PYR MID

TM

For over ten years, Pyramid has brought readers the Best In
Gaming. It may surprise those of you who know Pyramid
only as an online magazine (www.sjgames.com/pyramid/)
that this Origins-Award-winning magazine got its start as
a paper publication. And now, thanks to e23, back issues
from 1993-1998, featuring industry news, articles,
reviews, columns – and Murphy’s Rules! – are
available for you to enjoy for the first time . . . or all
over again!

NOTE: Because of the occasional corrupted page or

missed file in the archiving process, as well as a number
of ads that were never built as electronic files, some of
the pages in this PDF are scanned in from our paper
archives. But every page we could recover from
electronic files, we did. This issue of Pyramid is
otherwise exactly as it was originally published.
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Stock #82-2027 Version 1.0 June 22, 2004
PYR MID
®

Number 27 September/October ’97 ®

$4.95

HEAVY
GEAR
C OMPUTER G AME

This issue contains

support for
®
GURPS ,
In Nomine™ and
®
INWO
Plus:
Adventure Pizza,
Murphy’s Rules,
Industry News,
Pyramid Picks
and Bruno!
0 80742 08827 6
PYR MID
Issue Number 27
®
September/October 1997

CONTENTS
Time to Break Out the . . . Heavy Gear
Activision has taken the fighting robot computer game to the
next level, with the help of Dream Pod 9 and their Heavy Gear
roleplaying game. We’ve got a Q&A with the designers and a
first look at this hot new computer game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Warrior Monks
Salvatore Falco takes a look at two of the greatest forces in
medieval history, the Knights Templar and the Knights
Hospitaller, and has lots of suggestions for incorporating them
into your fantasy roleplaying campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Alien Invasion
Activision brings
Scott Tengelin has a solitaire variant for Illuminati: New World
Order that works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Dream Pod 9’s
Heavy Gear role-
playing game to

Prince Frog digital life in their

latest computer
A short adventure for GURPS or any other fantasy roleplaying
campaign, also by Scott Tengelin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 game offering.

PYRapicks
MID
A look at the Best in Gaming; or,
“Gee, Why Didn’t We Do That?”

Archangel’s Extreme Vengeance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Decipher’s Star Wars and Star Trek First Anthologies . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Games Workshop’s Warhammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Digital Pictures’ Corpse Killer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Archon Games’ noir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Dreamsville Publishing’s Pain Doctors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Simtac’s White Star/Blue Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

2 Pyramid Magazine
 Editor
Scott Haring

Assistant Editor
Gene Seabolt

Production Staff
Richard Meaden
Gene Seabolt
A Song for the Dead 4 Cover Art
Matthew Grau wraps up the contest for the courtesy Activision
Word of Consolation to the Bereaved for any
IN Nomine campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Interior Art
Steve Bryant
Eric Hotz
Alex Sheikman
Dan Smith

Through a Movie Camera, Darkly Art Director

Jeff Koke and S. John Ross, designers of Carol Burrell
GURPS Black Ops, tell all before the Security
operatives find them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Print Buying
Monica Stephens

Sales Manager
Woody Eblom
More Advertising Director

Power! Scott Haring

Circulation Manager
Harness the power of Eric Kunze
natural phenomena to
Publisher
drive great magics. Steve Jackson
Fred Wolke tells how
Pyramid (ISSN 1070-0579) is published
in the GURPS bimonthly by Steve Jackson Games
magic
system. . . . 55 Incorporated, PO Box 18957, Austin, TX
78760. AADA, Autoduel, Car Wars, Dino
Hunt, GURPS, Illuminati, INWO, Ogre,
Pyramid, Roleplayer, Steve Jackson Games,
Toon, the all-seeing eye are registered
trademarks and Supers, Illuminati: New
World Order, In Nomine and Creatures of
the Night are trademarks of Steve Jackson
Games Incorporated. Other product names
mentioned herein are trademarks of Steve
Jackson Games Incorporated or their
respective publishers.
Subscriptions are $29.70 per year ($57 for
two years) in the United States; add
Regular Features $10/year for Canada/Mexico, $20/year for
overseas. Send subscription orders to:
Upcoming Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Pyramid Magazine Subscriptions, PO Box
SJ Games News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 18957, Austin, TX 78760 USA.
We’re Reading Your Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Second Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Copyright © 1997 by Steve Jackson
Industry News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Printed in the USA.
In Nomine Errata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Terra Incognita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Visit us on the web:
Adventure Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 www.sjgames.com/pyramid/
AADA News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Ooops!
Bruno! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Brian Despain contributed to the inte-
rior art in Pyramid #26.
Murphy’s Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Convention Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Index of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Pyramid Magazine 3
 upcoming
releases
October Fistandantilus Reborn (Dragonlance Classic
Risorgimento, in Strategy & Tactics #187, novel) (#8384) $5.99.
$19.95. Four from Cormyr, for Forgotten Realms
AD&D (#9531) $20.00.
FASA Last Tower, for Dragonlance: Fifth Age SAGA,
September (#1149) $20.00.
Clockwork Asylum (Shadowrun novel) Lord of the Necropolis (Ravenloft novel)
(#5631) $5.99. (#8073) $5.99.
Rigger 2, for Shadowrun (#7906) $18.00. Marvel Super Dice (#6920) $14.95.
October Night of the Shark, for Monstrous Arcana
Note to all game publishers: We very much Cyberpirates, for Shadowrun (#7124) $18.00. AD&D (#9550) $9.95.
want Upcoming Releases to be a comprehen- The Hunters (BattleTech novel) (#5637) The Simbul’s Gift (Forgotten Realms novel)
sive guide for publishers, retailers and gamers $5.99. (#8581) $5.99.
alike. We can (and do) gather this information Northwind Highlanders, for BattleTech
from all sources. But our deadlines require a (#1702) $12.00. WEST END GAMES
long lead time (the deadline for this issue was September
July 11), and we can’t provide this service to HOLISTIC DESIGN Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear, for
gamers and retailers unless we get some help. If October Star Wars (#40158) $17.00.
you want your products in this listing, you have The Redemption Epic, Part 1, for Fading Gamemonster Guide, for Tales from the Crypt
to send it to us! To be in Pyramid’s Upcoming Suns (#230) $12.00 (#28008) $18.00.
Releases, contact Scott Haring at 512-447- The Rebel SpecForce Handbook, for Star
7866, fax your press releases to 512-447-1144, PINNACLE ENTERTAINMENT Wars (#40113) $18.00.
or mail them to Pyramid Upcoming Releases, September October
c/o SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Rascals, Varmints & Critters, for Deadlands Alien Recognition Guide, Volume One, for
Pyramid is not responsible for schedule (#1006) $20.00. Men In Black (#35002) $18.00.
changes by publishers. Movie Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition,
STEVE JACKSON GAMES for Star Wars (#40809) $28.00.
ARCHANGEL ENTERTAINMENT September Player’s Guide to Tapani, for Star Wars
September The Angelic Player’s Guide, for In Nomine (#40155) $10.00.
A Little Bit of Art (Fred Fields Artography) (#3307) ($17.95.
(#4010) $20.00. GURPS Black Ops (#6081) $17.95. WHITE WOLF
The Outer Void, for Zero (#2030) $18.00. Heaven & Hell, for In Nomine (#3306) September
October $17.95. Book of Lost Dreams, for Changeling (#7302)
Dangerous Deliveries, for Quick-It (#5008) INWO SubGenius (#1616) $16.95. $15.00.
$5.00. October The Essential World of Darkness (fiction
Hack & Slash, for Quick-It (#5007) $5.00. Fall of the Malakim, for In Nomine (#3308) anthology) (#WW11080) $15.99.
Law & Disorder, for Quick-It (#5006) $5.00. $17.95. Frontier Secrets, for Werewolf: The Wild West
Mech Blasters, for Quick-It (#5009) $5.00. GURPS Bio-Tech (#6524) $18.95. (#3701) $15.00.
Libellius Sanguinis I: Masters of the State,
CHAMELEON ECLECTIC TSR for Vampire: The Dark Ages, (#2807) $15.00.
September September Mediums: Speakers with the Dead, for
Solitary Confinement, for Psychosis (#021- Castle Spulzeer, for Forgotten Realms AD&D Wraith (#6102) $15.00.
200) $TBA. (#9544) $13.95. Technocracy: Syndicate, for Mage (#4206)
Ultramodern Firearms, for Millenium’s End Council of Blades (Forgotten Realms novel) $10.00.
(#012-001) $TBA. (#8564) $5.99. October
October Dragon Dice Kicker Pack #6: Frostwings Cities of Darkness, Vol. 2, for Vampire
BlackEagle/BlackEagle Operatives Kit v2.0, (#1507) $6.95. (#2623) $20.00.
for Millenium’s End (#012-008) $TBA. The Forgotten Terror, for Ravenloft AD&D The Devil’s Advocate (Vampire novel)
Game Resource Kit, for The Babylon Project (#9537) $13.95. (#WW11081) $5.99.
(#051-002) $TBA. The Great Modron March, for Planescape Elric: Song of the Black Sword (Elric novel)
The Medellin Agent, for Millenium’s End AD&D (#2628) $24.95. (#WW12521) $14.99.
(#012-005) $TBA. Of Ships and the Sea, for AD&D (#2170) Guildbook: Puppeteers and Pardoners, for
$19.95. Wraith (#6304) $18.00.
CHAOSIUM The Wayward Knights (Dragonlance Classic Kithbook: Knockers, for Changeling (#7052)
September novel) (#8383) $5.99. $12.00.
The Boy King (#121-2) $20.95. Wizard’s Spell Compendium, Vol. 2, for Transylvania by Night, for Vampire: The
Corum (#079-8) $21.95. AD&D (#2168) $24.95. Dark Ages (#2808) $18.00.
October Vampire: The Masquerade
DECISION GAMES The Book of Priestcraft, for Birthright AD&D CD-ROM (#TBA) $49.99.
September (#3126) $19.95. World of Darkness: Sorcerer,
Over the Top!, in Strategy & Tactics #186, Dead Gods, for Planescape AD&D (#2631) for Mage (#4010) $16.00.
$19.95. $29.95.

4 Pyramid Magazine
 GURPS Champion? Cherchez La Femme
These days, women are gaming in increasing numbers,
and there are more gaming couples, and even families. The
first annual World GURPS Championship, held at
DexCon this summer in New Jersey, illustrated as much. Of
the four final-round competitors, three were women
(including Becca Badurina, the current GURPS World
Champion, and Karen Arnold, the first runner-up). The
remaining two champions also happened to be a couple.
Each finalist advanced through two previous single-elimi-
nation rounds; victory was determined by election on the
part of the GM and players, based on roleplaying skill. This
meant that the couple didn't get to roleplay together until
the main event.
Six years ago, Robert Schroeck (GURPS Camelot,
GURPS IST, GURPS Robin Hood and others) engineered
the first GURPS Multigenre Tournament at DexCon 1.
The tournament was designed to show off the flexibility of
GURPS while attracting new players and amusing old pros.
Every year, he and his wife, Peggy, have assembled a new
tournament, featuring stranger and stranger combinations
of adventure settings and characters. This year, the
Multigenre Tourney was sanctioned as the official GURPS
World Championship, with Steve Jackson attending.
The event featured Grey aliens, 1930s gangsters, intelli-
gent rats and NASA “black money” astronauts adventuring
first in their “home” genres, then in increasingly confusing
combinations. S. John Ross, GURPS Warehouse 23 author
and (with Bob Schroeck) plot-engineer for the tournament
itself, GMed the final event.
A Magical Medley
Medicine man, biomancer, magician, monk, sorcerer,
or occultist: A Magical Medley has something for
everyone! For use with FUDGE and other role-playing
games, this magic supplement contains:
African Spirit Magic • Bioenergetics
Celtic Magic • Chinese Magic
The Gramarye • Occultism
Plus: Designing your own magic system; using
FUDGE magics with other rpgs (including GURPS®
Magic); magic items; a magic-rich fantasy adventure;
and adventure seeds for a variety of campaigns.
A Magical Medley $19.95
(GURPS® is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, Inc.)
P.O. Box 838
Randolph, MA 02368
ghostgames@aol.com
Pyramid Magazine
Warehouse 23 Online
The World Wide Web version of the Warehouse 23
“reach into a box” feature has grown to more than 1,300
items, and more weird illuminated stuff is added all the
time. Visitors can submit new items to the warehouse, too,
and watch for Warehouse 23 advertising (some real, some
perhaps real . . .) coming to our web site soon. The URL
for the warehouse is www.sjgames.com/warehouse23/.
Less Illuminated, Still Nifty, Stuff
For original Dan Smith artwork, historic games and
more, check out the Steve Jackson Games auction at
www.sjgames.com/auction/. Some recent sales include the
Plaintiff’s Exhibit P-1 of the GURPS Basic Set, which was
SJG’s first exhibit during the Secret Service trial; complete
sets of INWO Assassins, and GURPS Uplift No. 1, signed
by Steve Jackson, author Stefan Jones and David Brin.
New List for New Products
Steve Jackson Games has unveiled a new products mail-
ing list, which people can subscribe to by sending e-mail to
majordomo@pyramid.sjgames.com with the message “sub-
scribe newproducts.” This list is for announcements of
when new SJG products have gone out the door. We also
announce certain special things here, such as our recent
marketing poll to find out which new (and reprinted)
GURPS books people want to see.
Also Available
FUDGE: Customizable Role-Playing Game, game
designer’s construction kit. $12.00 for the book; or
download the text files, free, from our web site!
Gatecrasher 2nd Edition: Lighthearted science
fantasy game, using the FUDGE rules in a universe
where anything can happen — and often does!
$18.95.
Believe it or Else! Adventure supplement for
Gatecrasher 1st Edition, with conversion tips. $12.95.
FUDGE Dice: Plus/Minus/Neutral dice. GM’s pack
(20 dice) $10.00. Player’s pack (4 dice) $2.25.
Ask your retailer to carry Grey Ghost™ Games! Or
send check or money order (add $3 shipping) to
Grey Ghost Press, Inc., at the address below.
Visit Our Web Site!
You’ll find ready-to-run FUDGE adventures, extra
goodies for all our products, and more! All at:
http://members.aol.com/ghostgames
5
 Finally sat down with the Pyramid #25 and enjoyed it as
always – but I’m less than thrilled with a couple of your
reviews.
1. On the one hand, I’m glad that someone who isn’t a
Babylon 5 fan can understand and enjoy The Babylon
Project. That’s an important thing to know. On the other
hand, perhaps someone could break the news to reviewer
Gene Seabolt that the background history, attention to sto-
rytelling and emphasis on character that he apparently liked
about the game is exactly what has made the show a cult
favorite among science-fiction fans?
I’m glad Seabolt liked the game – but I think he needs to
open his mind a bit about the show it’s based on.
2. The half of the Charnel Houses of Europe review that
was devoted to talking about its considerable merits (I think
it’s a great sourcebook, myself) was interesting. The half
where Matthew D. Grau vigorously defended the game
against those who’ll be offended by it was tedious and
frankly unnecessary. I’ve had this supplement on my shelves
for months – it’s sold pretty well, and lots of people have at
least looked at it. Not one of them was even remotely
offended by the subject matter. Perhaps Grau went just the
teensiest bit overboard?
— Chris Aylott, Owner, The Space-Crime Continuum
Scott,
I feel slightly maligned by your last editorial. Specifically
your inclusion of Feng Shui in games that haven’t had
releases in a very long time and an inference that Daedalus
is going under. Including it in a list of RPGs that haven’t
been supported in a year or more is unfair, a four-month
gap is hardly unusual. I feel that it would have been in
keeping with good journalistic practices for you to have
contacted Daedalus to check the current status of the Feng
Shui line before making such a statement. After all, it isn’t
that unusual in our industry for an RPG line to have a four-
or five-month bald spot between releases, hardly a cause for
alarm.
And in this time of industry turmoil spreading rumors
about the stability of your peers doesn’t do anyone any
good. I for one have heard damaging rumors about all
kinds of companies, including the one you work for. In any
case, I nor any other Daedalus staffer passes such rumors
on. We don’t wish to add to the troubles of any companies
that are struggling. Everyone has enough problems to
worry about without hurtful rumors.
For your information, here are the facts: Thorns of the
Lotus, Feng Shui’s third supplement is shipping within a
6 Pyramid Magazine
week. We’re aiming to release Seeds of the New Flesh at
GenCon. Daedalus is also releasing Throne War, the third
expansion set for Shadowfist this July.
I’ll make an effort to see to it that you are very well
informed about Daedalus releases in the future and urge
you to contact me and verify the accuracy of anything you
publish about Daedalus or its products in the future.
— Jose Garcia, Daedalus Entertainment, Inc.
Since this letter was written, Daedalus Entertainment Inc. has
filed for bankruptcy reorganization. See article on p. 9.
To Scott,
Could you put some AD&D type of adventures in
Pyramid. I think it would be nice to have a dungeon with
GURPS rules for a change. I do not think that you spend
enough time with fantasy stuff for GURPS.
— bmorle@tc3net.com
After spending several grueling hours hovered over a
piece of graph paper and some smaller pieces that were
cars, my friends and I came to the conclusion that we
needed to come up with a way to “play bigger.” That’s just
what we did.
We now use Hot Wheels cars (or Matchbox) to represent
our cars, and a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of drywall as our play-
ing area (arena combat mostly) The drywall is graphed out
like a piece of graph paper, but instead of one-quarter of an
inch squares they are three-quarters of an inch by three-
quarters of an inch and every fourth line is red. Exactly like
the graph maps that you would normally use, only three
times as big. A Hot Wheels car is about 3 inches long by 1
1/2 inches wide and fits perfectly inside the lines on the
board. We use wood and plastic “things” to represent
obstacles and a piece of string to figure LOS. It’s a great
way to play. The turning key is also three times as big. Each
edge is 3 inches long, except the inside straight edge which
is 6 inches, and all the angles were figured with a protrac-
tor. We have so many people in our group that this is a
must, and I recommend it for everybody who is tired of
being worried about breathing too hard on the play area
and ending the game. The Hot Wheels cars are also easy to
balance (most of them anyway) on their side so you can tell
where they are in a flip. There are a few glitches but we’ve
worked them out. I won’t say what they were . . .
— Jason Platt, Big Rapids, MI

comments from
SIG OND
the editor
T
SEC
H gamers out there. And they had
Who’s Next?
Iron Crown buys Mayfair. Wizards
of the Coast buys TSR. Then Wizards
of the Coast buys Five Rings
Publishing. And the rumors say
they’re not done. Who’s next? Who
knows? Maybe nobody. Despite all the
rumors, the actual parties named in
those rumors deny everything.
Emphatically. And repeatedly. We
won’t really know until it happens. If it
happens.
I seem to remember a time when
people weren’t so pessimistic about
this industry. Sure, nobody ever
thought we were all going to get rich.
(Except for a few visionaries in Seattle
and, oh yeah, just about everybody for
a six-month period in 1995.) But most
everybody was convinced we had a
future. It was a niche market, sure, but
it was big enough. There were lots of
Pyramid Magazine
tremendous loyalty – all you really
needed was 5,000 or 10,000 of them
on this whole planet who thought
your game was the best, and you could
happily churn out supplements and
worldbooks until the heat death of the
universe and make enough to make it
worthwhile. You could also try a cou-
ple of three new games a year, and
every so often one would hit and draw
its own little self-sustaining group of
gamers, usually just in time for some
other game in your line to start to fal-
ter in the inevitable cycle all games –
well, nearly all games – succumb to.
It was steady. It was stable. And
every once in a while, somebody broke
out of the pack and made a nice chunk
of change on a particular hit product,
before they slipped back and rejoined
the group. We were all going to play
games, go to conventions, have a little
fun, make a living wage. Life would be
good.
But nobody seems to feel that way
anymore. Not only are the dreams of
never-ending sales and $500 Alpha
Rares fallen by the wayside, but so are
the humbler dreams of a steady,
dependable business. No, to hear
them tell it, we’re all doomed. After
all, GDW couldn’t make it; Mayfair
couldn’t make it. For Pete’s sake, even
TSR couldn’t make it. What chance
do we have?
Personally, I think our chances are
good. And I’ll tell you why.
A lot of those gamers – those loyal
5,000 to 10,000 per line – are still out
there. For a lot of lines, the numbers
are much higher. Other games have
seen the numbers slip, but they’re still
hanging in there. And it’s not like
these are unsellable products – the
industry is putting out some amazing
stuff these days, and while it doesn’t
leap off the shelf without any effort on
our part (like certain foil-wrapped
goodies of the past few years), it’s not
like we’ve got a car lot full of Yugos.
All it will take is some creativity.
We’re not just selling games – we’re
selling the Gaming Experience. The
book isn’t what turns the gamer on, it’s
the amazing adventure he has while
he’s playing what’s in the book. It isn’t
the board and the counters, it’s the
mental challenge those counters pre-
sent. It isn’t the little bits of painted
cardboard, it’s the competition and
social interaction. (Of course, if it is
the bits of painted cardboard, you’re
speculator scum and you drove this
hobby to the brink of destruction and
you should be swallowed up by the
earth like the vermin you are. But I
digress.)
There’s one more thing it will take –
confidence. We have to have a little
confidence that things will turn out all
right. That if we treat our customers
well, they’ll support us. That we will
continue to produce top-notch prod-
ucts and make sure you get a chance to
find out about them by supporting
game retailers, clubs and conventions.
That gaming is a viable, continuing
hobby with a strong future.
I believe all those things. The other
members of this industry who have the
same confidence I do – and act on that
confidence – will do just fine. We
might not get rich, but we’ll play
games, go to conventions, have a little
fun and make a living wage. Life will
be good.
And as for the rest of ’em – who
needs ’em?
— Scott Haring
7
I N D U S T RY N E W S

WHAT WotC SEES, WotC LIKES

Five Rings Publishing Purchase Follows TSR Buyout
If someone printed conversion rules
for portraying the gaming industry in
Monopoly, Wizards of the Coast would
be sitting pretty with all the railroads,
Boardwalk and Park Place, and a great
deal of real estate between.
Whether or not that should make
the Baltic Avenues of gaming nervous,
it has them paying attention.
In its latest big-and-getting-bigger
move, Wizards of the Coast purchased
Five Rings Publishing Group Inc. on
June 26. Just 23 days earlier, the
Renton, Wash.-based gaming
concern announced that it
had finalized its long-
pending purchase
of the strug-
gling TSR
Inc.
With that lineup, Wizards of the
Coast gets its choice of playing the top
hat or the race car. Both, even. Wizards
of the Coast produces the monolithic
collectors-card line Magic: The
Gathering. The TSR purchase gives it
control of the bedrock roleplaying sys-
tem AD&D and a tangle of RPG
systems back to the original Dungeons
& Dragons. Buying up-and-comer
Five Rings places the Legend of the
Five Rings trading-card game and Star
Trek: The Next Generation col-
lectible-dice game in the Wizards of
the Coast fold. Several other game
lines put the company in just about
every industry niche. Few other gam-
ing concerns are going to be buying
any little red plastic hotels.
Chief Executive Officer Peter D.
Adkison said that what led Wizards of
the Coast to consider purchasing Five
Rings Publishing was . . . Five Rings
Publishing. “They approached us and
expressed interest in the Wizards of the
Coast program.”
The “young, dynamic”
operation must have
appealed to the
Wizards of
the Coast
decision

Even with all the attention to its new TSR lines and Five Rings Publishing purchase, Wizards of the Coast has not
forgotten to support its own lines, such as with the Mercenaries supplement to its BattleTech trading-card game.
8 Pyramid Magazine

makers. “We became interested in Five Rings Publishing
because they have a very good product line; they have very
good sales and marketing,” Adkison said. “They are also a
local company here in the Seattle area.”
Adkison had location, location, location on his mind at the
time of the interview because Wizards of the Coast was
finalizing plans to move former TSR employee after
employee after employee to its Renton offices from
Milwaukee. Fifty made the August move, of 70 who were
offered jobs, of 85 who survived layoffs
prior to the purchase of TSR, which
employed 120 last year before its financial
troubles peaked.
The new hires will swell Wizards of the
Coast’s payroll past 400 at its Renton
headquarters and three European field
offices. If they’ll fit. Despite having prominent new lines to
market, Adkison noted, “Right now the hottest thing we’re
working through is the actual move itself.
“When our new friends from TSR come out here, they’ll
have a place to sit.”
Adkison can afford to give that attention to such mundane
matters because many corporate plans already have swung
into motion. In late summer Wizards of the Coast began
filling back orders for TSR products, and launching its own
marketing of the game lines. Re-issues will follow.
Adkison said Wizards of the Coast would not tinker much
with its new systems. “We don’t have any dramatic changes,”
he said of the TSR products. “We want to focus on improv-
ing the core line for AD&D. The TSR emphasis will be on
the lines that have done well historically.”
Wizards of the Coast also will concentrate on boosting
overseas sales of its TSR lines, Adkison said. The parent
Industry News
company sells 40 percent of its products overseas (Magic is
printed in nine languages); TSR reached only into the 10
percent range. “It’s going to take us some time to build that
up,” he said.
At the same time, Wizards of the Coast won’t ignore its
own, often groundbreaking, marketing. The new Magic
introductory game, Portal, is doing “great,” Adkison said,
before tempering with, “It’s a little too early to tell.”
Television ads for Magic continue and Wizards of the Coast
sent several sets to the U.S. troops in
Bosnia. Dark Horse Comics Inc. will be
publishing a comic-book series based on
Magic, and other crossovers are planned.
While most certainly the TSR and Five
Rings lines will gain something from
Wizards of the Coast’s expertise, Adkison
foresees a two-way transaction. For that reason, he said,
both outfits will remain essentially stand-alone operations,
to the point that even much of Five Rings’ administrative
functions (usually consolidated quickly to reduce expenses)
will remain separate, as will its offices for the time being.
“We want to learn from them,” Adkison said of both the
recently purchased companies. “I think most companies
have a lot of strengths . . . in fact a goal in both examples is
to learn in the process.”
As for any additional buyouts, the privately held Wizards
of the Coast doesn’t have to divulge any such plans, any
more than it has to publicize the financial details of its previ-
ous acquisitions. Unlike in Monopoly, Adkison doesn’t have
to show all his cards, and like a good Magic player he
doesn’t.
Only time will tell if a Black Lotus lurks in Wizards of the
Coast’s hand or not.

