Nine Worlds (Playtest)

This review examines the playtest rules for Nine Worlds: The Game of Cosmic Myth from independent Chimera Creative. Written by ardent role-player and game author Matt Snyder Nine Worlds is a rich and vibrant game concept firmly rooted in Greco-Roman mythology cast from the foundry of classical philosophy whose shadow reaches into the garden of Gnostic mythos. The playtest rules, while complete, are also very much a work in progress with updates to fix errata and other errors released, as playtesters report perceived problems and revisions to the text are deemed necessary. There is a planned commercial release of the game soon to be forthcoming.

And what will the full commercial release have to offer? From the author: “The final edition will also have an expanded introduction (sic), slightly revised rules and character creation, and a useful chapter on how to run and play the game -- a kind of GM (and players, too) primer for this slightly unusual game.”

Please Note: All quotations referring to the “author” (quotes in italic like the one above) presented herein originate from personal e-mail correspondence between this reviewer and Chimera Creative’s design guru, Matt Snyder, and are used with permission.

With a focus placed squarely upon narrative game play and a setting that is something of a throwback to that old world cosmologic design found in Spelljammer or Space: 1889 with intricate metaplot ala Lords of Creation or Paranoia cross pollinated with the edgy nuances of a film noir thriller Nine Worlds just might offer a distinctive role-playing experience. When the promising concepts outlined in the playtest edition are fully developed Nine Worlds will offer an environment that simulates a miniverse in which Aetherships sail between the titular nine worlds of the game universe.

The Setting: As outlined in the game introduction Nine Worlds is a game world where mortals go about their lives blind to the true nature of reality, it is a world veiled in illusion and adorned with mendacious masks. Enter Prometheus, that aged Titan of old, who pulls back the veil, ever so slightly, from the player characters eyes. Sounds familiar you say? Just a rip on The Matrix? Hardly.

The Game: Nine Worlds offers a intriguing campaign setting in which “players take on the role of Archons”, meaning they are “agents of the Demiurge”, which in short means they possess talents and abilities far beyond those of average mortals. In a way the idea harkens back to the goal orientation placed upon player characters in Avalon Hill’s classic Lords of Creation, for the players focus and goals are more or less similar in that Archons help shape, mould, and directly (or indirectly) influence events on a universal scale. Only without dice or pocket universes.

The System: Concept driven. No classes, archetypes, or stock templates. Uses a standard deck of playing cards for the core mechanic.

Character Creation: All characters start the game with two primary virtues, Arête and Hubris, and have 9 points to distribute between them. An additional 9 points are then distributed between the four Urges (Chaos, Cosmos, Metamorphosis, and Stasis) with a final 9 points for players to distribute between anywhere from 1 to 9 Muses (think Advantages/Disadvantages).

The Mechanics: Nine Worlds relies upon a card based conflict resolution system which, essentially, has players draw a number of cards from their deck equal to the numerical value of the associated skill or trait involved. Urges are associated with particular suits, and players may only choose to play against either Hubris or Arête. The goal is to match suit cards to appropriate traits, with face values being totaled to determine outcomes in conflict, highest numerical values indicating success. Thus a player has to not only draw for a numerical value greater than that of their opponent but also hope for properly matching suit cards, more or less. A very interesting mechanic that fit’s the established background well.

Nine Worlds’ setting presents many standard fantasy genre themes, though with a conceptual focus bordering on the abstract that may have a steep learning curve, especially for those used to game systems employing shopping lists of character classes employing standard genre based archetypes. Otherwise the PDF is neat, well put together, with edgy art, mostly black and white illustrations, in a style approaching gothic steam punk. The inclusion of a Lexicon is a major plus as is the portrayal of mythic characters, though some may find certain illustrations blur the line between ancient mythological imagery and modern religious imagery a bit uncomfortably. Sections tend to flow into each other with no strict delineation, then there are only 23 pages (24 if you count the color cover) so it’s not like hard chapter breaks are really needed. Furthermore Nine Worlds, taken at a glance, gives the impression the author is familiar with the Tarot and it’s basic associations. If not then the author is a natural for creating archetypal associations.

Any play test that comes with 4 pages of lexicon (that’s a fancy word for glossary) has got to peak your interest. I know it peaked mine. With illustrations inspired, according to the author himself, by Art Nouvaue artists like Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt you just know this isn’t going to be your run of the mill fantasy role-playing game. Indeed when asked what inspired him to write Nine Worlds Mr. Snyder responded: “My strongest inspiration was Michael Moorcock's novel Blood: A Southern Fantasy. I'm also, obviously, greatly influenced by Greek myth and philosophy in this game.” These are distinctive influences that shine on every page and in the artwork.

Illustrations are nice, but artwork is only fluff. A well-crafted game should be complete; it’s rules concise and easy to understand. That means it has to be playable “out of the box” with minimal set up and absolutely no need for the players or Game Master to have to work anything out, much less create patches to the rules to make them work. Does Nine Worlds live up to these basic requirements? Let’s find out…

Negatives: This is a playtest edition, which means the system is largely untried. On an aesthetic level the font size used may subject on-screen readers to eyestrain. Worse, the document is in double column, which means unless you print it out (which this reviewer assumes playtesters are going to do) reading it on-screen will be frustrating. Also every player is required to have their own standard deck of cards, not a really big issue, but that is something that should have been pointed out earlier in the rules. In fact I was so busy reading about the game that I didn’t realize it wasn’t until about 12 pages into the document that the actual rules started to be discussed. Even so, going back and glancing at that section, there is no way for a casual reader to tell what is needed of them. A minor qualm. But one that an actual reading the text dispels.

Positives: Nine Worlds is presented as fantasy but actually skirts the edges of supers role-playing, it is edgy and very conceptual, and alas it may not be to everyone‘s taste or liking. Also the author has stated implicitly: “There will be a limited print edition next summer for convention season. Any additional copies will be made available online.” Which means play testers who download the game between now and then could conceivably help shape the game; perhaps even create adjunct material for it. However the game mechanic used is one that you will definitely need to get together with friends to test out and see how it works in practice. But it looks sound, in fact it appears so amazingly simple and straightforward I‘d be surprised if it didn‘t work. So is the Nine Worlds playtest playable out of the box? There are some holes in the background that the lexicon hints at but the given rules don’t really go into, like information about the planets and aetherships, but yes, Nine Worlds is playable ‘out of the box’.

Suggested Target Audience: Lords and scholars, archaeologists and free thinkers, hardcore gamers and fans of mythological settings will find it hard to dislike the underlying concept of this game. In short the ideas behind this game should appeal to a wide, if perhaps eclectic, audience. Given the non-traditional approach the author has chosen for the game mechanics Nine Worlds may also be a good role-playing game to introduce to those who have not, or do not usually, play such games.

Future Development: When asked about the full version of the game currently in development the author had the following to say: “The rest of the game will be an extensive setting chapter, including history, people & places, and "how the world works" (things like how you leave earth, how time passes, what humanity generally believes, etc.).” A game designer thinking ahead to the needs of potential players and Game Masters, very nice, and also good to know there will be more explanatory text. A classy effort all around, well deserving of the highest marks for a playtest edition.

Further information about game designer Matt Snyder can be found at Chimera Creative while discussion about Nine Worlds: The Game of Cosmic Myth and related topics can be read at the official Chimera Creative Forum. The official URL where the freely available playtest version of the game, available as a 2 MB PDF file download, can be obtained is: http://www.chimera.info/nineworlds/. There are also PDF character sheets available in A4 and standard letter sizes. The unabridged version of this review (with more comments from the author) can be found here.

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