Goto [ Index ]

Introduction

When Darrick Dishaw wrote to me, offering to send me Empire of Satanis to review, I have to admit that my interest was picqued. This game has had almost as much bad press as FATAL, Hybrid and that other game that I shall not name.

The thing that struck me was that Darrick was remarkably respectful and polite in his request. So I agreed to check out the game. So I was sent the hardback edition, along with a newsletter about Cult of Cthulhu - the group that is behind the publication of the game.

I think it is kind of important to mention these issues before I move on to the game itself. See, much of the material in the newsletter, well, creeped me out initially. The group seems to believe that Lovecraft is some kind of prophet who has hidden snippets of satanic wisdom within his writings.

Needless to say, it didn't do a lot to make me approach the game favourably. Until I thought about it a little further and read the book. It is somewhat hard to tell if CoC are being genuine, or are part of some over-elaborate in-joke.

So please be aware that there may be some bias in my review from the angle that it did creep me out just a little. Although not as much as the time, many years ago, I bought that mock edition of the Necronomicon...

Layout and Design

First up, the hardback edition is quite small and has a very definite small press approach. It reminds me of some of those funny "occult" books you find in second book stores. The paper and fonts are very much in this train.

The slipcover is actually quite attractive, with some suitably strange abstract art representing cthulhu-esque type creatures with tentacles. I can actually see these being of some artistic merit. They have a nice structure and symmetry along with a good eye for colors. Maybe a hint of something not quite right...

Inside the text is reasonably separated, however I found the random bold quotes from the satanic bible and lovecraft were a bit unnecessary and struck me more as being an attempt to either a) convince me Satan is great or b) shock me because it was satanic. Either way, it did nothing except break up the text in a way that was, frankly, annoying and really had no correlation to the game itself.

Setting

So what is Empire of Satanis about? Well looking at the book and the cult of cthulhu website, you wouldn't be able to tell. At the core of it, the game is about Fiends.

Set in the demonic universe of Yidathroth, ruled over by a dark lord named Satanis, Fiends vie for power and influence. Essentially Fiends are all manner of twisted demons who have been trapped in this universe, where occasionally humans breach into it and become fodder or slaves.

So essentially we are presented with a fantasy mixed with some science-fiction version of Hell. I have a bit of trouble ascertaining much beyond this from the book. Essentially there is a dark universe full of depravity and nihilism, and PCs are free to pursue whatever goals they want.

The game does present a number of races and factions that all revolve around this constant struggle to awaken the inner darkness.

All in all, a suitably twisted fantasy world.

System

The system is remarkably simple. Add a trait and skill together to figure out your dice pool with d6s, then take the highest roll. The rolls are open ended, which means any 6 is rolled again, and the result added.

Example K'thark with a pool of 4 dice rolls 2,4,3,6 scores a 6 and then rolls again for a 3 making a total roll of 9.

This is then compared against a difficulty number to calculate success.

Combat, however, uses a different mechanic. In combat you add the trait and skill together, roll 1d6 and total the result - wanting to beat the opponent's score.

Magic, also very simple, is basically a skill that can be opposed. If successful the magic user can describe the result - based on what their skill allows them to have influence over. There are a number of areas of influence from Black Arts to Candy Land Magic (twisted magic based on children's nightmares.)

GM's and Darkness

After the basic system, there is a page that mentions that the aim of EoS is to be realising and flexible. It states that the game is about living large and allowing players to go as far as they want. To be creative and flesh out the world.

Much of the game master's section then builds on the basic premise - discussing how the game is about stretching out to dominate Sha-La, a sister universe where the Fiends have been expelled from. More information is given about the history and shape of the setting - often written in a near voyeuristic sense.

There are some genuinely creepy grotesques crawling around this dark vision of a setting. Tentacle Whores and Smiles being two that remain in the memory a bit.

Finally there are some short stories that add a bit of tone and some introductory scenarios that actually have some interesting story ideas for the setting.

Thoughts

Well, now for the difficult call. What did I think of EoS? See there are some issues I'm having while thinking about this, and they split into two camps. One is system, and the other this theme. Systemwise, the game is alright, but I suspect broken.

The core mechanic doesn't seem to be favourable towards success. see, the difficulties are ranked, 4/7/10 and up. Now I'm not that good at working out probabilities, but with 7 being average in a system where you're aiming for the highest number in a 1-6 range... even with 6's being re-rolled and adding the new result, I'm not convinced that an average character is going to succeed at an average task that often.

Then there is my issue with the combat mechanic being completely different again. My recommendation - choose one and stick with it. I think back to my favourite games that have different rules for combat over non-combat, and they still keep the same core dice system. This ended up costing points in my final decision.

Theme

Next up is theme. Why are we wanting to play Satanis? What is the point of playing evil Fiends? I think back to The Collectors - a truly brilliant game about roleplaying demons. The reason it was so brilliant is because there was a reason demons were chosen. The game was about ethical choices and their consequences. It didn't relish in being dark and evil, instead it presented a side of evil as being the cost of sin. An interesting idea.

In Nomine went another route by saying, evil isn't so evil, rather it's doing a job.

Unfortunately EoS seems to just want to go for either creep you out with evil or be pure evil as a rebellious action. Which brings me to...

Evil for the sake of notoriety?

The opening of the book has the following statement "Welcome to the hardcover edition of the much maligned roleplaying game of dark fantasy and horror... tentacled whores beware!"

This kind of statement suggests to me that it isn't actually about being dark for any particular reason other than to deliberately creep out the norms. In my youth I had a bit of an interest in occult theories and did a bit of research into the area. Nothing in EoS is remotely accurate in that respect. It felt to me like much of the game just liked to relish in telling the reader that darkness is just so cool.

Unfortunately, Kult was creepier and darker with a lot more skill. If less effort had been put into the whole being evil for evil's sake and a bit more thought into what kind of a theme is this game going for, I think it would be quite a cool dark setting. The core idea kind of presents some very cool foundations, but it is lost in a sea of "satan is the r0xx0rs" type pointless quotes and a lack of any greater reason to play Fiends beyond the implication that it is cool to be evil.

Conclusion

So Empire of Satanis isn't a bad game. I would have given it a 3/3 if there had been a little more of a compelling reason behind it's approach at playing evil characters.

It's system needs work, and the setting needs to not be so trite in how evil is portrayed. It just felt like an attempt to shock and creeped me out just enough to not like it, but not enough to make me burn the book and swear off roleplaying.

FATAL is definitely worse.

In the end, I guess my advice to CoC is that you need to keep your religion out of any publications for a hobby. Using a roleplaying game to recruit people is never going to work. This game is certainly one that will appeal to a very select audience.

Should I buy this game? To be honest. No. It tries too hard at being dark and evil, the system needs work and overall there is really nothing about it that strikes me as being able to provide a rewarding game. The Collectors did evil PCs with more style and In Nomine did playing demons with more fun and class.