Shakeout Produces More Casualties

Three more game companies have
filed for bankruptcy protection, and
one more magazine has ceased publi-
cation as the tough economic times of
the past few years continue to claim
victims.
Companion Games president Carl
Schulte announced his company has
entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Companion produces the Galactic
Empires card game. Galactic Empires
was one of the first CCG’s to hit the
market in 1994 after Magic: The
Gathering.
“For the past 16 months
Companion Games Inc. has been
under a supervised reorganization due
to the bankruptcy of several accounts,
most significantly, a German distribu-
tor owing over $70,000.00 and the
damages in excess of $400,000 caused
by a large quantity of flawed Primary
Edition product printed, paid for, but
never replaced,” says Schulte.
“Support of players and increasing
sales has been the only thing allowing
us to remain operational for these 16
months.”
Schulte says that he expects Galactic
Empires to remain in print once he
gets Companion’s financial problems
straightened out.
The same can be said of Daedalus
Games, which finally filed for bank-
ruptcy protection after months of
rumors of the company’s imminent
demise.
As with Companion, this is a reor-
ganization-type bankruptcy, which will
– according to Daedalus head Jose
Garcia – continue to allow publishing
supplements for Daedalus’ two major
game lines the Feng Shui roleplaying
game and the Shadowfist card game.
Gamesmiths has also filed for bank-
ruptcy. The publishers of Throwing
Stones, the first collectible dice game,
the related RPG and boardgames such
as Monster Island appears to be ceas-
ing operations entirely.
And on the magazine front,
Australian Realms has announced they
are ceasing publication as of Issue #30,
which came out last November. Editor
Nick Leaning thanked the readers and
contributors in his announcement. He
wrote, “Australian Realms proved that
Australian RPG designers, writers and
artists are the equal of any in the
world.”

Pyramid Magazine 9
Industry News
ORIGINS AWARDS
WINNERS
ANNOUNCED
The best in gaming was recognized
at the 1997 Origins International
Game Expo and Fair on July 19, when
the Academy of Adventure Gaming
Arts & Design announced the winners
of the 1996 Origins Awards.
The Origins Awards are a 23-year
tradition. Each year, nominees are
selected by the Academy membership,
then voted on by the gaming public
(using ballots published in many gam-
ing magazines and on the web).
The winners of the 1996 Origins
Awards are:
Best Fantasy or Science Fiction
Figure Miniatures Series of 1996
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos
Games Workshop
Developer: Robin Deus
Designer: Jeff Goodwin
Best Vehicular Miniatures Series
of 1996
BattleTech: Mechs & Vehicles
Ral Partha
Developer: Chuck Crain
Designers: Chris Atkin, Jim Johnson,
Robert Kyde, David Summers, Jeff
Wilhelm
Best Fantasy or Science Fiction
Miniatures Rules of 1996
Warhammer Fantasy Battles
Games Workshop
Designers: Andy Chambers, Bill
King, Rick Priestley
Best Pre-20th Century Board
Game of 1996
Age of Renaissance
Avalon Hill
Designer: Jared Scarborough
Best Modern-Day Board Game of
1996
Harpoon4
10
Clash of Arms
Designers: Larry Bond, Chris
Carlson
Best Fantasy or Science Fiction
Board Game of 1996
Settlers of Catan
Mayfair Games
Designer: Klaus Teuber
Best Card Game of 1996 (three-
way tie)
Legend of Five Rings: Battle of
Beiden Pass
Five Rings Publishing
Designer: Dave Williams
Lunch Money
Atlas Games
Designer: Charlie Wiedman
Mythos
Chaosium
Designer: Charlie Krank
Best Roleplaying Rules of 1996
Deadlands
Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.
Designer and Writer: Shane Hensley
Best Roleplaying Adventure of
1996
The Complete Masks of Nyarla-
thotep
Chaosium
Designers and Writers: Larry
DiTillio, Lynn Willis
Best Roleplaying Supplement of
1996
Six Guns and Sorcery
R. Talsorian Games
Writers: Edward Bolme, James
Cambias, Eric Floch, Angela Hyatt,
Jim Parks, Derek Quintanar, Barrie
Rosen, Mark Schumann, Chris
Williams
Best Graphic Presentation of a
Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or
Supplement of 1996
Deadlands
Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.
Graphic Designers: Tim Link, Jay
Lloyd Neal, Charles Ryan
Best Game Accessory of 1996
Cthulhu for President
Chaosium
Designers and Writers: Shannon
Appel, Les Brooks, Charlie Krank,
Paul Lidberg
Best Fantasy or Science Fiction
Computer Game of 1996
Master of Orion II
Microprose
Designers: Steve Barcia, Ken Burd
Best Game-Related Fiction of
1996
The Cthulhu Cycle
Chaosium
Editor: Robert M. Price
Authors: Donald R. Burleson,
Leonard Carpenter, Pierre Comtois,
August W. Derleth, Lord Dunsany,
Alan Dean Foster, C. J. Henderson,
M. R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Will
Murray, Steven Paulsen, David C.
Smith
Best Professional Game Maga-
zine of 1996
Shadis Magazine
Alderac
Publisher: John Zinser
Editor: Rob Vaux
Pyramid Magazine
 Industry News
Best Amateur Game Magazine of 1996
Mechforce Quarterly
Publisher: Mech Force
Editor: Jean Rabe
Best Historical Figure Miniatures Series of 1996
Daimyo 25mm
Reaper Miniatures
Designer: Bob Charrette
Best Historical Miniatures Rules of 1996
Hostile Aircraft 2nd Edition
Goblintooth Enterprises
Designer: Brian Reddington-Wilde
Best Miniatures Accessory Series of 1996
Wild West Hollow 25mm House
Tactical Conflict Systems
Designer: Leo Walsh
Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game of 1996
BattleTech 4th Edition
FASA Corp.
Art Director: Jim Nelson
Best Play-By-Mail Game of 1996
Middle Earth Play-By-Mail
Game Systems, Inc.
Designers: William B. Feild, Jr., Peter G. Stassun
Best New Play-By-Mail Game of 1996
Starship Command
Elite Simulations
Designer: Brian Hansen
Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1996
Wooden Ships & Iron Men
Avalon Hill
Executive Producer: Mike Daninnella
Best Graphic Presentation of Card Game or Expansion of 1996
Middle Earth: The Dragons
Iron Crown Enterprises
Graphic Designers: Pete Fenlon, Jason Hawkins, Nick Morawitz,
Jessica Ney-Grimm

1997 Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame Inductees:

Darwin Bromley
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
TSR, Inc.
Designer: E. Gary Gygax
Cosmic Encounter
Eon Products, Inc.
Designers: Bill Eberle, Jack Kittridge, Bill Norton, Peter Olotka
Traveller
Game Designers Workshop
Designer: Marc Miller
For more information on the Origins Awards and the Academy,
visit GAMA’s web site at http://www.gama.org.

Pyramid Magazine
 TIDBITS
CHICAGO, IL – FASA has announced a final settlement in
their lawsuit with Harmony Gold and Playmates over various
’mech designs in the BattleTech game. The terms of the settle-
ment were confidential, but a FASA press release did have this to
say:
“As many of you know, FASA has already phased out of its
products a number of designs, including the 12 specific design
images that appeared in the Macross series. As a result,
BattleTech players will no longer see in future products visual
representations of any BattleMechs that FASA did not create. All
of the names, fiction and statistics for these ’Mechs remain in the
history of the BattleTech universe. However, to avoid any confu-
sion among players that could occur if the names or statistics of
the discontinued ’Mech designs were used with new design
images, FASA has no current plans to create new designs for the
discontinued ’Mechs. Instead, FASA has chosen to concentrate
its efforts on utilizing the more than 160 unique BattleMech
designs in its library created specifically by FASA for
BattleTech.”

ELECTRONIC GAMING NEWS

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – “The Universe of Imagination
collides with Cyberspace,” were Publisher Brian Wyant’s words
in announcing that Event Horizon Publications’ roleplaying
game Magic Frontiers is now available free online.
“Roleplayers can learn how to play by visiting our web site,”
said Wyant. “It’s a full version of the core rules, so readers can
immerse themselves into Magic Frontiers and offer their gam-
ing group a new universe.”
The free version of Magic Frontiers can be found at mem-
bers.aol.com/nowimagine/index.html.

NEW & INTERESTING

BLACKSBURG, VA – Pinnacle Entertainment has
announced a series of crossover products with White Wolf that
take place in both Pinnacle’s Deadlands RPG universe and
White Wolf’s Werewolf: The Wild West game setting.
Three crossover “Dime Novels” will be published in late 1997
and early 1998 in which gunslinger Ronan Lynch (the hero of
the other Dime Novels published to date) stumbles across a plot
that could shake both game worlds to their very foundation.

TORONTO, Ontario – A new RPG called Abyss is being

released by Global Games. Abyss is a roleplaying game set in the
fantastic world of Dante’s Inferno.
Global’s announcement says the game, due out in August with
a $25 price, “is a world of treachery and evil, where violence is a
continual threat and doing a good deed could get you killed.”
Players will take the roles of low-ranking fiends in the under-
world, out to increase their patron’s power and influence,
as well as their own.

Pyramid Magazine
In Nomine Errata Compiled by Hunter Johnson
Editor’s Note: Here is the official list of In Nomine errata P. 85.
as compiled by Hunter Johnson, our Errata Coordinator. If The Crippled Discord reduces either Strength or Agility
you have found any other errata, please contact Hunter at by the level of the Discord, at the player’s choice – either
jhunterj@io.com. focusing the damage on one stat or spreading the impact
P. 25. among the two – but cannot reduce either of them any fur-
Under What Are They?, in the third paragraph replace ther than to 1. If taking additional levels of this Discord
“and compare it to the sample on the next page” to “and would reduce a characteristic below 1, then no further lev-
compare it to the sample on p. 37”. els can be taken.
P. 36. P. 94.
In the Character-Creation Quick Reference, step 4, Under Game Mechanics, in the third paragraph, replace
Remnants may allocate 5 Forces, none of which may be “the chart below” with “the chart above.”
Celestial. P. 117.
P. 43. Under Abracadabra, delete iron from the list of simple,
When determining the cost of a Role, round fractions up. mundane and common earthly substances.
P. 46. P. 137.
In the example under Songs, replace both instances of Under Heaven, the discussion of the Celestial Realm is on
“Ethereal” with “Celestial.” p. 53.
P. 50. P. 167.
In the Divine Example at the top of the page, Carin can Firewalkers can heal lost Body hits when touched by
raise her chance of success by 2 by giving herself an extra flames.
minute, and by 3 if she takes five minutes with it. P. 179.
P. 62. Under Vampiric Kiss, the check digit gives the number of
In the second paragraph under Corporeal Combat, change hits of Body damage done to the victim.
the second sentence to “A weapon attack adds the weapon P. 191.
skill as well.” Under Physical Healing, demons regenerate a In the last paragraph under Celestial Spirits, a celestial
hit point at sunset. only needs 7 Forces to become an angel or demon.
P. 66. P. 192.
Under Weapons, the examples are on Under Gremlins, delete the reference
p. 65. to the Song of Fire.
P. 72. P. 196.
The first sentence should read Under Marcus, his third Attunement
“The cost of a Role is determined by is Zombi.
multiplying Status by Level and divid- P. 203.
ing the result by 2 (round up).” Under Under Mixing It Up, change
Journalist, delete the reference to the “Prince” to “Superior” in the last para-
Literacy skill. graph.
P. 73. P. 205.
Under Acrobatics, move the refer- Under Music, that’s Glenn Danzig’s
ence to p. 74 to the end of the last Black Aria.
sentence – it is referencing Dodge. P. 206.
P. 79. In the Free Will index entry, insert
Under Charm, third paragraph, “67,” to the page references.
each extra point of Essence spent
(beyond the required 2) also adds a +1
to succeed.

Pyramid Magazine 13

T
HE city of Sanctuary lies about ten miles to the north
of its sister city, New York, in the United States.
Around 1850 it began as a small community of reli-
gious outcasts who had found themselves persecuted in the
Big Apple. Various denominations of Protestants, Catholics
and even pagan worshipers settled in the area in hopes of
becoming truly free to practice their religion.
Representing these denominations, 13 men and women
gathered to create what is perhaps the world’s most power-
ful magic item. They knew that the variety of religions
practiced within Sanctuary meant that eventually discord
would strike. The 13 colonists each created a powerful icon
of their religion, then molded all of those into a single
golden sphere. They then endowed it with a small bit of
essence from each of the members until the sphere began
to glow a blinding, bright green. The colonists then buried
the sphere in an abandoned well, never to remove it again.
Over the years, the sphere held the community of
Sanctuary together as planned and, at times,
brought good luck to the town. Eventually, when
masses of immigrants began to come over on boats
from the old countries, they became magi-
cally drawn to Sanctuary and the
populace grew in leaps and bounds.
Contractors and investors soon
flocked to the small community.
Within a decade, Sanctuary
became a towering sprawl
that rivaled even the
mighty New York.
However, all the tow-
ering skyscrapers that
dotted the skyline and
all the city hype could
not hide the true rea-
son for the city’s
success.
Along with bringing
fame and fortune to
the city, the sphere
also unconsciously
14
SANCTUARY
by Aaron Richardson
brought the rich, the greedy, and more importantly, the
weird. Various magicians, undead and other-worlders
began to dwell in the shadows of Sanctuary below the per-
ception of the “normal” humans. Time began to become
unstable in certain areas, and creative scientists began to
grow increasingly mad. Eventually, one man deduced the
city’s dark secret: Adrian Chase.
Chase, a philosophy professor at the University of New
York: Sanctuary, began to quickly put together a string of
odd events that eventually led to the discovery of the
sphere. In a single motion, Adrian dropped into the
ancient, barren well . . . and came out again. Endowed with
massive magical abilities, Adrian began his small, meager
corporation: Chase Industries. Within two years, Chase
Industries grew to become the city’s largest company.
Adrian’s powers only stretched as far as the city limits, how-
ever, and he found his company trapped within the confines
of Sanctuary. Dismayed at his power’s limitation, Chase
committed suicide in his office at the Chase
Center. His 37-year-old son, Adrian Chase Jr.,
was left with the company and ruined it, leav-
ing it a shadow of its previous golden-age self.
During the first Chase dynasty, the city
became more and more crime-infested as the
sphere started to lose its magical, binding
hold. The creatures of the night started to run
rampant through the city until a group of
religious fanatics calling themselves
the Inquisition arrived. The
Inquisition secretly began to
wage a war with the non-
humans of the city, but
merely served to keep the
beasts at a standstill.
Eventually, the weirdness
cooled down, some say
with the death of Adrian
Chase. Given such, the
Inquisition disbanded
and Sanctuary returned
to quasi-normal.
Pyramid Magazine
 Terra Incognita
In 1987, a young man from the Chase heritage began to
financially reclaim his ancestor’s empire. By 1995, Ambrose
Chase had single-handedly rebuilt Chase Industries from
its shadows. The strange happenings and ambiance also
returned to Sanctuary, and have endured for the last three
years.

People and Places

of Modern Day Sanctuary
Chase Industries and Ambrose Chase
With the new eruption of success of Ambrose Chase,
Chase Industries has entered its second dynasty. The new
dynasty relies heavily on the scientific developments that
Ambrose Chase brought with him, rather than the banking
and investment power Adrian Chase held. Some things
never change, however. Over half of the politicians in
Sanctuary are owned either directly or otherwise by Chase
Industries. Along with its strong political influences, the
company also holds most of the economic chips in the city
with over a quarter of the businesses, in some manner or
another, making money for the empire. With the advent of
its new management, Chase Industries is no longer held to
the boundaries of Sanctuary, and has recently begun a new
software division to complement its existing physical prod-
ucts. The headquarters for the Sanctuary-based company is
the Chase Center, the same building that the first dynasty
ended in. Chase Center stands directly in the middle of
Sanctuary and is surrounded by a two-block-wide public
square (called, of course, Chase Square).
All of this can be attributed to Ambrose Chase. Said to be
the grandson of Adrian Chase Sr., Ambrose has become
both a media darling and a city savior. His major contribu-
tions to various charities, his public appearances and his
squeaky-clean record all indicate a rather reformed Chase
family name. Unfortunately for Sanctuary, this is all an act.
Ambrose, behind closed doors, has one thought, and one
thought only: the utter control of Sanctuary. Many times,
Ambrose has made deals with various criminal organiza-
tions to gain some of his more illegal assets. Recently,
Ambrose has also placed a major importance on the quest
for immortality without any results . . . yet.

The Dove and its Denizens

The first Catholic church built in Sanctuary is perhaps
one of the most beautiful sites the city has. The Dove, as it
is called (due to the large marble dove carved outside its
doors), once served as Sanctuary’s haven from the evil and
weird events invading it from the shadows. Now that the
city’s lower east side has become the center for crime, the
Dove has been abandoned by its helpless victims and holy
men and replaced by the very thing the victims were run-
ning from. Vampires, werewolves, murderers, freaks,
abominations, aliens, and any and everything else inhuman
have been welcomed into the Dove for protection. To
ensure the peace, one of the most powerful inhabitants of
the old church, Bishop, has become the self-appointed
caretaker and law within the holy walls. Within the lower

Pyramid Magazine 15
Terra Incognita
east side, the Dove is now the one place to avoid at night at tion is the police force, whose hands are tied by their cor-
all costs; not even the authorities travel within four blocks rupt bosses. One of the uncorrupted is Captain Kris Mind.
of the church for fear of what they might find. Mr. Kris, as he likes to be called, is a hard-core militant
It is not just ordinary fear that keeps the police from who understands that his city is going to hell in a handbas-
coming near the Dove, however. It is not a secret that the ket. He knows that Ambrose owns his boss and his boss’
Dove has attracted a lot of non-humans to its doors. boss and his boss above him, and he doesn’t care. Kris has
Behind the facade of the shelter lies a being (whose exis- been called the “Pillar of the Community” by the media
tence is known only to Bishop) of immense psionic power. because of his strong will and determination on behalf of
This being is an the people of his city.
immense brain in a Kris is the founder of
room-sized glass con- NightBeat, a select
tainer that calls itself group of individual offi-
Pope Thalamus. The cers that have worked
Pope controls people all on uncovering the city’s
over the city through its secrets, layer by painful
extensive psi skills. layer. He knows that
Bishop, once a parish there is something out
priest of the Dove, was there, he just hasn’t
called to the Pope one been able to put his fin-
night on a whim to see ger on it.
the old building. Once
there, the Pope revealed
itself and its plan for
Adventure
justice in Sanctuary to Seeds
the priest. The priest • Ambrose Chase has
accepted the Pope’s gained access, or flat-
offer for a position in its out created, a time
dream and was psioni- machine and plans to go
cally augmented into back through time to
the powerful Bishop. find out what secrets his
The Pope, and now grandfather held before
Bishop, both work tire- he committed suicide.
lessly for one dream: to • Chase Industries’
bring about the protec- genetics division has
tion of freedom and been experimenting on
rights the non-humans the often forgotten
deserve. homeless in Sanctuary, and a series of bizarre creatures have
been spotted around the city, all looking for an end to their
The Inquisition pain. Pope Thalamus wants to help them. Ambrose and the
The Inquisition originally began in the late 1800s during Inquisition want to kill them. The police are caught in the
the first Chase dynasty, taking its name from the ancient middle.
Christian inquisitors of old. The new Inquisition believed • In the Sanctuary Museum of the Arts, a mystical tome
that Sanctuary was the new center for evil in the world of the Incas is supposed to arrive. Legends say that whoever
(they probably weren’t too far off). With this belief guiding masters the book’s code will live forever. The problem is
them, their small membership became full-time “monster the truck bringing it was hijacked on the way to the
hunters.” Anything not human was considered to be a tool museum by someone other than Ambrose, who will do
of evil and was to be killed. When Adrian Chase died, his anything to get the tome.
absorbed magical power was released and bathed the city in • Three magician brothers waged a war ages ago until
a calming wave of power. Many of the non-humans and they suspended themselves by a miscast magical spell. Now
other weirdness disappeared in Sanctuary and put the the spell has worn off and the three brothers are gathering
Inquisition out of business. In 1995, the magical bath the their strength again in a battle that will surely destroy all of
city had been calmed in began to wear off and the weird- Sanctuary.
ness started again. With the new influx of “evil,” the • The sphere, losing its power, must be recharged. In
Inquisition has begun to gather its members again. order to do this, 13 members of the city’s different beliefs
must be brought together to help recharge it so that peace
Sanctuary Police Department can once again be brought to Sanctuary. The problem is,
Over half of the politicians are in Chase Industries’s back Adrian Chase Sr. now haunts and protects the sphere from
pocket including the mayor and the district attorney. all intruders.
Perhaps the only organization untouched by this corrup-

16 Pyramid Magazine
 Time to Break Out the . . .

Activision to Unveil Computer Game

Based on Dream Pod 9 Line
Giant, fighting robots have long seemed to have an served as producer of MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, and as
appeal that matches their physical size in roleplaying cir- associate producer of MechWarrior 2 for Windows 95 and
cles, and it appears that same breadth of popularity may MechWarrior 2 Expansion Pack: Ghost Bear’s Legacy.
cross platforms into computer gaming. Heavy Gear producer Chacko Sonny served as pro-
Activision is releasing its latest ducer of MechWarrior 2’s 3-D versions and
mecha combat-action computer associate producer of the Windows 95
game, Heavy Gear, based on one and Macintosh versions.
of the top roleplaying games The game is expected to require a
from Dream Pod 9. Under a Windows 95-compatible platform
potentially 20-year license, this with video and sound cards,
next-generation combat-action Pentium 90 (Pentium 133 rec-
game will blast its way to the ommended) processor, 16
personal computer in the Fall MB RAM, 4× CD-ROM
of 1997. and 60 MB of hard-disk
Activision previously produced space.
MechWarrior 2 – based on the Several of the the follow-
FASA Corporation BattleTech ing questions and answers
boardgame – and two supplements were provided by Activision’s
under license from FASA, before FASA publicity staff. Additional
turned over development of MechWarrior questions were submitted by
III to FASA Interactive. Pyramid magazine staff, and
The experience in mecha programming should answered by various administrative
show. Activision’s Heavy Gear director Tim Morten and technical personnel at Activision.

