Hmm. I dunno what to think of this chapter.
Not implausible (in fact, I could easily see some of it happening), but it just...doesn't have an impact.
Sweden scares me, too.
Not a bad chapter, though it seems hard to use for any extended length, just because the local community is so insular.
However, if the WMI holds up as described into 4th edition, I could see it being very cool. So this chapter actually calms me in regards to SR4.
Full Version: [ShadowsOfEurope] Penta Gets Cold
| QUOTE |
| Sweden scares me, too. |
Sweden is entirely plausible, from my experience with it.
And I disagree on the setting being of no use. Maybe not for a complete campaign, but both for stopovers to get high-level stuff implanted and to steal hightech, it's well done.
And I share your hope about the WMI.
| QUOTE (hermit) |
| And I disagree on the setting being of no use. Maybe not for a complete campaign, but both for stopovers to get high-level stuff implanted and to steal hightech, it's well done. |
Well, maybe there, but not really much beyond the very occasional run, which is what I meant.
Well, then it's like Tshimshian and most other NA countries, right? How many groups operate in AlMan only?
So what about the rest of the book?
I finished it, but it is deathly hot around here.
To save a new topic...
Spain - Looks like a perfectly good setting. Minor gripe: Santiago. Uh, having seen a 9.0 lately, I am wondering how a piece of the peninsula just DETACHES and sinks. What the hell?
Euskal Herria - Less good. This country was actually pretty bad. It's short, which was probably for the good...It just doesn't feel particularly plausible. (The geek in me swears, too, because it woulda been so fitting had the NSoJ actually come out of the Basque country instead of Toledo. The freaky-church doesn't make that possible.
)
Tir na Nog - This tied with the UK for #2 in the previous "Fucked Up European Settings" list. Tir na Nog as presented in the eponymous SB was useless. Certainly, one could never pull off a run there.
I certainly see potential in the way SoE changed things, but the Veil really does leave the place useless.
The UK - See Tir na Nog. Similar feelings here. The previous version (London SB) was a truly useless setting. SoE goes a decent way towards fixing matters, but it's not there yet. The omnipresence of the LPO would seem to make importing runners impossible.
Again: SoE's crew did some very nice work in trying to make the useless usable, but the settings for Ireland and the UK as written in the original SBs are silly, and worse, useless. You can't renovate a structure built on crappy foundation and expect it to be habitable. So: A for effort. But even the most herculean efforts couldn't really fix these.
UNL - This setting actually has a lot going for it. It's very much a northern version of Portugal, I noticed, and many of the same comments apply.
Game Information - Not a country, but hey. Just for completeness sake.
A small query: Why couldn't the getting in/out bits have been included with the countries?
With that said:
Chapter ratings:
Spain: Good. Very good.
Euskal Herria: Eh.
TNO: A for effort, but it's working from a shit foundation. Good try, though.
UK: See TNO.
UNL: This was a good close.
Game info: No rating. It's game info, for cryin out loud.
Book:
In summary, this book was a damn good job. Certainly, there was effort put in to make the screwed up settings put out by FASA in the past useful...But, to be frank, with virtually every country in Europe FASA did (Germany, UK, Tir na Nog), the setting was shit. Which is weird in some respects, because that deficency wasn't present in North America, at least not so much.
So there was a valiant effort. If the SoE team wasn't hobbled by having to build from the base provided by FASA, it would have been much better.
That said...I would buy it, because I'm obsessive. For the average player, it's an open question. I think SoE is hobbled because it had to work with both sides of the Atlantic as the audience. On the one hand, you try not to insult the European reader by going over the basics. On the other hand, many an American (and, I would wager, many Canadians can be included here, too) doesn't really know even the basics. I think a nice compromise could have been had if a bibliography (as seen in many GURPS books) had been included, say in the GI section, for those who needed more info. But that's me.
In short: Out of 5 stars, a solid 4. I would recommend most people buy it, but the player who doesn't live in Europe might want to find more on the various countries before running a campaign (or even a run) here.
