to the loyal angels the humans passed with flying colors. In its most simplistic terms angels liked people, and demons didn't. Demons saw people as replacing them, and angels saw their role to be secondary to human beings, with their gift of free will. One side fell and began the tasking of damning humans, while the other side took up the task of saving them. This is all well and good, but for the sake of dramatic tension within the game this battle is still being fought on the side of the angels--some love humans, but others hate them. Why go to the trouble of developing this wonderful history, and then tell players to disregard it? Why can't the angels be the good guys? After all that's what the back cover states! How do angels save people? Why even bother saving them if they're still debating whether humans are worthwhile or not? Is the conflict merely within themselves, or do people have a place? Very little is said in here about the human race, which is supposed to be the main source of conflict between angels and demons. I've often felt that this game has often struggled with the cosmic overtones of good and evil. Throughout the products it often seems like there is an effort to draw demons more sympathetically, and to make the angels a bunch of tight-assed do-gooders. I don't like the angels here. I wouldn't want to meet the angels here. I don't know whether to laugh at them, or to cry with them. I just don't care about them-- and in a product about angels I just don't think that I should end up feeling so indifferent about these angels. I was attracted to this game because it seemed to offer the chance to play two extremes of good and evil, but in an editorial decision it seems that the sides were to be put a little closer together. Now I don't care about any of them, and I don't care for this book. The book gets an "F." However, I do issue one caution. C.S. Lewis once was asked after he had published "The Screwtape Letter" why he didn't write a book about the angelic side of things. He wrote that from his point of view demons were much easier to write about, because angels were too separated from us. They were too pure, too grand, while demons in their sin-sick stench were quite similar to us. Some idiot Christian writer tried to do C.S. Lewis better by writing a book of letters from an angels perspective, and this guy was no C.S. Lewis--he failed. Angels are just intrinsically difficult to deal with, and in some ways we deal with them by making them more like us. On second thought, I give this book a "D." It gets upgraded for having such a difficult subject. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)