Also, as they belong to a small minority gifted with immortality, I have no doubt they would have tried pure breeding at some point .

Great. Inbred Immortal Elves. Why am I picturing the "Preacher" comic series now?

I take it you've seen the pictures of Kenny, the Inbred White TIger? Perhaps you should be imagining the new breed of immortals looking more like him.

Having skimmed it a bit, there are so many typos. I feel like they must have just ignored the proofreaders. It's really confusing some times.

That's true of all media today.

Editors and proofreaders are not what they used to be.

(Trust me, I have a Great Aunt that used to be both, amongst other things, and she is LIVID!)

Everyone's got an aunt like that for some profession. Mine rants about teaching standards and how everything's broken. She's not wrong.

She's been an editor, proofreader, ghostwriter, the one of the (If not THE) first female civil servant in Ottawa in a Supervisory Position, and who knows what the hell else.

Hell, she was even able to write up a resume from someone who retired from CSIS. Bear in mind that it's Canada's SPY AGENCY, which means his entire career, including training, is Classified as "Need To Know".

Did it look like this:


<REDACTED>



Shortest resume ever.

No, actually, she figured out ways around the classified stuff to get at things that weren't classified. But that was years ago and she couldn't remember the details.

Honestly, I'm a damned idiot for my family. Be glad none of them Role Play. Or write for RPGs.

You would make a great spin doctor.

No I wouldn't. I have a tin ear, so I'd be worthless at the turntables.

reading praxis, i find myself wondering where things go from here...

Praxis seemed like the end of the end of the book I wanted to be reading. It seems like the events of DOTA were pretty much nothing. The artifacts got split up, nothing big magic happened, no one learned anything about them, and one psycho thought he found a path to immortality. Instead of getting a continuation/finale on the DOTA plot we get "Entropy field forces artifacts apart , so here's a few loosely connected and occasionally contradictory adventures." If you just read Praxis it sounds like Ehran called the PCs in to deal with an attempted theft. Realizing that the artifacts are trying to separate, Ehran decides that it's best to divide the artifacts among trusted allies. The PCs get one, and maybe a few of his loyal paladins get divvy up the rest. The important thing is multiple attacks occur on those carrying the artifacts. The PCs manage to handle theirs, but The Map and Sextant get taken. The PCs manage to recover the last artifact from whatever remains of its guardians when they receive a call from Ehran to get to DC. Then PRAXIS happens.

Instead we get an adventure about a recluse with tangential relevance, re-hunting the same macguffins and Ghostwalker trying to recombobulate Zebulon. At least the last one seems almost like a set up for that neat bit of fiction at the end, sorta crossed with the tale of two princes? I don't know. It seems like they hid the ball a lot. All the artifacts seems to change hands off-screen, whether or not the runners do anything. There's little feeling of player agency. It claims it matters which organizations like them, but it seems like this whole plot doesn't care. I did like the phaistos killer, even if it had nothing to do with the rest of the plot. It's such a great set up I really wish I'd thought of it. All in all, it's not really a bad collection of adventures, it just makes me wish that DOTA had either gotten a conclusion, or had never been made so it couldn't get undone. It just makes the whole campaign feel like it was for nothing.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

C'est la vie!

After finally reading it through I'm uhh stunned. Some erratic unconnected mission like setups. (New layout for adventures I do like better then previous redundant layout.) The last chapter was a falling off a cliff kind of let down after the years of build up behind DoTA. No resolution, no explanation and no hinted at conclusion. A fractured story that seems more like an attempt at a rewrite of DoTA then a big finale. Now Praxis, I'm no professional but this story could have used alittle more editing to help make it's intentions clearer. It just seems rushed (Maybe a word count issue?) and lacking in content.

Now look I'm a supreme rationalist and a semi-rabid fan-boy. I understand this is a legacy product and that writers who want to go there own direction were stuck with closing a chapter whose conclusion was undefined and incomplete. Trying to make it there own instead of following the previous blueprint I think has made if fractious and lacking. This is probably the first canon plot I feel I have to homebrew to give my players whats expected from DoTA. And even after reading AU (Only once all way so far.) I'm still not sure whats going on with Ghost Walker and the Rift. Its never really clearly defined for the GM. AU just feels like a replacement for DoTA and is missing it's part two.

Now I like the story layout. Clear and direct. Tons of useful NPC stats. Stories easily adaptable to non artifact runs with minimal work. I'm looking forward to future products that the current writers can have full "ownership" of and expect to see a more complete and concise product based on what I see as promising material in AU.

Edit: Is it just me or has the art budget for the interior of books been slashed.

Read AU a couple times to see if I was missing anything and have to agree with others that it goes nowhere. Really a shame when we know what the previous author had in mind. They had the opportunity to make some big changes (akin to that in Emergence) but decided to go with a collection of plot's that go nowhere and change nothing. As I am currently running my players through the dawn of the artifacts series I feel I am going to have to home brew an ending that won't leave them going "meh." They really missed the boat on this one.

