Tagline: A masterpiece. ‘Nuff said.

This book is a masterpiece.

First, let us look at the design philosophy of the Heavy Gear line of products. Like any other roleplaying game on the market the first product you are expected to buy is the rulebook. Currently in its second edition as I write this, the rulebook contains a regrettably brief coverage of the world of Terra Nova, the setting of the game. ‘Regrettably’, I say, because the very best thing about the game (despite the fact that the Silhouette engine on which it is based is one of the best on the market today) is the rich and inspiring world in which it is set. This isn’t much of a shortcoming, however, because the main rulebook contains not only a complete roleplaying game but a complete tactical game as well (which is beautifully based on the same basic system and principles). The rulebook is a masterpiece of system design in its own right.

After purchasing the rulebook your next step should be to pick up Life on Terra Nova (also in its second edition as I write this). Life on Terra Nova is the key to a magnificent, layered, believable, living world. It is without equal in terms of its originality, depth, and potential. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because the game is called Heavy Gear that the primary focus of the game is necessarily on the gears – the primary focus is on the characters and the world. The gears (as DP9 likes to point out) are merely the coolest selling point available. Like the rulebook, Life on Terra Nova is a masterpiece.

Once you own these two books you have the core of the Heavy Gear product line in your possession. At this point (as a roleplayer) you can go in several directions: You could purchase the host of technical supplements for the game (primarily for Tac use, but also useful for roleplaying campaigns with a technical or gear-slant to them). Or you could look at buying one of the regional sourcebooks (some of which, like The Paxton Gambit, double as campaign jumpstart kits). Either way you’re on firm ground. I have yet to buy a Dream Pod 9 product that has come anywhere near to disappointing me – even their Character Compendium is an intriguing, exciting product for god’s sake! How do you pull that one off?

But the most original aspects of the Heavy Gear product line (in my opinion) are the storyline books and the Timewatch system. To understand why I feel this way you must first understand why I get frustrated with many other roleplaying game lines – such as Trinity or Fading Suns. While I feel both of those games are some of the strongest competition to Heavy Gear’s title as reigning champion of setting design, those settings are damnably difficult to keep up with. Trinity, for example, requires you to purchase adventure supplements in order to keep up with the developments of the world with any cogent completeness. Another excellent example of this trend is Shadowrun, a campaign setting which has developed through several years of “game time” and which intrigues me deeply, but which will never be able to attract much of my money because trying to buy enough product to untangle what the setting is and where it has been is simply too gargantuan a task for me.

Not so with Heavy Gear (which is to Shadowrun what X-Files is to Babylon 5; both have over-arcing storylines, but only one was worked out in advance… and it shows). First, each product (with one exception where they screwed up) has a date printed on the backcover: the cycle in which the product is set. This simple innovation (known as the Timewatch system) seems simple and obvious, but it is has never been done before. It means that it is possible to figure out when each product is set in the timeline of the setting with a simple glance – you don’t have to wonder, as you stare at a shelf full of product, which ones you should buy first in order to coherently understand the development of the fictional world. You know right off the bat.

The second element which makes Heavy Gear better than Shadowrun or Trinity, however, are the storyline books (of which Crisis of Faith is the first – see I’m going to get to an actual review of this product eventually). The storyline books cover the major developments in the meta-story of the world over the course of a couple of cycles (the Terranovan equivalent of years). This means that you don’t have to buy, for example, the campaign sourcebook The Paxton Gambit (which might be of negligible or nonexistent use to you) to know about the BRF uprising in Peace River in TN 1935; it will be summarized in the second storyline book (Blood on the Wind) just as the events in the campaign book The New Breed are summarized in Crisis of Faith. Other games have occasionally issued updates or new editions of products, but nothing of this methodical nature. In addition the meta-story of Heavy Gear is like that of Babylon 5 (as noted above) – it was worked out in advance and as a cohesive whole, instead of merely being thrown together as things develop. If some development is hinted at and then carried out later it isn’t because someone had a really cool hint and them somebody else had to ad hoc a solution to it, it’s because the guys down at Dream Pod 9 are really on top of the ball. (The closest I’ve seen anyone else come to this currently is Andrew Bates and Trinity — I heartily encourage him to embrace the storyline book concept from Dream Pod 9 in developing the very intriguing meta-story he is developing there.)

