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Review of Cartel & Orbitals Source Book
Blurb from the publisher: 'For we are many.
It is a solar system riven by discord, where man fights man despite the looming darkness and the threat of the Dark Symmetry and its instruments, the Dark Apostles and the Dark Legion. Corporations zealously usurp each other and leave humanity an easy target for the forces of dark and corruption. But there is still hope as one group stands up and waves the flag of unity among men. It is the last bastion capable of uniting the forces of mankind in full. These powerful men and women call themselves The Cartel.
History: Immerse yourself in the history and origins of The Cartel. Discover the past that sets the foundation for success against an impossible present.
Structure: Learn how this well-oiled machine that oversees corporations and the solar system is put together. See how this behemoth of juxtaposed voices delivers on the promise of a better future.
Freelancers: The freelancers walk the edge of the law, but without them the society of Mutant Chronicles would not work. Learn some of the secrets to the success of the Freelancing Independent Corporations’ Committee within The Cartel.
Underbelly: Even The Cartel has its seamy underside. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Behind the red tape, beneath the democratic votes and good intentions, something nefarious moves about.'
What you get: Your EUR 21,99 or USD 28,99 buys you the full-colour 100-page Cartel & Orbitals Source Book for Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Roleplaying Game in both softcover and pdf format. Those preferring the pdf version only can obtain it for EUR 11,99.
I understand that the book was initially published in a small print run as The Cartel Source Book. In fact, my physical copy of the book has the old title, while my pdf version has the new one. I am made to understand, after also cross-referencing some random pages, that apart from the title there has been no other change.
Contents: The Cartel & Orbitals Source Book is the second that covers one of the lesser entities of Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition, namely the organisation under the aegis of which the megacorporations cooperate, or pretend to. The Cartel existed as a concept in past iterations of Mutant Chronicles. Mutant Chronicles Warzone Resurrection, the current miniature game iteration of the franchise, does not particularly cover it however, nor am I aware of it ever getting such a comprehensive treatment in the past.
The book is broken into six chapters. The Introduction covers the creation of the Cartel, which grudgingly brought the megacorporations together around the same table. Think of it as something between the UN, the EU, the WTO and a federal administration of sorts in one. It is comprised of the five corporations' delegations, the High Council (the leading speakers of each delegation plus the Cartel's Speaker General) and the Security Council (the body that controls the famous Doomtroopers, amongst others). There are numerous offices and committees, like the Bureau of Internal Investigations (BII, fighting corruption), the Cartel Investigations Committee (CIC, fighting threats to humanity) or the Cartel Cooperation Committee (CCC, a trade overseer). As expected, each delegation is broken down into sections, six in number, namely the departments of trade, war, property, courts, administration and diplomacy. Four new Cartel-related careers (Cartel Investigator, Cosyltant, Lobyist, Bodyguard) and two new Iconic Careers (Siege Perilous Art User and Cartel Advisor) are explored. Behind the byzantine name of Siege Perilous lie people that have learnt to use the Art without Brotherhood interference. As such, they are relentlessly hunted and executed by the Brothers. The GM has a final say on whether he will allow a character like that in a given campaign.
The Freelancing Independent Corporations' Committee, or the FLIC, merits its own chapter. There are more corporations out there than the five big ones that hog the spotlight, and even though they cannot much the behemoths, they are intriguing and mighty in their own way. These vary from the family-owned Ashe to Takasha Electronics (the only corporation to grow out of a criminal enterprise). Each of these corporations gets a healthy write-up relating to its activities, its corporate culture, its siege and a person of interest. Rules are provided for allies and assistants, as well as for property acquisition. Stat blocks are also given for broad categories of people like technical experts and security guards.
The Rot is the chapter dealing with the sort of corporate corruption that is expected to be found in organizations like the Cartel. There are numerous conspiracies like the New Solar Order (that seeks to unify humanity under one banner and control the corporations), Juniper (which wishes to dissolve them in favour of anarchy) and the Foundry (which fights the war against the Dark Legion unfettered by laws and regulations). We meet Siege Perilous and its agents again (I am not giving their premise away, it's too much fun), as well as Penumbra, the invisible umbrella under which many heretics operate. Each of these conspiracies gets two full pages with write-ups on important people, ideology, history etc. In addition to conspiracies however there are also the good old-fashioned crime syndicates, like the Pan-Corp, the Rift Pirates or Globus, which is controlled by [redacted; again, too much fun]. A few pages are devoted to equipment, from weaponry to vehicles to whatever have you.
