The Last Year of the Phoenix Post

Scenes of pre-gen Anthony Quill at a discotheque in 1997

As we reach the end of the year, so do we conclude our exploration of Martin Wixted's Year of the Phoenix role-playing game.  Before we move on, we shall examine a few remaining points of interest.


New Player Characters

Sometimes a player's character dies.  Sometimes a new player joins an existing campaign.  What to do?  Wixted provides some helpful information in a section named 'New Characters For Players' that begins on page 35 of the Adventure Guide.  Character creation in Phoenix is geared toward Project Phoenix participants and this section provides what little information there is about creating non-standard characters.

First, Wixted describes “3 obvious choices” for the origin of a new character:  Astronaut, Time Capsule Survivor, and Native Amerikan.  Astronauts are other survivors of the Phoenix incident that arrived separately from the original player characters.  As a means of introduction to the existing group, Wixted suggests rescuing the newcomers “from the Zoviets or perhaps some natural catastrophe.”  Time Capsule Survivors (thus capitalized) may be from “specially constructed bunkers set up where people were frozen just in case [of] a calamity” or they may have been subject to a convenient “natural occurence [sic] near some arctic region.”  Wixted suggests that this may prompt strained relations within the group “due to possible orders from the patron of the Time Capsule Survivors which conflict with the astronauts' goals.”  Wixted states that Native Amerikan replacement characters may be “the simplest to justify, but the most difficult to roleplay.”  Such characters “may or may not see the Zoviet rule as oppressive.  (If you've never been out of the forest, how can you conceive of an ocean?)”  For non-obvious character choices, Wixted mentions the examples of a religious cultist or a Zoviet defector or spy.

Wixted suggests that characters younger than eighteen receive fourteen dice to allocate among the Skill Spheres instead of eighteen.  He also suggest that older characters receive an additional Skill Sphere die for every ten years of age beyond thirty.  Sadly, Wixted doesn't explain how to calculate non-Skill Sphere attributes (e.g., Conditioning and Ergs) for characters who are not astronauts.

Wixted also talks about 'Academies,' by which he means an educational environment promoting “intense study in a limited area of knowledge.”  For instance:  “tutelage under an Amerikan Bard, or perhaps the child was raised in a private Mormon school, or was raised by use of machines and drugs to become a living computer.”  Unfortunately, Wixted doesn't provide thorough rules about Academies other than how some Skill Spheres can be emphasized at the expense of others.

The section closes by listing a few Native Amerikan skills, some of which are:  History (“This is a prime skill for Amerikan Bards.”), Chirurgery, Plant Lore, and Other Lores (“There are numerous other Lores, such as Depressants, Poison Antidotes, Hallucinogens, and Stimulants.”)


Bios

          These are 'Biomechanical Soldiers.'  Bios emerged almost fifty years ago from Zoviet factories buried deep in the Ural mountains.  These things were not bright, and often malfunctioned.  The later models are more reliable, and more intelligent.
          Their design has not been duplicated, although various resistance factions have managed to capture one or two.  Bios are essentially humans somehow bred in tanks.  They receive various pieces of equipment transplanted into their body, notably artificial strength, a specialized sense or two, and some kind of computer which ties into the central nervous system and controls it.
          They are sent on missions and guard duty deigned too hazardous (or too monotonous) for humans...
          When captured, most groups have realized that these Bios have some intelligence and are eager to learn.  Most offer citizenship to these creatures, which is sometimes accepted.  One notable exception to this is the religious group named the Hounds of God, who patrol Dixie in search of heathen [sic].  Bios are branded 'demon work' and burned.

Although Wixted doesn't mention it, a Bio would be a good role-playing challenge for a player.  The Zoviets treat Bios like machines; however, many of the rebel groups consider them human enough to warrant citizenship.  This is more heavy handedness from Wixted:  Communism is literally dehumanizing while it is the nature of American idealism to foster legal equality and personal freedom and growth.  Still, Wixted describes the Bios with words like “things,”“models,” and “creatures.”  They are “essentially human,” but are distinct in that they are assigned duties not for humans.

Are they living?  Wixted says, “The average Bio soldier cannot think for himself.  Instead, he must always wait for orders from a superior (living) officer.”  So it seems they are not 'living.'  At least Wixted uses “he” and not “it” as a pronoun.  “All Bios are male in appearance,” Wixted continues, “but they are not physically equivalent to male humans.”  I think this means they are not anatomically correct.  Do they eat?  Do they breathe?  Wixted doesn't say.  However, “Bios do not have Ergs; they run off a ten-hour Power Pax.”


Experience and Specials

A player character receives an Experience Mark for a Specific Skill under any of five conditions:  (1) one hour of training with a teacher, (2) two hours of practice or study with other scholars, (3) four hours of studying alone, (4) eight hours of work using the skill at a job, or (5) one “skill roll (successful or not) during a game session.”  In order to improve a skill, a character must have a number of Experience Marks equal to the current value of the skill plus one.  For instance, our sample character, David Long, has Vehicle Repair at 77%.  He would need to have seventy-eight Experience Marks in that skill to increase it to 78%.  Realistic perhaps, but tedious.  This process is used for learning new skills as well as improving the Conditioning attribute.  With regard to increasing an actual Skill Sphere, Wixted states on page 18 of the Training Manual:  “Conceptually, for every 10% gained in a Specific Skill, the controlling Skill Sphere increases by 01%.  Mechanically, each time a Specific Skill reaches a percentage ending in zero...+01% is added to the Sphere.”  What if, by increasing the Skill Sphere, an associated Specific Skill reaches a multiple-of-ten percentage?  Does the Skill Sphere get another point?  This could create a cascading effect that some players would exploit.