I could go on and on about other brilliancies in the design of the Heavy Gear product line (such as the chesspiece system which tells you at a glance how important DP9 NPCs are to the storyline – allowing you to gauge how much freedom you have in manipulating their lives in your own campaign), but instead I’m going to fulfill my obligation to you and start talking about Crisis of Faith in particular now that you understand the design philosophy which gave it birth.

As I mentioned above, Crisis of Faith is a masterpiece. It also has the potential of being a very misunderstood one.

Specifically, Crisis of Faith can be misunderstood due to its size and due to its content. The first is simple to understand. Like Making of a Universe (a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the Heavy Gear setting and reviewed by myself elsewhere on RPGNet), Crisis of Faith is a half-sized, 112 page book. It simply looks small on the shelf and the fact that it is no cheaper than your average roleplaying product made it look skimpy for the dollar value. Personally I have no problems with this format – particularly since it allowed the inclusion of multiple full-color sections (more on the art below).

The second misunderstanding arises because, quite frankly, this book doesn’t have any immediately applicable usefulness in a roleplaying (or tactical) campaign. Your average sourcebook gives you floorplans or NPCs or something of immediate, tangible use. Crisis of Faith gives you a narrative of events. This has led some to ask, “What good is it?”

Those of you who have read my review of Making of a Universe have probably already figured out where I’m going with this – in short, Crisis of Faith is being judged as something which it is not. Like attempting to judge your daily newspaper in terms of how well it succeeds at being the Great American novel, judging Crisis of Faith as a traditional roleplaying sourcebook is a waste of time. Crisis of Faith attempts to do two things, and it does these things very well:

First, as detailed above, it is primarily useful to the roleplayer or tactical player by providing a narrative of events transpiring in the setting of the Heavy Gear game in a single resource – meaning that you don’t have to buy every product released for the game in order to keep up with the major developments in the world as a whole. The storyline books (along with Life on Terra Nova) free you from that necessity, allowing you to pick and choose the products you need to buy (as much as you “need” to buy any form of entertainment). Naturally if you want a more comprehensive look at a particular event or a particular location then you buy the applicable sourcebook. The key here is that Crisis of Faith (and its sequels) means that you can keep track of the world without having to religiously deposit your weekly paycheck at the hobby store in order to keep up with every release. This is a good thing in my opinion. (The only flaw in this plan is that the Heavy Gear setting is so fantastic that it can prove addicting – forcing you to buy all the products anyway. Oh well. That’s a flaw I, for one, can live with.)

The second function of Crisis of Faith, however, is to tell a good story. The design team down at Dream Pod 9 have realized the simple truth that roleplaying games provide a medium for telling stories in a way which no other medium does – both at the meta-level and at the personal level. At the meta-level the story is the comprehensive development of the world. At the personal level the story is that of the particular PCs. Both stories by themselves (if the particular campaign in question is a good one) can be enthralling and entertaining, but when you weave them together (the personal story taking place in the backdrop provided by the rich, evocative, intriguing meta-story) you have a dynamic process taking place.

And the story being told by Dream Pod 9, and as epitomized in Crisis of Faith, is one of the best. Intrigue, power, politics, war, love, murder, mayhem. You name it and Heavy Gear has got it.

And if that’s all there was to it, Crisis of Faith would already be one of the classics in this industry. But I have yet to deal with another pillar of strength in the Heavy Gear: The Artwork.

