bryan gibson
Absent Friend
Operation Dominoes: Moonshadow - A Tense Story with Flawed Logic
A Review
There are potential spoilers contained herein, so be duly warned!
Operation Dominoes: Moonshadow is a supplement for The New Era of Traveller – odds are if you are reading this you are at least familiar with the milieu. Published by Avenger Enterprises in the PDF format, it is easily read (as all PDFs are) by any system running anything like a modern OS, and is cross compatible. As in any PDF, it can be printed out for the users convenience or left on the machine – and in either method the book is readily read, attractively laid out and well presented.
Right away you know you have a Traveller product – the cover is the ubiquitous “Little Black Book” style of cover so loved and reviled (depending on who you talk to) by Traveller fans, instantly identifying its pedigree.
While it is short on illustrations (aside from maps it has none) it doesn’t suffer in this regard, as being an adventure supplement it is all about presenting the material. While an illustration or two would be welcome, the lack of illustration doesn’t detract at all. The maps are crisp and clean and the charts accessible.
Familiarity with The New Era milieu is a must, as there are a wealth of references and acronyms (such as RCES, TEDS and so forth) that has no explanation anywhere in the book – if you don’t know what they are or can’t deduce them from the context, you’re on your own. Players will have less of a time with this than the GM, so it’s a fairly transparent issue, but it’s the wise GM that has his main sourcebooks handy.
Authored by Richard Perks and Daniel Hammersley, the book is a curious mix- of good ideas and mediocre presentation, of an engaging adventure and yet with curious flaws. Like any such book its natural it has its pros and cons, and we’ll examine both.
In the main, it should be remembered that Operation Dominoes is a series of adventures, this being the first of three parts, so what might appear flaws or plot holes may yet be resolved in the other books although that, of course, remains to be seen. As with any series, not all is presented in the first books, and players and GMs can anticipate more to come.
In fact, before we proceed be advised that this adventure won’t be for the meek. In the hands of a sloppy GM, the players will find themselves handicapped to death, and in the hands of a diligent GM they are in for a tough but satisfying challenge. This adventure won’t be successful through violence (oh, violence may be necessary, even if the thing doesn’t go south, but injudicious application of mayhem is a death sentence for the party) but will require careful planning and action throughout.
But, that said, this isn’t an adventure for the group that wants a fast evening of random action. This scenario demands considerable thought on the part of the players, careful use of resources and a certain intensity of purpose. Thus it’s recommended as a component of a campaign (if the GM is looking for that sort of thing the series lends itself to that very well) as I seriously doubt any GM would get through this with his party intact in only an evening. The book is amply detailed to allow several weeks of gameplay, always a plus for the budget minded gamer. Priced at $5.50, and 54 pages in length, it’s priced quite reasonably and is, given some of the products out there, a bargain.
On the whole, the worlds are very well detailed regarding physical descriptions, with a wealth of information of the environment the players will find them selves in. It’s not so much the details that are there that make the detail oriented GM curious but the presentation that makes him scratch his head.
The players will be portraying a Reformation Coalition covert action team, being inserted into the system on a reconnaissance mission and they will be immediately handicapped by the fact the planet is ruled by a psionic elite. Yep, that’s right- psions. If you hate psionics oriented adventures, then this won’t be the book for you, as the adventure is impacted in even the tiniest details with psionics.
Much is made in the description of the planetary industrial base (its near non existent by modern standards) and while the various countries manage internal combustion vehicles, they manufacture them at snail’s pace- literally, less than tens per year planet wide (as it reads) so most rely on steam or alcohol powered vehicles or animal transport. The local governments apparently universally impose technological restrictions due to ideological principles, although the restrictions seem extreme given their utility. Thoughts of North Korea come to mind, with what amounts to a brainwashed population, combined with zero resources and an oppressive government.
The player’s first potential encounter (assuming the GM sends them into the system via their vessel rather than inserting them on the planet at the outset) is with a communication station on the planets satellite, an old scout communication array of Relic technology and inhabited by a God virus. While its indicated the Virus is active, the authors have failed to really explain its apparent inactivity - the God virus would be safely assumed to also have radio and laser communications capability as well, why it has failed to utilize this resource to infect or influence the planetary population remains open to speculation.
