[RPG]: The Esoterrorists, reviewed by C.W.Richeson (2/2)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12716.phtml

Christopher W. Richeson's Summary:

<i>The Esoterrorists</i> provides a simple, investigation focused system that makes mystery solving fun and engaging.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Pierce Inverarity]

88 pages? Wow.

I'm trying to figure out what happened here... both Laws and Pelgrane Press are real professionals who have delivered sterling games in the past. And now this?

CW, could it be that you were expecting something like Unknown Armies or Delta Green, and they were trying to hark back to early editions of Call of Cthulhu? To a deliberately short game with an intuitive background... which must look generic when one expects 300+ pages with detailed write-ups of conspiracies and cultists?

I'm probably reaching here. I have great faith in your reviewer judgment. That's what makes this such a puzzle.

[C.W.Richeson]

Hiya, Pierce Inverarity!

Originally Posted by Pierce Inverarity

CW, could it be that you were expecting something like Unknown Armies or Delta Green, and they were trying to hark back to early editions of Call of Cthulhu? To a deliberately short game with an intuitive background... which must look generic when one expects 300+ pages with detailed write-ups of conspiracies and cultists?

They're very up front about this being a short, focused game and that's what I expected. I definitely think the author was striving for a simpler game that focuses on investigation and roleplay, and I believe The Esoterrorists does that.

I'm probably reaching here. I have great faith in your reviewer judgment. That's what makes this such a puzzle.

Thanks for the compliment! I'm sure more folk will be along to share their views once the review is actually released (it's not supposed to be viewable yet, but a bug in the review system made it so).

[ascendance]

I believe the game is trying for a certain degree of "media verisimilitude" rather than straight, gritty realism. The game is trying to simulate investigative horror films, where people don't immediately take a gunshot wound and die. Hence, there's a certain degree of survivability built in. Also, characters who die immediately just aren't that fun to play.

As far as the insanity goes... all very Hollywood interpretations. Again, "media verisimilitude." If you want to run your game with help from DSM-IV, be my guest.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by ascendance

I believe the game is trying for a certain degree of "media verisimilitude" rather than straight, gritty realism. The game is trying to simulate investigative horror films, where people don't immediately take a gunshot wound and die. Hence, there's a certain degree of survivability built in. Also, characters who die immediately just aren't that fun to play.

That would make sense, but I think it's inconsistent with other parts of the product.

As far as the insanity goes... all very Hollywood interpretations. Again, "media verisimilitude." If you want to run your game with help from DSM-IV, be my guest.

Surely there is some other middle ground between straight up DSM-IV and "squirrels do not exist." What's really important to me here is how the insanity is handled mechanically and the answer seems to be "in the most aggravating way possible for many groups."

ascendance, can you share some positive experiences you've had with Esoterrorists with us?

[Dan Davenport]

Another excellent job, CWR.

Hmm... the range of weapon damage seems <u>awfully</u> small. Nothing can do more damage than a heavy firearm?

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

Another excellent job, CWR.

Thanks, Dan!

Hmm... the range of weapon damage seems <u>awfully</u> small. Nothing can do more damage than a heavy firearm?

While there are no specific rules for it, it's simple enough to guesstimate based on the example scale. Monsters, for instance, often do +2 or more damage per hit. I'd say explosives, sniper rifles, and similar items do +2 or +3.

[indra]

I had an excellent experience using GUMSHOE to run a game set in the world of The Lost Room, though I used the diceless core mechanic instead of the combat rules as written. Here's the AP thread:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=304420

Interestingly, I came to similar conclusions (setting material too sparse, but the game is great at what it does) while having different reactions to the specifics (I really like the Madness gimmicks, love the skill list, etc).

--Dan

[DeusIrae]

The core setting idea is that the Esoterrorists are a group of occultists who stage hauntings, UFO landings, and other bizarre phenomenon in order to alter the expectations of the local populace and weaken consensual reality enough to allow a creature from beyond to slip into this reality. The characters belong to a group called the Ordo Veritatis which seeks to stop the Esoterrorists and, in rare circumstances, fight the creatures summoned into this world.

Probably this doesn't say anything good about my ideological predispositions, but am I the only one who read that and thought that the game totally dropped the ball on who should be the protagonists? I suppose staging hauntings and UFO landings wouldn't be a good fit for this investigation-focused rules set, but man, it sure sounds like fun.

[Pig with Pen]

Thank you for the review. Gumshoe was one of the three games i was looking forward to (Reign and DBRP are the others) for first quarter 2007.

Now i don't know, it sounds like it does what was to be expected, but your comments on style and the steep price make me wonder. I'll put it on the back-burner and read some more comments and reviews. Thanks again.