Misc bits:
I hesitate to include a lot of this, cuz I've said it already. But I will, for completeness: When SR4 arrives, I pray that FanPro (both sides) reconsiders DRASTICALLY the font and typeface choices. For whatever reason, this book showed up a lot of the failures of the current choices in simple readability. They look great, yeah...But they're hall to read, particularly the shadowtalk.
Additionally, this was the first book in a long time where I actually missed the timestamps on shadowtalk. They would have been a great help.
To save a new topic...
Spain - Looks like a perfectly good setting. Minor gripe: Santiago. Uh, having seen a 9.0 lately, I am wondering how a piece of the peninsula just DETACHES and sinks. What the hell?
Euskal Herria - Less good. This country was actually pretty bad. It's short, which was probably for the good...It just doesn't feel particularly plausible. (The geek in me swears, too, because it woulda been so fitting had the NSoJ actually come out of the Basque country instead of Toledo. The freaky-church doesn't make that possible.
)Tir na Nog - This tied with the UK for #2 in the previous "Fucked Up European Settings" list. Tir na Nog as presented in the eponymous SB was useless. Certainly, one could never pull off a run there.
I certainly see potential in the way SoE changed things, but the Veil really does leave the place useless.
The UK - See Tir na Nog. Similar feelings here. The previous version (London SB) was a truly useless setting. SoE goes a decent way towards fixing matters, but it's not there yet. The omnipresence of the LPO would seem to make importing runners impossible.
Again: SoE's crew did some very nice work in trying to make the useless usable, but the settings for Ireland and the UK as written in the original SBs are silly, and worse, useless. You can't renovate a structure built on crappy foundation and expect it to be habitable. So: A for effort. But even the most herculean efforts couldn't really fix these.
UNL - This setting actually has a lot going for it. It's very much a northern version of Portugal, I noticed, and many of the same comments apply.
Game Information - Not a country, but hey. Just for completeness sake.
A small query: Why couldn't the getting in/out bits have been included with the countries?
With that said:
Chapter ratings:
Spain: Good. Very good.
Euskal Herria: Eh.
TNO: A for effort, but it's working from a shit foundation. Good try, though.
UK: See TNO.
UNL: This was a good close.
Game info: No rating. It's game info, for cryin out loud.
Book:
In summary, this book was a damn good job. Certainly, there was effort put in to make the screwed up settings put out by FASA in the past useful...But, to be frank, with virtually every country in Europe FASA did (Germany, UK, Tir na Nog), the setting was shit. Which is weird in some respects, because that deficency wasn't present in North America, at least not so much.
So there was a valiant effort. If the SoE team wasn't hobbled by having to build from the base provided by FASA, it would have been much better.
That said...I would buy it, because I'm obsessive. For the average player, it's an open question. I think SoE is hobbled because it had to work with both sides of the Atlantic as the audience. On the one hand, you try not to insult the European reader by going over the basics. On the other hand, many an American (and, I would wager, many Canadians can be included here, too) doesn't really know even the basics. I think a nice compromise could have been had if a bibliography (as seen in many GURPS books) had been included, say in the GI section, for those who needed more info. But that's me.
In short: Out of 5 stars, a solid 4. I would recommend most people buy it, but the player who doesn't live in Europe might want to find more on the various countries before running a campaign (or even a run) here.
Misc bits:
I hesitate to include a lot of this, cuz I've said it already. But I will, for completeness: When SR4 arrives, I pray that FanPro (both sides) reconsiders DRASTICALLY the font and typeface choices. For whatever reason, this book showed up a lot of the failures of the current choices in simple readability. They look great, yeah...But they're hall to read, particularly the shadowtalk.
Additionally, this was the first book in a long time where I actually missed the timestamps on shadowtalk. They would have been a great help.
Soeaking of fonts... I loved Poland's chapter, but the obsession for Polish names and fonts made me want to hurt someone.
Yeah, that was a beef I had too.
Would it have killed someone to include a tiny pronunciation guide for each chapter in a small box somewhere?
Similarly, there were an awful lot of ?s in the names. <raise eyebrow>
Would it have killed someone to include a tiny pronunciation guide for each chapter in a small box somewhere?
Similarly, there were an awful lot of ?s in the names. <raise eyebrow>
There was a problem with the font conversion at the printers (which is why some letters also seem to be in bold).
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.