From: The Ministry of Fear
To: All Unauthorized Citizens
Subject: Survival in Al-Amarja

"A terrible screeching sound comes from above you, like someone ripping sheet metal in half. On the third floor of an apartment building, a window facing an alley opens, and you can tell the sound is coming from that room. A woman climbs out the fire escape and races to the ground. As she does so, a pulsing blue light flashes repeatedly out of the window. Then the light stops, a thin trail of black smoke drifts out. When the woman reaches the ground, she catches her breath and then notices that you're watching her. 'Don't ask,' she says."-OVER THE EDGE PLAYERS' SURVIVAL GUIDE, page 60


In the third installment of our visit to the dark and surreal world that is the island of Al-Amarja, we'll visit the world of the "burger" (as in "hamburger") or newcomer to Al-Amarja. THE PLAYERS' SURVIVAL GUIDE is a special sourcebook for the Over the Edge Role-Playing Game designed with the players and not the game-master in mind. As we mentioned in our original review of the basic OTE rules, the game is driven by the conspiracies and setting. Thus, it is best for the players to only know a few basic facts about the island of Al-Amarja, the chief setting of the game, and the bizarre and unusual proclivities of its citizens. Keeping this in mind, Jonanthan Tweet abstracted the player rules chapters from the main book and added new material for player enrichment to the PLAYER SURVIVAL GUIDE.

The book itself is divided into four chapters. The first chapter re-iterates the player character creation rules from the main book, but fleshes them out with more examples of traits (i.e. powers and skills). It also presents two new features; a new form of character generation and information about creating African characters.

The new form of character generation is based on the old Surrealist parlor game of "cut-ups," where random words are drawn from a vessel and strung together in order to create "found meanings," as in the sentence that I used for the title of this review. You can either follow this method or use the dice charts in the book to form word patterns that are then associated with appropriate character traits. It gives a new meaning to the gamer cliche' of "random character generation." The section on African characters is fairly short, but includes a timeline of African history, suggested character types and representative names.

The second chapter is a re-capitulation of the basic rule system from the players point of view. The chief virtue of this chapter is an extended discussion of combat and its effects with examples.

Chapter 3, "Helpful Hints," is the real -meat- of the book. It contains guest essays from Greg Stoltze, Michael Halse, and Robin D. Laws on the special needs and requirements of being a participant in an OVER THE EDGE campaign. This can be summarized in short as:

A) Create an interesting character, not an "invulnerable"
one. (since there "ain't no such animal" in OTE)

B) Pay attention to -everything,- it may be relevant later.

C) Make friends and influence people, ...or die.

D) Be original, not derivative.

Examples of real character interactions from actual gaming sessions are given in the sidebar entitled "Meeting the 'Martians.'" The opening quote is one of them, and I really hated the fact that they were put where the -players-could find them, since they are rich with story possibilities. The chapter ends with an exhaustive list of sources of inspiration for the game, ranging from the works of William S. Burroughs to GET SMART. It's a treasure trove of character creation ideas and gives one insight into what Al Amarja means to its creators.

The final chapter is a collection of player handouts. There's a one-page(!) rules summary, plus maps of Al Amarja and The Edge (the island's chief city and locus of weirdness), a character sheet and log and a guide for newcomers with a list of businesses, laws and slang. This comprises the state of "player character" or generally available knowledge about Al Amarja's politics and culture.

All in all, this is a very useful resource to the OTE player, and its short page count belies its informational content and usefulness. The character creation essays are general enough to be a boost to any new role-player's capacity to outline a game persona. It is also attractively illustrated by Doug Shuler (cover art) and Cheryl Mandus (interior art).

It is a worthy purchase for a gamer who wants some fresh ideas.

As a postscript, I'd like to report some good news about the game line. This summer, Atlas is publishing the first new supplement for the game in years, AT YOUR SERVICE, a guide to Al Amarja's business community. There is also a new web site devoted to the game that John Kahane has created at www.comnet.ca/~jkahane/ote/over-the-edge.html

It has a general description of the game and its rules, plus reviews of the gamebooks and links to other sites. Kahane has done a fine job here and I hope it boosts interest in a wonderful game.


Sweet dreams, citizen.




Recommended: Yes