18 Pyramid Magazine
 Heavy Gear

Q: What is Heavy Gear? A: Heavy Gear is the story of Mankind thousands of

years into the future – a bit over 4,000 years, to be precise.
A: Heavy Gear is a roleplay and tactical combat paper- Civilizations have prospered and then vanished, hard times
based game by Dream Pod 9. It is set within a believable have come and gone again, and after millennia spent on
futuristic setting that appeals to fans of military science fic- Earth, Humanity discovered the key to the stars through
tion. science. Unfortunately, like a spoiled child, Mankind
reached out too fast and found itself scattered and almost
Q: What influences affected Heavy Gear’s look and isolated on a dozen faraway worlds.
feel? Most of the early action of Heavy Gear takes place on
Terra Nova, the oldest Earth-like colony established by
A: Heavy Gear, both as a game and as a fictional uni- humans outside the solar system. Terra Nova is almost
verse, has been greatly inspired by the classic works of the Earth-like; it has an oxygen atmosphere and a carbon-
military science-fiction
genre.
The look of Heavy
Gear has been strongly
influenced by Japanese
animation, a.k.a. “anime,”
and more traditional
technical drawing styles.

Q: What is a Heavy
Gear?

A: Heavy Gear’s are

one of the most signifi-
cant advances in the field
of military technology in
the past millennia. The
Heavy Gear is actually a
compromise between the
infantryman’s flexibility
and the armored vehicle’s
resilience and firepower.
It is, in effect, a one-man
IFV (infantry fighting
vehicle) that protects the
solder and allows him to
carry far more payload and
armor than an ordinary soldier. Mass-produced, Gears are based ecosystem. However, it lies on the inside limit of its
cheap enough to form a major part of the modern army. star’s “life zone,” so it is much hotter than Earth ever was.
Gears vary from 4-6 meters in height, and on average The entire equatorial region of the planet is a vast desert
weigh between 5,000-10,000 kilograms. Some Gear types called the Badlands. The planet’s northern hemisphere is a
include the Black Mamba, Spitting Cobra, Hunter and land of harsh natural beauty, with tall jagged mountain
Grizzly There are of course other types of giant weapons ranges, forested valleys and grassy plains. The southern
of war in Heavy Gear, such as Striders and Landships. hemisphere is a warmer land than the northern hemi-
sphere, though it too has many mountains. Only these are
Q: What is the story behind the world of Heavy surrounded not by forests and plains, but by tropical jun-
Gear? gles and swamps.

Pyramid Magazine 19
 Visiting
your
local
game
retailer
soon.

20 Pyramid Magazine
 Heavy Gear

Heavy Gear’s background is different from other games
in that it includes a tale that is meant to evolve in a timely
fashion. This is a large-scale story, with a beginning and an
end. It is the story of the human race as it comes of age
and faces itself. Clues and hints are scattered throughout
all of the franchise’s products concerning where the story
is going. Some are obvious, others are well hidden, but
they all move the story forward. The year is TN6132, and
the story has just begun.
Q: Who are the main antagonists on Terra Nova?
devices as long as people pay their taxes and allow the gov-
ernment to run smoothly. Unsanctioned political activity is
almost universally illegal in the AST, and usually carries
stiff corporal or capital punishments.
Q: Where did Heavy Gear come from?
A: The Heavy Gear roleplay and tactical miniatures
game is a paper game product produced by Dream Pod 9,
a Canadian game development house. The first compo-
nents of Heavy Gear were published in 1995, and have

A: There are two main

superpowers on the planet
of Terra Nova – the
Confederated Northern
City States and the Allied
Southern Territories.
The Confederated
Northern City States
(CNCS) is an association
of three democratic
leagues located in Terra
Nova’s northern hemi-
sphere. The three leagues
are mutual allies linked by
common geography, reli-
gion and values; though
these factors do not keep
them from clashing every
now and then. The people
of the north are generally
a conservative lot, fond of
sharp wit and hard work.
Northerners are also a
pious people, with a vast
majority being followers of
the Revisionist Church, a
reactionary faith built upon the teachings of a recently been met with a steady stream of praise within the paper
deceased prophet. gaming community ever since.
The Allied Southern Territories (AST) is officially a
confederation of Terra Nova’s four southern leagues. In Q: What elements of the Heavy Gear game did you
reality, it is nothing more than a puppet government concentrate on translating into the Activision com-
whose leaders are appointed by the fanatically imperialis- puter version?
tic, yet democratic, Southern Republic league. Most
territories within the AST are very liberal societies where A: There are two distinct components to the paper-
individualism is prized. While honor and reputation are based game: roleplaying and tactical combat. The
important to southerners, they worry little about propriety computer game makes an effort to represent both. The
and scandal. The citizenry is pretty much left to its own roleplaying is represented in a story-based path where the

Pyramid Magazine 21
Heavy Gear

player is swept up in a pre-conceived plot, and in an open- turn-based game, it’s all about rolling the dice, calculating
ended path where the player creates their own character. modifiers and waiting for other players’ moves. In a real-
The tactical aspect of Heavy Gear has been converted into time game, the player uses no dice, makes no calculations
a real-time combat simulation where the player pilots their and doesn’t wait for anyone else’s turn. To a large extent,
gear in battle. that means the development team has to devise a new
gameplay system, and that is a very complicated thing to
Q: What innovations in computer gaming did you do well. Fortunately, we have the benefit of some experi-
attempt to bring into your Heavy Gear system, as ence in that area.
compared to combat-action computer games in gen-
eral and your MechWarriors system in particular? Q: Is any Internet support planned for Heavy Gear?
Have you looked at multiplayer Internet forums or
A: We’ve done a tremendous amount of similar support projects?
work on our engine, adding Direct3D sup-
port, rolling terrain, A: Multiplayer
Pentium optimization Internet support will be
and support for seamless in Heavy
force-feedback joy- Gear. We were one
sticks. Comparing of the first game
this engine to our companies to deliver a
previous games, product with Inter-
we’ve had the net support, so we
benefit of thou- have the bene-
sands of e-mails fit of building
from our user on a mature
base that let us technology base.
really focus on the We actively par-
advances that mean ticipate in forums
the most to our audi- like the Heavy Gear
ence. Mailing List (HGML)
and rec.games.mecha
Q: What do you consider the most to get feedback on the development. We feel that
dramatic features of the product? it’s very important not to design in a vacuum.

A: The integrated story, carried out in 20 min-
utes of cut-scenes; the new moves in combat, like
crouching, rolling and side-stepping; and the visual
Gear construction, where component parts are snapped
together to build new gears. I’m also very excited about
the tie-ins with the paper-based game that Dream Pod
Nine has made possible. Rather than being a wholly sepa-
rate experience, the computer game will actually have
some impact on the characters and story in the paper-
based game.
Q: What gave you the most difficulty in developing
Heavy Gear?
Q: How many hours of personnel time are
invested in the product? How long has development
taken?
A: Heavy Gear currently has the largest staff of any
project at Activision. There are 25 internal staff and five
outside companies working on the game, so I couldn’t
even guess how many man-hours we’ve worked so far. The
project has been under way for nine months now.
Q: Are there plans for a line of Heavy Gear licensed
games? What sort of continuity is planned between
the games?

A: The hardest part is translating turn-base rules from A: In addition to the Heavy Gear game that is currently
the paper-based game into a real-time experience. In a in production, we also have several new projects based on

22 Pyramid Magazine
 Heavy Gear

the Heavy Gear universe in pre-production. The core of Q: What, if anything, did the Heavy Gear creative
our future Heavy Gear efforts will be combat simulations, personnel and their Activision counterparts find simi-
though we also plan to venture into new gameplay genres. lar about creating these identical-content/different-
We have not finalized the story for all our future Heavy media universes? What did they find dissimilar in the
Gear games. However, where it makes sense, we will strive process?
to bridge games together through story and design. This
will be very relevant for any sequels that we produce. We A: The biggest part of the creation process that I think
will also be working with our partners at DreamPod 9 to is similar is the scenario design. Each mission in the com-
incorporate the continuing evolution of the Heavy Gear puter game has a set of circumstances surrounding it that
universe into future paper-based and interactive products. is very similar to the circumstances needed for a mission in
the paper game. A terrain, placement of buildings, loca-
Q: What attracted
Activision to the Heavy
Gear license? Is a poten-
tially 20-year license a
standard length? If not,
why did the agreement
end up with such long-
term implications?

A: We did a great deal

of due diligence in our
evaluation of potential
licenses for a series of new
computer games. After
looking at many different
properties, Heavy Gear
became the overwhelming
first choice for Activision.
DreamPod 9 put a sig-
nificant amount of effort
and thought into creating
the Heavy Gear universe.
The richness and depth of
the universe provides a
great foundation to build a
series of interactive prod-
ucts. We are also very excited
about emphasis on military and combat tactics, as we feel tions of enemy units and mission objectives are
that this will bring a significantly deeper gameplay experi- components of both.
ence to the consumer. The most dissimilar is the rule-set governing gameplay.
There is really no standard length for licensing con- Rules that are based on rolling dice don’t translate well to a
tracts. We elected to go with a longer license period real-time computer game. Whole new set of algorithms
because we plan to invest a significant amount of money have to be devised to create a fun gameplay experience.
and human resources toward creating Heavy Gear prod-
ucts. We hope to be making products based on the Heavy
Gear universe for a long time.

Pyramid Magazine 25
 The Military Holy Orders of the Crusades
by Salvatore T. Falco
T
he histories of the Knights Templar and Knights
Hospitallers provide a wealth of material for both
historical and fantasy roleplaying. These organiza-
tions sprang from humble beginnings to provide the
western world some of its first disciplined armies since the
legions of the Roman Empire, amassing great power and
wealth in the process. A strictly historical game set during
the Crusades can make good use of their histories, but fan-
tasy games can take truly creative approaches.
Origins
In the 12th century, the new vocation of warrior monk
grew out of a combination of the new demand for a more
dynamic, active Christianity and the success of the first
Crusade. Fighting in defense of Christianity became widely
accepted as another path to spiritual salvation, paving the
way for the foundation of the first military holy order: the
Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of
Solomon, or Knights Templar.
Of all the Crusader orders, the haughty and powerful
Knights Templar is most well known, yet its origin is much
humbler than its eventual power and wealth might suggest.
In 1118, Hugh dePayns and eight other knights took vows
of poverty, chastity and obedience, pledging to fight not for
booty or personal glory, but for the glory of Christ. The
Templars offered to protect pilgrims traveling in the holy
land, a sorely needed service. Since pilgrims brought wealth
to the Crusader states and the Church alike, both had a
stake in protecting them from the bandits and raiders that
plagued the route to Jerusalem.
28
King Baldwin II of Jerusalem provided the order a por-
tion of the al-Aqsa Mosque on the supposed site of
Solomon’s Temple to use as a headquarters. The Church
recognized the order within a decade, and the Knights
Templar were born.
Unlike the well-documented rise of the Templars, little
specific evidence for the origin of the Knights Hospitaller
exists. The Hospital was founded sometime before the first
Crusade as a refuge for the poor and sick who traveled to
and in the Holy Land.
In 1113, Pope Paschal II declared the Hospital an inde-
pendent order of the Church. By the middle of the 12th
century, the Hospital took up arms. Fighting grew out of its
mission to care for the sick and the poor; the Templars and
other Crusaders could not be expected to be everywhere at
once.
Within decades after their foundation, the military orders
experienced explosive growth in wealth, holdings and
power. Enthusiasm for the Crusades had spilled over into
approval for the fledgling orders; donations poured into
their coffers.
In many cases, donors needing military assistance would
grant land on their borders, providing themselves with rela-
tively cheap defense. Other donors sought to purchase
prayers for themselves or their families. Eventually both
orders became wealthy enough to sustain themselves and
increase their power through banking. The Templars began
making loans as early as 1135, and both orders soon began
providing an array of financial services, building their
wealth even more rapidly.
Pyramid Magazine

Destruction of the Templars
and the Decline of the Military Orders
If the rise of the military orders had been meteoric, the
fall of one, the Knights Templar, was spectacular. The story
is well known: on October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of
France had every member of the Templar order in France
arrested on charges of heresy, sodomy and idolatry. The
arrests destroyed Templar power in France while the accu-
sations destroyed any ability other European Templars
might have had to ally with other Christian rulers
against Philip.
The exact accusations brought against the
Templars ran several pages in length. Essentially
they can be summarized under three headings:
various acts of heresy, idolatry and homosexu-
ality. The most frequent charges were that
the Templars forced recruits to deny some
or all of the orthodox beliefs concerning
the divinity and perfection of Christ.
Charges of idol worship claimed that
the Templars worshiped an idol of a
three-faced or three-headed cat
called Baphomet from which they
supposedly gained magical powers.
Homosexuality charges fit into two
categories: outright sodomy
between members, and forcing
recruits at their initiation to give
the Master three “obscene kisses,”
one each on the lips, penis and but-
tocks.
These charges have drawn
tremendous debate, but their
veracity is unlikely. No physical
evidence of idol worship was ever
found, and had the Templars prac-
ticed the things they were accused
of they would hardly have escaped
detection for so long. It was not
unheard of for a brother to transfer
to another order, or to leave the
order to return to secular life.
Given the contemporary attitudes
toward breaking vows, such a man
would certainly have revealed
heresy to justify his departure.
None did. Finally, although many
Templars confessed to the charges,
their confessions were extracted
through torture. The confessions
are contradictory, implying that
the brothers were simply saying
Pyramid Magazine
Warrior Monks
whatever the inquisitors wanted to hear in order to escape
further torture.
If the Templars were innocent, what motive could Philip
have had for orchestrating such an atrocity? The Crusades
had drained his treasury and he owed a considerable debt to
the Templars. The easiest way to shore up France’s flagging
financial resources would be to eliminate its debt by
destroying its largest creditor and assuming control of
Templar resources. Philip thus chose charges that would
eliminate the Templars’ secular autonomy and allow him to
seize Templar property and treasuries. The charges also
obligated his fellow monarchs to turn on the order as
well.
That a Christian monarch could attack and destroy
one of Christendom’s foremost defenders shows how
far the esteem of the military orders had fallen. The fall
of Acre, in 1291, had served as a death blow to their
already flagging reputations. Their “approval rating”
had always depended on the various Crusades’ suc-
cesses. Now criticism reached new heights.
Frequently, the orders were criticized on the
basis of their accumulated wealth. Neither
Templars nor Hospitallers maintained as many
knights in the Holy Land as their funds
would have allowed. Many people thought
that this avarice accounted for the Christian
losses in the Holy Land. Another problem
was the discord between the orders them-
selves (Templars and Hospitallers
sometimes fought in the streets over
issues as petty as claims to mills),
which was also assumed to have con-
tributed to Christian losses.
But the Crusading ideal was dying
anyway. European nobles had run out
of money for crusading and had more
pressing problems closer to home.
Without the Crusades, the orders had
no raison d’etre. Without a mission and
with donations declining, the orders
faded away.
Military Orders in
Roleplaying Campaigns
There are a variety of uses for mili-
tary orders in roleplaying. The strictly
historical game is the most obvious,
and Game Masters and players alike
have a wealth of source material to
draw on. A more interesting approach
would be to include the elements of
fantasy roleplaying. How would these
military orders behave in a world with
29
Warrior Monks
non-human races, fantastic monsters and magic? It is
important to keep in mind the medieval psyche, which
believed in magic, fantastic creatures and the workings of
unseen spirits. The witchcraft charge made against the
Templars would never have been useful had not magic
appeared real to the medieval mind. After all, both the
Bible and Church teachings both warn against witchcraft.
Why would the Word of God warn against the practice of
something that didn’t exist?
This is not to say, however, that a Templar or Hospitaller
would be completely blasé in the face of sorcery or fantastic
creatures. Believing in something is entirely different from
coming face to face with it, and initial encounters would
call for (at least) Fright Checks. First contact with non-
human races could be similarly traumatic, depending on
the circumstances.
Game Masters must answer some questions for a histori-
cal-fantastic campaign. Most important is how much magic
will be allowed. A military order campaign would work best
against a fantastic (moderate amounts of magic) rather than
a mythic (high levels of magic) background. In the medieval
view, magic is subtle and mysterious. Game Masters should
carefully select what spells they will allow in
either type of campaign. After all, the Templars
were accused of trafficking with evil spirits, not
tossing around fireballs!
Spells should be restricted to the less spec-
tacular spells from the GURPS Basic Set. If
spells from GURPS Magic are to be used
at all, they should be limited to
the subtler spells in the
Body Control, Illusion
and Creation, Plant,
and Sound colleges. Using the spells with
less obvious effects remains true to the
medieval view; allowing the spells from
the colleges in GURPS Magic allows a
little more flexibility for both GM
and players, if PCs can use magic.
The magic system in GURPS
Voodoo is perfect for a dark campaign
in which the accusations of idol worship and
witchcraft are true. Finally, the GM might
consult GURPS Arabian Nights for an
extensive discussion of the nature of and
attitude toward magic in Arabic cultures, if
the campaign will be set in the Holy
Land with frequent contact with Arabs.
More overt spell-casting presents a
challenge. Assuming that he has not
already been exposed to magic, how does the average war-
rior monk react when he sees someone cast a fireball that
destroys an entire cavalry unit? At the very least, the char-
30
acter should have to make a Fright Check at a considerable
penalty. If the character makes his Fright Check, he is likely
to seek to attack and destroy the spell-caster, unless it is tac-
tically impossible to do so. Assured of entry into Heaven in
the next life, the holy warrior is not likely to fear death at
the hand of violent magic.
He would, however, fear the damnation of his soul. To
the medieval mind, a curse could affect anyone. A warrior
monk (or any Christian, for that matter) would be unlikely
to risk his soul by offending someone who might be able to
damn him. Necromancers are likely to be shunned and
avoided. If one must be killed, the cautious warrior would
seek to do the deed while the enemy slept. Better yet, he
might try to hire an assassin to do the dirty work for him.
The truly crafty GM will present the warrior monk PCs
with a dilemma. What is the nature of beneficial magic,
such as healing spells and the like? What does a Templar do
if he awakens, magically healed after having received a mor-
tal wound in combat? Is this a miracle or a curse? Better
still, if a magic-using enemy gains the advantage on
the battlefield through the use of arcane arts, what
should the Christian warrior do? Pray, of course,
but if that avails nothing, should he take up the
enemy’s tool to use it
against him?
The Templars, in
spite of the accusations
against them, might be less willing to
adopt such strategies. They were always
the most resistant to change. The
Knights of the Hospital, on the other
hand, were a very adaptable group, as evi-
denced by their shift from non-military
to military, their eventual transforma-
tion into a naval power and their
very survival to the present day (as
the Knights of Malta). They might
be quick to realize the benefits of
magic and adopt its use. Since
typical fantasy magic has an almost
scientific approach (use the proper
components and say the proper
incantation, you get a given result), a
sorcerer might, with a good enough
fast-talk, be able to convince warriors
that what they think of as “magic” is
simply a natural result. Perhaps an
order’s Grand Master would come
to that conclusion by himself.
Over time, the entire order might
adopt the use of magic, either for healing or for more
impressive battle magic. Different orders likely would spe-
cialize in different colleges.
Pyramid Magazine