[ A brief aside: Heavy Gear is a game seemingly possessed of no weaknesses and excellence in everything. No other line of games in the history of this industry can boast of such a consistent level of quality throughout their entire product line. Usually you can find, even in the best of games, some throw-away product or another where the writing or the art or the basic concept simply wasn’t all that strong. Not so Heavy Gear (or any other Dream Pod 9 product). The strength of their product methodology and their writing has already been dealt with, now let’s look at the artwork. ]

Quite simply no bad artwork has ever appeared in a Dream Pod 9 product. Ever. And that’s a pretty impressive thing considering the dozens of products they’ve produced and the hundreds of illustrations which accompany each one. Quite simply this excellence can be ascribed to Ghislain Barbe. His style for Heavy Gear has been heavily influenced by anime and this has led, occasionally, to the mislabelling of the game as an “anime game”. It isn’t. It is, however, superb – you merely have to flip through any Dream Pod 9 product to see that. It’s simple line art which is crisply inked and then colored by computers (even when the artwork is produced in black and white for the actual book), producing a rich depth to every piece.

The reason I bring this up is that Dream Pod 9’s products are the most visually dynamic and consistent products in the industry ever. And Crisis of Faith is, quite simply, the best of the best.

(To fully appreciate this you should note that Dream Pod 9 “throws away” artwork which most companies would give their left arm’s for by making them smaller on the page in order to produce a visually rich and dynamic whole. Crisis of Faith is an excellent example in which almost every page has three small illustrations (smaller than my thumbnail) in the upper corner – each of which directly reinforces the text. Some of these pieces are recycled from other works, but most of them are originals created specifically for Crisis of Faith.)

Every page in Crisis of Faith shows a brilliancy of lay-out and artistic design which, if everyone else in this industry possessed only 1/10th as much skill, would improve product quality exponentially. Unlike many “artistic designs” almost no element on the page is there merely for the sake of its own existence. Despite that simple utilitarian elements (page numbers, the date of the material being discussed, the line which separates the columns) are beautifully blended into a powerful whole in a masterful display of raw talent. Then there are the color sections, which you can just stare at for extended periods of time.

Did I mention that the last six pages contain a surprise, cliff-hanger ending so shocking that you will be begging for more?

So, to sum up: Crisis of Faith is part of the best game line in existence today. Crisis of Faith is the first in a series of “storyline books” which, if there is any justice in the world, will revolutionize the way in which game settings are developed in this industry. Crisis of Faith tells one of the best stories ever created, taking advantage of the full potential the roleplaying medium has to offer. Crisis of Faith is quite possibly the most visually dynamic and powerful roleplaying product ever designed. Crisis of Faith is one of the best roleplaying products ever. Period.

I know I’ve said it before (and I will undoubtedly say it again), but if you aren’t involved in Heavy Gear you’re missing out on one of the best things this industry has ever had. If you haven’t already done so, go out and buy the second edition of the rulebook, the second edition of Life on Terra Nova, and Crisis of Faith. You won’t be disappointed.

[ One final note: You should read Crisis of Faith before reading the second edition of Life on Terra Nova. This is due to the biggest mistake Dream Pod 9 has ever made, which is detailed in my review of the second edition of Life on Terra Nova elsewhere on RPGNet the Alexandrian. In short if you don’t read Crisis of Faith first the ending will be spoiled. (But then again, if you paid attention to the Timewatch system you’d already know that – since the second edition of Life on Terra Nova takes place in TN 1935, the cycle in which Crisis of Faith ends. ]

Style: 5
Substance: 5

Author: Dream Pod 9
Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9
Cost: $29.95
Page Count: 112
ISBN: 1-896776-21-3

Originally Posted: 1999/04/13

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Go to Part 1

This is a useful cheat sheet I created for understanding what characters can see in the wilderness. In practice, sight lines will vary quite a bit (due to hills, forest canopies, and other obstructions), but I’ve found it useful to have some reference points and rules of thumb.

HORIZON: The horizon is 3 miles away at sea level.

NEIGHBORING HEXES: Passing through the center of a hex, neighboring hexes cannot be seen. If the path is biased, the nearest hexes can usually be discerned (depending on terrain).

MOUNTAINS: Mountains can be seen from 6 hexes (75 miles away).