On page 40 of the Adventure Guide, Wixted discusses 'Specials,' an optional rule.  Specials “are 'brownie points' given to a character for good roleplaying and creativity on the part of the character's player.”  Specials (also called “Hero Points” and “Lady Luck”) can be used to reduce the effects of damage or to reroll any dice roll – “This includes dice rolled by the player, other players, and even the gamemaster.”

Wixted says, “Specials are merely a game construct to encourage and reward a player in a definite and controlled fashion.”  At any given time, a player can have two Specials at most, Wixted instructs, while most players would be fortunate to have any.  “This rule is optional,” explains Wixted, “because some players feel that using Specials is a way of cheating the game's reality, and some gamemasters feel uncomfortable about judging a player's actions so obviously.”
 

Combat in Year of the Phoenix

The Year of the Phoenix boxed set comes with a 17" x 22" sheet Martin Wixted refers to as 'the Battlefield.'  Printed on this sheet is a “grid of alternating squares.”  (see below)  This arrangement is something I like to call 'a poor man's hexes.'  “Each square represents 1 meter.”  I'm assuming each side of a square is one meter in length.

On page 38 of the Training Guide, Wixted remarks:

          All forms of combat are mutually-agreed-upon rules for attempting to inflict injury upon one another.  If this were untrue, there would be no such thing as 'fighting dirty'.

Wait...Wouldn't 'fighting dirty' be a form of combat?

Anyway, for purposes of combat or other fast paced game events, game-time is measured in 'Sequences.'  How long is a Sequence?  In general terms, a Sequence has a duration of one second.  However, Wixted tells us on page 15 of the Training Guide that “Sequences can expand or contract...to fit the dynamics and pacing of the adventure...”  This deftly curtails player arguments about what can and cannot happen during the span of a second.

Actions a character can perform require one or more Sequences to be spent, but the number of Sequences spent can vary among characters.  For example, it would take David Long – the character we made over the last couple of weeks – two Sequences to fire a pistol.  Firing the same pistol in the same circumstances would take only one Sequence for pre-gen 'Keeps' Keeler, but would take three Sequences for pre-gen Julie Whitmore.  These differences occur due to the Phoenix concept of 'Skill Speed' which is inversely proportionate to skill percentage; the better a character knows a skill, the faster he or she can perform said skill.  This is where the system gets a bit clunky; characters have Skill Speeds for Skill Spheres as well as for Specific Skills.  The 'highest' Skill Speed value is five and the 'lowest' is one.  Outside of combat, for long term tasks, Skill Speed can represent minutes, hours, or days.

During a combat situation, the gamemaster literally counts out the Sequences.  In the combat chapter of the Training Guide, a section called 'The Combat Clock' explains the four 'steps' of performing actions.  The steps are:  (1) Announcing Intentions, (2) Counting Down to Action, (3) Acting, and (4) Recording Changes. The phrase 'Counting Down to Action' can be somewhat confusing because the progression of Sequences goes from lower to higher numbers.  Players are supposed to track the actions of their characters and – at the appropriate Sequence – inform the gamemaster that a given action has been performed and needs to be resolved.  Actions can always be cancelled, perhaps to perform a defensive action (all of which only require a single Sequence).  Alternatively, the multiple skill use rules can be used to perform two actions simultaneously (such as attacking and defending or defending against two separate attackers).

Within a given Sequence, the character with the fastest “raw Skill Speed” acts first.  In the case of ties, actions are simultaneous.

The 'Moves' value indicates the number of meters a character can move in one Sequence.  It is determined by subtracting the character's Kinetics Skill Speed from six.  Thus, our character David Long would nave a Moves value of two (i.e., a Kinetics Skill Speed of 4 subtracted from 6).  Different forms of movement are derived from this value; running distance per Sequence is twice Moves.

Characters can reduce the number of Sequences the performance of a given skill normally requires by 'Shaving Speed.'  Each Sequence 'Shaved' off of a skill attempt incurs a penalty of one Difficulty level and an additional Erg loss.  Although not expressly stated, one supposes that Skill Speed cannot be Shaved to less than one Sequence.  Wixted warns us on page 16 of the Training Guide:

          Players should refrain from using this technique often, because a character's self-preservation instincts have a tendency to override such foolishness.

On the other hand, characters can obviate a Difficulty level by taking an extra Sequence (and an additional Erg loss).  Curiously, this can only be done to counter Difficulty penalties; it cannot be used to gain a bonus by virtue of preparation.  With regard to aiming an attack, the combat rules on page 39 of the Training Guide offer two methods.  Both methods regard hitting a specific 'Hit Location.'  Method One allows a player to modify the Hit Location roll by one for each extra Sequence consumed (to a maximum number of six).  Method Two imposes a Difficulty penalty based on the size of a given Hit Location (e.g., 2 Difficulty for the chest, 5 Difficulty for the left hand, etc.).

Aiming isn't the only circumstance for which Phoenix addresses alternate rules.  With regard to “dealing with ammunition,” Wixted says on page 40 of the Adventure Guide,“Some gamemasters will ignore the question entirely, while others will want a detailed account of every single bullet expended...”  Wixted suggests that a rapid-fire gun run out of ammunition when the roll for using said gun results in doubles or a klutz.  This means on any given use (including the first), the gun has about a 1-in-8 chance of being out of ammunition.  Ultimately, Wixted writes, “...when it is dramatically necessary to run out of ammunition, the firearms should do so.”  Immediately following this statement Wixted scribes, “Naturally, common sense should prevail.”

We close this post with some good advice from Wixted:  “When designing the combat area decide if it would make a good setting for a movie.  If not, open it up.”