Magic is only part of High Fantasy roleplaying, though.
Monsters and non-human races are also staples of the
genre. Both could present interesting twists.
Monsters might cause fright checks as unsuspecting
Crusaders come upon terrifying apparitions. They might
also become the objects of quests. More significantly, their
appearance might be taken as omens that could launch
whole new Crusades. In Christian mythology, the appear-
ance of a dragon signified the imminent fall of a kingdom.
A dragon’s sudden appearance over the skies of Jerusalem
might be taken as foretelling the kingdom’s fall to Moslem
forces. Since dragons were identified with Satan, an appear-
ance might also trigger a witch-hunt as Christians in the
Holy Land try to discover who has summoned the forces of
darkness.
The appearance of monsters would not affect the war-
rior’s mind set or world view, though. Monsters were
assumed to exist, and though they might be frightening, a
medieval warrior would probably accept them as natural
parts of creation (if only as something to be slain and dis-
played as a trophy). Far more problematic would be an
encounter with a “sapient monster,” or intelligent non-
human race.
Some non-humans, such as Fishmen, are obviously races
with which Christians of any occupation would refuse to
have business. Races that preyed on humans would be
viewed as abominations, and any community found would
be destroyed. Some races, like Reptile Men and Insect
Men, are not inherently inimical to humanity, but
the medieval mind would find them abhorrent
nonetheless. Their sheer strangeness would
mark them a mockery of human form and
thus the devil’s spawn.
Other races that are staples of fantasy,
however, would present more challenging
problems in perception. What would
medieval man have made of the typical
fantasy elf, dwarf or halfling?
Most likely, these three races would
simply be viewed as odd humans, unless
the longevity of the former two became
known. None are so odd that they couldn’t
pass for humans of unusual shape or
size. The problem would arise not
because of their appearance, but
because of their beliefs. Elves
and dwarves have their own
religions that differ greatly
from Christianity. They
would not likely accept
any human religion,
and this would brand
them as infidels.
Pyramid Magazine
Warrior Monks
They might not be treated as poorly as Moslems, unless
they held some territory that Christians wanted. Elves are
the most likely to suffer a Crusade, then, living as they tend
to in highly desirable forested areas. Dwarven territory
would have little appeal to the average Crusader – although
their mines might be very attractive prizes, indeed.
Based on their reactions to the non-Moslem natives of
the Holy Land, each order might respond differently to the
idea of accepting non-human races into their ranks. Here it
is the Templars who would be most likely to adapt.
Historically, the Templars used light horse troops called
“Turkopoles” (young men whose mothers were native and
fathers were European) as support units. Non-nobles
sometimes joined the order as “sergeants” – lower in rank
than a full brother knight, but no less valuable on the field
of battle. Templars might use non-human races in a similar
manner.
The Hospitallers would be less flexible here. Historically,
they rarely allowed non-Europeans to join their ranks.
Non-humans would be unthinkable. They might decide
that the Bible speaks of salvation for humans, saying noth-
ing of these filthy parodies of humanity. They must be
from the devil. Such a difference in opinion could con-
tribute to the split between Templars and Hospitallers.
Of course, admission to any order would require accep-
tance of Christianity. Congenial and more pragmatic, some
halflings might actually consent to become Christians, and
would be entitled to enter some orders. Only nobility
could become brothers, but most orders, including the
Templars and Hospitallers, accepted common fighters
as sergeants or auxiliary troops. Halflings would be
the most likely non-human race to assimilate with
Christian culture. They might make excellent
behind-the-scenes workers. Banking activities
require clerks, for example, and even the most
holy warrior needs someone to help him tend his
mount and equipment. Goblins might also man-
age to gain acceptance and would make excellent
shock troops (or cannon fodder).
The ability of a race to be tolerated by the
orders depends on a combination of
two factors. Its willingness to
accept Christianity is the
major one. Even if one or
two members of a race con-
vert, a massive racial
resistance to the faith
would cause the Church
to declare the race an
infidel race. At best,
members of an infidel
race who converted
could perhaps find
33

employment in a Christian household, but would be
unlikely to be allowed to fulfill any church function. For
example, a Christian elf would be an oddity, and he would
not be allowed to enter the priesthood.
The second factor is the race’s appearance. Those races
that appear closest to the human norm would be more
likely to find acceptance. Other races, such as orcs or
kobolds, would be considered abominations – mockeries of
humanity and therefore infernal in origins. The Church
would be unlikely even to admit that these races had souls.
The best they could hope to be treated would be as highly
intelligent animals. More likely they would be enslaved or
exterminated.
Regardless of non-humans’ ultimate status, roleplaying
an initial encounter could be a challenge for even the best
role-players. Likewise, the addition of monsters and magic
to a quasi-historical game with historically accurate
Christian holy warriors could provide a fasci-
nating campaign.
Warrior Monks for GURPS
Warrior monks are easy to build as
GURPS characters. The vows and require-
ments of the standard Templar or
Hospitaller fit well into the GURPS
advantages and disadvantages. The cost
is steep, however. Including disadvan-
tages, the minimum requirements
cost a whopping 100 points!
The standard 100-point
GURPS player-character is
obviously insufficient; build a
Templar or Hospitaller on a
minimum of 150 points. This
represents a new recruit.
Veterans should be built on
200 points or more.
The character’s order fur-
nishes him with all his
equipment: a full suit of chain
armor; a helmet; shoes; a coat
of arms to be worn over the
armor; a broadsword (thrust-
ing, for GURPS purposes); a
lance; a “kite” (a triangular wooden
shield, “large” in GURPS terms, covered
with leather); and three knives, two for fighting and one for
table use. Brother knights are also furnished with three
horses and two blankets, a heavy one for winter and a light
one for summer. In order to fight loaded down with close
to 75 pounds of equipment, the character should have a ST
of at least 13 (30 points), DX of 12 (20 points) and a HT of
11 or more (10 points).
Pyramid Magazine
Warrior Monks
Needless to say, the order serves as a Patron. Each chap-
ter is a group with significant assets, supplies equipment
worth more than starting wealth, and appears on a 12 or
less. A -15-point Duty (all the time) to the character’s order
is included, and reduces the cost somewhat (25 points). A
warrior monk should have Clerical Investment (5 points). If
the campaign makes magic available, the character might
purchase the levels of Magery. He must also purchase 3 lev-
els of Status (15 points).
A member of either order has sworn to live by its Rule,
with a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. Obedience is
covered in the Duty inherent in the Patron advantage.
Chastity is a minor vow (-5) and Poverty is at the -15-point
Poor level. The character is also Intolerant towards all
other religions (-10). Fanaticism would be appropriate, as
would a Sense of Duty towards Christians. Alcoholism,
drug dependence and social disadvantages such as Lechery
and Gambling would not be appropriate.
Finally, a warrior monk must purchase cer-
tain skills. He would be proficient with a
Broadsword (at least DX+2, 8 points) and
Lance at the same level (8), and Knife at DX
(1). He should be able to ride his horse, natu-
rally, at DX+2 (8). Surprisingly, no
Theology skill is necessary.
Both orders prized combat
prowess and tactical and
strategic know-how more
than theological sophisti-
cation.
Warrior monks for a
strictly fantasy game
might call for different
requirements. A fantasy
order, for example, might
not require a Rule as strict
as the Templar or
Hospitaller variation on
the Benedictine Rule, and
would be worth less as a
result. The order might not
provide as much equipment or
support, reducing the cost of
the Patron advantage. On the
other hand, a strictly fantasy game’s
monks might have access to clerical
magic, and would therefore need to pur-
chase Clerical Investment at a higher point cost. Other
skills or advantages, such as Literacy or Theology, might be
required. For a good example of this, see the Order of St.
George of the Dragon in GURPS Fantasy.
35
 A Solitaire Variant for Illuminati: New World Order
by
by Scott
Scott Tengelin
Tengelin
As the UFOs positioned themselves random. These are the secret goals
above the major centers of Earth’s gov- of the UFOs.
ernment and commerce, the whole world held its Place the UFO Illuminati at the top of the playing
breath. Finally, the moment came, and they took all our . . . surface, and lay out the other nine Illuminati below the
convenience stores! Next, they headed over to our day-care UFOs. Place the two Goal cards face-up, next to the
centers! There seemed to be no stopping them. But They UFOs. The whole playing area should look like this:
weren’t going to let this continue. They would make them
pay. Goal UFOs Goal
“Alien Invasion” is a solitaire variant for Illuminati: New
World Order, in which the Illuminati are united in an Bavarian Illuminati Bermuda Triangle Gnomes of Zurich
attempt to stop the UFOs from taking over the world. Use Adepts of Hermes Society of Assassins The Network
of INWO Assassins is highly recommended.
Discordian Society Shangri-La Servants of Cthulhu
Set-up
The UFOs have set their sights on a number of organiza-
tions, people and places around the world. From your Group Pile Group Pile Group Pile Group Pile
collection of INWO cards, remove the following and place Group Pile Group Pile Group Pile Group Pile
them in a stack:
6 Groups with Power greater than 4.
6 Groups with at least three alignments.
6 Corporate Groups. Game Play
6 Magic Groups. Begin by turning over the top eight Group cards. Take all
6 Secret Groups. cards that qualify for either of the UFOs’ goals, and place
6 Computer Groups. them underneath the UFOs. The Goal cards and their vic-
6 Weird Groups. tory conditions are:
6 Peaceful Groups. Blinded by Science: All Science Groups.
These represent the targets of the UFOs. Be certain to The Corporate Masters: All Corporate Groups.
collect these Groups in the order listed above. Make sure Criminal Overlords: All Criminal Groups.
cards selected do not qualify for any category above them. Earth First: All Green Groups.
(Phone Companies has a Power of 5, so do not select it to Fratricide: At the end of the game, if any two Illuminati
qualify for a Corporate or a Computer group; it already have no group cards beneath them, the UFOs win.
qualifies as a group with a Power greater than 4. Hail Eris!: All Weird Groups.
For best results, put all of your groups that qualify into The Hand of Madness: All Violent Groups.
these groups into eight piles, and choose six random cards Kill for Peace: All Peaceful Groups.
from each pile. Let Them Eat Cake: All Conservative Groups.
Once you have selected these 48 cards, Population Reduction: All Huge Places.
shuffle and deal them into eight piles of Power to the People: All Liberal
six. The arena has been set. Groups.
The UFOs have their own reasons for Up Against the Wall: All Govern-
taking over the world. Shuffle one of each of ment Groups.
your Goal cards in a pile, and select two at Once the UFOs have taken

36 Pyramid Magazine
 Alien Invasion
their fill, it is the others’ the same effect – preventing an
turns: Illuminati from tak-
Place all remaining ing that Group this
Groups with Power turn.
greater than 4 underneath Other notes: Plots
the Bavarian Illuminati. do not require action
Place all remaining tokens. Zaps last one
Groups with more than full turn, and are then
two alignments under discarded. New World
the Bermuda Triangle. Orders last the entire
Place all remaining game (unless negated
Corporate Groups normally). Both of the
under the Gnomes of UFO’s Goals are consid-
Zurich. ered Exposed. Any Groups
Place all remaining destroyed by Disasters or
Magic Groups under Assassinations are placed
the Adepts of Hermes. under the Servants of
Place all remaining Secret Groups under the Cthulhu – and are always
Society of Assassins. successful.
Place all remaining Computer Groups under The As a final note, any Group
Network. whose alignment randomly shifts does not have that align-
Place all remaining Weird Groups under the Discordian ment. For example, Bill Clinton is not considered Liberal
Society. in this game.
Place all remaining Peaceful Groups under At the end of each turn,
Shangri-La. discard all unused Plots.
Place whatever’s left Turn over the next eight
underneath the Groups as usual, then
Servants of Cthulhu. draw three more Plots. If
Once this is done, at any time you exhaust
turn over the next your Plot deck, reshuffle
eight Group cards and all used Plots and draw
repeat the sequence. from the same pile.
The UFOs take their
Groups first, followed
by the Bavarians, then
Deck
Bermuda, and so on. As Construction
soon as all groups are
taken over, count the
Tips
Groups under each As you tune your
Illuminati. The one with Alien Invasion deck,
the most Groups wins. you will find many
Chances are, the UFOs Plots more useful than others.
will win every time. But Zaps are extremely useful, and Foiled! is essential. Disasters
now it’s time to reveal the Hidden Plots of the Illuminati. and Assassinations can destroy Groups that the UFOs
might have taken for themselves.
Advanced Game Playing some of the Illuminati against each other also
Assemble a deck of 30 Plot cards, with no more than works well. Try using Power-increasers (Citizenship Award
three of the same card. Many of the cards you use in regu- and New Blood) to make more Groups qualify for the
lar INWO play are useless here. For instance, Stealing the Bavarians. Cards that add or change alignments
Plans won’t work, since there are no other players to steal (Nationalization or Straighten Up) can give the Bermuda
from (use Hat Trick instead). Bribery and Murphy’s Law both Triangle an advantage. While this may take away from the
effect die rolls; since there’s no die-rolling, these cards are other Illuminati, it will make things tougher on the UFOs.
useless. You now stand before the assembled Secret Masters,
Begin the game with three Plots. manipulating them into a web of intrigue
You may play these at any time. Some that may save the world – or send it to its
special notes: All takeovers are consid- doom. Can you take over the world before
ered both Automatic and successful. the UFOs do?
Thus, Botched Contact and Cover-Up (when
played on a Secret Group) both have

Pyramid Magazine 37
40 Pyramid Magazine
 For
every
battle,
there
must be a
winner and
a loser.

Someone
rises as
victor, and
someone
has to fall.

It’s not
so bad, really.
It’s just one battle,
and the war rages on.
They haven’t defeated us,
not by a long shot.
We know where their
passions lie.

We know what
they hold
most dear –
those weak
and malleable
humans, so easy to
tempt, so easy to destroy.

Why should we be the only ones to fall?

Pyramid Magazine 43

An In Nomine Resource
by Matthew D. Grau
What Has Gone Before
To sum up what has gone before:
Two servants of Novalis, Kadal and
Rumiel, have both petitioned for the
Word of Consolation to the Bereaved.
As is customary, the Seraphim Council
has presented a Test to determine
which angel, if either, is worthy
of the Word. The Test is simple
– each angel must perform the
other’s job over the course of six
months.
Rumiel, also known as Dr.
Remy St. Martin, operates a psy-
cho-therapy clinic in Los
Angeles catering to those who
have lost their loved ones. Kadal,
also known as Karl Dalton, oper-
ates the Dalton funeral home in
New York City, providing com-
forting and splendid funeral
services even to those with little
or no money. In accordance with
the Test, they have left their
respective roles and have settled
into each other’s lives.
Of course, all is not as it seems.
Malphas has sent a Djinn by the
name of Jones and Saminga has
sent the Impudite Shezaqal to
interfere. Agreeing to disagree,
Shezaqal has been charged with
confounding Kadal and Jones is
out to mess with Rumiel. Furthermore,
Kobal has sent two of his minions,
Oraquiel and Smily, just to mess up the
works for everyone.
The Parts
Basic background information for
this adventure was originally printed in
44
“A Song for the Dead” in Pyramid #24,
information about Kadal and his
adventures in Los Angeles was origi-
nally printed in Pyramid #25, and
information about Rumiel and his
adventures in New York City was origi-
nally printed in Pyramid #26.
Time’s Up
The six months given by the
Seraphim Council have expired. Both
Rumiel and Kadal have been sum-
moned to Heaven, where they have
recounted their exploits and await sum-
mary judgment. Which one will
receive the Word to which they have
dedicated their existences? Will either
of them receive the Word?
Factors of Performance
Normally, the Seraphim Council uti-
lizes their divine and unknowable
wisdom in determining the assignment
of a Word. Since we are neither divine
nor unknowable, we’re going to have
to make do with a slightly subjective
and rudimentary system of determina-
tion.
Kadal’s Rating
Begin with a base of 10 points, and
modify as follows:

If Kadal simply avoided most of the
trouble, or confronted most of it
himself with little aid from Swarm,
Omsia, the Judges or any PCs,
award him 5 points.

If Shezaqal got Dr. Dalton’s patient
list through Camille, deduct 2
points.

If Shezaqal got Dr. Dalton’s patient
list through Kurt’s breaking and
entering, deduct 1 point.

If Shezaqal never got Dr. Dalton’s
patient list, award 2 points.

For every patient that Shezaqal
harmed in some way, deduct 1 point.

For every patient that Shezaqal
harmed through a murder, deduct 2
points.

If Shezaqal was never able to harm
any of Dr. Dalton’s patients, award 4
points.

For every funeral that Rosier ruined,
deduct 1 point.

If Rosier was prevented from ruining
any funerals, award 2 points.

If Cherise was able to seduce and/or
subvert Dr. Jeffries, deduct 2 points.

If Cherise was prevented from
seducing and/or subverting Dr.
Jeffries, award 2 points.

If Kadal in some way attracted the
negative attention of the Judges,
subtract 2 points.

If Kadal in some way avoided any
critical attention from the Judges,
award 2 points.
This scale provides a rating from 0 or
less to a maximum of 27. You can feel
free to award or deduct points for cir-
cumstances unique to your game.
Pyramid Magazine

Rumiel’s Rating
Begin with a base of 10 points, and
modify as follows:

If Rumiel simply avoided most of the
trouble, or confronted most of it
himself with little aid from Asashiel,
Haiden, Weazer, the Judges or any
PCs, award him 5 points.

For every funeral in which Jones was
able to use his “message from the
dead” to ruin things, deduct 1 point.

For every funeral in which Jones was
able to possess family members to
ruin things, deduct 1 point.

If Jones really enjoyed using his
Screw You Buzzer and was barely
prevented from it, deduct 1 point.

If Jones comes out from under cover
to ruin things, deduct 2 points.

If Jones is prevented from doing any
real damage, award 2 points.

If Jones is defeated by the divine side,
award 4 points.

If Jones attracted the attentions of
the Judges, award 2 points.

If Jones and Church acquire impor-
tant funeral-home information,
deduct 1 point.

If Church gets hired by the funeral
home and gets the important funeral
information, deduct 2 points.

For every funeral that Church dis-
rupts, deduct 1 point.

If Church is prevented from disrupt-
ing any funerals, award 2 points.

For every family Jones and Church
reach before the funeral, deduct 1
point.

If Jones and Church are prevented
from reaching any families ahead of
time, award 2 points.

If Oraquiel gets to seriously “play”
with Rumiel, deduct 2 points.

If Oraquiel seduces Rumiel, deduct 2
points.

If Smily seduces Rumiel, deduct 2
points.

If both Oraquiel and Smily seduce
Rumiel, deduct an additional 2
points.

If Oraquiel is prevented from “play-
ing” with Rumiel, award 2 points.

If neither Oraquiel nor Smily
seduces Rumiel, award 4 points.

If Oraquiel got around to messing up
any funerals, deduct 1 point.
Pyramid Magazine

If Smily ruined any funerals in a big
way, deduct 1 point.

If Oraquiel is prevented from mess-
ing up any funerals, award 1 point.

If Smily is prevented from ruining
any funerals, award 1 point.

If Rumiel in some way attracted the
negative attentions of the Judges,
subtract 2 points.

If Rumiel in some way avoided any
critical attention from the Judges,
award 2 points.
This scale provides a rating from 0 or
less to a maximum of 37. You can feel
free to award or deduct points for
unforeseen circumstances specific to
your game.
You may notice that Rumiel has a
higher upper limit for his rating. This
doesn’t matter, since he has a whole lot
of other areas in which he can easily
lose points. It evens out in the end.
Determining a Winner
In order to even be considered, each
of the angels must end with a mini-
mum rating of 10. They are not
allowed to have lost ground.
If both ratings are above 10, and one
angel’s rating is more than one point
greater than the other’s, then he is
awarded the Word and no shame is
brought to the losing party.
Song For the Dead 4
If both ratings are above 10, and the
angels’ ratings are within one point of
each other, then it essentially is consid-
ered a tie. Either the Seraphim Council
will have to adjourn and deliberate
based on the full service histories of the
angels or they will come up with
another Test (Oh, great). It is now up
to you and your ingenuity.
If both ratings are below 10, but
greater than 0, then neither angel is
awarded the Word. They may be repri-
manded according to circumstances.
If either’s rating was below 0, then
they have been shamed and may be in
some serious trouble. They will have a
lot of explaining to do to both Novalis
and the Seraphim Council, unless they
want to be considered incompetent
and possibly be recalled to Heaven.
Reactions to the Ruling
If Rumiel wins the Word, Kadal
won’t get worked up about it (it’s
not in his nature). He’ll reason that
at least he tried, and that the judg-
ment of the Seraphim Council is
sound and just. He will simply
move on and continue his work.
He’s already thinking of other ways
in which his current duties can bet-
ter serve the Symphony. Y’know,
the Angel of Proper Burial has a
nice ring to it . . .
If Kadal wins the Word, Rumiel
will be unhappy. In his mind, he’s
worked hard for this and has suf-
fered in his own right. The
funeral-trade experience has left
him with a little mental anguish.
Rumiel will accept the judgment of
the Seraphim Council with a forced
smile and begrudgingly congratulate
Kadal. Once he gets back to Earth
though, he’s going to fume. He is seri-
ously considering a change in vocation,
perhaps to marital counseling. How
about the Angel of Lowering the
Divorce Rate or the Angel of Healthy
Sex Lives?
If neither receives the Word, Kadal
will still be unhappy, for much the same
reasons. He’ll think that perhaps he
hasn’t been pursuing the proper angle
on his work.
Meanwhile, Rumiel will view this as
a sign that he asked for a Word too
soon. He will go back to his work, try-
ing to redouble and expand his efforts
45
Song For the Dead 4
in hopes of once again petitioning for the same Word
sometime in the future.

Why Was This Such a Big Deal?

Every Divine Word awarded represents one more vic-
tory for the side of light. In a case like this, where the
infernal has a very real opportunity to act, they do what
they can to foil the divine plans . . . especially if the Divine
Word is in direct opposition to a Demon Prince’s own
sphere of influence.
In this case, Consolation for the Bereaved infringes upon
the territories of Saminga and Malphas. But, since it’s a big
War out there, they didn’t have a whole lot to spare for this
particular conflict.
Kobal’s servants were just there to indulge his nasty sense
of humor.

The Judges
If the Judges got too involved without very good reason,
they will have to answer many questions from the
Seraphim Council. Considering the fact that they weren’t
truly authorized by the Council, there’s a good possibility
that they won’t call too much attention to themselves.
On the other hand, if they have a beef with either or
both of the involved angels, they will speak out at the
Council’s hearing. This could be bad for the angel or
angels in question, or bad for the Judges, depending upon
the attitude of the Seraphim Council.

The Other Side

Regardless of what happens, there are going to be reper-
cussions coming on the infernal side of things. The first to
come under scrutiny are Shezaqal and Jones, personally
charged by Saminga and Malphas, respectively.
If one of the angels succeeds while the other one has
been shamed in some way, one demon can blame the other
to save his bacon, providing he’s got a good story. More
likely than not, both demons will be in trouble if either
angel succeeds, regardless of status, and are going to need a
really good tale in order to keep enjoying existence. If both
angels are shamed, and neither is picked, then the demons
are likely to personally profit.
As for the tricksters on the West Coast, Rosier should be
just fine unless something really bizarre happened. After
all, this was just a lark for him. Cherise should likewise
come out unscathed, unless someone was able to expose
her in a major media forum, which is highly unlikely.
If Oraquiel and Smily report to Kobal without any suc-
cess at all, they will be in trouble. Otherwise, they had fun,
didn’t they?

Player Impact and Consequence

If the PCs Were Angelic

If the PCs were commanded by a Superior to assist in
these proceedings, and the demons essentially won, then
they will be reprimanded.

46 Pyramid Magazine
Song For the Dead 4

If the PCs were commanded by a
Superior to assist in these proceedings,
and they essentially won, then they will
receive rewards, especially if they found
a way to promote their Superior’s
Word.

If the PCs were acting of their own
volition, and the demons essentially
won, their Superior is unlikely to
reward them and they may escape rep-
rimand if their boss just happened to
not be paying attention.

If the PCs were acting of their own
volition, and they essentially won, their
Superior is likely to reward them at
least in some way. If they performed
spectacularly, their Superior is likely to
sit up and take notice.
Unless the PCs were a bunch of
bumbling idiots, they will have made
several new friends. If things worked
out well, then they will have made
friends with a new Word-bound angel.
Omsia is easy to get along with, but
Swarm is unlikely to be very friendly
unless it is obvious the angel works
with a Superior on good terms with
Jordi. Asashiel, Haiden and Weazer are
also likely to be friendly, especially if
things went well. It is unlikely that they
will make friends with the Judges, since
they are notoriously humorless.
If the PCs Were Demonic

If the PCs were commanded by a
Superior to assist in these proceedings,
and the angels essentially won, then
they will be severely reprimanded.
They will have to have achieved at least
some measure of success in order to
save their bacon.

If the PCs were commanded by a
Superior to assist in these proceedings,
and they essentially won, then they will
receive rewards, especially if they found
48
a way to promote the Superior’s Word.

If the PCs were acting of their own
volition, and the angels essentially won,
their Superior is unlikely to reward
them and they may escape reprimand if
their boss just happened to not be pay-
ing attention or if they can talk (lie)
their way out of it.