ELEVATION: Distance to the horizon in miles is the square root of (feet above sea level x 1.5 feet). Add the height of tall objects to the viewer’s. Atmospheric haze will eliminate the ability to see even the largest objects more than 3-5 hexes away.

Go to Part 6: Watch Checklist

This material is covered by the Open Game License.

Go to Part 1

ENCOUNTER CHANCE: Check once per watch. The time at which an encounter takes place during the watch can be determined randomly (see Watches).

BORDER ENCOUNTERS: % chance in a hex bordering on a different region of rolling on that region’s encounter tables.

EXPLORATION ENCOUNTERS

Exploration encounters only occur during watches in which the characters are traveling or otherwise exploring the area. They do not occur during watches in which the characters are resting or otherwise stationary.

LOCATION: This exploration encounter indicates that the characters have encountered a keyed location within the hex. Most hexes have only a single keyed location. For hexes with multiple keyed encounters, determine the location encountered randomly. (Some locations may have occurrence probabilities.)

On Road/River/Trail: The location is on a road, river, or trail. Parties traveling along the road, river, or trail will automatically encounter the location. Parties not on the road, river, or trail will usually not encounter the location.

Visible: The location is large enough or tall enough to be seen anywhere within the hex. Parties entering the hex automatically spot the location. (If a distance in hexes is given, then the location can be seen from that many hexes away.)

Hidden: The location is difficult to spot. When this encounter is generated, make a second encounter check. If an encounter is not indicated, the location has not actually been found. (If the party is in exploration mode, make the second check twice.)

% LAIR: The percentage listed is the chance that the creature is encountered in their lair. If the creature is encountered in their lair, the encounter is considered an exploration encounter.

Note: This check functionally generates a new location for the current hex (the lair of the indicated creature type). Over time and thru play, this encounter system will continue to add new content to your hex key (helping to fill the vast, howling emptiness of a typical hex).

% TRACKS: The percentage listed is the chance that the creature’s tracks are found (not the creature itself). Tracks are only found as an exploration encounter. Characters must make a Survival check at the appropriate DC to notice the tracks. Tracks are usually 1d10 days old. DMs can determine where the tracks lead (although they’ll usually circle back to the creature’s lair in both directions).

Note: Check to see if the encounter is tracks. If it is not, then check to see if it’s a lair. If it is not, then it’s a wandering encounter. Notice that these additional checks will substantially reduce the odds of a night time encounter (when the party is not on the move).

SAMPLE ENCOUNTER TABLE

Encounter Check: 1 in 1d8

Border Encounters: 50%

Encounter Type (1d20):

1-10: LOCATION

11-20: OTHER

Note: I indicate hexes which are already keyed as potential lairs for this creature type. This can inform the nature of wandering encounters and/or suggest a potential origin/terminus for tracks.

Go to Part 5: Spot Distances

This material is covered by the Open Game License.

Tagline: This is a beautiful book which some will find useful but which all should find wonderful.

The Making of a Universe: Heavy Gear Design Works is something which has never been done in the roleplaying industry: A peek behind the wizard’s curtain. Fans of speculative fiction have seen this type of thing before – the worlds of Middle Earth, Pern, and the Wheel of Time (among others) have all been subjected to visual tours, atlases, and looks at the “research materials” their creators produced before sitting down to write their stories.

What makes Heavy Gear unique, however, is that the universe was conceived as a whole. It was not produced so that a story could be set in it, but rather as a product which could stand on its own. Its creation was a collaboration, combining not only the written word but also the visual elements of the world in an organic whole (unlike Middle Earth, Pern, and the Wheel of Time wherein artists would come in after the author finished and conceive visually off of a finished concept). The result has been widely touted as one of the most original and creative settings ever designed – not just for roleplaying games, but period. And, in my opinion, the world of Heavy Gear deserves every one of those kudos.

And The Making of a Universe gives us a look at the design process which led to the creation of this wondrous place. That’s a pretty cool concept.

