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So what is Aletheia? It’s a little bit X-files, a little bit Kabala mysticism, a little bit quantum superstring theory, wrapped together with a nice a tidy mechanic. Aletheia is a game where the PCs are members of the 7-person “Seven Dogs Society” (named after a city in Alaska), a group brought together by a rich explorer because of their interesting powers. PCs come from all walks of life, from rich dilettantes to the homeless- it doesn’t matter who the PC was, its more about what they can do. Each PC is special in the sense that they all have access to extra sensory powers or the ability to manipulate time or things like that. The special powers are considerable- time travel is one that immediately jumped out at me- but each possible power is also closely linked to the backstory- giving a good reason why each is a character option.
Aletheia is a very internally consistent game. Just about everything is linked, in one way or another, to the backstory. The mechanics, character creation, the setting, and the history of the Seven Dogs Society- they all trace back to the backstory. The backstory is a fairly intricate story of the creation of the universe and the role of the Judeo-Christian God in the manifestation of quantum mechanics. I can’t get too much into things without revealing too much (I may have already, but them’s the breaks), but sufficed to say it is an intriguing and, at times, complicated backstory that will challenge the players.
This is a very focused game. Gameplay has a distinct beginning and end (both in terms of individual stories and the larger backstory). The writers took the time to present a very detailed background to the homebase where the PCs call home and the society to which they belong. By presenting a clear starting point, default location to start from, a detailed background on the society, a suggested style of gameplay, and other tidbits- the players are presented a fairly clear style of campaign. I like this. I like games that focus on detail and support a specific type of gameplay.
Characters The PCs are pretty much ordinary people that have discovered they have special ESP or time-manipulation powers. The PCs are recruited into the Seven Dogs Society, provided a large stipend, a great place to leave (which is full detailed in the core book), and generally left to their own devices- if only they will go on a few missions for the Seven Dogs Society to investigate the weird phenomena of the world (the stuff you read about in tabloids or see on Ripley’s). Oh, and did I mention that the last seven members of the Seven Dogs Society are missing and presumed to have met a violent death? Good luck.
As investigators the PCs travel the world searching for answers to things like frogs falling from the sky, alien abductions, crop circles, and the like. Forget the possible legitimate and reasonable reasons for any and all of the inexplicable phenomena of our world- some may be hoaxes, but just as many are surely not. The PCs, former firefighters, housewives, and pilots (for example) must use their skills and knowledges from their previous lives to deduce the causes. Each success by the PCs leads the Seven Dogs Society one step closer to discovering what happened to the last team and, ultimately, unlock some of the most fundamental truths of reality.
As I mentioned above, Aletheia is a very focused book and this first becomes apparent in the detail the book presents for the PCs. I particularly liked the emphasis on the background of the Seven Dogs Society and the detail provided on the Hepta Sophistai. In fact, the detail on the Hepta Sophistai involves detailed floorplans and discussion of the house staff (who, of course, have secrets of their own). All in all, there is a lot of meat in here for the players to dig into. The one thing missing is character concepts- those the players need to provide on their own since all walks of life are welcome in Seven Dogs.
I like Abstract Nova’s games, they all focus on (pretty much) normal characters with easy-to-use character building mechanics. Basically, a player selects a motivation, an agenda, prioritizes four attributes (Fitness, Awareness, Personality, and Reason), adds some descriptors to customize the attributes, then selects/buys occupations and hobbies from a list (though they are rated to reflect their general usefulness)- and that’s it. Character creation, at its slowest and most detailed, shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes- and for GMs whipping out NPCs is ridiculously easy. The character creation process is very similar to Abstract Nova’s other game Heaven and Earth and reminds me a lot of Over the Edge and Feng Shui in its simplicity.
Backstory The first thing that jumped out at me is the fact that Aletheia does not hold anything back from the GM. Right from the beginning the book claims to be an entire rpg in one book, and it lives up to that claim, devoting almost half the book to GM-only discussion of the secret world that is Aletheia.
If you have made it this far, you are probably a GM, or a very nosy player. Either way, I’ll give you a bit more about the Backstory; the universe is created by the big “G” God- though he is unmistakably the Judeo-Christian God he also apparently has a penchant for quantum physics and crated multiple universes and realities besides the one Earth is found. He created angels and the whole lot, some of which found their way into the universe that is earth- some of which are now trapped here. The weird phenomena that the Seven Dogs Society investigates are echoes or bleed-over from the other universes.
There are an occasional few on earth who have an inkling of whats going on, the founders of the Seven Dogs Society being some of them (and, of course, some of the antagonists). There are also the Ultraterrestrials (their word, not mine) that are a sorta cross between a lizard-man, a grey alien, and an angel- they are unknowable in an almost Elder God-sense.
So, while you have all this going on Aletheia presents the GM with a number of resources to help reveal the big secret to the players. First and Foremost is the Usher Codex (or what is left of it). Aletheia, both print and .pdf, provide the GM with a handful of the leftover pages of the Usher codex which are literally filled with hints and decipherable code that lead to conclusions about the backstory. The Usher Codex pages are like player handouts on crack- indeed much of the complicated backstory revolve around these five pages, serving as a core campaign motivation on their own. Ideally, the players have copies of the Usher Codex and through their adventures help decipher what the text is referring to.