While the player and NPC descriptions are very good, with good back stories and well detailed, they are often saddled with “handles” or nicknames, often of a somewhat cheesy nature and is a hallmark of Hammersley’s writing, although in his defense several of the characters referred to in canon adventures also suffer this fate. This is, freely admitted, a matter of taste, but if the nicknames are often of the cheap dime novel variety, the characters and NPCs are well written so it’s a fair trade off.
While I won’t go into great detail on the scenario, its far and away the best part of the book. Tightly plotted and well appointed, the scenario will lead the PCs on a good adventure, one that will test their ingenuity. A subtle hint – the scenario demands convoluted planning, and if the party must draw a weapon, odds are they have failed.
Conversely, the weakest part of the book is directly relevant to all the rest – the population is ruled with an iron hand by the psionic elite, yet the numbers stated in the book make it virtually impossible for them to actually control the population as they are described. The numbers of psions in the controlling aspects of the governments aren’t altogether clear, the statements are muddy and the numbers proposed either inadequate to psionically police the populace (as the book states, they are actively policed, with psionic monitoring) assuming they sleep at all or else the psions are far greater in number than are presented. This is the one real flaw of the book – this isn’t the only place where facts are unclear, muddied or presented in such a fashion as to require a certain degree of deciphering.
Psions of the numbers so stated, using their powers to steer and shape the government? You bet! But to psionically police the population base stated, as in the thought police/secret service fashion - the impression the authors give is reminiscent of the Zhodani model- then its physically impossible.
This is vital to the thrust of the entire venture, for if the government has the numbers of psionic operatives they imply, the approach the players take is vastly different than if the governments must rely on more mundane methods of policy enforcement. If the threat is proportionate to the psions looking for them, then this is a point hard to ignore and any GM should consider it at more than face value before presenting the scenario.
Flaws aside, the book is still a worthwhile adventure, and well worth the purchase. As the first of a trilogy some of the holes may well remain to be filled, and the inconsistencies may yet be resolved as a matter of plot – that still has yet to be seen. And in spite of the flaws, they are far outweighed by the virtues. So, a solid adventure, with logic holes and weak presentation in places, but a solid adventure seed and story.
I would say, three stars. ***-
A Review
There are potential spoilers contained herein, so be duly warned!
Operation Dominoes: Moonshadow is a supplement for The New Era of Traveller – odds are if you are reading this you are at least familiar with the milieu. Published by Avenger Enterprises in the PDF format, it is easily read (as all PDFs are) by any system running anything like a modern OS, and is cross compatible. As in any PDF, it can be printed out for the users convenience or left on the machine – and in either method the book is readily read, attractively laid out and well presented.
Right away you know you have a Traveller product – the cover is the ubiquitous “Little Black Book” style of cover so loved and reviled (depending on who you talk to) by Traveller fans, instantly identifying its pedigree.
While it is short on illustrations (aside from maps it has none) it doesn’t suffer in this regard, as being an adventure supplement it is all about presenting the material. While an illustration or two would be welcome, the lack of illustration doesn’t detract at all. The maps are crisp and clean and the charts accessible.
Familiarity with The New Era milieu is a must, as there are a wealth of references and acronyms (such as RCES, TEDS and so forth) that has no explanation anywhere in the book – if you don’t know what they are or can’t deduce them from the context, you’re on your own. Players will have less of a time with this than the GM, so it’s a fairly transparent issue, but it’s the wise GM that has his main sourcebooks handy.
Authored by Richard Perks and Daniel Hammersley, the book is a curious mix- of good ideas and mediocre presentation, of an engaging adventure and yet with curious flaws. Like any such book its natural it has its pros and cons, and we’ll examine both.
In the main, it should be remembered that Operation Dominoes is a series of adventures, this being the first of three parts, so what might appear flaws or plot holes may yet be resolved in the other books although that, of course, remains to be seen. As with any series, not all is presented in the first books, and players and GMs can anticipate more to come.
In fact, before we proceed be advised that this adventure won’t be for the meek. In the hands of a sloppy GM, the players will find themselves handicapped to death, and in the hands of a diligent GM they are in for a tough but satisfying challenge. This adventure won’t be successful through violence (oh, violence may be necessary, even if the thing doesn’t go south, but injudicious application of mayhem is a death sentence for the party) but will require careful planning and action throughout.
