Review of The NeXus Files

This book is the: “twice-weekly roleplaying habit in a column [Jonny Nexus] wrote for Mongoose Publishing's Signs & Portents magazine. Part travelogue, part guide, part manual, and part manifesto” according to its description and that is exactly what it is. Written by the same individual who wrote Slayers’ Guide to Game Masters – thus fair warning hilarity will ensue upon purchase.

I had not read the original S&P articles, so I approached this with some trepidation as many of the articles, in S&P, I merely skim as I do hate reading PDFs and never did get the original dead tree. But, as a self-professed RPG junkie (those of you in the audience can say “Aye” in agreement), I love to read things like histories of the hobby or Game Designers Notes to get insight into the thought processes behind the game. So, if you are the same, chances are you are going to like The Nexus Files . This is irreverent look at our treasured game experiences (or more accurately Nexus and his group) through the eyes of an insider. All too often game narratives end up like the standard – New to Role Playing intro pieces that dominate all of the introductions to our favorite games. What Nexus does is recast some of these and taking away the screenwriter prose and tells a story – like gamers do to fellow gamers and keep it amusing and entertaining at the same time.

There is a lyricism to his writing style, so even when reading game systems that I am not fond of (D20 but that’s just me). I remain engaged and as he not excessively bogged down in mechanics and his wit transcend any barriers or prejudices. While the game he engages in are quite limited (D&D, Twilight 2000, Dark Conspiracy, Call of Cthulhu, and couple of Superhero games) the experience is universal – so that the reader is immediately set up. It is somewhat important to read these essays in chronological order, as there is a method to his madness – which is the manifesto portion – it is design better games and for people to play better. Very little of the material is a review of the actual game other than some of the common gripes with the product – that anyone who has engaged in playing said games is all too familiar with. These gripes are in the form of playful swipes – save when he is enrolled to play F.A.T.A.L. which as anyone knows the hobby is possibly the worst RPG ever written. However, the way he writes about the experience, it does almost (read: almost) want to try it. For he describes it as what character actually feels when SAN loss happens in Call of Cthulhu – having played many bad games in my time (ranging from Pantastic Phantasmagorical Monty Haul Dungeon to a very debouched form of Champions played with all the adolescent fervor of any teenage boy when confronted with women who could barely fit into their costumes). I particularly enjoyed reading about his Call of Cthulhu games, as clearly this game of investigative horror usually has a serious side that dissuades most players Nexus shows – it need not be so…whilst still achieving the results even if one does get side tracked slightly by this game that is pretty close to real life. One of the essays provides the succinct analysis and reasons how Molotov cocktails could exist in a Classic (1920s) Call of Cthulhu game before they were invented (and, no, it has nothing to do do with time paradoxes and the Great Race of Yith). Also, the gem was reading Twilight 2000 accounts, for that is a game that I knew quite a bit about but never got around to playing (and probably never will as my home town is not a Twilight sort of place). Plus, from what I read about in Nexus’ accounts, it is very sandbox and if he suffers from being session amnesiac as a player, I am a rules amnesiac or “fly-by-the-seats of your pants” Game Master just adopting what rules suit me, so long as they follow a rudimentary logic and everyone is having fun. So, the complication of the Twilight rules would probably land me in trouble with Twilight veteran players…and I try not to argue with ex-military types…having seen Rambo too many times.

So, if you do like digressions, tangents and monologues about the state of play – then you should pick up this volume. It is partially a satire but also has gems in the rough that would certainly improve anyone’s game. It is lyrical and mocking in its tone. But, it is just a series of articles strewn together with very nice footnotes (read: the footnotes – they are important). Nexus also sets up the piece giving you some background to what he was doing/thinking when he wrote the piece – this is extra piece of value for people who may already have all the articles. Is it worth its price tag? Yes, I would say so, if you are like me are a RPG junkie but if you new or newish to the hobby maybe take a pass on this one until you have accumulated more stories than this one (overheard at a local con):

“So, I rolled a natural 20. Then the DM said that the baddie was going to take 20, and then I rolled another 20. So it allowed me to Fast Talk my way past the security guard. And, Man, I am glad that role playing moment went so well…”

Oh yes, one last thing, it does contain a lot of Britishisms like many of the Mongoose Products or Cubicle 7 games. So, if you are familiar with British slang better hone up before buying this one. I wouldn’t say that it renders it unreadable but there are contexts and sub contexts that are specifically British (so fluency in that dialect of the English language is required). This extends beyond the Monty Python stuff. It also can get raunchy in parts, so if you are particularly hesitant about such matters be advised about this product.

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