Orbitals & Free Chapters relates to the territories that do not belong to either the corporations or The Brotherhood. Amongst many others we find Utopia, the planned community in orbit around Phobos, The Great World, the big casino satellite above Venus, and the Walled City of Luna which is neither walled nor a city, but which falls outside the jurisdiction of the Luna PD. The write-ups on each of these entities are thick enough for them to be almost instantly usable, at least as adventure seeds and rumours.
The last chapter in the book is Morituri, a 20-page historical adventure that takes place in 1 YC and covers the creation of the Doomtroopers, the soldiers that the Cartel fields against the Dark Legion. This sourcebook contains only the first part of the adventure. The second part is to be published elsewhere.
The source book closes with a rich, two-page index. And seeing how I did not mention it earlier, the book is sprinkled with five NPCs from all walks of life, including Brother Antonius, a Doomtrooper Mystic. I vehemently deny any involvement in the writing of this book, even though I am thoroughly pleased that my (Latin) name is used for this support character. Funny how its Mental Strength is 14, as much as a game reviewer needs. The book is also thoroughly sprinkled with adventure seeds; looking at the boxed texts only and not the flow of text, I count fifteen of them.
The strong points: Anybody who has worked in big administration (e.g. federal or military) or an international organisation will have a blast with this book. It is effectively the closest an RPG supplement can get to a bluffer's guide to political organisations. Everything one reads in the sensational press (and not only) about bureaucracy, corruption and nepotism is here, as is the conviction of the people who form it that without them and the reigns they put over the corporations, the world would have been reduced to smouldering ashes. There is a heavy amount of truth in that, both in the real world as well as the Mutant Chronicles universe; that's what makes the Cartel intriguing.
The present sourcebook is different to others in that it does not provide character creation guidelines; one will follow the basic rulebook. What it does provide is a door to a very different style of campaigning. Its pages can are but a glimpse to the intrigues and scheming that takes place within the corridors of power, and which see enemies cooperating and allies from the same corporation stabbing each other in the back. Even though it does not reveal as many major truths about the Mutant Chronicles universe as the Cybertronic Source Book, it contains an enormous wealth of material and spices up the sometimes monolithic corporation-based outlook of the setting. In that sense, it is one of the first books that I'd buy, were I a GM with a limited budget. The ideas are not just solid and possible, they are entertaining. The Rift Pirates use the Rifts towards piracy, slowly giving up their sanity in the process. The Utopia Orbital is in the course of socially breaking up due to a difference of interpreting its initial edicts. Trishula uses a strong caste system that would make Mishima look like a libertarian paradise. Couple all these adventure opportunities with clever writing and some in-jokes (like the naming conventions that are used), and you know you have a solid book in front of you.
I keep on commending the balance between crunch and fluff. I will do it once again here. Actually, this is probably the book with the most adventure hooks that can appeal to a varied selection of characters irrespective of corporation. Those who enjoy conspiracy, diplomacy and politics over heavily violent campaigns will have a field day.
Like with other books, the writing is neutral towards the organizations it depicts. Their values and virtues are extoled, even though I keep sensing a vibe of underappreciation towards the Cartel. I am surely not the only one seeing the possibilities that an all-inclusive Cartel campaign would hold, with the heroes acting, for example, towards attaining the interests of humanity and acting against even their own corporations. One would get to be the good guy, while being universally perceived as the bad guy, and even persecuted about it. What fun! The book however is not limited to the Cartel. Even though a couple of pages per major conspiracy cannot give a full recount of what it is about, they can easily give a starting point for you to ponder upon.
The Icon begins from a premise I thoroughly enjoy: that the historical events of the past are not just something that the players can learn about, they are adventures that can be played. As is, it is the biggest of the adventures included in the Source Books, and provides an effective framework for the GM to built upon.
Physically speaking, the book is as pretty as soft-covers get, full of colour and gloss. Even though the art does not come from the same artist or in a single style only, it is both fitting and convincing. There is certain goofiness at times, this is however inherent of the game line, not a result of poor artistry. I am not sure what the logo of the cartel represents, but I like it. Why isn’t there an explanation about what it means?
