The game is assembled into two parts (with some appendices): one designed for players, containing the minimum needed for playing, and the second for gamemasters, with more insight into actually running it. This is a good idea in principle, although it might require some jumping back and forth to reach sections which will get used often (and, oddly, a section of character archetypes appears in the GM materials). There short pieces of fiction before each chapter, as well as a few pieces of artwork, mostly Catholic imagery. Snippets of thematic prayers appear throughout it as well, in the form of highlighted quotes doubling as artwork, and a lengthy abjuration forms the top and bottom margins (sources are identified on the frontispiece). All in all, it works well despite the absence of character art. There is no index or bookmark feature, which is almost pushing it for a document of its length.
Tabletop Adventures has created a unique ruleset, dubbed the "4-6-8 Dice System," for this game. It’s a fairly intuitive mechanic of rolling against a target number (or opposed roll) using whichever die a player has allocated to the relevant stat. Abilities are broken down into four such stats (Corpus, Mentis, Spiritus & Fidelis – body, mind, spirit and faith) that govern several skills and miracles. They can be rolled randomly or assigned via point buy. The latter allows a wide variety of character builds; for example, a brawler with a glass jaw might have a low Corpus, but if his Combat skill high and his player is rolling a d8, he'll rarely get cold-cocked. Incorrect Latin is used for two of the stats, but these authors are not the first to have made such a mistake.
The skills govern all aspects of play, from fighting of all stripes to social interaction. Each skill is given quite a bit of detail, offering suggestions for various uses, as well as specializations for Justiciars who are particularly adept with a skill. Some of these are quite cinematic: allowing a character to use a firearm without reloading for the length of the gunfight, pulling off amazing stunts in a vehicle, or proving an equation that has gone unsolved for decades. For a game that bills itself not to dwell on minutiae, it’s a nice touch.
Astute readers will have noticed two paragraphs up that "miracles" appear along with skills. As befitting the subject matter, each Attribute also has a number of holy powers that provide additional benefits to a character. These provide some supernatural pizazz for a variety of effects, from typical psychic and occult phenomena to religious devotions like faith healing and weather control. They get the same comprehensive treatment as other skills do, showing their applicability in a wide range of circumstances. There is a penalty (Fidelis or Corpus damage) for using too many miracles a day, which is odd given where they come from, although some limit had to be set.
Combat is done with a series of opposed skill rolls. One unusual feature of the system is that attacks always do one point of damage. With human Corpus stats being relatively low, this does not make for long fights, but plenty of players will be left wondering why a dagger is as damaging as a chainsaw. Weapons add small bonuses to rolls in certain circumstances, but again, only increase the chances of hitting as opposed to doing more damage. Armor works the same way, adding to a defender's roll, and other equipment isn't mentioned (although it would be easy to add).
Mechanically, the rest of the book includes a Terror check, for facing fearsome situations, and some basics about healing and character advancement (using the same principles as character generation). A short list of optional rules for varying power levels offers some challenges or benefits for campaign play (similar to those presented in Spycraft 2.0, although fewer in number). This works well with the section about campaign ideas, offering several variations on the monster-hunting theme, each with some ideas about character archetypes to consider.
A short essay about maintaining a fearful atmosphere in a game is followed by several appendices of the iconic characters featured in fiction and examples throughout the text, as well as foes for PCs to tackle. These include demons of many stripes, as well as "foreign" creatures like rakshasa and golems. Some of these beasts felt odd, given the emphasis on Catholic themes, but a monster is a monster.
I think the game does what it sets out to do; the authors stick to a pretty basic framework but cover it well. Folks looking for more depth in terms of setting will be disappointed, as there is next to no information about the patron organization. Similarly, those seeking to include other religious traditions may have to shoehorn them into the overly Catholic framework. But like the best horror games, the rules of Against the Darkness are unobtrusive. Anyone ignoring the quibbles I mention is left with a highly playable game ready to run after one read.