If the PCs were acting of their own
volition, and they essentially won, their
Superior is likely to reward them at
least in some way. If they performed
spectacularly, their Superior is likely to
sit up and take notice.
If the PCs played their cards right,
they will have made some nifty new
friends, or at least as close to friends as
demons get. If the demons were
attempting to stop
the angels, then they
can count Shezaqal,
Camille and Kurt as
contacts.
Unless the PCs
appear as immedi-
ately useful, Jones
will not warm up to
them and Church is
likely to follow his
lead.
If the demons
were on the side of
mischief, they will have made friends
with Rosier, unless they gravely
insulted him. Cherise may or may not
warm up to them, depending upon
how glamorous they are. If the demons
played it real cool, Oraquiel and Smily
are probably to become friends.
Character Point Awards
On average, the introduction and
setup for this scenario will take one
play session, each of the two major
parts of the adventure will take around
four sessions each, and the wrap-up
will take one more.
The first session (the introduction) is
rarely eventful, and should only be
worth 1 point. Each session thereafter
will earn sharp player-characters 2
points each, with another 1 point
earned in the wrap-up. That’s a possi-
ble total of 18 character points over 10
play sessions, as long as the players
were doing well. This could easily drop
to 10 if they weren’t doing well, or
even lower.
There are two other possible award
criteria to consider. First, if the players
roleplayed extremely well, they may
receive an additional 1 to 2 points per
session. Second, remember that
Superiors will provide awards if the
players helped promote his Word dur-
ing the game.
Also remember that if the characters
botched this scenario or caused undue
disturbance to the Symphony, the
rewards that they receive will be sub-
stantially less.
For more specific information on
Character Point awards, see p. 202 of
In Nomine.
Campaign Hooks
“A Song for the Dead” could be
worked into an existing campaign, as
presented in Pyramid #24, and it might
spawn some interesting possibilities as
a continuing game of its own. Here are
a few of the most obvious hooks.
If the PCs Are Angelic

If neither Kadal or Rumiel was
awarded the Word, and the Seraphim
Council has provided another Test,
then they may be involved again.

They could assist the winner in
establishing a Divine Tether to
Novalis.

If the PCs did particularly well,
and did a profound job in foiling Jones,
he might make it his new purpose to
make their lives miserable.

If the PCs performed in such a
way to intrigue Oraquiel and Smily,
they could be in for a whole new set of
adventures as the two minions of Kobal
play “joke” after joke on the angels.
If the PCs Are Demonic

If there’s a new Test, they become
involved in this one, too.

They may have to halt a new
potential Tether.

They may be invited to help out a
newly angered Jones, if they show par-
ticular usefulness.

If the PCs intrigued Oraquiel and
Smily, they may be invited to join in a
whole new batch of mischief-making.

They may be invited to join
Cherise in Hollywood, if they
seem particularly suited for
that type of work.
Pyramid Magazine
 N a world a lot like ours, the Aliens have

Through a Movie I landed. In a town a lot like yours, a psychic

killer stalks children. In a room much like the
one you’re sitting in, a ghost drifts, preparing to
kill.
Camera, Darkly When the window explodes in a hot spray of
glass and men and women with guns and armor
tumble in and start kicking ass, fall flat, keep your
breathing regular and thank whatever you worship
that the Black Ops are here.

The Ops
Are the best of the best, men and women drawn
from every field, competent, confident and trained
more completely than any mortal you’ve imagined.
Some are maniac warriors; others are dispassionate
scientists, and some are smooth shadows, seductive
and charismatic and different every time you see
them. In GURPS Black Ops, they’re you.
You were trained by the Company, a powerful
conspiracy of those dedicated to eliminating the
alien threat, and studying it in order to glean some
benefit from it. You were chosen for both your tal-
ent and potential and for your outlook; it takes a
very special person to survive the Op training, let
alone a day in the field. As a Black Op, you’ll find
yourself riding explosions out of skyscrapers, hang-
ing bare-handed onto the wings of fighter jets and
wrestling victims from tentacles as often as the
normal people you protect go to the movies.
Calling it a good life would be a lie; calling it an
exciting one would not.

The Threat
Oh, there’s a lot of these . . . In the beginning,
the Company was formed to deal with the Greys,
but the web of weirdness that threatens the globe
turned out to be a lot bigger than that. The
tabloids are right about psychics, humanoids, vam-
pires and ghosts . . . they just fail to mention that
the psychics are often your local librarian posing as
an ancient sorcerer, that Bigfoot can suck your
brain out through your neck, that the vampires are
desperate killers instead of sexy college kids and
that the ghosts can squash your mind flat with one
malicious glance. And worst of all, sometimes you
have to fight the human beings who are selling us
out.

The GURPS Worldbook

Designers’ Notes for GURPS Black Ops
By Jeff Koke and S. John Ross
GURPS Black Ops brings no-holds-barred cine-
matic action to the GURPS library, and we made
every effort to pump the tension to the wall and
crank the sound track. In addition to a history of
the Company, character creation and a complete
run-down on what life is like at the Academy (the
secret Black Ops training facility), the book sports

Pyramid Magazine 49

one of the most intense rogues’ galleries of monsters in the
history of the game, and a selection of the specialized high-
tech equipment the Ops take into the field.
The world and concepts are the creation of Jeff Koke
(GURPS Vampire), with expanded weirdness and system-
work by S. John Ross (GURPS Warehouse 23). We had a
great time working together and with the playtesters; you’ll
have a great time blowing the things we crafted for you into
chunky kibble.
To get you started, here’s an adventure seed:
Fresh Meat: A Black Ops
Mission Briefing
Note to the GM: This seed is presented in the form of a
Mission Briefing as it might actually be delivered to the Op
team; this outlines the adventure and gives you the hooks to
play with, but still leaves enough for the GM to customize.
Specifically, the opponents’ statistics are left to be tailored
to your Black Ops squad’s abilities. Ops are briefed for their
missions by a member of the sponsoring department
(Combat Department’s James Donnely, in this case), and
the assumption is that the team includes members of each
department. Following the general and specific briefs are
notable secret agendas, and GURPS stats for a few key fea-
tures of the adventure. Edit the details to suit your PCs and
campaign.
Sponsoring Department: Combat
Briefing Agent: James “Hacksaw” Donnely
Squad members: Ivan Decker (Combat), Ilyana
Starynova (Science), Denver Cassady (Technology), Alexis
Travis (Intelligence) and Brent Sallier (Security).
Let’s just get started. Everyone comfortable? Good.
Something in the Louisiana bayou is eating Cadre squads.
We’ve had two squads go down in the last three months,
and when I say they went down, I mean they went down
hard, fast and with no warning. In both cases, Omicron
flatlined on every agent inside of five minutes, and we
didn’t receive anything on radio. These were some badass
boys and girls, folks, so we have a job ahead of us.
Here’s what we have. IR satcam shows a large, very hot
creature moving through the trees here [indicates series of
satellite photos]. This last one was taken 15 minutes before
Pyramid Magazine
GURPS Black Ops Designer’s Notes
the second squad went down. The bastard was three miles
from the squad’s last known position, so we know that it’s
fast. We’ve got the area under constant sat surveillance, but
there’s no trace of it now, which tells me that it’s got a good
underground lair, or it can vary its body temperature.
A spook squad went in a week ago to get some cultural
background, and we’ve got a preliminary report. The
Cajuns call this thing le gloton, “the eater.” Their legends go
back at least three generations, and the good news is appar-
ently there’s only one, and it keeps to a 20-square-mile
hunting ground. The thing’s not particularly picky when it
comes to food, and rumor has it eating gators, deer, dogs,
birds, fish and anything else that moves. It may or may not
hibernate, but some of the stories tell of years without an
attack. The few locals who claim to have seen the beast say
it’s half worm, half wolverine. While that conjures up some
interesting visuals it’s not much to work with. The only
photo we’ve been able to scrounge is this one [indicates
blurry black-and-white snapshot], and all we can tell from
this is that it’s big. That’s a leg there crushing that tree.
We were thinking dino first, but the heat signature’s way
off, and Science ran it through their books and couldn’t
find a match, so we’re working with an unknown here. The
straight-up bug-hunt approach has failed twice, so we’re
going to take this one a little bit more carefully. The code-
name for this bad boy is Mr. Hungry.
Here’s the plan [a slide appears of a topological map of
Louisiana swampland about 40 miles west of New
Orleans]. Set up your operations base in a cabin here. It’s
authentic, but we’ve wired it with a generator and a dish so
you’ll have plenty of juice. There’s also a clean room and a
pretty good lab. Take one week for reconnaissance with the
No. 1 priority of recovering what’s left of the two squads.
We’ve got some hot tech out there, and we need to get it
back. We’re taking no chances, so you’re all going to be on
live video feeds to Whitehall. I know it sucks, but I want
watchdogs worn shoulder-high whenever you’re in the
field.
Anything you recover from the dead zone needs to be
analyzed and bagged for further study. We don’t have any-
thing to work with right now and anything that you find
may be useful in bringing this bastard down.
Once you’ve cleaned up the tech and recovered anything
that might be left of the crew, it’s time to flush out Mr.
Hungry. I’ll leave the details up to you, but be extremely
careful. The folks upstairs have made it real clear that this
thing needs to be dead, but we don’t want to lose another
squad. Whatever’s left we’ll truck back to the Lab to be
analyzed.
Combat: Decker, you’re in charge of this one, and I want
it to go by the book. You’ve got as much budget as you
51
GURPS Black Ops Designer’s Notes
need for firepower, so stock up. We’ve got a mop squad to do what you need to to track it and get it, provided
standing by to help contain the aftermath, so if you need to Decker thinks it’s okay.
break out the fuel-air rockets and scare the locals, it’s your Science: Ilyana, I can see your eyes getting big already. I
call. There is, however, to be absolutely no civilian body want to stress that this is not a bag mission. Under no cir-
count. cumstances are you to attempt any type of specimen
Security: Sallier, a gathering until this bad
small group of mundanes boy is breathing no more
near the site are already . . . assuming it breathes.
looking to be trouble. I want you on the horn
Our wire-taps have given every few hours until the
us the details on a group hunt trying to get
from the local university updates from the Lab.
that have taken an inter- You and Decker are
est in what might be the going to take the first
same thing you’re going week and try to track this
after. What makes it stink sucker, but I urge you not
on ice is that the univer- to engage until you have
sity in question has been the whole squad.
a Grey trouble-spot in
the past, and that might
mean that the victims The Truth
we’re trying to save are Is Ugly
spies for the alien. Keep
The hints in the indi-
things snug and safe and
vidual briefings outline
quiet, and if people in
the meat of the plot . . .
tweed start poking
or the first layer of the
around, poke back. But
plot, if the GM is in the
also keep in mind that the
mood to get a little tricky.
order about no civilians
There is not one creature
dead goes double, here.
but two, working in con-
Nothing until we’re sure;
cert. The first — the one
find out what you can.
the Company tracked via
Intelligence: We’ve
satellite, le gloton — used
got you a solid cover
to be human. Now he’s
story as a marine biology
about the size of a mobile
research team, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup. The
home, covered in muddy fur and with an appetite for blood
locals are friendly, but extremely curious, and we don’t
that’s only kept in check by the second creature’s com-
want to have to worry about nosy Cajuns poking around
mands. The local legends are wrong; there have been
your base. How’s your French, Lexy? It wouldn’t hurt for
several Eaters, just never more than one at a time. Every
you to speak the local language if things get dicey. You’ll
generation, a new one is created.
also need to stick with Sallier on the university problem.
The second creature is a sentient mass of water about the
The cabin has a secure cellar, and three escape routes in
size of a rugby field – several hundred tons of bayou muck.
case of infiltration. There’s been a lot of heavy rain
It’s weakly telepathic and very cunning, the guardian of a
recently, and the roads are pretty muddy. You’ll want to
buried site left by the Prima (the aliens who visited Earth
arrange to have a couple of good boats in case the roads go
millennia ago, long before the Greys). The Greys have
out completely. If things are hot, we’ll extract by ’copter;
been getting closer and closer to it with their university
otherwise, just drive out.
agents. They haven’t found it yet, but they’ve lost people to
Technology: The big snag in the picture is in your ball-
the hungry former-human, too (the result of a Prima bioa-
park, Denny, but keep in mind at all times that this is first
gent deliberately released from the site).
and foremost a combat mission. One hour before the sig-
The team will have a lot to deal with: Finding the cadre
nals from the first squad went to static, they had reported
bodies and their wrecked tech, finding a group of Grey bod-
problems with the electronics on those new single-shot
ies and their wrecked tech, dealing with Grey spies,
plasma-spitters they were trying out. We figured your
infiltrating the university and hopefully putting enough
department had just forgot to carry the six again but the
clues together to track both monsters back to the Prima site
higher-ups disagree, now. A modulated pulse of some kind
lair . . . if they can survive meeting them. The Eater needs
is emanating from under the muck in that bayou, and there
to be bagged, but the water creature is an intelligent
could be some alien tech in there screwing with ours. Your
link to the Prima . . . or at least something new that
first priority is the safe recovery of the hardware that the
the Prima left behind.
cadres had, but if there’s something new, you’re authorized

52 Pyramid Magazine
 ®

G U R P S

BLACK OPS
Paranormal Pyrotechnics

By JEFF KOKE
and S. JOHN ROSS
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
 A SPELL THAT CAN CHANGE A WORLD
BY FRED WOLKE
Once again, Teruvio’s eyes lit up as the sound of the next set of it to gather sunlight or wind over a large area isn’t clear. All
falls became audible. The rest of us groaned. The portages that we in all, sunlight and wind directly aren’t much of a power
took around the cataracts were even more exhausting than fight- source. Even concentrating the power with a windmill
ing the river current. As the waterfall came into view, he doesn’t help; the largest modern wind turbines only gather
extended his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. When he a few kilowatts.
opened them again, the light in his eyes blazed all the more. Geothermal power is much more energetic and concen-
“Relax,” he said,”we won’t be carrying our boats any further. trated. Geysers would make a good power source,
This one will do nicely.” generating between 2 and 100 megawatts depending on
The Draw Power spell in GURPS Grimoire is intro- their size. The drawbacks to them is that they aren’t con-
duced with little fanfare, but its implications are profound. stant, and they’re a rather fragile system. You could trigger
Including it in the list of spells to which most wizards have an eruption with the Geyser spell, but if you did this too
access will change the way mage characters operate, and it often you might shut the geyser down completely.
should have profound effects on the behavior of NPC wiz- Earthquakes in Yellowstone, measuring only 2-3 on the
ards, and what they can accomplish. Richter scale, regularly cause geysers to start, stop or alter
The real key to seeing the their schedules. Most geysers
implications is in the fourth only erupt for a few seconds at
paragraph of the Conduct a time, so the spells that could
Power spell. “The low-TL be cast with it are limited.
versions of this spell allow the Volcanoes are less fragile,
mage to tap natural power- but difficult to stay close to for
houses, such as waterfalls, any length of time. Even a
sunshine, the wind, forest fires, small one will generate
volcanoes . . .” It can be enough power for the largest
assumed that low-TL versions circle of mages, but the
of Draw Power can accom- enchantments required to
plish the same thing. keep the mages alive while
Which natural power they’re in range of the spell
sources would be useful to the would take a lot of prepara-
low-tech mage? Sunlight and tion.
wind are relatively constant Forest fires also release a lot
and dependable, but diffuse . . . of energy, but using one’s
you would need to gather the energy to fuel sorcery is not
light from the area of several something a mage could plan
football fields to get the two on for the long term. It would
megawatts that is needed to make a devastating combina-
get the spell to work on a second-to-second basis. A tion when besieging a forest stronghold, however. About 10
gamemaster might rule that, say, a sixtieth of that area hexes of forest fire should provide roughly a megawatt of
would produce 1 fatigue per second, but that’s not terribly power, if it’s burning strongly. Grass fires would need an
useful. And the spell isn’t an area spell; how one would use area 10 times as large. Chances are, however, if you can see

Pyramid Magazine 55
More Power!
the fire and you’re close enough to use it, you’re probably
close enough to take damage from the heat radiating from
it (1d-3 or so per round).
Similarly, a thunderstorm can be drawn upon for up to
100 megawatts for a small storm, 400 for a moderate storm
or 1,000 or more for a tropical storm. A hurricane goes off
the scale; even the largest circle of mages could not drain a
hurricane significantly, even if they were to stand outside in
the middle of one. Storms have similar drawbacks to forest
fires; as they get more energetic, the less one wants to stand
around casting spells in the middle of it, and one can’t be
sure it will be there when it is needed.
Waterfalls provide a good combination of constancy,
power and reliability. A large waterfall like Niagara or
Victoria Falls would provide well over 2,000 megawatts,
enough for a large circle of mages, and falls of a more com-
mon size would provide 200 megawatts, enough for a
smaller circle. Small falls, the kind one could find in any
mountainous region with moderate rainfall, would provide
between 2 and 20 megawatts, well in a useful range. One of
the few drawbacks to a waterfall is that an ingenious enemy
could stop or slow the flow of water from upstream,
whereas a volcano would be more difficult to interdict.
While we set up camp, Teruvio clambered across the rocks next
to the waterfall, disappearing into the spray. I stopped to watch.
Slowly, the spray cleared, and the turbulent pool at the bottom of
the falls turned still as glass. The thunder that had been deafen-
ing us for the past hour faded away. The water spilling over the
ledge took on an eerie cast, flowing cleanly and gently into the
glass-smooth pool, with nary a ripple.
The effects of drawing power out of any natural source
will dampen that source, to an extent that depends on what
fraction of its power is being drawn. Drawing on sunlight
or wind will cause darkness or still air in the region from
which the energy is drawn – though the darkness is not
likely to be terribly deep, as ambient light from nearby will
illuminate it sufficiently for most purposes.
A geyser eruption will emerge as a gentle flow of unpres-
surized water of ambient temperature. Because the abrupt
drop in temperature will cause mineral deposits to form on
the inside of the geyser, the geyser will become dormant for
3d months if a 6- is rolled on 3d, -1 per consecutive time
the geyser is drawn upon.
In the unlikely event that a majority of a volcano’s erup-
tion power is drawn upon, a dangerous condition may be
formed where a plug of cool hard material is formed in its
throat. This may well cause the volcano to explode
(remember Mount St. Helens?).
A forest fire drawn upon by more than a small fraction
will grow more slowly, or start to shrink. If drawn upon by
more than 50 percent it may be extinguished quickly. As a
full-fledged forest fire can cover several acres, however,
generating thousands of megawatts of power, this is
unlikely on the large scale.
A thunderstorm that is drawn upon for more than a small
fraction of its power will begin to lessen in size and inten-
sity. Tapping it for more than half its energy will cause it to
shrink quickly, as the energy needed to maintain the activity
is leeched away.

56 Pyramid Magazine
 More Power!
A waterfall that is drawn upon by more than 50 percent stronghold, a mage could protect himself and his compan-
will show the effects mentioned above, as the energy that ions with magical walls both large and strong; he could cast
had gone to making sound, turbulence and eroding the hugely offensive spells with a minimal cost to himself, and
rocks is instead turned to sorcery. This makes waterfalls an summon or create large numbers of creatures to fight on
even better choice. his behalf. With Maintain Spell (Grimoire, p. 72), he
Teruvio stood at the water’s edge, his hands extended over the needn’t even worry about having too many spells “on”!
still pool, as if hauling upwards on a weight at arm’s length. The Once the word got out that we had found a large, uninhabited
stillness of the air carried his words to me, but as usual when he waterfall, we started getting visits from other mages trying to
was working his sorceries, I understood nothing. Out in the lake, replace Teruvio. Most of them tried to stop up the flow upstream,
a few yards from where he was standing, a platform of soggy clay one way or another, but between our patrols and Teruvio’s magi-
about five yards in diameter rose to the surface. Teruvio’s hands cal guardians, they were never all that much of a danger. The
turned over, and he said something else, and the clay turned to ones we had to worry about were the ones who came pretending to
stone. A walkway appeared similarly, and Teruvio moved out want to become apprentices . . .
onto it as a circle of stone formed around the edge of the platform, There are many ways a “plugged-in” mage could be the
slotted into a groove he had made there. By the time we had the center of an adventure. The players could be exploring
camp set up, he had called a 40-foot tower of unmortared stone frontier areas looking for usable sites. They could be trying
into existence, with a slate roof, windows and a doorway facing to steal a site from an established mage. They could be ser-
away from the spray. A long, narrow bridge spanned the pool vants and apprentices, as these mages (in a world where the
from the doorway to the shore. As it was completed, the waterfall Draw Power spell is well known) would need support to
returned to normal with a crash. fend off other mages.
Create Earth, Shape Earth and Earth to Stone spells are A whole community of mages might grow up around a
probably some of the more useful things one can cast with river that makes several waterfalls along a course of rapids,
such a huge source of mana. Over a period of several days, or a geyser basin. They would be somewhat isolated, but
an unmolested mage could easily build himself a castle. would also have to cooperate in order to avoid damaging
Essential Earth (GURPS Grimoire, p. 22) would make this the whole system. This sort of enforced cooperation
castle even more secure. makes a good backdrop for adventures with a
Area spells in general are a great way to spend large cloak-and-dagger feel.
amounts of energy. Bless Crops would make it easier for a
town growing in infertile mountain
terrain to prosper . . . though the
Create Food spell could make it
unnecessary at all.
Other more-or-less permanent
spells with large casting costs would
benefit from this arrangement, such
as the more advanced healing
spells. Spells with large continuing
costs, such as Communication
(Grimoire, p. 20) and Telecast (p.
Grimoire, p. 73) would also be
enormously useful with a continu-
ing source of power.
Enchantment using the power
from a Draw Power spell is a diffi-
cult proposition, requiring access to
at least 60 ST, but several partners
using Lend Strength and tapping
the same source simultaneously
while in circle with the enchanter
could be able to manage that. This
isn’t terribly efficient, however, as
the circle could just as easily be
used for the enchantment itself,
directly. Anyone who can learn
Draw Power can learn Enchant as
well.
A mage with access to this kind of
power would be at a huge advan-
tage in any combat. Within his

