[Justin D. Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Saz

-What kind of a magick system is in place?

There is no separate magic system. The setting itself is not magic intensive. You certainly can build magical characters through the existing advantage system, but they won't look like -- say -- a D&D sorcerer. The game's not really designed to do that.

-How exactly are the ethnic groups handled? What about religion? On one hand, I am pleased there are multiple ethnic groups included (Arabs, Asians, etc). OTOH, the last thing I want in a game is for the Muslim, Christian and Jew pc's to be at each others throats right from the getgo. (I mean, if I want that I will just read a newspaper in the real world, or read a history book of the real world)

There are cultures and castes (social classes). Principally, they are to help people think about creating diverse PCs. Mechanically speaking, it's suggested that players assign a +1 bonus tied to their culture and caste to help crystallize their relevance. For example, someone could play a Native and take a +1 bonus to their Survival skill, stating that the character grew up navigating the wilds. Alternatively, another player could play a Native and take a +1 bonus to their Stealth skill, stating that the character always had to be careful to avoid natural predators. Two similar takes on the same premise, resulting in characters with two different emphases. However, you can easily eschew the cultures and castes without further modification. There is no separate discussion of religion, but certainly that's something for players think about.

-How deadly is combat?

In its "raw state", it can be very deadly. Most characters have between 10-20 hit points. The base damage of an attack is the spread between the attack roll and damage roll, which is modified by the type of weapon and any armor. So, its readily possible to kill a character with a single shot. This is intentional, in that the game is not intended to be combat intensive. When it's time to throw down, the players should get a little nervous. This is mitigated in two important ways. First, plot points. Players can expend a plot point to retroactively narrate the result of the last check in contravention of the dice. So, maybe Moriarty shot the PC. The player rolled horribly, and his character would normally be in dire straits. The player can spend a plot point to say "The bullet struck me firmly in the chest, but the ring of it hitting my whiskey flask gave proof it was not yet my time." Second, the secondary NPCs often have damage caps, meaning that a henchman cannot normally kill a PC in one stroke.

-How is the supernatural detailed? Are there rules for vampires and Mr Hyde type critters, for those of us wanting to run a League of Extraordinary Type game?

Well, the rules are certainly there. You can build any type of NPC using the rules. In fact, Hyde is statted up in the "Personalities of Note" section. There are also stats for a troll and a wizard, but these are intended to be examples of how you can create these types of creatures easily enough. Since Passages uses a "fact-based" scaling system, you can create the critters free-form to meet the needs of the encounter. I'm also releasing free pdfs of literary figures, and you can be sure Dracula will be forthcoming.

-Are there vehicles and rules for them?

Probably not the way your intending. If you're looking for something like the rules in d20 Modern or Spycraft, no. It's not that kind of game. There is a steering skill, and vehicles are intended to be used with simple checks depending on how difficult the maneuver. However, there aren't long lists of driving stunts or that sort of thing.

-How does the product compare to OGL Steampunk by mongoose? (that was a sweet book, though very weak in the magick department)

I haven't seen that book. Based just on the question though, I'll note that Passages isn't really [/i]steampunk[i] at all. Victorian fantasy is a much more apt descriptor. You could run a steampunk campaign with it to be sure, but the default setting isn't rife with clockwork creations, etc.

Hope that helps.