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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Reviews => Topic started by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on May 31, 2013, 02:53:41 AM

Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on May 31, 2013, 02:53:41 AM
This is a review for an 'old' game - the Midnight at the Well of Souls RPG was written by Timothy Green and published in 1985 by TAG industries. It is based on the Well of Souls books by Jack Chalker.
For anyone not familiar with it, the series centers around the Well World, a planet built by an alien race that constructed much of the universe as a testing ground; each hex of the well world is a template for a different
alien planet. Visitors are 'processed' by the computer and end up reassigned to new species (the RPG includes a random table for this purpose).

This gives you the general idea... (http://amultiverse.com/page/2/?s=Well+World)
(edit: OK that's not entirely true - I just found the comic entertaining, but maybe you'd have to have read the original books).

The game includes a core rulebook, character sheet, intro adventure and reference tables. Character stats (STR, CON, DEX, INT, Willpower), are rolled on 4d6, with a couple of derived statistics; age is rolled on 2d10+20, with [AGE+INT] referenced on a table to give initial skill points to distribute - a 26 total gives 229 points, a 64 gives 417). A character also (a bit redundantly) chooses three skills as 'personal areas of expertise', getting an extra +10 with these.

There are about 50 skills and skill improvement works much like BRP (use a skill successfully during the adventure, you get to roll against it and if you fail, gain +d4%); a character can also be taught or self-trained in skills.
 Each skill has specific ability notes associated with it, like damage bonuses for good Unarmed skill, Initiative bonuses for a high Tactics skill, or very high Mathematics potentially giving a character the ability to learn how to contact and annoy the central computer. Each skill has a separate base value which could be fixed (05, 10) or equal to an attribute. Designers' notes at the start comment that the game intentionally leaves out 'roleplaying' skills including diplomacy, bargaining, streetwise etc.

The combat system is reasonable straightforward, with characters announcing intended actions before initiative, and movement handled in a separate step before ranged attacks or melee attacks (though moving characters may be subject to 'opportunity fire' from ranged weapons). Initiative is modified by DEX and weapon used. Damage is divided into 'Fatigue' and 'Endurance' damage; normal attacks deal 'Fatigue' damage while a roll by 20+ deals half END damage, and a roll 40+ below the required number deals double END damage instead of fatigue.
Endurance is based off STR and CON, using the endurance table; Armour absorbs damage (which eventually degrades it). There are also rules for poison, disease and exposure.

The rules next include some history of the setting and equipment lists, as well as space travel rules, 11 pages of random planetary system generation tables, and so on, which are perhaps more in keeping with a generic SF game (not being well world specific). The into page notes that these rules are from another tri-tac game, FTL:2448 game. There are starship weapons/armour damage rules, though little specific info on starship combat procedure (manuevering, etc.).
The Well World section includes notes on the planet and notes that natives'
are a better choice for PCs, since otherwise characters would likely be scattered across the planet when they visit (incoming travellers, as noted, get a randomly assigned race).

The book includes a number of races, each of which gets a multiplier to the base attributes (0.5 to 1.5) and occasionally special abilities. The race descriptions fill another 47 pages, I expect including a lot of fleshing out by the author. There's also an index :)

A separate Intro adventure is included, which is again not specifically set on the Well World, being set up as a training adventure where the PCs are hired to check out deposits of 'communications crystal' on another planet; it includes pregenerated PCs and some maps and encounters.

Overall the rules system appears quite solid and playable, and relatively straightford. As a resource there isn't a great deal of guidance for a Well World game, although information on races etc. would be useful.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Kuroth on June 24, 2013, 07:29:23 AM
An unusual choice to review. Was there any particular reason that prompted you to choose it?  Looking around the internet, this appears to be the only game Timothy Green wrote, though that may have been a pseudonym.  I consider role-play games genre fiction, and pseudonyms are common place in much of it.

The description I’ve read elsewhere states that there are 120 different races defined in those 47 pages.  That is pretty noteworthy, really.

Good to see some out of the way games reviewed here, particularly main rule books.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on August 16, 2013, 12:44:02 AM
This is very delayed - sorry I didn't notice your reply at the time Kuroth.

I chose it for review specifically as something for the older (80s) games review day that the mesmerizedbysirens blog was doing (user camel7). It seemed like a worthy cause and I don't have a blog of my own so I put it here :)
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: brettmb on August 16, 2013, 11:27:33 AM
Funny. I just picked up a copy on ebay. Didn't notice this review until your reply today.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on August 16, 2013, 06:00:35 PM
Hope you enjoy it.
Just a fan of the books or seeing if its something worth acquiring republishing rights to?
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: brettmb on August 16, 2013, 06:15:22 PM
Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;682170Hope you enjoy it.
Just a fan of the books or seeing if its something worth acquiring republishing rights to?
I'm an avid collector of vintage games, so it's something I've never seen - had to try to get it at a low price, which I did.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Doom on August 17, 2013, 03:26:58 PM
I was a big fan of the books, waayyyy back when they came out.

I remember whining at Mom in December, wanting her to take me to the mall to get them (at least 3 books in the series were out at the time, but I didn't pick them up). School was out, and I was bored out of my mind.

She flat out refused. An odd thing, since Mom was pretty nice about that sort of thing.

Then it hit me: "Mom, did you buy me those books for Christmas?"

No answer, which was answer enough for even my childhood-addled mind.

Good books, though Sis didn't like the picture of the topless female centaur on the cover (her flowing hair strategically covered her breasts, of course).
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on August 17, 2013, 06:53:16 PM
Quote from: brettmb;682177I'm an avid collector of vintage games, so it's something I've never seen - had to try to get it at a low price, which I did.
Fair enough :)

Quote from: Doom;682420I was a big fan of the books, waayyyy back when they came out.

I remember whining at Mom in December, wanting her to take me to the mall to get them (at least 3 books in the series were out at the time, but I didn't pick them up). School was out, and I was bored out of my mind.

She flat out refused. An odd thing, since Mom was pretty nice about that sort of thing.

Then it hit me: "Mom, did you buy me those books for Christmas?"

No answer, which was answer enough for even my childhood-addled mind.

Good books, though Sis didn't like the picture of the topless female centaur on the cover (her flowing hair strategically covered her breasts, of course).

I was a fan of most of Jack Chalker's stuff way back when - though I haven't reread it in a long time so I don't know how it stands up these days. The local library had a pretty wide selection of his stuff.
Well World was good though his favourite series for me would actually be the Dancing Gods series. A couple of particularly nasty death traps in games I've run have been inspired by the set of traps in Ruddygore's treasury, and his fey had an influence on one homebrew game I made & ran as well.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Doom on August 20, 2013, 10:40:40 PM
Hmm, I might have to look up Dancing Gods.

I've read quite a few of his series, but the theme of "no matter what hideous blob of goo you turn in to, deep down you're still the same person" just seemed to be the only one he ever explored in his books...not that he didn't do it well, but it wore out it's welcome.
Title: Midnight at the Well of Souls
Post by: Bloody Stupid Johnson on August 22, 2013, 01:30:49 AM
Quote from: Doom;683882Hmm, I might have to look up Dancing Gods.

I've read quite a few of his series, but the theme of "no matter what hideous blob of goo you turn in to, deep down you're still the same person" just seemed to be the only one he ever explored in his books...not that he didn't do it well, but it wore out it's welcome.

Oh agree. He particularly seems to like his sex changes.
TBH Dancing Gods still has a fair amount of "you're now a fairy/ mermaid/whatever". I'd say there's maybe slightly more character development than some of his other series? I sort of like the main BBEG, who's one of the 'I'm doing it for the greater good' types.