Pyramid Magazine 57
PYRapicks
MID
or “GEE, WE WISH WE’D
DONE THAT!”
EXTREME VENGEANCE
Published by Archangel Entertainment
Designed by Tony Lee
$10.00
Extreme Vengeance is exactly what is seems to be – role-
playing in American action cinema. If you’ve ever wanted
to be Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme or
Sly Stallone, then this is the game for you. Put on your best
macho swagger, throw away any and all acting talent, and
get ready for big explosions, pants-wetting stunts, transpar-
ent plots and bad dialogue. Extreme Vengeance does what
no other roleplaying game can – puts you in the role of an
action-film star as he makes his way from video obscurity to
major American cinema! As the publishers themselves pro-
claim:
“Unlike ordinary, wimpy role-playing
games where keeping track of ammo
and passing off two shots a minute from
behind cover are the norm, this one is
overloaded with larger-than-life heroes
who speed into a roomful of armed men
on a forklift with auto rifles and contempo
tunes thundering loudly; who watch an
enemy jet explode 20 feet away, then casu-
ally make dinner plans with the attractive
foreign beneficiaries of their heroism via
subtitles.”
The first thing that Extreme Vengeance
impresses upon you is its overall play style –
that of a traditional American action film, with
its lack of plot, gratuitous violence and ludi-
crous stunts. It even goes so far as to provide
you with their “Five Cardinal Rules of Action Godhood:”
Rule #1: No logic is movie logic.
Rule #2: Never pass up a potential plot complication.
Rule #3: Never walk when you can run, drive or fly.
Rule #4: When in doubt, up the body count.
Rule #5: You’re only as good as your last sequel!
Character creation is simple and fun, concentrating more
on abilities that will make you look good on camera than
actual hardcore action abilities. After determining your
Guts and Coincidence, which are essentially strength and
luck, and your Typecast (of course), you get to choose from
such Repertoires as Dramatic Slo-Mo, Preferential
Treatment and Soundtrack. Character creation also
impresses upon you your real goal in the game – to gain
58
THE BEST
IN GAMING
This issue: Extreme Vengeance,
Star Wars and Star Trek card games,
Warhammer Fantasy, Corpse Killer, Pain Doctors,
White Star/Blue Sky and Red Sun/Blue Sky
Popularity. You don’t really care about beating the bad guy,
rescuing the hostages or waltzing out with treasures untold.
You want to perform in such a way as to please the masses,
so you can move out of direct-to-video cinema to major
theatrical blockbusters.
Task resolution and combat are easy, utilizing d6s.
Extreme Vengeance adds a couple of neat mechanics twists
for style. First, all characters are classified as either Extras,
Supporting Cast or Feature Roles. How tough and/or
skilled they may be is determined by this level of impor-
tance. Second, your actions may be given bonuses or
penalties based on their Excitement Level. If you’re way
down at Boo level, you’re in for trouble, but you can go up
to Yawn, Cheer or Encore! based on your ingenuity.
(Remember, you’re trying to please the crowds.) Thus, the
Director (your GM) plays a dual role – that of
the GM and that of the movie-going public.
The chapters meant for Director use
include some stock GM guidelines as well as
stylistic tips, guidelines for possible multiple
genres of action movies and random plot
generators. (How hard is it to create an
American action movie plot, anyway?) It
also includes “Cute Dramatic Effect
Cards to Cut Out and Hold Over Your
Head,” such as Thought Balloon,
Suspenseful Melodramatic Music,
Voice-Over and Out of Character, and a
full starting adventure entitled “Death
Threat,” involving a railgun disguised
as a roller coaster. If you want
Archangel Entertainment’s Dirty Two Dozen
of notorious action-film stars, including Terry Bollea (Hulk
Hogan) and Brian Bosworth, that’s here, too.
While it is entirely too fitting, I found the commentary,
punning and general writing style to be a bit too much. Just
like American action films, the schticks and gags are just
plain overdone, to the point of having taken the text out to
beat it to death with a whisk. (Sorry, Tony). I also found the
layout and interior art to be uninspired. To keep with the
theme and style of the game, it should have been more
reflective of the subject matter.
Overall, in spite of my usual criticisms, I found Extreme
Vengeance to be a good diversion from normal gaming. It is
light-hearted and completely slanted toward the players,
and it typifies a genre with which we are all familiar. Being
easy to learn and very affordable, it’s worth a shot.
— Matthew D. Grau
Pyramid Magazine
 Pyramid Picks

STAR WARS & STAR TREK Half of the missions are contributed by each player and are
seeded with resources (for your own missions) and dilem-
mas (for your opponent’s) before play begins. Once a player
FIRST ANTHOLOGIES can deploy a ship and enough crew to staff it, the adventure
begins, navigating along the space/time continuum, solving
Published by Decipher
dilemmas, collecting resources and scoring points for com-
$32.00 each pleting the missions. When the agreed upon point total is
reached, that player wins. One interesting variant is to play
There are several inherent problems with trading-card
for a certain amount of time, like a one-hour Star Trek
games. Not least among them is the fact that it’s hard to get
episode. The player who is ahead at the end of the
strong decks built, unless you have been buying cards since
“episode” is the winner of that game.
the first limited-edition sets rolled off the presses.
Despite being from the same publisher, the Star Wars
Companies have tried various schemes to address this prob-
game is completely different from Star Trek. In Star Wars,
lem, from factory sets (like INWO’s One With Everything)
the object is to travel around the galaxy, engaging in com-
to re-releasing long out-of-print cards (like Magic: The
bat with the other player’s forces and attempting to drain
Gathering’s Chronicles). The latest and, in many ways, the
his store of “Force.” This is the most interesting part of the
best of these schemes is Decipher’s First Anthology card
game. Under most circumstances, when cards are used,
sets for their Star Wars and Star Trek Customizable Card
they are not discarded but “recycled” back to the bottom of
Games.
the “Force” (draw) pile where they could appear again.
Each long format box comes with two Unlimited Edition
Sometimes, though, cards are “lost” and are permanently
starter sets and, for Star Trek, two basic-set boosters. The
discarded. Over time, the amount of Force available dwin-
“unlimitedness” reduces the collectible value of
dles, reducing a player’s available resources and the
the cards, but the Anthology sets are primarily
Force necessary to power the ones he has. While
for players, not collectors. But they’re
this makes for a very strategic game, it also
not entirely worthless to collec-
means that there comes a time
tors – the box also
when some players can no
includes two boosters
longer win, but must play
each of two limited-edi-
out the end of the game.
tion expansions. The box
Also, because of the essential
also includes the widely
Light Side/Dark Side conflict,
available booster set for each
a player must have two decks
game (Jedi Pack for Star Wars
and switch in the middle of every
and Warp Pack for Star Trek)
match, playing the Rebellion in
and a rules supplement that
one game, then the Empire the
brings the basic rules up to date
next. Although this could be viewed
with the latest expansions. The
as a drawback for non-Star Wars afi-
boon to collectors and players alike
cionados, most fans will consider this
is that each Anthology set includes six
requirement a plus.
preview cards, cards that will be seen
There are many doomsayers in
in future expansions, but are
the game industry who say
available to Anthology
that the day of the “cus-
players now. Finally
tomizable card game” has
Decipher has left no space
passed. Decipher doesn’t
wasted. The box can also
think so and has developed a
be used to keep the cards
credible strategy to prove it.
from the set, with much
Firstly, they have designed
more room for other cards to
games which appeal to groups
be added (the box comes with
larger than “gamers.” Secondly,
around 200 cards, but holds
these First Anthology card sets are
upward of 800).
making it easy to join the ranks of
But, suppose that the Anthology
players. Finally, Decipher is heavily
set is a good way to get into the
supporting its games on the Internet
games. Are they good games to get into? The short answer
(www.decipher.com), which makes it possible to find people
is “yes.” The slightly longer answer is “especially if you’re
all over the world to talk or play with. They’ve also posted
really a fan.” Both games do excellent jobs of evoking their
material of interest to players like card lists and a “newbie
respective worlds, while still being fun and very playable.
zone” especially for new players. Let’s hope this is only the
Star Trek is a mission-based game. Each player’s deck
“first” anthology.
contains the personnel, equipment and ships that will be
enough, it is hoped, to complete the available missions. — Micah Jackson

Pyramid Magazine 59
 Pyramid Picks

WARHAMMER we ran up against two rules that neither the rule book nor
our army books (each cost around $20, and deals with one
Published by Games Workshop of the various armies of the Warhammer world) dealt with
By Rick Priestly adequately.
$69.99 In all honesty, the contradictory and vague nature of
some rules almost kept me from recommending
Let’s face it: liking Games Workshop isn’t cool. Warhammer as a Pyramid Pick. We’re not talking typos
Their rules are cheesy. The miniatures overpriced. Even here – just poor, imprecise writing. To its credit, though,
the Usenet newsgroup dedicated to Games Workshop’s the game is fast enough and fun enough that even with
games is usually filled with more condemning than com- such imperfections, it’s easy enough to get sucked into.
mending. And by the way, did you hear that GW just Even my wife knows what a Snotling Pump Wagon is,
re-released the rules set you’ve been using all these years, these days.
and now you have to buy an $80 boxed set just to find out Though pricey, the metal figures GW pumps out to sup-
that your $32 model isn’t allowed anymore? plement its armies with are about the best in the market.
Well, sure, we’ve all heard the complaints. But recently, But I’m an adult with a good income. I’d hate to be a kid
life was getting just a little too serious for me. So, instead of these days, forking over $24 for four lousy Orc Boarboyz.
painting up even more Trajanic Romans and Successor Still, few miniatures companies can match the look and feel
Greeks, I turned to, uh, Games Workshop Orcs. of GW’s best products, and I don’t mind paying for quality
Yes, Orcs. Warhammer has been re- (just don’t push it, guys).
released, and Games Workshop is Tabletop movement is
pumping out even more Snotlings, far more liberal than in
Goblins and Dwarves than ever most miniature games,
before. And yes, the rules are cheesy, with unlimited wheeling
and unrealistic, and even occasionally and low-cost formation
unbalancing. changes. Combat itself
But you know what else? occurs as units or mobs of
They’re fun. 10-30 figures clash, for the
The main reason I even gave most part one-on-one with
Warhammer (also known as War- enemy units (leaders, musi-
hammer Fantasy) a try was because cians and banners help pump
Games Workshop – despite all the up your side). You roll to see
negative publicity, despite all the how many hits you make,
sneers from my historical-purist your opponent rolls to save
gaming friends – has produced two and figures are removed.
of the most under-rated games of Morale isn’t cumulative, but
the last ten years, in my estimation: handled on a per-turn basis (if
Man-O-War and Blood Bowl. a unit loses 1/4 of its strength
And yes, the boxed set does cost in a turn, it must make a
$70. But in that big, heavy box are morale check). Also, armies
crammed – literally crammed – don’t reach break points, but
some 88 of the prettiest plastic fight on until the game ends.
miniatures you’ve ever seen. As Only individual units or figures
well as brilliant, colorful rule- will rout if they fail a morale test
books, battle guides, cardboard badly enough.
buildings and enough accessories to remind you what At this point, many dyed-in-
Christmas morning was like when you were 10 years old. the-wool gamers are probably groaning. So let’s be frank:
For the new edition, Games Workshop has introduced a Warhammer is not the greatest rules set in the history of
new race – the Lizardmen – and redone an old favorite – the planet. But I’ve long believed you can’t live on health
the Bretonnians. Although I’m now caught up in an Orc food alone. Every now and then, you need a candy bar, and
army, I envy anyone who chooses to run with the lizards or you need to listen to Abba. And Warhammer is the Abba
the ’Brets. The plastic figures blow away many metal ones of wargames: It’s bigger than life, it’s brash, it’s a little shal-
on the market, and, even with all of the books, dice, pads, low, but it’s also fun and beautiful in a weird way that only
buildings, templates and cards taken out of the equation, people who can appreciate “Dancing Queen” can under-
that’s still well under $1 per figure. The Bretonnian stand.
Knights alone (you get 12) are a sight to behold, and a joy Warhammer is junk food, but good junk food can be a
to paint. joy. Overpriced? To some people, I could see that. Cheesy?
The game itself is everything you expect a Games Definitely. But fun? You betcha. And I’m a big, big fan of
Workshop game to be – fast, fun and filled with contradic- fun.
tions. In fact, in my very first game against a GW veteran, — John Kovalic

Pyramid Magazine 61
Pyramid Picks

CORPSE KILLER to either combat the zombie poison and heal your health or
to coat bullets to make them more effective. There are sev-
Produced by Digital Pictures eral types of zombies out to get you, including basic
Designed by Tom Zito & Tyler Johnson, et. al. zombies, Shadow Men, Reapers and Black Magic
$49.99 Strawmen. Shadow Men turn from black to white. If you
shoot a Shadow Man while it is black, you will be hurt, but
Have you ever had one of those days? You know, like if you shoot one while it is white, it will destroy all zombies
when you’re parachuting down with the rest of your strike on the screen. Reapers are difficult to kill with regular
team over a remote tropical island, your parachute gets ammunition, but a juju stick completely protects you. Black
stuck in a tree, and while you’re hanging there your leg gets Magic Strawmen will cost you health if you shoot them
bitten by zombies? Then, while you’re slowly decaying into with a non-Datura bullet, but again a juju stick protects
the mindless undead, you have to go around and blow them you.
all to heck with your M-16? Well, if you have, or even if The sequence in which you choose your combat scenes is
you haven’t, then you should play Corpse Killer, the fine up to you. You are able to choose locations from your data-
interactive CD-ROM game from Digital Pictures. com pad and go on different missions to better equip you
The basic storyline goes something like this: You have or help out Winston or Julie. As you go along, more
been sent to the tropical island of Cay Noir with your spe- options will appear on your data pad, which provide you
cial-forces strike team to “search and destroy all with more information and which
belligerents,” and locate and neutralize Dr. Elgin Hellman, reveal more of the plot. Further-
the former Pentagon necrobiologist. Dr. Hellman more, Winston can throw his
used to head a secret research team Baba-Koo Manbones to help guide
exploring near-death you on your way.
experiences, cryogenics, Eventually, you will have to
vampirism, ethnobiology assault Hellman’s keep in
and morphology. He was Zombietown to free your compa-
also head of the now triots, gain more information,
defunct Project Man- and eventually confront Dr.
power, meant to provide Hellman himself to get the
the U.S. government with Blood of Zombie King – the
zombie soldiers. As you only thing that will prevent
soon discover, Hellman was your degeneration into the
never a crackpot. undead.
Now you’re stuck on Cay The only actor cast in
Noir, all of your buddies have Corpse Killer that you will
been captured, and you’re poi- immediately recognize is
soned. You have to fight off Vincent Schiavelli, who
scads of zombies, rescue your plays Dr. Hellman. He’s
buddies, all while trying not to one of those actors whom
turn into a zombie yourself. you’ll remember, but
To help you out, there is won’t be able to name a
Winston, a Rastafarian fortune character or movie. Two
hunter who just happens to know of his roles that come to
a bit about voodoo and juju. He mind are as the biology
came to Cay Noir in search of teacher in Fast Times at
pirate treasure, with which he Ridgemont High and as
planned to finance his Hummer, but the math teacher in
now is stuck helping you, perhaps Better Off Dead. He’s
the only man between him and zom- quite good.
bie meat. And to help add some spice, Normally, I find little replay value in a stock
you have Julie, a struggling journalist shoot-’em-up game, but the storyline and flexible plot in
in search of Project Manpower, who Corpse Killer make it a lot of fun. Everything in the game
has gotten in just a bit over her head. is film footage, so you don’t have to worry about cheesy
This interactive footage and cool storyline make what animation. Overall, I can say that I really enjoyed it and
would normally be a standard point-and-click, shoot-’em- would recommend it.
up sort of game into an addictive journey. Your normal Corpse Killer is available for both MS-DOS/Windows
action involves a right-scrolling scene, in which dozen of and Macintosh.
zombies pop out of different locations, all bent on destroy- — Matthew D. Grau
ing you. To combat these monsters, you have regular and
armor-piercing ammunition, juju sticks and Datura plants

62 Pyramid Magazine
 Pyramid Picks

NOIR The Director’s (GM’s) chapter is pretty thorough and

provides you with a load of Director Characters (NPCs) for
Published by Archon Gaming, Inc. you to use with your game. It also gives you 10 different
Written by Jack Norris, Brian S. Roe, plot hooks for an enterprising Director to build from.
Jason Inglert, Chris Werner The last section of the book details the City, which is the
$24.95 setting for noir. It goes through and discusses the different
districts, places to go and things to do, and the movers and
One of the most recent games worth taking a look at, shakers from the neighborhoods, from the government,
noir takes you back to the age of black-and-white film noir, from the underworld and from law enforcement. It also has
complete with gangsters, private dicks and femme fatales. a couple of excerpts from various City publications, just for
Dust off your fedora and your black suit or your best slinky flavor.
dress, throw on some classic jazz, and let noir take you for a The last piece to mention from the book is the glossary
ride. of slang terms from the noir world. If you don’t know what
As the noir corebook discusses the obligatory roleplaying a frail or hooch is, or why you shouldn’t mess with the gun
explanations, it sets you up for the mood and atmosphere of moll, you’ll want to brush up before you play.
the noir world. As they say, noir is not only a game, it is a As with all things, I should present a few criticisms for
mood where characters mingle in the gray areas of a world noir. The first, and most blatantly obvious, is the problem
of stark dark and light; it is a time seemingly from the with basic copy editing, or lack thereof. You can tell that
1930s and 1940s even though it they were concerned with lingual presentation and conti-
remains timeless; it is a place in the nuity, but you can easily find
City, an amalgamation of all big typos and mis-
cities; it is a style, right out of the spelled words on
genre that is film noir. “The world just about every
appears as a strange collection of other page. The sec-
shadows and light, with armed men ond criticism is for
in suits and trenchcoats walking graphic design. The
down rainy streets. It is the type of interior art is fine,
place where the femme fatales of but there really isn’t
the 1940s are still a force to be any page design. It
reckoned with and the slim waif- normally consists of a
like models of later times are single column page
nothing but pitied curiosities.” utilizing a couple of
Character creation in noir is typeface changes, with
common to many roleplaying sys- a few exceptions.
tems. Each character is given a Today’s gamebook usu-
number of character points that ally requires, pardon
are spent on attributes, skills and the expression, a bit
pros & cons (advantages & dis- more glitz.
advantages). The thing that For the most part, I
makes this standard system find these errors forgiv-
interesting are the noir names able since noir is Archon
for otherwise stock items. noir Gaming, Inc.’s first
presents pros such as Iron- product. Many new
Jawed, John Q. Law and Made company’s first products
Man, and cons such as A Few are lower on the presen-
Bricks Shy, Bum Joint and tation and editing end of
Hard-Luck Case. You’ll recog- things, but that doesn’t
nize all of the components of mean that they aren’t
character generation, but the flavor good games in their own
with which they are presented makes them unique and fit- right.
ting with noir. Overall, I really like noir. They’ve done an effective job
noir’s mechanic system is reminiscent of West End of capturing the essence of the film noir genre and present-
Games’ d6 system of Star Wars fame. To resolve a task, ing it in a roleplaying format. If you’ve ever been a fan of
simply add your attribute and skill together, roll that many Bogart or traditional mobster films, you’ll love noir. Also,
six-sided dice, and try to beat a standard difficulty number. Archon has published several anthologies of fiction, called
It’s easy, it’s tried and it works. In addition, noir’s supposed Shades of Noir. If you’re curious about the game or want
to be primarily about story and atmosphere, so it doesn’t more flavor for your existing game, I’d encourage you to
need to worry about overly detailed and/or complex sys- check these out.
tems. — Matthew D. Grau

Pyramid Magazine 65
Pyramid Picks

PAIN DOCTORS perform surgery, you shuffle the surgery deck and draw and
play the cards one at a time. The card will detail the body
Published by Dreamsville Publishing area involved, the amount of Life Points caused, the
Designed by Michael A. Powell, Steven amount of Pain Points induced and whether you may, must
Carlberg, Victor Oliver or may not continue surgery on this patient. Surgery con-
$29.95 tinues until it ends by choice, is forced to end or the patient
dies on the table. If surgery ends and the patient lives, total
Welcome to the Facility! Pain Doctors is a wonderful up your patient’s Pain Points and add them to your chart.
new boardgame about recreational surgery. (Personal note: Patients who die on the table are wasted and give you noth-
it has been long anticipated by this author and many of his ing.
cohorts.) Pain Doctors is an absolute riot, as long as you Just to show you a bit of the flavor, some of the Surgery
have a strong stomach and a seriously sick sense of humor. cards include:
Each player takes on the role of a doctor in the Facility, a “Baboon Arm – He’s got to have something, and this is
hospital typical of any good horror novel or movie. Your the only thing in stock!!”
ultimate goal is to become the Chief Surgeon, and you “Spontaneous Human Combustion – Talk about cauter-
should not let petty things like morals or ethics get in your izing those wounds!”
way. To accomplish this goal, you need to complete 10 suc- “Scramblero – Your patient’s organs are trading places!
cessful, completely unnecessary surgeries or you need to Why, it’s a visceral swap-meat!”
score 500 or more Pain Points from those same patients in And the infamous “Nurse Vander Knoggin – Preparing
surgery. for the Facility talent show, Vander Knoggin dances on the
Your playing pieces consist of your hand of five treatment patient’s chest!”
cards (which always replenishes) and your patients. Patients I have only two criticisms for
only differ in two areas: name and Pain Doctors. First, the card
description, and ward. stock used is pretty flimsy, mak-
While name has no game ing it difficult to riffle shuffle
effects, the wards (Addict, without damaging the cards.
Batty and Geek) determine You just have to take care when
whether certain treatment using your set. Second, the
cards can affect them. Kidnap! Treatment card
Treatment cards consist of detracts from the game. It
such wonderful methods as allows you to steal another
being eaten by cannibalistic doctor’s patient from Pre-op
orderlies, broadcast soft-core and then immediately operate
movies, letters from mom and on them. Normally, patients
having someone use your are safe when in Pre-op and
patient’s I.V. as an ashtray. this card represents the only
They also allow you to protect exception. I’ve found that
patients, swap patients, cause a there are enough perils
patient’s suicide and send involved in treatment cards,
patients to surgery. and this one is just way too
Each player begins the game cheap. I also found that it
with three patients, each with tends to foster hoarding
five Life Points, and a hand of with smaller groups (2-3
five Treatment cards, one of players). In order to
which must be a Go to Surgery brighten game play, I usu-
card. You must always have at ally just take the two
least three living patients. Each Kidnap! cards out of the
turn you draw a new Treatment Treatment deck. Experi-
card and play one from your ment to see what works
hand. Your goal during these the best for you.
turns of play is to build up your Other than those two avoidable problems, I think Pain
patient’s Life Points while diminishing your opponents’, so Doctors is one of the best boardgames I’ve played in a long
that your patients will be able to withstand more pain and time. It is rife with black humor and great imagery. If you
live through bouts of recreational surgery. ever get a chance to play, I would highly recommend it,
The board consists of card piles, Pre-op and the although the folks I’ve played with have found it particu-
Operating Theatre. Once you feel that you have a suitable larly effective to use mad scientist/doctor voices from old
patient, you can send that patient to the Pre-op area of the horror movies throughout the game. See what you can
board, where they are safe from most harm and can pro- come up with.
ceed into the Operating Theatre when you’re ready. To — Matthew D. Grau

