Beyond the edge of our senses lies nothing but madness and doom, a Possibility so terrifying that if unleashed would destroy not only our humanity but with it, all Reality. This is the Outer Dark, a source of ultimate power, and unforgiving terror, which at in the same instant calls to those who would but listen, and consumes those who cannot turn away. This is the world of the Esoterrorists.
The Esoterrorists (1st Edition) is a simple and compact roleplaying game that successfully ushered in the GUMSHOE system. Written by Robin D. Laws and published by Pelgrane Press in 2006, it is a perfect example of both the strengths and limitations of what was to become a paradigm challenging game. As such, in this review I’m going to briefly break down the good, the bad and the ugly of The Esoterrorists and the system that would lead the way to numerous other GUMSHOE games, as well as a much expanded second edition in 2013.
For those unfamiliar with the GUMSHOE system, it arose from the author’s issue with roleplaying games where luck impacted the progression of a scenario’s core story-line or investigation (such as occurs when players need to roll skill checks to find leads or clues). Robin, from what I’ve read, wanted to have a simple system that allowed for competent characters to always find these important clues, and move the focus on to how the players interpreted them, rather than if they find them at all. I’ve seen and listened to arguments on both side of the fence on this underlying issue (and whether such mechanics resolve such problems, or simply create others), but from my experience the GUMSHOE system does achieve everything it was set out to do. The other side of the mechanics, that of general skill checks or combat, is a very straight forward D6 mechanic, which is easy to teach and does its best to get out of the way of the roleplaying.
Note this reviews was originally written for and published at rpggeek.com, and appears here for completionism reasons.
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Those are the first words to greet the reader of the Conspiracy X (Second Edition) Introductory Game Kit; two short sentences that I suspect convey the core conceit of Eden Studio’s popular roleplaying game of modern-day conspiracy and alien invasion more concisely than perhaps a hundred more paragraphs ever could. They invite the reader into a world of mystery, of lies and intrigue, and hint that maybe… just maybe… they can do something about it.
