Unknown Armies semmed like it was written especially for me. It catered completely to my own personal tastes as a player and a gamemaster. This is why I chose this first for my first Retro Review. Because it was on my mind and I wanted to write about it.

What is Unknow Armies?

Unknow Armies is a game like Mage: the Awakening, if it was directed by David Finscher (Fight Club, Se7en) and written by ummm... Greg Stolze and John Tynes. It has three Power Levels, I will however only talk about the first (and maybe hint at the second & third) to avoid to much spoilage for potential players.

In it, you are a player triggered into a same world you've always had, but with some new rose colored glassses. Things start connecting in a weird David Icke way. It all quits making sense and making a new sense in your mind. The homeless man down the street with a million dollars in the trunk of his car seems to have a perfectly valid reason to be homeless. The McDonalds worker down the street just might be the revolutionary he thinks he is. Confused? Good. Now you understand. Welcome to the Occult Underground.

How do I play Unknown Armies?

Creating characters is simple. Concept comes first. Determine and write in your Trigger Event (what led you into the Occult Underground) Obsession (A skill you charcter most identifies with) and Passions (Noble, Fear and Rage:These give you bonuses based on situational events). Distribute character points (based on your games power level). Stats (Body, Speed, Mind and Soul) cost 2 points, skills (unlimited, governed by stats, you make them up with your GM) cost 1. You assign descriptors to you Stats (ex Mind 55 - Quick Thinker), and a couple derivitive stats (ex. HP=Body)

The system for Unknown Armies is a deceptively simple percentile system. Roll under your relevant Attribute and/or Skill and you succeed. For simple tasks that could/should not fail or minor checks with a relevant skill, no roll is required. For Simple tasks where success/failure is somewhat important simply roll under you Stat if you have the skill or your stat-30 if you dont. For Major, roll under your skill or withou the skill you get a Hail Mary (Only doubles and an 01 count as success).

The fun comes in the variables. Rolling doubles is like a semi-critical for certain obsession skill checks (or all if you come up with cherry lists for them). You can flip flop the roll for your obsession skill (In my opinion this is the coolest mechanic EVER!). Critical successes are 01 critical flops are 00.

Combat in the game is HEAVILY stressed as a last resort. They accomplish this by starting the Combat chapter with a full half page explaining why and how to AVOID combat. They've also made combat incredibly quick, dirty and deadly. Knives always inflict 1 point of damage. Firearms inlict their roll to hit in damage (a lot, when you conisider the fact that a person has 50 HP average). Hand to hand Matched successes do Firearm Damage. Critical Hits (01) with a Firearm or weapon is instant death. You read that right, you have a 1 in 100 chance on every roll to DIE, no questions asked.

What Sucks about Unknown Armies

Not much, in my opinion (and it is my opinion). I can see how this game might not be certain peoples cup of RPG tea though. For example, many people enjoy RPG combat. The combat risk in this is too high for my D&D playing buddies. The very open system is also a barrier to some. Having to think up your own skills is too much responsibility(or too little guidance) for some people.

I can personally say that not everyone I have pitched Unknown Armies to has though it sounded cool. The setting is, I won't say aquired, is a peculiar taste. If you love, say, a Chuck Paluhnick novel, you'll like this game. Not everyone loves Chuck, but the people that do LOVE Chuck. The same goes for Unknown Armies.

Also, the writing, while good, is directed towards experienced gamers. They did little to admonish the rules and setting to those that don't already play RPGs. I imagine a gamer coming from a strict D&D backround would have a tough time grokking the game as well. I blame this as the reason such a good game was not financially successful.

What Rocks about Unknow Armies?

I was most impressed by the system, which lacks almost any pretense inferring the "Golden Rule" without ever having to state it. It carries the spirit of the setting within it, I could not picture it used, as written, for any other kind of game.

The writing is clear, concise, entertaining and perfectly paced. The setting is top notch. The three tiers of gameplay are perfectly setup to provide mysteries for players to solve. The system is creative and fun. All these things add up to make a great game all around.

This game is my favorite RPG that I own. If any of the above sounds apealing to you, I can garauntee you will dig it too.

Unknown Armies is "old school" already?  Egads.

!i!

Well, in a hobby where new systems are puked up churned out daily, nearly ten years may just do the job.

So, what do you actually do in UA?
Wallow in the aesthetics?

Quote from: SettembriniWallow in the aesthetics?

Yeah, like you would do for 300

Regards,
David R

Could well be, could well be.

Dude use a spell check. Otherwise, you've got a fine review there. Be proud because You Did It.

Quote from: mrlostDude use a spell check. Otherwise, you've got a fine review there. Be proud because You Did It.

Yeah. I liked reading it, but a little more detail would be great. I may have missed some of these games when they first came out, so a little more depth would be good.

Regards,
David R