Skills in Year of the Phoenix

In last week's installment, we started to generate a character for the Year of the Phoenix role-playing game; namely, David Long, a 26 year old Chinese-American.  Although voting was very close, we're going with “Support Services: Mechanic” for his position within the 'Project Phoenix Special Reaction Team' to which he will be assigned.  Knowing David's position, we can distribute dice among his Skill Spheres in an effort to make him more effective.

For every Phoenix character, eighteen ten-sided dice are divided among the six Skill Spheres (Knowledge, Talent, Observation, Communication, Manipulation, and Kinetics).  For each sphere, at least one die must be assigned but no more than five dice may be assigned.  An 'average' character would have three dice allocated to each sphere.  Since David is supposed to be a Mechanic, let's assign five dice to Knowledge and four dice to Manipulation.  To balance this out, we will assign only two dice each to Talent, Communication, and Observation; the Kinetics sphere will have three dice.  Dice results are added to a base value of 15 and the total is treated as a percentage.

If I were to create a 'hack' of the “Epic Rule System” Martin Wixted used for Phoenix (and co-developed with Scot Michael Fritz), I think I would turn 'Conditioning' into a Skill Sphere.  Also, I would get rid of the 'Talent' Skill Sphere which – by definition* – includes “unquantifiable aspects of a character.”  The skill list for the Talent sphere is a hodge-podge.  I think I see what Wixted was trying to do, but each of the listed skills could just as easily be included in others spheres (mostly Communication and Observation).  Alternately, I would reserve the Talent sphere to reflect a sort of magic attunement / spellcasting ability.

Anyway, David's Skill Spheres are as follows:  Knowledge (56%), Talent (29%), Observation (29%), Communication (26%), Manipulation (33%) and Kinetics (28%).  The Phoenix character sheet (see below) has a 'Skill Sphere Grid' meant to provide players “with a quick reference to check where [a] character is strong or weak.”  The number of 'Specific Skills' a character has is equal to his or her age in years; however, eleven of these skills must be the 'core skills' taught to all Project Phoenix personnel and some skills (in David's case, three) must be taken as part of the character's 'service branch' training.  This leaves David with twelve 'Personal Skills.'  (26 - [11 + 3] = 12)

For each specific skill, the result of 3d10 is added to the appropriate Skill Sphere value.  Instead of rolling dice, players can add 15 to the Skill Sphere value.  This is slightly less than what 3d10 would average, but you don't have to be concerned with bad dice mojo.  Players can also use a second skill 'slot' to add another 3d10 (or 15).

Among David's core skills, there is an 'interaction skill' – which we decide is Etiquette (COM) (36%) – and a 'personal management skill' – for which we choose Operate Vehicle: passenger car (MAN) (43%).  David's native language is English, which is represented by two skills:  literacy (KNO) (65%) and 'linguacy' (COM) (42%).  For his second language, Mandarin seems appropriate; literacy (KNO) (73%) and 'linguacy' (COM) (37%).  David's remaining core skills (and their values) are as follows:  Astronautics (KNO) (73%), Computation, which is essentially mathematics (KNO) (73%), Extravehicular Mobility Unit (a.k.a. 'EMU') (KIN) (50%), Shuttle Computer (KNO) (68%), and Self-loading Pistol (MAN) (45%).

David's 'service branch' skills (and their values) are as follows: NASA Vehicle Repair (KNO) (73%), Operate Lunar Vehicle (MAN) (52%), and Robot Repair (73%).

Before continuing with his 'Personal Skills,' let's address David's special ability.  He has two Ability Points.  Let's go for the obvious and select 'Machine Empathy.'  At two points, this allows David to diagnose “any problem with a vehicle or device” within ten meters in four minutes (his 'Talent' speed).  The 'mechanical' explanation for this ability is a “neural implant,” but we're going to define it as a 'mental' ability.  This means one of David's personal skills will be 'Machine Empathy' (TAL) (53%).

David should possess mechanical aptitude should not be limited to NASA vehicles, so we have him obtain (normal) Vehicle Repair (KNO) (77%).  We'll also have David learn some martial arts.  This should not be interpreted as an exacerbation of a racial stereotype, but merely an opportunity to show my cherished readers how martial arts are handled in Phoenix.  According to Wixted, “Martial artists attempt to improve themselves in all areas of life (such as...inner peace and control) but such extensive treatment is beyond the scope of [the skills] chapter.”  Otherwise, Wixted lists various 'moves' that can each be purchased as a specific skill “as long as it is compatible with the character's background.”  So, we'll have David get:  Punch (KIN) (46%), Throw (KIN) (34%), and Unarmed Parry (KIN) (45%).  For a Throw, a “successful Grapple is required first,” so we'll get Grapple (KIN) (51%).  We'll also have David get martial arts as a Knowledge skill representing the philosophy, tradition, and other knowledge about the martial art (KNO) (73%).  The value for 'Throw' is weak, so let's 'spend' another skill to add 3d10 – Throw (KIN) (47%).

David has five Personal Skills left.  Overlooking the pre-gens for ideas, I settle on:  Hide (KIN) (44%), Listen (OBS) (44%), Detect Lie (TAL) (53%), 'Simple Repair' (MAN) (43%), and Moonsight (OBS) (50%).  I considered a Talent skill that Wixted lists (but does not describe) – “Nerve (chutzpah)” – but I don't think it's right for David's background.


* Training Manual (p. 10)

Let's Make a Year of the Phoenix Character!

Meaning:  I make a Year of the Phoenix character and you get to read about it.