Indeed, this book lives up to it. It’s cool. Despite its half-size format (which has since been abandoned by Dream Pod 9 after the complaints associated with Crisis of Faith) The Making of a Universe is a visual tour-de-force showing in great detail the gradual development of the style, the Gears, the tech, the culture, the architecture, the creatures, the characters, and an entire living world. It’s breathtaking.

So that’s what this book is – a wonderful guided tour of how a universe was made (check out the title!); so what is it not?

The Making of a Universe is not a roleplaying supplement. It was not designed to be useful to a roleplaying session in the same way which a sourcebook or a campaign book would be. It treats the Heavy Gear universe as being separate from the roleplaying or tactical games – as something with a legitimate existence outside of “gaming”. It does so deservedly, but this has lead to some confusion over this product. Understand that if you are looking for something which would be useful for your gaming experience this book is probably not going to be your best buy. If you love the Heavy Gear universe as much or more than you love the actual game (and I know this statement applies to a lot of Heavy Gear players), then you’ll love The Making of a Universe. Buy this book.

Before closing, let me say that The Making of a Universe isn’t entirely worthless as a resource. In much the same way which the Illustrated Guide to Pern would be useful in running a Pern game, so The Making of a Universe is useful to a game set in the Heavy Gear universe. For example the Gear Showcase groups together a lot of information which I occasionally use as an uber-resource in referencing the broad spectrum of Gear technology (similar sections exist for ground and air vehicles). The section which shows detailed, isolated pictures of weapons, sensors, and other technical equipment has proven to be ocassionally useful in the extreme. So this book isn’t useless for such applications – that’s just not what it’s primary goal is and it shouldn’t be judged as a roleplaying resource.

Style: 5
Substance: 5

Author: Dream Pod 9
Company/Publisher: Dream Pod 9
Page Count: 112
ISBN: 1-896776-31-0

Originally Posted: 1999/04/13

In many ways, this is a book without a clear identity. (And, as my review tried to explain, that’s more than okay.) But that lack of a clear identity also posed a challenge for me in reviewing it. I remember struggling mightily with that challenge. And, in retrospect, it’s a challenge that I ultimately didn’t conquer.

Still a good book to check out if you’re a Heavy Gear fan, though.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Go to Part 1

In general, you can either navigate through the wilderness by landmark or you can navigate by compass direction.

NAVIGATING BY LANDMARK

Generally speaking, it’s trivial to follow a road, river, or any other natural feature of the terrain. It’s similarly easy to head towards any visible landmark. The landmark or terrain feature will determine the route of travel and there’s no chance of becoming lost, so you can simply track the number of miles traveled.

IDENTIFYING LANDMARKS: If the PCs are unsure of a landmark but have had previous experience with it, it may be possible to identify it with a Survival check at the DM’s discretion. The accuracy and detail of the identification will depend on prior experience.

Example: A ranger is passing through the woods when they encounter a river. If it’s a river they’ve walked up and down before, the Survival check might let them confirm that it is, in fact, the Mirthwindle. If they’re less familiar with the region, the check might tell them that this is probably the same river they crossed earlier in the day – it must be taking a southerly bend. If this is the first time they’ve ever seen this river, the Survival check won’t tell them much more than “this is a river”.

NAVIGATING BY COMPASS DIRECTION

Characters trying to move in a specific direction through the wilderness must make a navigation check using their Survival skill once per watch to avoid becoming lost.

A character with at least 5 ranks in Knowledge (geography) or Knowledge (local) pertaining to the area being traveled through gains a +2 synergy bonus on this check.

BECOMING LOST: Characters who fail the navigation check become lost and veer away from their intended direction of travel, as indicated by a 1d10 roll on the diagram below. When lost characters exit a hex, they will exit through the face of the hex indicated by the die roll.

Note: Characters who are lost remain lost. In the new hex neither their intended direction of travel nor their veer will change.

If characters who are already lost fail another navigation check, their veer can increase but not decrease.

Example: A lost party is already veering to the left when they fail another Navigation check. A roll of 1-4 on 1d10 would cause them to exit two hex faces to the left of their intended direction, but any other result would not change their veer at all.

