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Aberrant RPG - Aberrant: Elites


Matt

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<font size="+4">ABERRANT</font><font color="#000000">

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<font size="+2">ELITES</font>

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<font color="#000000"><img src="http://www.nprime.net/images/elites.jpg" border=0 height=200 width=140 align=LEFT></font><font size=+1>The Mercenary's Greatest Asset...</font>

Money can buy anything, perhaps even souls. Project Utopia calls elites thugs. The Teragen calls them toadies to their inferiors. Nevertheless, elites - high paid mercenaries, agents of the powers that be and darlings of the N! network - are more than happy to bask in the glory of the battlefield and the comforts of blood-soaked wealth.

<p align="left"><font size=+1>Is the Fury of a Rich Client</font><font color="#000000">

</font>Aberrant: Elites explores the lives of novas who offer their services, ass-kicking and otherwise, to the wealthy. This book exposes the shadowy DeVries Agency and some of its even seedier competitors, and includes rules for creating your own elite agency. Learn how your character can rake in the big bucks through assassination, body guarding or laying waste to third-world countries. The best become unimaginably wealthy. The incompetent die in the mud. Which are you? </blockquote>

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Retail Price: $14.95 U.S.

Page Count: 96

Authors: John Cavallino, Susannah Mandel, James Stewart, Kate Williamson

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565046927/nprim-20">Buy it Now</a>

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<table width="140" border="0" height="200" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0" align="right"><tr> <td><img src="http://www.nprime.net/images/elites.jpg" width="140" height="200"></td></tr></table><p align="center"><font size="+2">Elites Review </font>

In my daily course of promoting Aberrant to the masses, I often recieve a minor yet compelling complaint which tends to irk me. Many prospective players of the game see only the surface elements and condemn Aberrant as a "superhero game". And while an arguement can be made that Aberrant owes a great deal to the superhero mythology, I maintain that there is potential for doing extremely different things with the game's concepts of power, fame, and celebrities as gods.

Elites is a case in point. This sourcebook details one of the more distasteful elements of the Aberrant world; the elite, the superhuman gun for hire. The nova who uses his or her quantum powers not for the benefit of mankind (Project Utopia) or for his own self-advancement (Teragen), but for the simple desire to make money.

The cover of the book itself shows us this is to be no day in Metropolis. The cover depicts a warzone, tanks and soldiers firing at one another. And in their midst, the novas, flying above the carnage, destroying enemy resistance. And in the foreground, the most fearsome of all elites, the masked killer Totentanz, replete in his grinning golden skull and deadly twin spears, doing what he does best.

The book begins with standard White Wolf opening fiction, which is surprisingly good and sets the tone for the rest of the sourcebook. Chapters include an overview and history of the most renowned elite Agency, DeVries, and a series of profiles on its leaders and most renowned operatives. Then we recieve information and profiles on rivals of DeVries, as well as a look at the elite lifestyle (a treasure trove for prospective players/storytellers), an examination of various technology exclusive to nova mercenaries, and finally a look at the world, and various locales to which an elite can journey to earn her keep.

Overall, the book is well done, with consistent writing and quality art. The book takes a long hard look at what it takes to be a mercenary in a world where men can hurl tanks and women can fry enemy soldiers with a glance. Of particular note is the examination of the psychological toll mercenary life has on any person. A description of an elite dealing with the consequences of his actions is chilling. The technology section is also very well done. Players who think their characters are paragons of invincibility will be in for a rude surprise when they find themselves staring down the barrel of a kenetic rail gun capable of firing at a rate of 4 km a second. Or perhaps the Whipsword, a deadly melee weapon that can cut through flesh and bone faster than the sharpest of scalpels.

The book is not without drawbacks, however. Some may find the violent content a bit disturbing, so it might not be a supplement welcome to your game. Also, the subculture of elites could have been expanded upon, such as the affinity to masks, the old west mentality of calling out a rival elite, etc. Instead, we are treated to a brief outline of the DeVries Agency, a look at a few other corporations (none quite as impressive as DeVries) and then simply left at that. While the notes on creating your own agency are detailed and informative, there is a feeling of letdown. The book could have been so much more than what it was, and that leaves the reader wanting.

<font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#FF0000" size="4">Rating: <blink> Read in store before buying. </blink></font>

<em>Review courtesy of Stacy Dooks, aka Defender.</em>

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