Among the six pre-generated characters Martin Wixted provides in his Year of the Phoenix role-playing game, various ethnicities and lifestyles are represented.  African-American?  Check.  Native American?  Check.  Hispanic?  Check.  Lesbian?  Check.  Neo-Pagan?  Check.  No Asians.  Well, we should address this dificiency.

The first part of making a Phoenix character is establishing 'societal information.'  Dao “David” Long is of Chinese heritage.  I roll 1d6 for Social Status; a result of '3' indicates middle class with an annual income of 30-59 K.

Next, we have 'physical information.'  We choose 'male' for gender.  Height (for males) is 6d10 + 145 cm; weight is (2d8 x 5) + 30 kg.  By rolling the appropriate dice I obtain 184 cm (6') and 70 kg (154 lbs) – kinda slim.  The age formula is 2d6 + 20; David is 26.  A result of 7 indicates that his dominant hand is his right.  His 'Conditioning' is 70% as a result of '1' on (1d6 + 6) x 10.  The '7' we obtained in calculating Conditioning is added to another d6 (a result of 2) to determine that David has '9' Ergs.

The next section is 'factored information.'  We multiply David's weight by his 'CON%' to find his 'Muscle' of 49 kg (108 lbs); which is the amount of weight he “can lift, carry, and push.”  This puts him in a 'Damage Class' of +1, which will improve – by one die side – the amount of damage he does with “[w]eapons requiring...physical ability to wield” (e.g., a d6 becomes a d7). 'Body Points' reflect “how much damage your character can withstand in each body part without having it disable him or her.”  The 'BOD' for each body part is calculated as a fraction of weight.  Here are the results for our character:

For the sake of comparison, glass has an average BOD of '1' while brick has an average BOD of '9'.

Since this is taking longer than I anticipated, we will forgo 'Characterization' and (most of) 'Finishing Touches' for now.  Rolling '7' on 2d6 gives David the rank of 1st Lieutenant.  With that rank, he can fill any of the nine positions ('Service Branches') of the Project Phoenix Special Reaction Team (other than Commander – which requires a rank of Captain).  Let's take a look at the positions as described on page 12 of the Training Guide.

Commander – “Crew safety and flight execution is the commander's responsibility.”  He or she delegates other responsibilities among the crew.
Pilot – Essentially, the pilot controls the Shuttle and “is the final judge about a go-ahead or mission scrub if problems arise.”
Communications and Payload Specialist – Lt. Uhura and “coordinates payload operations.”  In addition, “customarily takes the role of interpreter when dealing with non-English speaking gamemastered characters.”
Medic – “[S]ince the characters will be as far from hospital care as humanly possible (when they're in space), the Medic's responsibility is to provide first aid and emergency care.”
Support Services: Combat Engineer – “Combat Engineers deal with the construction and destruction of buildings” (i.e., demolitions) as well as “other skills necessary to ensure the survival of American freedom.”
Support Services: Mechanic – “Mechanics routinely repair, maintain, and jury-rig vehicles and robotic devices...”
Support Services: Electronics – This position addresses the accurate functioning of electronic equipment.  This is the only 'Service Branch' that provides training in computer programming.
Infantry – “The 'grunts'...are often the first ones into a combat situation, and the last ones out.”
Infantry (Heavy Weapons) – “The heavy-duty bunch, Infantry (Heavy Weapons) are specially trained to capture and hold enemy strongpoints.”

I had hoped to completely generate a character in one post, but that's not going to happen.  Since I am stopping at this point, I will entertain suggestions from my cherished readers as to the 'Service Branch' from which David will receive his training.  I think it should be one of the 'Support Services' since none of these positions is represented among the pre-gens.

More Special Abilities in Year of the Phoenix

In last week's installment, your humble host discussed 'special abilities' in Martin Wixted's role playing game Year of the Phoenix.  This week, your humble host continues the discussion!

Each Phoenix character receives 2 to 3 'Ability Points' to spend on one or more special abilities.  If a character acquires more than one ability, they must be of the same type (i.e., mechanical, physiological, or mental).  Each point spent on an ability increases its effectiveness; your humble host referred to this last week as 'level' – a term which Wixted avoids.  Aside from type, a player must determine the “approach” of the ability – the way it functions and its limitations.  A 'Skilled' approach requires a skill roll to activate; failure prohibits another attempt for twelve hours and extreme failure may cause damage to the character.  An 'Erg Loss' approach – appropriately enough – causes the character to lose Ergs each time the ability is used.  (We discussed Ergs in this post.)  With an 'External Stimulus' approach, an ability requires some condition to activate “such as a drug or a hypnotic trance.”  A 'Limited Duration' approach means “While the hero can turn on the Ability at will, it functions for a limited (and often varying) time and then shuts down;” usually, a recharge period is imposed.  With a 'delayed Activation approach, the duration is usually “more predictable” but “it takes quite a while to activate.”  Lastly, the 'Side Effect' approach means that use of the ability is accompanied by a condition that “severely impairs the character.”

Although Wixted encourages players and gamemasters to create their own “unique powers,” he provides three pages of examples.  The ability descriptions that Wixted presents come from (within the context of the game) “the Top Secret military report:  The Project Phoenix File.”  Provided below is a listing of special abilities not mention in the earlier post.