As in the main rulebook, the fonts are rather small and the amount of text in the book substantially more than you would have expected. The margins are small, much smaller than the competition; the price to content ratio is once again very high, seeing how there is no wasted space. There are no blocks of text. The chapters and subchapters give a nice, smooth flow to the whole thing.
The pdf is an exercise in perfection, and in line with Modiphius’ releases in the main rulebook as well as other RPGs like Dust Adventures. Everything is right where you expect it to be, including bookmarks for every single chapter and sub-chapter. The art is kind of brighter; I presume the excellent quality of the printed version’s gloss paper has something to do with it.
The weak points: Cartel & Orbitals doesn't have a clear idea on whether it wants to reveal information or not, an indecisiveness that is annoying at times. Siege Perilous is a fantastic example of a faction that gets the fully revealing treatment, something that will delight GMs. The New Solar Order gets exactly the opposite: 'maybes', 'ifs', 'so the rumours go'. I was not happy with this on the Whitestar Source Book, and I am not happy now. Answers make a setting flourish, improve suspension of disbelief and help the GM to accurately portray the world from the get-go. This here, doesn't.
Crunch-wise, we get a bit more information than we did in other sourcebooks, yet the net result is still not optimal. Practical information is still missing, e.g. how big is the Cartel? The UN, as a point of comparison, has 44.000 employees. How entrenched is each conspiracy, according to canon? It's one thing to have a million conspirators, and another to have two or three conspirators that move another million employees against their own knowledge. As a GM, I feel I have quite some work in front of me to make things roll smoothly.
The adventure is a framework; nothing more. The GM will have a lot of work to do in order for it to work. Simple example: the players must convince three people to join the Doomtroopers. These are located in perilous areas, from unreachable monasteries to prisons on asteroids or inside warzones. Yet, there is no single map around, even hinting at how hard or easy the endeavour would be. One can only surmise that through the text. If you don’t want the adventure to be remembered as a balloon fart, you will have to design these maps, write adrenaline-pumping descriptions and make them as convincing and hazardous as the adventure suggests they are. Effectively, I am kind of troubled by the whole approach of the present sourcebook series towards what is an adventure. In my mind, an adventure should contain pretty much everything, boxed texts included, so that the GM plays with the flow, the style and the rhythm, unburdened by the crunch. Up to now however, what is provided tilts mostly towards frameworks and nothing else. If I am expected to do the chore that GMs usually want to avoid, what is the adventure’s added value?
This is the sourcebook with the smallest page count, some 25% below the 130 pages of content of the Bauhaus Source Book. I really wish it were bigger. At the end of the day, and irrespective of first impressions, there is an awful lot of things going on in the Mutant Chronicles universe that do not relate to the megacorps, the Dark Legion or the Brotherhood and which could have found a home here. The External Affairs chapter is sorely missed. I cannot buy the argument that most of the remaining corporation sourcebooks include it, so one can indirectly obtain info about the Cartel. I would expect the one referring to the Cartel to relate to more apocryphal information that is only shared in the corridors of power, future bills that will be submitted, existing and draft agreements that might or might not get implemented, and so on and so forth. When seen under that prism, this is a missed opportunity for a fully political campaign.
There are a few typos here and there, but all in all, nothing serious. On some good news, there was no printer mix-up in the first printing of the sourcebook and the cover came out always as glossy, irrespective of the title that was used. Maybe I have a sort of a collector's item here with my shiny The Cartel Source Book, instead of an equally shiny Cartel & Orbitals Source Book?
Just like the main rulebook, there is no colour coding in the margins to find things more easily. The title number and mention at the bottom of each page is unfortunately not enough, even though the book is smallish. After a couple of source books, it is now evident that this impractical format is followed throughout the game line.
Conclusion: The Cartel or Cartel & Orbitals is a fresh view of the war-torn 35th or so century. Out with the Corporations and the supernatural evil, in with the independents and the bureaucracy. If you want to spice your steaks, add independent actors, engage yourselves in political and diplomatic conspiracies or enact your bureaucratic fantasies, you can buy this book and fill in form 112-32-BX/2016. When you leave the area designated for the public, you can even purchase the collector’s Cartel Bag.
For more info on the Cartel & Orbitals Source Book and the Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Techno Fantasy Roleplaying Game visit the Modiphius Entertainment website at http://www.modiphius.com.
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