Heavy backstory usually means lots of GM preparation, and I don’t expect Aletheia to be any different. While it seems at first to be a very simple game of investigating weird phenomena, it is much more complicated and there is a good deal of assumption on the part of the game’s designers that the GM will carefully craft clues and interlinked adventures to slowly reveal the big truth- not an easy task. In terms of GM workload, this is a pretty big responsibility and I would suggest not something for a beginning GM to tackle. Players, on the other hand, could be very green. In fact, the less clued-in a player is, the better.
This leads to another concern I have about Aletheia- replayability. Certainly once (if) the big reveal comes the PCs can continue to adventure in the Aletheia setting, but much of the game is focused on discovering the backstory that once that happens, I can imagine a number of campaign drifting. What sets Aletheia apart from other games is they very focused setting- lose that focus for any number of reasons and Aletheia loses a bit of its luster. The same goes for players that already know the big reveal- I have no doubt this game will be much more enjoyable if played by players not in the know.
Mechanics I’m not a mechanics guy, which is why I like Aletheia’s mechanics. If you are a number cruncher, this is not the game for you. Aletheia’s mechanic is based on rolling a number of 6-siders according to your attribute rating (1=bad, 5=superb). A 5 or 6 is a success. Descriptors and skills add bonus successes. The GM selects a difficulty or applies an appropriate one in combat (usually the opponents fitness)- that the player sees if they scored enough successes. That’s it. Combat is a quick series of rolls against specific attributes of the opponent with bonus successes for using weapons. Players have a Will score to use to gain bonus dice when they really need to get a victory.
Much of the discussion on mechanics in Aletheia focuses on investigations, as opposed to the reams of paper that rpgs usually dedicate to combat. Again, this is what makes Aletheia different than many other games. The GM outlines a number of clues to be discovered and through roleplay and rolling the appropriate statistics- the players work towards discovering the clues. There are three basic types of investigations: Fieldwork, Interviewing, and Research. Investigations in general are given detailed treatment throughout the book- and the specific mechanics for discovering clues is pretty straightforward.
As the PCs gather clues they are supposed to put together a hypothesis. Each game of Aletheia is normally supposed to end with the Players outlining a hypothesis discussing the hows and whys of the mysterious phenomena they are investigating. If the Players are correct, they get the maximum xp, if they are slightly off they still have an opportunity for xp- by rolling for it. I am lukewarm on this last rule, xp based on a final last-ditch roll has me less-than-excited. When I run Aletheia I will probably house-rule the XP awards.
Special powers are detailed according to the number of successes needed to do various amazing things. Some of these powers are very powerful- traveling back in time, seeing into the past (and future) and remote viewing to name a few could be very advantageous in investigative work. Aletheia does give the GM advice on how to handle these powers and keep them in check- but the possibility for abuse is very apparent. It will take a very patient and reasonable GM to work with the players in employing some of the powers. At first I was very concerned with the game-breaking ESP powers available to the PCs, but as I read further and further into the backstory, I realized that many of these powers, as extraordinary as they are, will be useful tools in helping decipher the detailed backstory. In fact, the powers themselves all have discussions on how they interact with the otherverse. If the players are crafty enough, simply wondering where their special powers come from will lead to a number of answers.
Like I said, everything, even the mechanics, traces back to the backstory. There are clues hidden throughout Aletheia for the players to discover. I like that, a lot.
The Book Alethia is available in both .pdf form and as a physical book (both limited edition hardback and softcover), and run 174 pages (with an advert in the back). There is an index, for those of you that dig on that sort of thing. The art is solid throughout, with the standout color pages of the Usher Codex (see below). All in all, great production quality.
Did I mention that Jennifer Rogers did the color art in Aletheia? She’s one of my favorites and big points right there for picking a classy artist to fill the pages. The art throughout the book is average to quite good, and reflects the text pretty well (always a plus).
Aletheia has easy to follow layout and uses a lot of callout boxes to help add extra emphasis to certain topics. There are also ample (almost excessive) examples throughout the book when it comes to character creation and mechanics.
Conclusion Aletheia is what I call a bait-and-switch game. It gives the players a basic premise to adventure in, and slowly reveals a much larger picture. The players thought they were playing the x-files, but instead they find out there is a much deeper and more rich background. The detailed backstory makes or breaks Aletheia, and for me, it is a definite selling point. People that are vehemently opposed to metaplot might not be happy with Aletheia as the backstory is a lot like a limited and constrained metaplot. Forewarned is forearmed.
I like that Aletheia focuses on investigation and discovery rather than combat and fisticuffs. I do think that some of the investigation mechanics are a bit too focused on revealing clues through rolling the correct number of successes. Time will tell if that process is too simplistic or simply facilitates discovery by the PCs.
I have a hard time figuring out if this would be a good entry-level game. On one hand, the responsibilities on the players are pretty minimal, especially at the beginning of play. On the other hand, I think to run Aletheia right you should have a damned good GM. So, it’s a toss up. To the game's credit, there is A LOT of GM advice, support, resources and suggestions thorughout the book.
Is it a game for everyone? No. This is a game for the types of gamers that like a good challenge, and an even better mystery. This is also a good game for people that like to get into the metaphysics of the universe. There is a lot to discover and ponder in Aletheia, and those players who like to delve into philosophy, quantum theory (as applied to rpgs) or mystical thought will be right at home with Aletheia.
Aletheia is a very good game. Its well written, has a great premise, includes solid art, is rife with story ideas, and presents a refreshingly different style of gameplay.
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