Wallcrawl
Body Armor (As a 'physiological' ability, requires an herb-derived drug)
Enhanced Muscle
Machine Empathy (Allows a character to diagnose problems with a “vehicle or device”)
Heal Other (Can also be used on one's self)
Animal Communication
Control (Allows a character to take over a target's “gross motor activities.”  As a
          'physiological' ability, it is described as an “intense pheronome [sic] emanation”)
Interface (Can ”operate electronic equipment intuitively”)
Electrical Touch
Directional Sense
Thermal Touch
Death Simulation (As a 'mental' ability, it is accomplished by “cellular telepathy”)
Leaping
Presence

Special Abilities in Year of the Phoenix

All player characters in Year of the Phoenix have special abilities – either mechanical (“The result of a mechanical device permanently attached to the hero's body”), physiological (“Abilities present as a result of quirks of the metabolism, genetic oddities, chemical imbalances, and the like”), or mental (“Abilities present because of special training, psychic properties, or simply unusual force of will...”).  Each ability usually has a drawback that tends to balance out the effectiveness of the ability.  Special abilities are what entitled the player characters to be recruited for Project Phoenix – not expert aptitude or an exemplary service record.  The special abilities chapter begins with a quote from Major Roger Nathan:

          You've all been called to this gymnasium so that we can test each of your Special Abilities.  Your Ability is what got you in here, so we're determined to see what it can do.  To your left you can see that metal enclosure.  It's a steel box with a door, really.  That is for testing things like weapons and heat- sensing, and heat-creating Abilities.
          Over here, to your right, are an odd assortment of vehicles and computers.  I see a couple of Corvettes, an army jeep, and three old, reliable MacIntosh computers.  Those are for testing machine empathy, as well as interfacing and electrical powers.
          The rest of this stuff, like the trampoline, is fairly self-explanatory.  Oh, and there's a medical team standing by.  I'm sure there'll be some casualties today.

Thanks for your confidence, Major!

To gain an appreciation of the variety of special abilities available, let's introduce ourselves to the pre-generated characters and see what abilities they have.

Carol Horn is the team pilot.  Her ability is “Heightened Sight.”  Her 'Line of Sight' is quadrupled that of what a normal person's would be and she can make out detail on an object eight meters distant as though it was only two meters away.  This ability has some drawbacks, she has poor night vision and is colorblind.  Unlike the other characters, the nature of her ability (mechanical, physiological, or mental) is not stated.  I guess it doesn't matter.



Bruce 'Keeps' Keeler is 'Communications & Payload Specialist' for our band of pre-gens.  He is ambidextrous, “has a swimmer's body, and sports a never-failing tan.”  However, these attributes do not represent his special ability.  Keeps has two levels of “Speed,” which is described as a “psychic ability to borrow future time.”  He can “increase normal reaction time and movement distances” for up to an hour's duration.  Immediately thereafter, for the same duration he “is proportionately 'slowed' as much as he...was 'hastened.' ”

Anthony Quill has been appointed 'Commander' of the team.  Quill has the “Weakness Analysis” ability as a result of a “specialized microcomputer hooked into sensory gear tied to the optic nerve.”  He can cause double damage but, before he can do so, the computer “takes over [his] eyes” for several seconds.  Quill is blind during this time.  At the level which Quill possesses this ability, he should be limited to a broad category of targets (e.g., animals, vehicles, structures), but this detail is not supplied.
   

Cynthia Shanders is 'Infantry.'  Had Martin Wixted written Phoenix today, he would describe her as “Native American” rather than “Indian.”  A “microprocessor” tied to her nervous system somehow allows her “to determine the surface thoughts of a gamemastered character,” but not a player character.  In order to do this, she must touch the subject and remain immobile.  It takes several seconds “to power up or shut down this Ability.”

David Toth is a 'Heavy Weapons' specialist.  Before he joined the service, David tried out for the Olympics but was not successful.  (His Basketball skill is at 70%.)  His special ability is listed as “Weapon/Mechanical.”  This means he has “Extendable claws...[that] reside in and/or around [his] hands,” or it could be his feet.  Instead of claws, they might be blades or metal plates.  Wixted does not specify.  Anyway, David does +4 Damage but it's possible he can injure himself with this weapon, even outside of combat.

Julie Whitmore is the 'Medic' of the group and – given her Chef skill – most likely the group's cook.  She is “almost too thin for high fashion modelling.”  Her special ability is “Self-Heal” to the extent that her recovery time is three times faster than normal.  This ability is 'mental' and, as such, requires a Talent Skill Sphere roll and a number of hours of (daily?) meditation commensurate to the level of trauma.

Physical Fitness in Year of the Phoenix

In last week's installment, we discussed Skill Spheres in Martin Wixted's Year of the Phoenix.  Aside from Skill Spheres, Phoenix characters are also defined by a measurement called Conditioning (abbreviated CON%).  Essentially, Conditioning represents physical fitness; in terms of another RPG, it is a combination of Strength and Constitution.  According to page 6 of the Training Manual:

Conditioning affects how well you resist disease, and recover from wounds.  A low CON% (20%) indicates a feeble or out-of-shape character, while a high CON% (80%) means a muscular, physically fit character.

Phoenix characters have a Conditioning score “between 70%-120%.”  Wixted explains that player characters have better-than-average Conditioning because they are “heroes” and have just undergone military training.  According to the Gamemaster Screen, the average Conditioning score is 50%.

A character's Muscle (MUS) represents the amount of weight he can lift “without trouble.”  This is equivalent to his own weight multiplied by his Conditioning percentage.  The amount of damage a character can inflict with “[w]eapons requiring a character's physical ability to wield” (including unarmed attacks) is influenced by Muscle.  Wixted provides a chart by which a character's Muscle value can be referenced to provide a number from -1 to +5; this score is the character's Damage Class (DAM).  Wixted explains:

Since Phoenix Special Forces undergo severe training, they average a higher DAM than normal civilian types, while officers who specialize in physical training...often have appallingly large DAM values.