ALTERNATIVE VEERS:

Absolute Degree: Roll (1d10 – 1d10) x 10 to determine the number of degrees off-course.

Compass Direction: Roll 1d10 and consult the diagram below. (The blue arrow indicates the intended direction of travel.)

USING A COMPASS: Compasses grant a +2 bonus to navigation checks. In addition, they automatically eliminate veer at hex borders even if the user doesn’t recognize that they were lost. (Even if you don’t recognize that you ended up off course, the compass constantly reorients you towards your intended direction of travel.)

LOST CHARACTERS

Recognizing That You’re Lost: Once per watch, a lost character can attempt a Survival check against the Navigation DC of the terrain to recognize that they are no longer certain of their direction of travel.

Characters who encounter a clear landmark or unexpectedly enter a distinctly new type of terrain can make an additional Survival check to realize that they’ve become lost.

Note: Some circumstances may make it obvious to the characters that they have become lost without requiring any check.

Reorienting: A character who realizes that they’ve become lost has several options for re-orienting themselves.

Backtracking: A lost character can follow their own tracks (see Tracking, below). While tracking allows them to retrace their steps, they must still recognize the point at which they went off-track. If a character is successfully backtracking, they may make a Survival check each watch (using the Navigation DC of the terrain). If the check is successful, they’ll correctly recognize whether they were previously on-track or off-track. If the check is a failure, they have a 75% chance of reaching the wrong conclusion.

Compass Direction: It requires a Survival check (DC 12) to determine true north without a compass or similar device. On a failed check, randomly determine the direction the character thinks is true north.

Setting a New Course: A lost character can attempt to precisely determine the direction they should be traveling in order to reach their desired objective by making a Survival check (Navigation DC of the terrain + 10). If the character fails the check, they immediately become lost. Determine their direction of travel like any other lost character.

Conflicting Directions: If several characters in a single party all attempt to determine the correct direction of travel, make their Survival checks secretly. Tell the players whose characters succeeded the correct direction in which to travel, and tell the other characters a random direction they think is right.

FINDING LOCATIONS

The difficulty and complexity of finding a specific location within the wilderness varies depending on the character’s familiarity and approach.

VISIBLE LOCATIONS: As described under Exploration Encounters, some locations are visible from a great distance. Characters within the same hex as the visible location (or within a certain number of hexes, as indicated by the key) automatically spot a visible location.

ON ROAD: If a location is on a road, river, or similar trail, then a character following the road, river, or trail will automatically find the location. (Assuming it isn’t hidden, of course.)

FAMILIAR LOCATIONS: Familiar locations are those which a character has visited multiple times. Characters within the same hex as a familiar location can be assumed to automatically find the location. (Within the abstraction of the hexmapping system, they’ve demonstrated sufficiently accurate navigation.) Under certain circumstances, characters may also be considered “familiar” with a location even if they’ve never been there. (Possibilities include possessing highly accurate topographic maps, receiving divine visions, or using certain types of divinatory magic.)

Note: If characters are flailing about in their efforts to find a familiar location – by repeatedly “missing the hex”, for example – the DM can decide to treat the location as being unfamiliar until they find some way to reorient themselves.

UNFAMILIAR LOCATIONS: Unfamiliar locations (even those a character has been to previously) are found using encounter checks.

Characters spending time to specifically search a particular area enter exploration mode. They make no progress towards exiting their current hex, but the DM continues making the necessary encounter checks (to represent the result of their search).

If the party is looking for something specific that they suspect might be in the area, the DM may allow a third check each watch for that location and only that location. (Any other encounter indicated is ignored. Obviously if the location they’re looking for isn’t in the current hex you can skip this check – they are, after all, looking in the wrong place.)

Note: The extra check represents their ability to narrow their search based on the information they have available. If they don’t have enough information to narrow the search, don’t make the extra encounter check. Alternatively, if they’re somewhat familiar with a location the extra encounter check may be employed and any success used to indicate to them that they’re not in the right area.

Go to Part 4: Encounter Tables

This material is covered by the Open Game License.