66 Pyramid Magazine

WHITE STAR/BLUE SKY,
RED SUN/BLUE SKY
Published by Simtac, Inc.
By John F. Stanoch
$15.95 (White Star/Blue Sky), $19.95 (Red
Sun/Blue Sky)
As a hobby, miniature gaming is usually the last place you
expect to see something truly unprecedented.
Oh, sure, new rules will improve upon old, and some
tweaks will be more innovative than others. Yet the hobby,
for the most part, builds upon foundations, creating struc-
tures that – while vast improvements over those of ten years
ago – most of us are familiar with. But John Stanoch’s /Blue
Sky series of air wargames is unlike anything that I’ve seen.
Using Stanoch’s Battle of Britain game Squadrons as its
starting point, the /Blue Sky series aims at covering World
War II’s air war on a scale unique to miniature gaming: the
wing/squadron level.
To those not familiar with air wargames, this may sound
less than breathtaking. But imagine if every miniatures
rules set under the sun dealt with gaming only on the skir-
mish level. Ancients? Skirmish gaming. Napoleonics?
Skirmish gaming. World War II? Skirmish gaming.
Then imagine your reaction on picking up the first set of
rules you ever saw dealing with engagements at the battal-
ion or regimental level.
Air miniature gaming, for the most part, has been a
plane-to-plane affair since as far back as I can remember
(don’t ask – it’s far enough). Players would have one, per-
haps two and certainly almost never more than three planes
each. Flight simulation, for the most part, was valued above
playability, and that meant that with many miniature air
games, and most air board games, plotting the moves for
more than three aircraft was about as painstaking as actually
learning to fly the blasted things.
John Stanoch’s /Blue Sky series, on the other hand, tack-
les air combat from a slightly more abstract perspective. As
Pyramid Magazine
Pyramid Picks
such, players can handle six to 12 aircraft with relative ease.
Picture your gaming group plotting a Japanese raid on an
American battleship task force. To put Red Sun/Blue Sky
(which concentrates on the Pacific Theater from 1938-
1942) to the test, mine did. Sixty planes, handled by eight
players, swooped and dove over our trusty gaming table. It
was something to see.
Movement is straightforward, and combat is deadly. The
basic rules take up a mere 13 pages of the book, and the
various advanced rules another two. Much of the remainder
of the 64-page book is filled up with a few charts, a history
of the air war in the Pacific, scenarios and ads.
Gearheads will miss most of the specifics of aircraft per-
formance that get lost when you study battles at this level.
And the maneuvers allowed (Turn, Slip, Half-Roll and Half
Loop) hardly cover the gamut of possibilities dogfighting
relied upon.
But dogfighting, while playing a role in the /Blue Sky
series, is not the be-all and end-all that it is in most other
air-combat games. Trying to get your 12 Hellcats out alive
when jumped by ten Zeros is. And at that point, microman-
agement and rules-lawyering (a hallmark of most air
wargames) get thrown out the window.
The White Star/Blue Sky supplement covers the Eighth
Air Force bombing campaigns from 1942-1944 (you need
Red Sun/Blue Sky to play). Eventually, all theaters of the
war will be handled, and the system is slated to stretch to
the Korean conflict as well. The venerable Squadrons will
even be re-released as Black Cross/Blue Sky, to update the
Battle of Britain scenarios.
A lovely line of 1-300th scale Collectair fighters and
bombers, also released by Simtac, covers just about every
aircraft you could need, for about $2.50 each.
The /Blue Sky series isn’t for everyone. The fact that any
given aircraft performs as efficiently at any given altitude is
sure to bug purists. But the games are fresh enough that
such abstractions can be overlooked. There’s something
very new on the shelves, and I can almost guarantee you’ve
never tried any game like it.
— John Kovalic
67

Beetle Planet
by J. Jericho Brown
Ingredients
Opening Action
The lights on the shuttle’s science-station panel blink
in a lazy pattern as the picture on the screen, promi-
nently titled “BALO 2,” turns from a green gamma
sweep to an infrared sweep. Two bright blips appear on
the screen; they are about the same color and thus the
same high temperature. Yet, when the terrain overlay is
emplaced, it would appear that one of the blips is at the
bottom of a circular lake.
The shuttle lands in a clearing in the middle of a forest
of deep orange trees, not too far from the Complex, from
which the second power source emanates. As they land,
the party and shuttle are overrun by large insectoids!
They are eight-legged, running on the hind four, and
slick orange to red in color. The hordes of insects rush
northward, indifferent to the landing craft and the char-
acters. Just then a bone-jarring roar shakes the trees to
the north.
The Complex
The Complex consists of a central glass and steel dome
and several smaller, connected buildings. It houses a sin-
68
gle human and several service robots. The human is Dr.
Stephene Krosse. He is a short man, bald-headed, wear-
ing glasses and seemingly always in good humor. Dr.
Krosse will invite the party in for rest and refreshment in
exchange for outside news.
He is more than happy to tell them all about the insec-
toids he calls Amber Beetles and about the thing that
they heard roaring in the distance, Rex. He has maps that
he made of the locations of the Beetles’ hives and the
stomping grounds of Rex.
Dr. Krosse will also be very interested in talking about
his research and to show the party its fruits. He is work-
ing on an antibiotic-like serum from the bark of the
orange trees in the forest. He will show the party into the
central dome where he has several of these trees planted.
He has disks and disks of digitized information that he
would love to have taken back to civilization so that his
ideas and findings can begin to be tested and evaluated by
his peers. Dr. Krosse is always happy and smiling; he’s
almost too happy . . .
Dr. Krosse knows of the circular lake in the valley. He
says that it is an impact crater created thousands – if not
millions – of years ago. He has no idea what this other
power source might be, but he would be most interested
in seeing it and exploring the area. He has an all-terrain
vehicle and is willing to lend it to the party, if they will
take him along. A few of his service robots will want to
accompany him, with the PCs’ permission, of course.
The Crater Lake
The lake is surrounded on all sides by the same orange
trees. The surface of the water is covered in patches of
rusty moss. With the pale yellow of Balo reflecting off
the waves, the lake’s beauty is undeniable.
The doctor says that the moss is edible and quite tasty,
and that the Beetles eat here often. In fact, Beetles can be
seen lounging and eating all around the rim of the lake.
They will stay put and not approach the party.
All indications show that there is a source of power
churning at the bottom of the lake; its pulses are far too
regular to be natural. With sensors, the party can tell that
it’s a large, roughly cylindrical metal object, about five
feet long and two feet wide. Upon inspection (if the
group can either get down to the bottom of the lake or
somehow bring the object up), it weighs 1,500 lbs. and
the surface is made of a golden colored metal that isn’t
gold. In fact, it’s made of no known metal or alloy. It
shows no corrosion, it stands up to heat extremely well
and is extremely difficult if not impossible to dent or dis-
figure in any way. Weapon burns leave scorch marks that
wipe right off. The doctor theorizes that the object must
have impacted here and created this lake. If it passed
through space and the atmosphere and impacted hard
enough to create this half-mile-wide, 50-foot-deep lake,
it certainly doesn’t show the wear.
Pyramid Magazine
 Adventure Pizza

The body of this object seems to have some artistic

value. In fact, it slightly resembles the Amber Beetles. All
eight legs and the general shape of the carapace are rep-
resented in a stylized fashion. This object has a pair of
long, wide wings running down its back, however. The
Amber Beetles, as far as Dr. Krosse knows, never grow
wings.

The Beetles
The hives of the Amber Beetles lie strewn around the
area. There are four large hives within a 10-mile radius
of the doctor’s Complex. At least 75 or more Beetles
seem to live in each of these hives. As the PCs approach
the hives, the Beetles will begin to form up and defend
their hive. They will stand on their hind legs, make
threatening motions with their upper limbs and chatter
their mandibles loudly. As the party proceeds forward,
the doctor begs them to fall back. He points out the
strange head-bobbing gesture that the Beetles are show-
ing the party. He remarks that he’s observed this behavior
right before an attack. As the party watches, the Beetles
all turn and run back toward the Complex at full speed.

Rex
Upon returning to the Complex, the characters can see
a battle going on. In the center of the fray is a large
cyborg of some sadistic alien creation. The doctor gasps
only a single word: “Rex!”
The cyborg looks much like its namesake. It has a large
head with many sharp teeth, a body built to take damage
and legs meant for high speed, all like a Tyrannosaurus.
But where a T. Rex has small, nearly useless arms, this
beast has powerful robotic arms with huge metal claws.
Its arms are not the only mechanical parts. Its left leg and
right eye have been replaced with robotic devices. There
is also a partial metal helmet bolted to the back of Rex’s
head.
As the party exits the ATV, Rex is ripping several of the
Amber Beetles to little bits. He is covered in a dark ichor
from all of the dead insectoids at his feet. As the PCs
watch, the Beetles surge up and seem to overtake Rex.
For a moment it looks like a victory. But, a moment later,
a roar shakes the ground and Rex breaks free and retreats
south. A few moments later, the Beetles disperse in all
directions as if nothing happened.

Cooking Tips
Dr. Krosse, I Presume?
Dr. Stephene Krosse arrived on Balo 2 about ten years
ago. He was very interested in getting better samples of

Pyramid Magazine 69
Adventure Pizza

the trees found there. He had been given some Into the Hives
poorly preserved samples a year before from The Amber Beetles seem to be the only indigenous
an independent stellar trader. Dr. Krosse life forms on this planet. But with the mysteries of the
arranged grants for his trip from sev- alien artifact, even this can be doubted. The
eral private donors. He was, until about Beetles will continue to fight Rex until he is
six months ago, getting regular supply destroyed, and their general aggressiveness
drops and sending out regular reports. The will increase with the passing of each day.
supply ship, mysteriously, has stopped arriving The longer the party and Dr. Krosse
at the planet. stay, the more their lives are in
The doctor is afraid of the rising hostility of the danger.
Beetles. He is even more afraid of Rex. Even though Extra Spice? What
neither has so far directly threatened him, he wants a could be in those pro-
group of brave people to watch over him until he com- tected hives? Could
pletes his work, which would only be a few more months. the Beetles be
If this could not be arranged, he would like to arrange creations of Dr.
passage back to the closest spaceport. Krosse? Could the
Extra Spice? What if the doctor isn’t working on a Beetles be at least
serum to fend off disease, instead he is working on a poi- semi-intelligent and know some-
son for some dark purpose? What if the doctor has thing of the creation of the
indeed created a new and valuable serum to fight off dis- artifact?
ease? What if the doctor has built Rex as a way to protect
himself from the Amber Beetles and lost control of the
beast? What if the Doctor is just delusional and every-
thing he says is just a bunch of fairy tales? Who exactly is
Side Salad
If the doctor didn’t create Rex, who did?
paying for this 10-year trip and what are their purposes? What have the doctor’s robot servants seen?
What happened to the monthly supply ship?
The Origins of the Artifact
The Balo 2 artifact fell to the planet
about 2,500 years ago. Where it came
from is unknown. What is sure is that
there is a pulsing high-energy source in
the core of it. Upon even closer and more
careful inspection, the wings will part and
reveal what appears to be a control panel.
There is evidence of writing and very
advanced technology. This artifact would
sell for an extremely good price to the
right buyer.
Extra Spice? Could the power source
inside the artifact be more powerful and
better than anything current technology
has to offer? Could the party possibly use
the artifact to control the Amber Beetles?
Could the device have been fabricated by
Dr. Krosse as a way to mislead or distract
anyone who came to sniff him out? Could
the artifact be the Rosetta Stone for the
language of a Progenitor Race and be
used to find more artifacts from that
race?

70 Pyramid Magazine
DIRECT FROM JAPAN
Treachery.
Treachery. Betrayal.
Betrayal. Secret
Secret societies.
societies. Gene-tailored
Gene-tailored Super
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As I write this, the Origins game convention (and the
AADA World Racing Championships) are a week away.
We’ll have a complete report in Pyramid #28. The trophies
look great, and I look forward to running my first World
Championship in quite a while. Now, where did I put that
rulebook . . .
The World Duelling Championships at GenCon will be
run by the NOVA boys who did such a good job last year.
We’ll have a complete report from that event in the next
issue, too.
Here are some reports from the field:
2047 NOVA Club Racing Championship
The Club Racing Championship was a 5-lap sprint
around a mock-up of the Ozark Off-Road Raceway. Don
Jacques took pole in an Amex CA “Country Road M4.”
Mike Garrity started second in a DKI “Gila Monster.” In
third was Chris French in a CFI “Apex Chopper.” Norman
McMullen refereed.
The three-abreast start meant that the first turn, which is
a boulder-lined strip one car-length wide, would see some
severe action. Sure enough, Chris’ turbocharged gas burner
allowed him to out-accelerate Mike and Don; entering
Corner 1, Chris pointed both of them. Chris bulled his way
past Mike in Corner 1, then stormed past Don before
Corner 2 (the NW 180). Once in the clear, the CFI truck
simply outpaced everybody.
Mike provided a few interesting moments in his efforts to
catch Chris, including cutting the course twice. At the NW
180 he simply turned right and went through the grass; at
the eastern jump he went over the TV bunker, landing on
the track. He took the whoop-de-doos at high speed every
lap, all but destroying his tires, and pushed his power plant.
As Chris approached Don’s pickup he shot the unfortu-
nate Amex vehicle’s back armor off and destroyed the
driver’s component armor. With the strong possibility of
being wiped out by Chris or Mike, Don slowed down and
pulled off the track midway through his fourth lap.
Mike still had a most pressing problem – namely, a cer-
tain CFI pickup that had vanished over the horizon. Mike’s
course-cutting brought him in range a couple of times, but
not even explosive-tipped HMG rounds could stop the CFI
juggernaut. Chris sailed over the finish line nearly 2 sec-
72
BY SCOTT HARING
onds ahead of Mike, completing the five laps in 1 minute,
29.2 seconds.
Positions: 1st – Chris French (5 laps completed); 2nd –
Mike Garrity (5 laps completed); 3rd – Don Jacques (DNF,
3 laps completed).
2047 Club Racing Championship Vehicles
Gila Monster: Pickup, x-hvy. chassis, OR suspension,
sports power plant, 6 HDOR tires, driver, turreted HMG
w/explosive ammo, HRSWC, roll cage, safety seat, HD
shocks, HD brakes, spoiler. Sloped metal/plastic armor:
F12/12, L9/8, R9/8, B10/12, T8/5, U0/10, 10 points of
component armor for driver. Accel. 5, top speed 105, HC
1/2 OR; 7,194 lbs., $29,980.
Country Road M4: Pickup, stnd. chassis, OR suspen-
sion, sports power plant w/PC & SC, 4 OR solids, driver,
LR left and right, spoiler, HD brakes, hi-res computer.
Armor: F14, L19, R19, B20, T19, U19, 10 points of com-
ponent armor for driver. Accel. 10, top speed 140, HC 3/4
OR; 4,980 lbs., $28,932.
Tidball & Beecher Declared Co-Champions
in 2047 SPARK Duelling Championship
Five of SPARK’s best and brightest duellists took to the
arena to decide the 2047 SPARK Duelling Championships.
The format for the championship was Division 15, and the
arena chosen was the Rainbow Bay Blast Furnace, known
for its tight confines and flame-shooting concrete bunkers.
To make things interesting for the competitors, the arena
was programmed to fire two bunkers per second, and the
championship was to be decided in a simple manner - the
last duellist standing after 30 seconds would be declared the
champion. No checkpoints, no laps, just straight-out vehic-
ular brutality.
With these stipulations in mind, Pete Jansen (2044 North
Region Champion), Becky Teed, Brian Strassman (2045
SPARK Duelling Champion), James Beecher (2045 SPARK
Racing Champion) and Jeff Tidball (defending SPARK
Duelling Champion) took to their vehicles.
The action started slowly, as the competitors maneuvered
within the tight confines of the arena in order to get a clear
Pyramid Magazine
 AADA News
shot while avoiding the flames from the bunkers. Jeff With three vehicles down and time running out, Jeff and
quickly earned the title of “Fire Magnet,” as it seemed that Jim began a game of cat-and-mouse through the corridors
as Jeff maneuvered to avoid one flaming bunker, another of the Blast Furnace. However, they soon realized that nei-
one would fire in his path. Brian scored the first kill of the ther would be able to kill the other before time expired. At
day when Pete drove through a flame cloud left by Brian. the 23-second mark, Jeff and Jim decided to call it a draw,
Pete caught on fire, and thanks to the volatile combination and became SPARK’s first co-champions.
of a gas engine and anti-tank gun in his vehicle, blew up Jeff Tidball’s vehicle was not available at the time of this
four seconds later. Fortunately, the confettied remains of report. James Beecher’s car, the “Metal Dung Beetle,” is
Pete’s vehicle were confined to a little-traveled section of below:
the arena. Metal Dung Beetle: Compact, x-hvy. chassis, heavy sus-
The remaining duellists continued to take potshots at pension, 100 cid turbocharged gas engine, 4 gallon racing
each other when the opportunity presented itself. James tank (full), 4 PR radial tires, driver (w/body armor), ATG
Beecher, driving a metal-armored ram car with an ATG of front w/HESH ammo and SWC. Sloped metal/plastic
his own, turned Becky into the second casualty of the day armor: F 18/35, L 2/35, R 2/35, B2/25, T 1/0, U 2/12, 10
with a withering volley of ATG fire followed by a T-bone points CA around each of driver, engine and ATG, 8 points
collision. Jim tried to repeat this on Brian’s car, but only CA around gas tank. Acceleration 5, Top Speed 62.5, HC
succeeded in peeling off all of Brian’s left side armor and 4. 4,435 lbs, $14,922.
slowing his vehicle. Brian turned into a casualty a few sec-
onds later when, while maneuvering cautiously due to a low This Just In!
handling status, he presented his left side to Jeff. One David Kristensen took the 2047 AADA World Racing
recoilless round later, and Brian was both dead and Championships at Origins ’97 with a dynamic combination
uncloneable. of speed, maneuverability and firepower.
Driving a CanAm racer with a top
speed of 200 and HC 9, Kristensen
maneuvered through the treacherous
BECOMING A MEMBER loops and center crisscross of a specially
designed arena with nary a slip-up. His
Any Car Wars fan can start a local chapter of the AADA. It’s a sim-
turreted Vulcan MG took care of anyone
ple, two-step process.
that got too close; though David led wire
to wire, the outcome was in doubt until
1) Send a SASE to AADA, PO Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. the final straightaway of the third and
We’ll send you a chapter application. final lap.
2) Fill out the application, and return it, along with your $15 char- The dangers of gas engines cost two
ter fee. entrants dearly. Both Tim Gould and
Geosh Fathauer blew critical engine
That’s it – you’re now an official AADA chapter for the next damage rolls early in the race. Gould suf-
calander year. You’ll get a charter certificate and membership cards fered the engine-blowing disaster at the
for all your club members. You’ll also have the right to hold an offi- hands of Kristensen’s VMG, while
cial club championship, which will be reported in Pyramid. Finally, Fathauer paid the price trying to push 30
you’ll get the quarterly AADA newsletter. extra mph out of his underpowered vehi-
If you like the idea of a local AADA chapter, but aren’t sure if cle. That left Kristensen and Brandon
you: a) know enough people, b) have a place to play, or c) are really Lanich to race to the finish, dodging the
crazy about the idea of spending $15 – then talk to your local other two each lap as they coasted to a
games shop, and find out if the owner is interested in sponsoring halt. Gould and Fathauer did their best,
your chapter. If he goes for it, you can post announcements of deliberately stopping in the middle of the
AADA activities at the store, he might let you hold games there, best line through the loop, poised to take
and the shop will pay the $15. What a deal… and it’s now easier point-blank shots at the other two as they
than ever before to charter a local AADA chapter – there’s no mini- sped by, but could do no significant dam-
mum number of members. Members don’t have to subscribe to age.
Pyramid, or buy an individual membership. We’ll have complete coverage of the
Individual memberships are available – they cost $5. They’ll get Racing Championships, with pictures,
the arena and the finalist’s car designs –
you a membership card an a one-year subscription to the newslet-
plus everything about the World
ter. Individual memberships are basically offered as a convenience
Duelling Championships at GenCon and
to folks who aren’t in any position to start or join a local chapter,
the BLUD World Championship
but who want to keep in touch with the AADA. Just between us, if at DexCon – in the next issue.
you can get a couple other people interested in Car Wars, the local Stay tuned!
chapter membership is a much better deal.

Pyramid Magazine 73
 Whether a Power or Spell,
How’s It Work?
Q&A on GURPS Magic, Grimoire and Supers
Q&A Supers
By Sean “Dr Kromm” Punch
Below are some clarifications and answers to questions
about the GURPS magic system (primarily the material
found in GURPS Grimoire and Magic) and GURPS
Supers. Most of these questions were originally answered
on the Internet, and have been edited here for clarity and
brevity. Feel free to send your questions to Dr. Kromm
<kromm@io.com>.
Ceremonial Magic
Magic implies, but does not explicitly state, that it is
expected that Ceremonial Magic is performed by two-plus
mages. Is this necessarily so?
— Greg Yon
Yes.
Creatures of Enchantment
1. Do Mind Control college spells work on undead?
2. Do Body Control spells?
— Grover C. Browning
1. No. An undead being does not have a “mind” as such,
although it may have the semblance of one (i.e., whatever force is
animating it: magic, hate, vengeance, weird rays, an evil spirit).
2. Yes – as long as they have bodies. This excludes ghosts and
skull spirits, but definitely includes mummies, vampires and so
forth.
Are elementals “free-willed” creatures that have a will
that can be subverted? Can they be possessed?
— Hal Carmer
Elementals are not creatures with free will, but spirits (see p.
M114) – just like demons or the spirits that animate zombies and
golems. They are treated as magical forces, not as conscious beings.
This means they cannot be charmed, possessed or subverted via
mind control. This is only stated explicitly for golems (p. M116)
and demons (p. M113), but a similar prohibition applies to ele-
mentals as well. To control a magical creature, a mage must use
the proper spell: Control Elemental for elementals, Control
Creation for creations, Control Zombie for zombies and so on. A
good test is a creature’s response to the Pentagram spell; if a crea-
ture can be held at bay by a Pentagram, then it’s magical and
cannot normally be affected by spells that are resisted by IQ.
74
Demons and undead are “killed” by damage that would
take them below 0 HT. Does this apply to golems and ele-
mentals? I’d say yes, because that’s a ruling I’d apply to all
“artificial” or “unnatural” creatures. Your opinion?
— Sylvain Coucharriere
You speak the truth! All magically summoned or created
undead, spirits, creations and the like vanish, melt to goo or go
back to Hell when they reach -1 HT. Treat all such creatures as if
they had the Unliving disadvantage (p. CI100).
The character-point cost for the power to draw strength
from familiars is vastly more expensive than the newly stan-
dardized Extra Fatigue advantage. Care to comment?
— Pan
This power is now treated as Extra Fatigue, subject to the
usual general limitations on familiars; see p. CI37 for details.
1. Zombies fall down “dead” when they reach HT 0 . . .
However, skull spirits don’t have this stated at all in their
description. I was wondering therefore, if this undead sort
of behavior doesn’t apply to them?
2. The Skull-Spirit spell says the material component is
the skull of any intelligent being – but the description says
the “life-force of a human skull.” Which is correct?
— David Pidcock
1. Skull spirits are destroyed at HT 0, just like zombies, skele-
tons and mummies.
2. You need an intelligent being’s skull – it need not be human.
1. How big do golems have to be?
2. Do golems have to be man-shaped?
— Revenant
1. Big enough to justify their ST and HP. A clay or flesh golem
could pass for a huge human (6’-7’ tall), a stone or crystal one
would be ogre-sized (8’-10’ tall) and an iron or bronze golem
would be giant-sized (12’+ tall).
2. Yes. The spell assumes two-legged movement, two hands and
a head with eyes and ears. The abilities of golems would be rather
different from those listed if this were not the case. Your characters
should feel free to research “Golem Beast” and “Golem Fur-
niture” spells, though!
Pyramid Magazine