Can anyone provide a list of the "NPCs" or "Prime Runners" that are detailed in the 'character drove section'

I do know that Black Mamba is profiled, but whom else?

Hey look! Character index! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Abigail Bussen ............................................... 54
Abobo .............................................................. 81
Aleph Society Member ................................. 138
Alexander Tintagel ....................................... 134
Angela Vaughn ............................................... 95
Antiquities and Oddities Dealer .................. 138
Arthur Banks .................................................. 95
Black Mamba ................................................. 49
Brennan “Heavy” O’Dell ................................ 117
Captain Samuel J. Barret, CASN.................... 24
Cardinal Eduardo Ortega-Nunez .................. 48
CAS Marine Lieutenants ................................ 27
CAS Marines .................................................... 27
CAS Sailor Lieutenants ................................. 26
CAS Sailors ..................................................... 25
Charles Sturgis ............................................... 39
Children of the Dragon Member .................. 139
Commander Titus West, CASN .................... 25
Corinna .......................................................... 116
Corporate Headhunter ................................. 139
Corporate Security Unit ................................ 139
Delduwath ...................................................... 80
Dr. Edgar Guzman .......................................... 40
Duelist Adept ................................................ 139
Evan Corcoran ................................................ 87
Felicia McGuinness ...................................... 108
Frida Kohlman, AKA Friday ......................... 116
Frosty ........................................................... 140
Gang Bangers ................................................ 141
Gang Leader .................................................. 141
Ghostwalker’s Watchers ............................... 65
Goat Foot ....................................................... 65
Guerilla ........................................................... 141
Hamid, Kurdish Mercenary Team Leader .... 88
Illuminates of the New Dawn Magician ..... 141
Isaac Olaleye .................................................. 54
Jaguar Guards ................................................. 47
Jenna Ni’Fairra ............................................... 142
Jessa ............................................................... 133
Joanna Krstic .................................................. 87
John Kelley .................................................... 109
Joseph Ellis .................................................... 142
Kay St. Irregular ............................................ 126
Kelvin ............................................................... 18
Kitty Hawk Security Team............................. 26
Knights of Rage ............................................. 96
Knights of the Dragon Member .................. 143
Kurdish Mercenary ........................................ 88
Laurent Nazaire ............................................. 33
Leopard Guards .............................................. 48
Lin Yao Chang ................................................ 33
Lone Star Police Squad Member ................. 143
Medjay ............................................................ 95
Military Police ............................................... 143
Military Police Lieutenant ............................ 143
Moire Ferguson ............................................. 110
Moreau ........................................................... 33
Mr. Cutler ......................................................... 41
Mr. Johnson (Basic) ....................................... 143
Mr. Johnson (High-Ranking) ....................... 144
Mr. Johnson (Subtle) .................................... 144
N’Drangeta Lieutenant/Nymph ................... 89
N’Drangeta Ork Soldiers ................................ 89
N2O ................................................................. 74
Naheka ........................................................... 95
New Jesuits .................................................... 49
Organized Criminal ...................................... 144
Paul Borden .................................................... 86
Pharisee .......................................................... 66
Picador ............................................................ 49
Pistons ........................................................... 126
Red Samurai Detachment .......................... 144
Rory McGuinness .......................................... 133
Ryumyo Drakes .............................................. 96
Ryumyo Runner Team .................................. 96
Samantha Roth ............................................ 118
Scott Forester ................................................ 95
SEATAC Sweetie.............................................. 18
Security Team Lieutenants ........................... 26
Security Technomancer ............................... 144
Shade Master Shedim Leader ...................... 89
Shade Soldiers ............................................... 88
Sibelia ............................................................. 48
Simon Andrews ............................................. 34
Sister Christina Gonzales .............................. 49
Skilled Technomancer .................................. 145
Sneak ............................................................. 145
Stands-in-the-Rain ........................................ 81
Sylvestrine ..................................................... 145
Synthia Schroeder ......................................... 87
Templar Combat Mage ................................. 147
Tír Mage ......................................................... 145
Tweedledee and Tweedledum ...................... 66
Veteran Combat Adept ................................ 146
Veteran Combat Mage ................................. 146
Veteran Face ................................................. 146
Veteran Street Samurai ............................... 146
Veteran Street Shaman ............................... 147
Yabuku ............................................................

I should note not quite all the characters have full stats. Several, like Pistons and Kay St Irregular, suggest using other stat blocks from the book with minor modifications. Most are fully statted though.

Thanks Bull (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The "Powers that be" chapter has many interesting ideas, but the change in the narrator's voice is irritating. It's posted by Snopes, but reads more like a collection of different people (who remain nameless).

Wow. Someone actually noticed.

And yes, it was deliberate.

The really weird thing is that the skeptic is posting as fact things that Plan 9 would think are crazy. That whole section seems out of character without the tonal changes.

That reason being?