<i>Heaven & Earth Third Edition</i>'s simple game system and open-ended campaign setting may frustrate gamers who want definitve answers. Those who are comfortable with half-truths, however, will find brilliance within this exstistentialist role-playing game.
Post originally by Lee Foster at 2004-11-12 09:20:12
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Thank you for the review, Rafael. It was well written and touched on much of what I think is special about Heaven & Earth.
I would also like to give public thanks to Stephen Ellis, an RPGNET regular and one of the third edition playtesters. It was his suggestion to do away with skill lists and instead group everything under the occupations. This suggestion definitely made Heaven & Earth Third Edition a stronger game. Thanks Stephen.
Finally, Defense Values for combat are covered in the mechanics chapter on page 24. Since this is covered in the space of only two sentences, I can see how Rafael missed it. It's an easy oversight, but I wanted to set the record straight.
Post originally by Ralph Mazza at 2004-11-12 10:42:31
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I understand the desire to not waste space in a review by comparing to previous editions. But for those like myself who own both of the previous editions already can someone summarize the key differences.
Mechanics were largely handled in the review...but conceptually the game seems to be headed down a slightly different road. At least I don't recall the Potter's Lake from the First Edition being so "Twin Peaks" quirky.
Post originally by Lee at 2004-11-12 11:33:46
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Ralph,
Please allow me to summarize a few of the differences between this edition and the previous ones.
The tone of this edition is more surreal and absurdist than in previous editions. Television shows such as Twin Peaks and Picket Fences were definite influences here. Although horror is absolutely integral to the game's tone, there are a lot of good games that do horror well. What makes H&E unique (my biased opinion, of course) is its absurdity/surrealism angle. That in mind, I decided to play up these aspects of the game.
Next, Potter's Lake and its citizens are more fleshed out in this edition. Twenty-five notable citizens and dozens of locations and folk tales are included to help GMs realize/visualize the setting.
The origins of psychic powers have been changed to better dovetail into the game's overarching story.
All but one of the secret socities has been changed or deleted. New ones have been added, though there are only four major players active in the setting now.
The overaching plot of H&E is fully outlined in this edition rather than kept secret from GMs and spread out over multiple books.
The supernatural elements of the game are less focused on, making their chapters very rules-lite.
In closing, H&E is largely as it was but with added detail to the setting and more surrealism/absurdity.
Post originally by Ernest Mueller at 2004-11-13 06:57:49
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Sounds good! I had heard about H&E 1e and generally liked what I heard, and then I bought 2e when it came out, but was a little disappointed in that it seemed too much like every other X-files game out there and didn't really get into the surrealism more. I'll have to check it out.
Post originally by Lee Foster at 2004-11-13 08:05:04
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Ernest,
There was a deliberate effort to steer the game away from X-files territory. There are just too many games that cover that ground extremely well. Again, that's why the surrealism and absurdity of H&E was played up in this edition.
If you're interested, Abstract Nova is offering free shipping on all online orders until December 1st.
Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2004-11-13 12:06:56
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Lee Foster wrote:
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<b>Thank you for the review, Rafael. It was well written and touched on much of what I think is special about Heaven & Earth.</b>
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I agree. A very informative review, Rafael.
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<b>I would also like to give public thanks to Stephen Ellis, an RPGNET regular and one of the third edition playtesters. It was his suggestion to do away with skill lists and instead group everything under the occupations. This suggestion definitely made Heaven & Earth Third Edition a stronger game. Thanks Stephen.</b>
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I'll be reviewing the game as well, and this is definitely one aspect that stood out to me.
Linear Mode