A perusal of the non-player character listings shows that the same 'DAM Chart' is applied to all characters, not just 'Special Forces' personnel.  So when Wixted states that Phoenix player characters have a higher than average Damage Class, it is only as a result of their Conditioning scores.

In any event, the Damage Class score is not applied to the results of a damage roll; instead, Damage Class affects the die to be used for determining damage.  let us look at an example on page 42 of the Training Guide:

Betty...has a DAM of +5 and is using a hammer which is listed at 1D7.  [Actually, hammers are listed at 1D8.]  Her hammer does 1D10 + 1D3.  She is also using a Knife, listed 1D4+1.  [True]  Adding her DAM gives her 1D9+1.

Wixted writes on page 4 of the Adventure Guide, “Odd-sized dice are easy to extrapolate from the dice included in the game.”  (Two ten-sided and two-six sided dice are included.)  He explains how to use percentile dice and how to use control dice to – for instance – obtain a 1-20 result from a D6 and a D10.  Given the dice that are supplied with the game, we would presumably roll a D10 and ignore results of 8, 9, and 0 so as to replicate the results of a D7.  Wixted's interpretation of a 'virtual' D13 as 1D10 + 1D3 is peculiar; the range of results is 2-13 rather than 1-13 and the probability distribution is not flat.  Normally, a D20 is used for determining hit location; however, 1D13+7 is used for kick attacks.  This is mentioned on the same page as the example of Betty and her hammer.  A flat distribution from one to thirteen makes sense for the hit location of kicks; however, with the 1D10 + 1D3 method, right arms are five times more likely as left arms to be hit by kicks.  Ah, it seems I digress.

Another measurement associated with Conditioning is the concept of Ergs.  The same roll used to determine a character's 'base' number of Ergs also determines a character's level of Conditioning.  “Ergs are units of energy,” Wixted notes, “your hero's ability to perform strenuous and/or stressful activities for long periods of time – your character's wind.”  A character's score in Ergs establishes how many times – without resting – the character can perform a 'fatiguing action' before suffering detrimental effects.  On page 34 of the Training Guide, Wixted rhetorically asks what constitutes a fatiguing action.  He answers, “Mechanically, it's any action requiring a die roll.”  So, in terms of combat, each attack is a fatiguing action.  When a character performs a number of fatiguing actions so that his Erg score is exceeded, he incurs a Difficulty Die Penalty.  This penalty is cumulative for every multiple of the Erg score exceeded without a 'meaningful rest.'  The 'Erg Action Track' appears on the right edge of the character sheet; Wixted recommends that players use a D6 to mark their position on the track with the facing of the die indicating the Difficulty level.  The die is set at the maximum number of Ergs for the character (excess Erg boxes are crossed out) and 'counts down' as actions are performed.  Characters can also 'lose Ergs' due to damage they sustain.

Game Mechanics in Year of the Phoenix

Year of the Phoenix characters do not possess attributes in the sense of traditional role-playing games; instead, they have Skill Spheres.  The 'kickstart' section of the Read Me First! pamphlet says:

Anything a character can do is defined by one of six Skill Spheres... Knowledge (KNO) (your education and street smarts), Talent (TAL) (your spirit, presence, and persuasion ability), Observation (OBS) (your five senses), Communication (COM) (your ability to entertain or teach someone through conversation), Manipulation (MAN) (skill with your hands), and Kinetics (KIN) (prowess with physical activity requiring your whole body).

Each Sphere has a percentage value.  To determine if a character can accomplish any given task, the player rolls d100 and adds the value of the appropriate Sphere.  If the sum exceeds 100, the task is successful.  The amount by which the total exceeds 100 indicates the quality of the result; each additional twenty percent represents an increased 'level' of quality.  Our boy 'Keeps' from last week tried to play the harmonica.  The Manipulation Sphere covers ability with musical instruments and Keeps' MAN value is 34%.  Therefore, a roll of 67 or greater is necessary for Keeps to successfully play the harmonica.

Characters have specific skills with values that add on to the appropriate Sphere.  For instance, 'Surgery' is a Manipulation skill, 'Forensics' is an Observation skill, and 'Pharmacology' is a Knowledge skill.  While Keeps doesn't have a specific skill for harmonica playing, he does have 'Boating,' another Manipulation skill.  Keeps' score with Boating is 44% rather than 34%.  Incidentally, a skill of literacy with a given language is part of the Knowledge Sphere, 'linguacy' is part of the Communication Sphere.  Linguacy – evidently a word Wixted made up – is the ability to speak a language (and, I suppose, the ability to understand the spoken form of a language).

Skill Spheres have a Skill Speed which is inversely proportionate to the Sphere's value.  Skill Speed refers to the amount of time required to complete a task; a lower Skill Speed means the task takes less time.  The scale of time (i.e., seconds, minutes, hours, days) varies from skill to skill.  Skill Speed cannot be any higher than 5, nor can it be any lower than 1.

One might expect a skill penalty in Phoenix to take the form of some number subtracted from either the skill value or the dice roll.  However, Wixted implemented penalties in a different manner.  In Phoenix a Difficulty Die is used when “a disability or a reduction in the character's usual chance of success” comes into play.  The Difficulty Die is a d6 rolled concurrently with the d100 normally used in determining success.  If the result of the roll falls within the penalty range, the character fails that skill attempt.  An injury might impose a Difficulty of 2.  In such an instance, a roll of 1 or 2 on the Difficulty Die would mean failure even if a successful result was indicated by the d100.*  Difficulty penalties are cumulative.

Another Phoenix concept is the 'Max roll' (as in maximum success).  If the d100 results in a Max roll, the character succeeds with the highest level of quality and any Difficulty penalties are ignored.  The 'range' of a Max roll is based upon the value of the appropriate Skill Sphere; the greater the value, the greater the Max roll range.  For example, Keeps' Manipulation value is 34% – the Max roll for this value is 98-00.  A value of 50% or greater allows a Max roll of 96-00.

