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Review of Nemesis: The Grey Sourcebook
Any conspiracy-theory enthusiast will be familiar with stories of 'Greys': short aliens with dark, almond-shaped eyes and grey skin. The information presented in the main Conspiracy X rulebook was a little lacking in detail, and Nemesis does very well to remedy the situation. It starts with details on the background and origins of the Greys as a race, and the information presented is both well written and interesting. It is always a test of an RPG that attempts to explain things like aliens and the supernatural to see whether it can do so without simply regurgitating familiar, and often boring ideas. (White Wolf does this very well with their popular World of Darkness Series). I am glad to say that Nemesis passes this test. In fact, the way in which Rolo Tomassi manages to explain what we already 'know' about Greys while keeping them in line with the rest of the game is possibly the best aspect of this supplement.
Nemesis gives great insights into the Greys' reasons for their presence on earth, as well as what they actually do now that they're here. Their dubious connections with the Black Book are also detailed. There are also extensive sections on the Greys' phenomenal psychic abilities, their psychotronic devices, and their spacecraft. To add an unexpected dimension, Nemesis describes the sinister Grey-human hybrids (meta-humans) and even dolphin-human hybrids! (blues) Finally, there is a complete adventure in the back. For a relatively small book, Nemesis contains a lot of information, and little of it is the verbose space-filler that is often found in supplements of this kind.
So how useful is all this information? The simple answer is "For GMs, very useful indeed". The sections on Grey psychic powers, including three disciplines not contained in the main rulebook, as well as the information on their psychic lens technology provides GMs with the hard factual details which make the Greys unpredictable and often very dangerous adversaries for Aegis agents. The sections on Grey history, as well as making interesting reading, serve to explain the Greys' motives and thus how they can be used in a campaign or mission.
From a production point of view, Nemesis is also of an excellent quality. Layout and presentation is good and easy to read, and there are almost no spelling or grammar mistakes. The book is divided into chapters and sections that progress in a logical fashion, making searching for particular information a breeze. The artwork is very good, particularly the cover illustration by Mbogo Tonaga. Inside, the art is all high quality, and of a superior overall standard than the main rulebook.
Nemesis is not without problems, however. Firstly, although it is exclusively a GM sourcebook, it does contain a section on creating Meta-human and Blue characters. A strong element in Conspiracy X is the investigative side as the players try to discover what the real conspiracies are. Allowing these PC's has the danger of handing them half the story on a plate, as they know more about the Greys than the usual Aegis operative. It seemed to me like the section was contained as a means of satisfying players as well as GMs who bought the book. In my opinion they shouldn't have bothered as 90 per cent of the material is only of any use to GM's anyway. Why not just own up to it being a GM sourcebook and forget the player stuff?
Second, Nemesis does not contain much that allows a GM to put players straight where the action is, as far as Greys are concerned. It has much more of a "here's the information, now you go and work out how to use it" approach. It would have been nice to see some specific Grey operations described, with details on who runs them, how many, where etc. This is not a big problem as there is enough information to easily allow a GM with a little creativity to create his own, but a little work is required.
Lastly, there is the pre-written adventure. Unfortunately the quality of this adventure does not live up to the expectations built up by the rest of the book. The mission claims to introduce the players to the Grey presence and show them the extent to which they have influence over society. I must say that it does in no way live up to this sweeping statement, instead providing players with an unimaginative mission that relies a lot on random chance and, aside from a few encounters, may as well not contain any Greys at all. The story behind the adventure is good, but it does not allow the characters a chance to discover it, thus leaving the players unsatisfied. Only the GM will ever really know what is happening, no matter what the characters do. I expected much more of what was in the rest of the book to appear in the adventure. I was disappointed.
On the plus side, it does provide some stats for Black Book operatives which are useful and sadly omitted from the main rulebook as well as a nice take-out map which would provide a useful prop for a mission of the GM's devising
In conclusion, Nemesis is a high-quality supplement that is all but vital in using Greys to their full potential in Conspiracy X campaigns. Even if Greys are not your focus, there is some information on how the Black Book has reacted to the Greys, as well as some interesting new psychic stuff (full psychic rules are covered in another supplement -- Shadows of the Mind). Do not let its few problems discourage you; this is a very solid and well-written supplement for one of the best modern RPGs.
Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