But, that said, this isn’t an adventure for the group that wants a fast evening of random action. This scenario demands considerable thought on the part of the players, careful use of resources and a certain intensity of purpose. Thus it’s recommended as a component of a campaign (if the GM is looking for that sort of thing the series lends itself to that very well) as I seriously doubt any GM would get through this with his party intact in only an evening. The book is amply detailed to allow several weeks of gameplay, always a plus for the budget minded gamer. Priced at $5.50, and 54 pages in length, it’s priced quite reasonably and is, given some of the products out there, a bargain.
On the whole, the worlds are very well detailed regarding physical descriptions, with a wealth of information of the environment the players will find them selves in. It’s not so much the details that are there that make the detail oriented GM curious but the presentation that makes him scratch his head.
The players will be portraying a Reformation Coalition covert action team, being inserted into the system on a reconnaissance mission and they will be immediately handicapped by the fact the planet is ruled by a psionic elite. Yep, that’s right- psions. If you hate psionics oriented adventures, then this won’t be the book for you, as the adventure is impacted in even the tiniest details with psionics.
Much is made in the description of the planetary industrial base (its near non existent by modern standards) and while the various countries manage internal combustion vehicles, they manufacture them at snail’s pace- literally, less than tens per year planet wide (as it reads) so most rely on steam or alcohol powered vehicles or animal transport. The local governments apparently universally impose technological restrictions due to ideological principles, although the restrictions seem extreme given their utility. Thoughts of North Korea come to mind, with what amounts to a brainwashed population, combined with zero resources and an oppressive government.
The player’s first potential encounter (assuming the GM sends them into the system via their vessel rather than inserting them on the planet at the outset) is with a communication station on the planets satellite, an old scout communication array of Relic technology and inhabited by a God virus. While its indicated the Virus is active, the authors have failed to really explain its apparent inactivity - the God virus would be safely assumed to also have radio and laser communications capability as well, why it has failed to utilize this resource to infect or influence the planetary population remains open to speculation.
While the player and NPC descriptions are very good, with good back stories and well detailed, they are often saddled with “handles” or nicknames, often of a somewhat cheesy nature and is a hallmark of Hammersley’s writing, although in his defense several of the characters referred to in canon adventures also suffer this fate. This is, freely admitted, a matter of taste, but if the nicknames are often of the cheap dime novel variety, the characters and NPCs are well written so it’s a fair trade off.
While I won’t go into great detail on the scenario, its far and away the best part of the book. Tightly plotted and well appointed, the scenario will lead the PCs on a good adventure, one that will test their ingenuity. A subtle hint – the scenario demands convoluted planning, and if the party must draw a weapon, odds are they have failed.
Conversely, the weakest part of the book is directly relevant to all the rest – the population is ruled with an iron hand by the psionic elite, yet the numbers stated in the book make it virtually impossible for them to actually control the population as they are described. The numbers of psions in the controlling aspects of the governments aren’t altogether clear, the statements are muddy and the numbers proposed either inadequate to psionically police the populace (as the book states, they are actively policed, with psionic monitoring) assuming they sleep at all or else the psions are far greater in number than are presented. This is the one real flaw of the book – this isn’t the only place where facts are unclear, muddied or presented in such a fashion as to require a certain degree of deciphering.
Psions of the numbers so stated, using their powers to steer and shape the government? You bet! But to psionically police the population base stated, as in the thought police/secret service fashion - the impression the authors give is reminiscent of the Zhodani model- then its physically impossible.
This is vital to the thrust of the entire venture, for if the government has the numbers of psionic operatives they imply, the approach the players take is vastly different than if the governments must rely on more mundane methods of policy enforcement. If the threat is proportionate to the psions looking for them, then this is a point hard to ignore and any GM should consider it at more than face value before presenting the scenario.
Flaws aside, the book is still a worthwhile adventure, and well worth the purchase. As the first of a trilogy some of the holes may well remain to be filled, and the inconsistencies may yet be resolved as a matter of plot – that still has yet to be seen. And in spite of the flaws, they are far outweighed by the virtues. So, a solid adventure, with logic holes and weak presentation in places, but a solid adventure seed and story.
I would say, three stars. ***-