Contrasting with the Max roll is the 'Klutz roll.'  A sufficiently low roll on the d100 represents a 'spectacular failure.'  The chance of a Klutz roll decreases with higher Skill Sphere values.  Keeps' 34% Manipulation value means he would 'Klutz' with a roll of 01-03.  With a value of 50% or greater, a Klutz occurs only with a roll of 01.

*  As an optional, more complex rule, rolling within the penalty range does not cause automatic failure.  Instead, a roll within the penalty range reduces the d100 skill roll by 20% x the Difficulty Die result.

Characterization in Year of the Phoenix

Keeps plays the harmonica

In Martin Wixted's Year of the Phoenix role playing game, player characters are trained to be the first American “space soldiers.”  What exactly is a space soldier?  As the poignant flavor text quoted below indicates, not even the player characters know with certainty.  Of course, it doesn't really matter because the characters won't be space soldiers – at least not for very long.  Regardless, the cover of the 48-page book of character creation rules is fashioned to appear as an official government publication, Space Command Training Manual, complete with a 'classified' warning.  Most sections begin with flavor text in the form of conversations of the pre-generated characters as they proceed through their training.  (Rules examples are also presented as exploits of the pre-gens.)  Section 2.4 has the title 'Characterization' and begins with a discussion between Carol Horn and Bruce “Keeps” Keeler.

          Horn lay on her bed, listening to Keeps trying to play a harmonica.  He didn't have it yesterday, but that was nothing unusual – it would probably be gone tomorrow, traded for something else.  She swung her legs out from the cramped space and jumped to the floor.

          'I need a cigarette.'  It was a statement, not a question.

          'You know what the Major said about –'

          'I don't care.  I need a cigarette.'  He watched her face for a few minutes, dug into his knapsack, and produced a pack of cancersticks.  She held out her hand, but he pulled away.

          'You didn't get these from me, understand?'

          'I understand.'  She waited.  He dropped two into her hands.

          'That's all there is, Horn.'

          'Thanks, Keeps.'

          'Don't call me that.'

          'Sorry.'  She jumped back up, wrapped a sock around the sprinkler head she banged her head on at least once a day, and lit a cigarette.

          'Carol?'

          'Yeah?'

          'What do you think they're training us for?'

          'Probably to bomb the Russians.  They need a good strafing – maybe a Hydrogen bomb right on Moscow *POW*.'

          Wake 'em up...How should I know?'

Wixted states on page 7, “[R]oleplaying is a game of characterization.”  He also writes, “[T]here should be something about [your] character you find challenging or intriguing.  Make a commitment to that character.”

First, Wixted provides a list of 'Appearance' details to prompt a player's imagination.  Categories and specific examples include:  Face and Hair (receeding [sic] hairline, conniving, oval, et al.), Voice (divine, tolerable, chilling, et al.), Build (dynamic, rugged, ample, et al.), and Overall Appearance (loose, foppish, sleepy, reedy, mature, et al.).

Next, Wixted introduces the concept of the 'Personality Profile.'  Page 8 of the Training Manual has a list of fifty traits – actually fifty pairs* of opposed traits such as 'Kind – Spiteful,' 'Shrewd – Forthright,' 'Envious – Satisfied,' etc.  Wixted's instructs players to choose at least five traits (not pairs), but players are encouraged to think of one or two traits not listed.  Each trait should be quantified with a descriptor:  Always, Usually, Often, Sometimes, or Never.  On the Gamemaster Screen (but nowhere in the actual rules), Wixted provides percentage values for these descriptors:  Always (100%), Usually (80%), Often (60%), Sometimes (40%), and Never (100% – which, one supposes, could be interpreted as 0%).  Two of Horn's traits are 'Sometimes Bitter' and 'Always Honest.'  Examples of Keeps' traits include 'Often Kind' and 'Usually Emotional.'

Last, Wixted provides his 'Personal History Generator' which your humble host reproduces below.

The idea is for the player to roll 1D30 at least five times (but no more than once for each year of the character's life) and record the numbers.  The player should then reference the results and – in whatever order – connect them to make a narrative of the important events in the character's life.  “This doesn't give you much except the bare bones,” Wixted writes, “Like everything else, twist and interpret this to your own desires and conceptions.”

*  To be technical, there are only 49 pairs; #13 is 'Liberal – Conservative' while #22 is 'Conservative – Liberal.'

'Kill Bill' Meets 'Escape from New York'

The third and last adventure in the Year of the Phoenix Adventure Guide has the title 'Beneath the City.'  In the prior adventures, the player characters learned of an impending Zoviet attack against the Nonnewaug Tribe of rebels.  This adventure is predicated on the PCs attempting to find and warn the rebels.  New York City was abandoned during the cataclysm and the Zoviets do not consider it cost effective to reclaim.  Thus, New York has become a city of ruins occupied by various small groups that are (normally) beyond the reach of Zoviet authority.  Because of increased rebel activity, the Zoviets have chosen “to make an example of the Nonnewaug rebels.”  As a result of “newly discovered discovered electronic detection methods,” the Zoviets know that the Nonnewaug are based on State's Island (formerly Staten Island).

The Nonnewaug stage a “test of loyalty” for the PCs.  Assuming they pass, the PCs are brought to State's Island where they attend a rebel War Council.  The Nonnewaug don't have time to evacuate before the Zoviet onslaught and – although they are “masters of guerilla warfare” – the rebels cannot hope to survive a direct attack from the assembled Zoviet forces.  While discussing options, the war council receives a report that the Zoviets “have set up a command center on the roof” of the Trade Tower.  Dietrick's illustration above notwithstanding, in Wixted's version of 2197, only one tower remains.