Could you scale the ST and HP of a golem down – say,
to make a hand-held iron golem?
— Damien A. Wellman
Seems balanced. Just multiply ST, HP, and energy, time and
cash costs by the same factor. For instance, a tiny iron golem (scaled
down by a factor of 10) might have ST 3, HP 4, and require 4
days’ sculpting, $100 worth of iron and 80 energy to activate.
Magery
Is it possible to purchase regular Magery 1, and then fur-
ther levels as aspected Magery?
— Pan
Yes. You’re simply more talented with some spells than others.
1. I want a Mage who has Magery 1 normally but has
Moon-Aspected Magery of 4. So what should be the cost of
the further 3 levels? (5 per level?)
2. More importantly, when Aura is cast on this mage
when there is no moon, would the Mage casting Aura know
about the further 3 Moon-Aspected points?
— Sabbatt
1. Magery is normally limited to 3 levels. You could buy
Magery 1 normally for 15 points, and add 2 levels of Moon-
Aspected Magery on top of that at 5 points each, for a total of 25
points. To have Magery 4+ of any kind would require a GM call.
2. Part of the point break for aspected Magery comes from the
assumption that the aura is obvious; therefore, the Moon-
Aspected aura is always visible to anyone who cares to check.
If a character has one level of Magery, and one level of
“Food College Only” Magery, he gets +1 to all spells, and
+2 to Food College spells (and Recover Strength). When
taking prereqs that require Magery 2, does this character
qualify?
— Armin D. Sykes
For the purpose of meeting Magery requirements, he’s treated
as Magery 2 for Food spells, Magery 1 for all other spells.
Magic In Combat
Is it possible to All-Out Attack for two attacks with a
Flame Jet or Sound Jet?
— Pan
Yes. Treat jet spells as melee weapons for all purposes, except (1)
they cannot parry or be parried, (2) damage does not depend on
the user’s ST and (3) an All-Out Attack cannot give +2 damage.
Magic Items
If somebody gets smacked while casting a spell using an
item, does his ability to cast the spell get reduced, or is it
still cast at the level of the item?
— Maxwell C. Dancer
In general, spells cast using items are unaffected by injury to
the wielder; however, the user can be distracted while concentrat-
ing, and must roll vs. Will-3 if he is injured, as per p. B148.
1. With weapons that have a maximum damage listed
(such as a large knife), does the Puissance spell allow the
weapon to do more damage?
Pyramid Magazine
Q&A
2. If the Power spell is cast on an item with several
enchantments, does the full total of the Power always apply
to all enchantments on the item?
— Sabbatt
1. This depends on how the spell works in your campaign. If
you feel the Puissance enchantment makes the blade sharper, then
the rules for high-quality weapons would hold: maximum dam-
age can be inflicted using less ST, but it does not increase.
Likewise, maximum damage would not increase if the spell sim-
ply increased the wielder’s striking power, for much the same
reason. However, if you regard Puissance as a magical force field
that deepens and broadens wounds, cuts armor and disrupts flesh,
then maximum damage should be raised by the same amount as
damage is; e.g., a dagger with Puissance +2 would have maxi-
mum damage 1d+2 instead of 1d.
2. Yes. This is why Power is so expensive. An item with Power
subtracts its points of Power from the cost to cast and maintain all
the spells that can be cast by the item.
Mana Levels
Okay, a no mana zone (NMZ) won’t break a “permanent
spell.” What things will bust various types of spell?
— Chad Underkoffler
All but permanent and enchantment spells are ended by a
NMZ – a NMZ merely suspends these classes of spells. Dispel
Magic (or the appropriate Counterspell) will end any spell except
an enchantment – even a lasting or permanent one – unless the
spell specifically requires some other spell (e.g., Remove Curse,
Stone to Flesh, Exorcism) to end it; however, many lasting and
permanent spells do require one of these! Finally, Remove
Enchantment is the only way to end an enchantment spell, short
of breaking the enchanted item.
Spells, By College
Body Control
When you cast Control Person on somebody, could the
person thus being controlled cast any spells that they knew
at a level of 21 or more, which needs no physical gesture,
etc.?
— Maxwell C. Dancer
Yes; a character whose body (only) is being controlled may use
any purely mental ability, since he retains his memory and wits.
However, given that he has no access to his body’s abilities –
including his ST score – he can only use those spells (or other abil-
ities) that have no fatigue cost. In the case of a mage, this would
mean the spells he can cast at 0 fatigue due to high skill. Note
that since he’s cut off from his physical senses, the mage will be at
-5 to cast spells on anything but his own body.
Illusion and Creation
Some questions regarding the Phantom spell:
1. Can you let the Phantom carry any object when cre-
ated?
2. What happens if my skill with the spell is 15 and I
make the image of a warrior with leather armor and a
saber?
3. Will the warrior get the 2/3 parry?
4. Will the armor be used in calculating its parry?
75
Q&A
5. Does the caster have to take the Concentrate maneu-
ver to move the Phantom about? What about attacking?
6. Does a Phantom armed with a greatsword do
greatsword damage?
7. Can a Phantom ignore ready times for weapons?
8. Can a winged Phantom fly? At what speed? What
about a wingless Phantom?
9. Which skills can you have a Phantom use?
10. Does a Phantom use default physical skills or does it
use straight DX?
11. If a “human” Phantom is struck by an attack and I
decide to let it seem like the skin warded off a (let’s say) 10-
point blow, would that qualify the attacker for a new
“resistance” roll?
— Peter Brodt
1. A Phantom appears unequipped – just like a creation. To
equip it, use the guidelines under “Equipped Creations,” p. G56.
2. Since leather armor and a saber weigh around 22 or 23 lbs.,
you’ll need to know Create Object and add 10 fatigue to the cast-
ing cost and 10 seconds to the casting time of Phantom to make it
appear with these items.
3. Given you’ve equipped the Phantom, it can parry – but
unlike Create Warrior, Phantom does not bestow any combat
skills, so the Phantom must either fight bare-handed at DX or
use a weapon at its normal default (DX-5, in the case of a saber).
As per a recent Basic Set erratum, the “special abilities” of com-
bat skills (such as a 2/3 skill Parry) cannot be used by default;
therefore, the Phantom’s parry with the saber is only (DX-5)/2.
4. If you paid the extra fatigue to create the armor, yes.
5. Yes. The caster must concentrate to make the phantom do
anything, exactly as for an illusion. The only way around this is
to cast either Independence or Initiative on the phantom.
6. Sure, if you pay the fatigue cost to give it a greatsword.
7. No. It is limited by its ST and DX in the same way a
human is. If the caster’s skill is 15, then the phantom is ST 15,
DX 15, and can (for instance) swing a great axe at default skill
10 for cut 2d+4, requiring a turn to ready between swings.
8. A Phantom can only fly if you pay extra energy to give it the
ability to fly, as per the Flight spell. This counts as an “extraordi-
nary ability,” as defined in the spell description.
9. Any physical skill, but only by default (if the skill has one).
10. It always uses its default. Note that a skilled caster will cre-
ate an extremely high-DX Phantom, so this isn’t much of a
limitation!
11. If an attack does more damage than the margin of success
of the spell, the Phantom is dispelled no matter how tough it looks.
Otherwise, it just looks like the blow wasn’t effective and the illu-
sionist can choose whatever visual effect he wants to explain this.
Aside: Note that the primary purpose of Phantom is to create
big monsters that attack with fangs and claws; it’s usually a good
idea to use Create Warrior for a skilled, humanoid fighter.
Mind Control
Do Mind Control spells, nominally based upon accepted
norms of mammalian life, operate differently when faced
with new life forms?
— Todd South
No. They work on any free-willed being with an IQ score.
76
Movement
About the Hinder spell: My mage sees a fighter coming
with Move 7, says “Hindered!” and puts 4 points of energy
(the maximum) in the spell while stepping back. The
fighter is slowed down to Move 3, but continues to come.
The mage steps back and says “Hindered!” again, putting 3
points of energy in it. Does this: (a) slow the Fighter down
to Move 0, or (b) have no further effect?
— Thomas Ackermann
The correct answer is (b). Multiple copies of the same spell do
not “stack.” See the “Limits on Protection” sidebar on p. M11 –
it applies to more than just protection spells! The maximum level
of effect that a spell can ever have is equal to the highest level that
can be produced by a single casting. Where multiple castings occur,
only the strongest one takes effect. This means that multiple cast-
ings of Hinder do not add in effect, and stronger castings simply
supersede weaker ones. This applies to defensive spells (e.g.,
Armor, Blur), offensive ones (e.g., Hinder, Fatigue), spells that
boost abilities (e.g., Might, Haste), Bless and Curse, and any
other spell whose effects are leveled but not permanent.
1. What happens if a mage with the Teleport spell and
the ST to carry a victim grabs said victim and tries to tele-
port away with him?
2. In some genres, I believe Psionics and Supers, unless it
has changed, teleporters can only teleport to a certain num-
ber of sites, related to their skill or IQ. They can buy
additional sites fairly cheap. I see nothing like this in
Magic. Why not?
3. If two big ogres are grappling a mage, can he teleport
out?
4. Say you shake hands with a mage as he teleports (kid-
nap attempt, perhaps). If you exceed his encumbrance limit,
does he go without you?
5. In that situation, do you get to resist his spell to keep
him there?
— John Jackson
1. His victim gets to resist, exactly per the Teleport Other spell.
2. Mainly because GURPS Magic uses a different mechanic
from Psionics to handle this issue. Both magic and psi allow one
to teleport freely to any location that can be seen. They differ
when the character tries to teleport to a place that he can’t see:
Psionics only allows the psi to teleport to a fixed number of
memorized locations (equal to IQ) that aren’t in his line of sight;
attempts to teleport somewhere that is neither visible nor memo-
rized are simply not allowed.
Magic, instead of allowing a fixed number of sites to be memo-
rized, allows the mage to teleport to any place he has ever been to
or seen in the past. However, it assigns skill modifiers: -2 for a
place that has not been visited within a month, -1 to -3 for a
place that was glimpsed only briefly, and -2 if visualization of the
target location is done via TV, mind reading, etc. – all cumula-
tive. E.g., to teleport to a place glimpsed briefly on TV a month
ago might be at -6, plus a potentially unknown distance penalty!
These are really two different ways of addressing the same
issue, but the Psionics system is slightly more restrictive because
psi teleportation lacks the skill penalties for distance and huge
fatigue costs that balance magical teleportation.
Pyramid Magazine

3. A mage who knows Teleport is able to teleport out of any
grapple or pin – if he knows Teleport well enough that being
grappled would not prevent him from casting it (i.e., level 21+).
Likewise, he could teleport away from clothes, handcuffs, rope, etc.
– although in a distracting situation skill 21+ may be required.
4. Yes.
5. No. Whether you’re holding a mage or he’s holding you, he
can still teleport away and you cannot resist that – the spell is
being cast on him, not you!
GURPS Supers
1. I’m not sure what the gadget limitation “Can be hit”
means. Isn’t this implied by “Breakable”?
2. Ultra Boy (from DC’s Legion of Superheroes), can only
use one of his powers at a time. Should they be bought as a
power group of some form?
3. Is using Bind and Acrobatics the best way to simulate
Spider Man-type web swinging? How about Batman?
Maybe there should be a Swinging power and skill?
— Chad
1. “Breakable” indicates only that the gadget can be broken;
i.e., it has finite DR and HP. “Can be hit” means that a break-
able gadget can be specifically targeted and damaged in combat.
2. Power groups are no longer used in GURPS Supers,
although I suppose you could use p. SU25 for inspiration and cre-
ate an “Ultra Power” group that works this way. Officially,
though, this is an Accessibility limitation, worth about -30% on
all of the affected powers.
3. Most people treat characters like this as Gadgeteers, and let
them build their “web shooters” and so on as if they were TL8, 9
or 10 autograpnels, spinnerets or tanglers (see GURPS Ultra-
Tech). To simply swing from a line requires Acrobatics or
Climbing skill, depending on the use; use of special gadgets
requires the appropriate skill, such as Guns (Tangler).
Under Affects Others (p. SU49), it says, “. . . if you have
Invisibility/Affects Others, you may roll as if you were
attacking someone with a ranged power.” Roll vs. what?
— Chris Doherty
You roll vs. DX, as per pp. CI108-109.
1. Damage Resistance (p. SU38): It would seem to me
that the “Ablative” limitation is not a limitation at all, as it
is presented.
2. Disintegrate (p. SU59): The description states “all
damage is applied to hit points.” It then proceeds to indi-
cate that a “large object’s DR and hit points” are reduced in
the area you are affecting. Example 2 then indicates that
DR behaves normally with this power. Example 2 should
indicate that after Chemico’s first blast, that particular spot
has DR 0 and two hit points remaining.
3. Extra Hit Points (p. SU39) and Extra Stun (p. SU40):
It is my opinion that Extra Stun should cost 0.5 character
point/level. Under the present system, 5 points of Extra
Stun cost 10 character points and one Extra Hit Point costs
5 character points. Since the default stun total is HP × 5,
simply buying hit points generates twice as many stun
points at an equal cost in character points, not to mention
the advantages of the hit points themselves.
Pyramid Magazine
Q&A
4. Buzzsaw (p. SU56): Is an additional one point per level
accurate, or should it be an additional die per level?
5. Morph (p. SU63): How accurate is the transformation
with Morph? What abilities of the new form do you gain?
6. Reduced Range (p. SU53) vs. Touch Only (p. SU54):
These don’t seem very balanced to me!
7. Resurrection (p. SU44) vs. Extra Life (pp. SU39-40):
With the Extra Life advantage, it costs you 25 points in
advance to return from death. With Resurrection it, costs
you 150 points in advance plus 25 points later to return
from death. This seems incorrect.
8. Regrowth (p. SU44): Would having Regeneration
speed up Regrowth time?
— Pan
1. I have received many letters about this. Here’s a capsule
review of the problem: Attacks that don’t penetrate ablative DR
cannot reduce it; therefore, by taking an extremely high ablative
DR, once can almost completely eliminate the likelihood of abla-
tion occurring – making it as good as regular DR. However, the
“Ablative” limitation makes DR very cheap, so it is very easy to
obtain a huge DR in the first place. Moreover, even when abla-
tive DR is penetrated, it absorbs damage for the character,
effectively doing double duty as Extra Hit Points. This makes
ablative DR quite a bargain!
The solution is to scrap the existing rules and use the ablative
DR rules from the latest revisions of Compendium I or
GURPS Robots instead. Under those rules, every 10 points of
damage inflicted by an attack removes one point of DR, regardless
of whether or not it penetrated DR. This DR has a -15% limita-
tion – just as in CI and Robots – and “heals” at the same rate as
lost HT. Characters who want their DR to regenerate more
quickly may take Regeneration.
2. You are correct. Disintegrate should definitely eat away at
DR as well as HP. The example in GURPS Supers is in error.
3. This is a good point. Given that Stun is an optional rule
used to adjust deadliness, I would say that Extra Stun should
have a variable cost – say, 0.5-2 points per level. The exact cost
should be at the GM’s discretion, but if Extra Hit Points are
allowed, then Extra Stun should cost only 0.5 point per level. Or,
you could base Stun on the lower of HT or HP (e.g., characters
with HT 10/12 and HT 14/12 have Stun 50 and 60 respec-
tively). In this case, the present Extra Stun cost could be left alone.
4. As written, Buzzsaw is a very bad deal. Try this solution:
Change Buzzsaw to LC 3, add Buzzsaw power to ST when cal-
culating punching damage, make punching damage impaling at
all levels, roll vs. Buzzsaw skill rather than DX when punching
this way and forget about the fatigue cost. This means that a ST
10, DX 10 super with Buzzsaw-10 [24] (80 points) can throw a
3d impaling punch at skill 10. Now it seems balanced – if he
spent those points on ST, he could have ST 17 and be able to
swing a pick for the same damage.
5. You assume only the exterior physical appearance of what-
ever you Morph into; you gain none of that form’s special senses,
movement abilities, etc., unless they are purely an effect of body
shape. For instance, a super in the shape of a snake could slither;
one in the shape of a bird could fly (if he were light enough).
These are issues of shape. On the other hand, most special abilities
– unusual senses, venom, etc. – require special internal organs or
adaptations that Morph cannot provide.
77
Q&A
BRUNO
6. These rules have been officially changed; see p. CI112.
Reduced Range can now only be taken three times, at -5%/level.
Touch Only is still worth -20%.
7. Not really. A character with Resurrection dies and loses 25
points; so does a character with an Extra Life. It’s true that the
character with Resurrection has spent an extra 150 points for the
privilege; however, his extra lives are “pre-paid” – he’s paid for a
guarantee that he will always come back from the dead. A char-
acter with Extra Lives takes a gamble on how many resurrections
he’ll need; when a character with N Extra Lives dies N+1 times,
he’s permanently dead.
8. No. Regeneration only heals lost hit points. Regeneration
does not speed up the time it takes to regrow a lost limb any more
than does anything else that speeds up healing (e.g., First Aid,
magic healing spells, etc).
1. Linked Enhancements and Limitations (p. SU32) says that
the value of the limitation must not be less than the value of
the enhancement. That does not make sense . . . why can’t
you have an attack power with the enhancement Impaling
(+40%) linked to the limitation Takes Extra Time (-10%)
for an attack that can be made impaling if the attacker con-
centrates for an extra second (+30%)?
2. Under Linking Powers to Powers (p. SU33), it says
“First, figure the point cost of each power if it were bought
separately at the same skill level.” Should that be “. . . at the
same power”?
3. If I buy the +20% “Link” enhancement, can I use it in
combination with anything else with a +20% Link?
78
BY DAN SMITH
4. Can I buy one of two Linked powers with the +10%
Link enhancement and the other with the +20% enhance-
ment, so that the second could work without the first, but
not vice versa?
— Nathan P. Smith
1. Hunter Johnson (the GURPS Errata Guru) and I talked
this over. Here’s what we came up with: The cost reduction for a
linked limitation applies only to the extra cost due to the enhance-
ment it is linked to, not to the basic cost of the power. In your
example, the power would cost 1 + 0.4×(1 - 0.1) = 1.36 times its
base cost, or +36%. Now everything makes sense: A regular
power would take extra time all the time (-10%) but be impaling
if you wanted it to be (+40%) for a net cost of +30%. The linked
power would be impaling if you wanted it to be as well, but would
only take extra time if it were used in “impaling mode,” so it
would actually be more useful – which is consistent with it costing
+36% rather than +30%.
2. No. Skill parity is required to justify the “single skill roll”
aspect of Linked abilities.
3. No. If you pay a +20% premium on powers X, Y, Z and Q,
you must Link them in two pairs. You cannot use any two, three
or four of these at once with a single skill roll; two powers at once
is the limit, and each Link is bought separately. You could buy X,
Y, Z and Q at +60% each (each Linked at the +20% level to the
other three) and use any two of them at once (or any one on its
own), but that would be the limit of what you could do with Link.
4. Yes.
Pyramid Magazine
Pyramid Magazine 79
 Article name
CONVENTION SCHEDULE
Shorecon ’97; September 4-7 in
Cherry Hill, NJ, at the Hilton. Contact:
Heleen Durston. E-mail to info@
multigenre.com. Web to www.
multigenre.com/.
ConSept ’97; September 5-7 in
Indianapolis, IN, at The Martin House.
Contact: Andrew Happli. E-mail to
ahappli@juno.com.
C-kon; September 6-7 in Muncie, IN,
at Pittenger Student Center, Ball State
University Campus. Contact: Kathy
Pulver. E-mail to 00kepulver@
bsuvc.bsu.edu. Web to bsuvc.edu/
~anime/jashome.html.
CapitalCon XIII; September 13-14 in
Springfield, IL, at Prairie Capital
Convention Center. Contact: Paul
Kerby, 507 N. Main, Morton, IL 61550.
E-mail to CapCon13@aol.com.
Andcon ’97; September 25-28 in
Toledo, OH, at the SeaGate Convention
Center. Contact: Andon Unlimited. E-
mail to Andon@aol.com. Web to
w w w. w i z a r d s . c o m / L e a g u e s _ a n d _
Tournaments/Andon/Welcome.html.
CogCon 5; September 26-28 in Rolla,
MO, at the University of MO-Rolla
Miner Rec Building, northwest corner of
U.S. 63 and Tenth Street. Contact: Barb
Wilkins. E-mail to cogcon@rollanet.org.
Web to www.rollanet.org/~cogcon.
Deathcon 2; September 29-31 in
Drogheda, County Louth, Republic of
Ireland. Contact: Giles Ryder.
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
Alderac Entertainment
Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Archon Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Avalon Hill Game Company . . 17
Crazy Egor’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
80
Quad Con ’97; October 3-5 in
Davenport, IA, at the Ramada Inn.
Contact: The Game Emporium (309)
762-5577. E-mail to quadcon@revealed.
net.
Con on the River IV; October 11-12
in Winona, MN, at the East Cafeteria,
Kryszko Commons, Winona State
University. Contact: Scott Koch. E-mail
to WinonaRPSIG@vax2.winona.msus.
edu.
Adventure Game Fest; October 17-
19 in Portland, OR, at the Portland
Convention Center. Contact: Adventure
Games Northwest, 6517 NE Alberta,
Portland, OR 97218.
Tenncon ’97; October 17-19 in
Knoxville, TN, at the Knoxville
Convention Exhibition Center. Contact:
Gameboard, 3018b Mall Rd., Suite 161,
Knoxville, TN 37924. Web to
www.gameboard.com/.
Con*stellation; October 17-19 in
Huntsville, AL, at the Sheraton Airport
Inn, 1000 Glenn Hearn, Huntsville, AL
35824. Contact: Rich Garber. E-mail to
rsgarber@traveller.com. Web to
iquest.com/~ssmith/.
XI Gaming and Comic Book
Convention; October 18-19 in
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, at
CINTERMEX. Contact: Faustino
Cantu. E-mail to facabo@mail.giga.com.
IGOR ’97; October 19 in Tel-Aviv,
Israel, at the Focus Hall, Ramat-Aviv,
Decipher Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Grey Ghost Press . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Imperium Games . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Myrmidon Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Peregrine Games . . . . . . . . . . . 12
R. Talsorian Games . . . . . . . . . 71
Israel. Contact: Avner Kashtan. E-mail
to kyael@levinsky.macam98.ac.il. Web to
www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/3662.
Kahn-Fusion XXII; October 25 in
Enola, PA, at the Central Penn. Business
School. Contact: M. Foner’s Games
Only Emporium, 230 S. Eighth St.,
Lemoyne, PA 17043. (717) 761-8988.
International Camarilla Conclave;
October 30-November 7 in Kansas City,
MO, at the Kansas City Airport
Marriott. Contact: write to Dark
Heartland, 812 NE 100th Terrace,
Kansas City, MO 64155.
Sci-Con 19; November 7-9 in
Virginia Beach, VA, at the Holiday Inn
Executive Center. Contact: Mark at
(757) 868-6738. E-mail to info@scicon.
org. Web to www.scicon.org/.
Horrorcon VI; November 14-16 in
San Antonio, TX, at the Seven Oaks
Hotel, 1400 Austin Hwy, San Antonio,
TX 78209. (210) 824-5371 for reserva-
tions. Contact: Albert Griego. E-mail to
agriego@stic.net.
Garden State Games Faire;
November 21-23 in Princeton, NJ, at
the Princeton Novotel. Contact: Andrew
Dawson. E-mail to asmpd@fast.net.
SyndiCon 97; November 21-23 in
Portage, IN, at the Days Inn, 6161
Melton Rd. 46368. Contact: Carl
Cabanas III. E-mail to conman1@
gte.net.
Steve Jackson
Games . . . . . 20, 32, 42, 54, IBC
West End Games . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Wizards of the Coast . . . . 38, BC
Wizards of the Coast/TSR . . IFC,
23, 24, 26, 27, 31, 34, 47, 53, 64
Pyramid Magazine
 ™

It’s hard . . . being heavenly.

The boss has high – nay, perfect –
standards, the opposition is fiendishly
clever, about six billion jobs need
finishing. But worst of all . . .

. . . sometimes the headgear gets in

the way when you’re trying for a nice,
flat overhead swing with your
machete.

Angelic Player’s Guide for In Nomine – Coming Soon.

STEVE JACKSON GAMES
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