Aberrant RPG - Aberrant: Storytellers Screen

[Matt]

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<font size="7">ABERRANT</font>

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<font size="+2" color="#000000">STORYTELLER'S SCREEN</font>

<font color="#000000"><img src="http://www.nprime.net/images/screen.jpg" border=0 height=200 width=140 align=LEFT><font size=+1>What Lies in Wait for the New Gods?</font>

The Aberrant world is full of mysteries and hidden secrets. Some things only the Storyteller should know. Have the mysteries of the Aberrant setting at your fingertips. </font>

<p align="left"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>The Secrets Revealed</font>

The Aberrant Storytellers Screen is the first supplement for Aberrant®. It presents all the charts and tables necessary to run Aberrant, as well as additional setting information and a ready-to-run story in a 72-page book.</font>

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<font color="#000000">Retail Price: $14.95 U.S.

Page Count: 72 + Screen

Authors: Kraig Blackwelder

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565046277/nprim-20">Buy it Now</a> </font>

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[Matt]

Storyteller's Screen Review

C'mon, admit it. The real fun in any roleplaying game is had by the storyteller. You get to have all the toys, set the scene, know the plot, and direct the action. They are a combination of player, writer, director, producer, and improvisor. They are privy to all the secrets of your Aberrant series. They are your closest allies and your dire foes combined into one great omniscient and omnipotent package. They are the power behind the throne, or should we say, the power behind the screen. The Storytellers Screen.

Face it, despite all the godlike power (pun intended) Aberrant storytellers have a lot of plates to keep spinning. They have to know all the rules, difficulty numbers, powers, Mega-attributes, stats for NPCs, weapon damage rates, injury levels, and be able to tell a compelling and action packed story at the same time. It'd be enough to drive even the most stable and stalwart of souls to madness. Fortunately, White Wolf feels their pain, and has provided them with a cache of tools and lore in the form of the Aberrant Storytellers Screen.

The screen is a fold out piece of durable cardboard, the back providing the storyteller with pertinent charts and information, the front displaying the artwork from the softcover core rulebook cover. The screen is great cover for storytellers making rolls of the dice not meant for players eyes to see, and eases the burden on poor gamemasters by providing handy tables of information needed for running an Aberrant game.

Included with the screen is a 72-page booklet containing more world information and facts about the Aberrant world of 2008. Corporations like Viasoft (the result of a merger between Viacom and Microsoft), elite organization Novelty Consulting, and Utopia affiliate Novation Enterprises are explored in a snapshot of corporate life in the Nova Age. Also included is a segment on religion and how the faiths of the world are dealing with the emergence of godlike beings across the globe. Are they truly avatars of the almighty? Minions of evil? Something else? Also touched upon briefly are the rise of nova-worshipping cults across the world.

The book also comes with a complete adventure set in the aftermath of Slider's death. Permanent Vacation sends players on a round the world chase to find a missing nova who may have information Slider died to obtain. From the decadent streets of Ibiza to the scenic downtown of Monte Carlo, players will have to use more than Quantum Bolts to save the day in this scenario.

The Aberrant Storytellers screen is a handy tool, and the ideas contained within the booklet are sure to get one's inner conspiracy wheel turning. Still, the artwork on the screen could have been something a bit more orginal than merely rehashing the cover artwork of the rulebook. Still, for storytellers it's a helpful item.

Rating: Buy.