Anyway, the rebels devise a plan wherein the PCs journey – primarily via subway tunnels – through the wasteland of New York and destroy the Trade Tower with explosives they are to plant in the subway beneath.  The rebels will mount a diversionary attack to coincide with the collapse of the tower; therefore, timing is very important.

To get to the tower, the PCs must travel through the territory of someone Wixted has unfortunately named “Mac the Knife.”  Wixted doesn't provide much information about Mac – he's friendly with the Zoviets and he killed another NYC 'leader' in order to annex his territory.  The PCs don't encounter Mac during the adventure (at least there is no provision for meeting him); however, the PCs are ambushed by Mac's bevy of assassins.

          The Mac prefers using female assassins as they are, on the whole, more nimble and they are smaller so that they can fit through places that men would have difficulty going.
          The Mac also expresses a personal preference for female beauty, and his assassins are indeed beautiful.
          They are not stupid, and prefer flight to dying.  If outnumbered or losing, they fade back into the shadows, into the crawlspaces, and into the darkness, never to be seen or heard again.  The subway tunnels, especially, are their private domain.
          The assassin hides along the path of her intended victim.  At the appropriate moment (i.e., the target is within range, but hasn't yet reached the assassin's perch) a crossbow bolt is loosed.  Immediately afterwards, the assassin silently drops her crossbow and draws her knife, prefering [sic] the element of surprise.

Although only four assassins are present when they ambush the PCs, apparently there are a total of six – all of them represented by a single write-up.  Wixted does not provide them with names; the PCs are unlikely to learn their names.  For 'gamemastered characters' of this sort, Wixted recommends assigning a descriptive word for each.  “This reduces the tendency for the players to think of their opponents as numbers on a piece of paper,” Wixted notes on page 40 of the Adventure Guide.  The six assassins are identified as:  Silent, Tall, Blonde, Nimble, Deadly-looking, and Slender.

One of the ways Wixted tries to have Phoenix characters “come to life” is by means of a 'Personality Profile.'  A detailed examination of this concept is reserved for a future post; however, since they have the same write-up, Mac's assassins share an identical Personality Profile.  Their profile is:  Always Silent, Always Proud, Sometimes Sadistic, Never Cowardly, and Always Thorough.  They also share a passion for killing.

Myrna Goes to the Post Office

As your humble host has indicated in prior posts, Martin Wixted imbued his game – Year of the Phoenix – with a considerable amount of flavor. Of course, this is commendable; however, if there can ever be too much of a good thing, that adage may well apply to what Wixted provides in Phoenix.

The Training Manual is a 48 page book providing details about character creation as well as an overview of game mechanics.  It is meant to be perused by players; as such, it maintains the pretense that the game is about 'space commandos' in 1997.  There is nothing to suggest that the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic future.  Unlike the Gamemaster Screen, the equipment list does not mention any guns made after 1997.  All of the examples and flavor text relate to the pre-generated characters as they undergo training for Space Command - Project Phoenix.  This is all well and good; however, there are superfluous details.  The 'centerspread' for the book consists of schematics for the Space Shuttle.  The back cover is a diagram of a space station – an apparently genuine NASA proposal circa 1986.  This is good stuff for the 'space commando' game that doesn't really exist.  The actual Phoenix game has no use for these 'props.'  Wixted could have substituted useful information (such as the Quality Results Table, a combat flowchart, character sheet template, etc.) without compromising the 'surprise' twist central to the game.

In a prior post, we discussed the flavor text related to the cataclysm; now we look at the other flavor text.  Page 2 of the Adventure Guide is a memo from 'Major Chernanko' to 'Colonel General Sadenjo' at headquarters.  (Wixted tells us on page 16 that a General Colonel is the Soviet equivalent of a Lieutenant General; perhaps that is Sadenjo's rank.)  The first part deals with an unidentified airship that crashed in the ocean.  (This is the Phoenix Shuttle.)  The major is concerned because the airship “demonstrates equipment possibly equal to, or slightly better than, that which we currently possess.”  (Technology has not yet resumed its pre-cataclysm level.)  The second part of the memo regards “difficulties” with the local populace.  “Executions were carried out, to little effect,” writes the major.  Because the executions were not effective, the major “has ordered the bombing of one of the larger villages.”  We are able to read the memo in English because a postscript (“Translated by Hugh Beaumont of the Dixies”) suggests it was intercepted by the resistance.

Page 10 of the Adventure Guide is a narrative about an average citizen named Myrna Greenwich.  We follow Myrna as she goes about her day, suffering the indignities imposed by communism.  First, she wakes in the midst of a power outage.  For the sake of exposition, she thinks about the frequency of such interruptions in service and she contemplates listing to her contraband radio.  At the Post Office, she must bribe a clerk to retrieve her mail.  Sadly, she has been denied a travel permit which would have allowed her to gain better employment.  Despondent, she imagines she is being followed by an operative of the CIA which, in this setting, is a subsidiary of the KGB.  She recalls that her brother disappeared after helping the rebels.  Her conversation with Henry the grocer takes place on two levels:  a loud, innocent discussion intended to fool 'agents' and an under-their-breath, covert discussion commiserating their fate under the oppressive yoke of communism.  When Myrna returns home to her building, she finds police officers ransacking a first floor apartment, the residents crying in a corner.  One of the police demands to see Myrna's papers and the contents of her bag.  He questions how she was able to obtain chocolate with a blue ration card.  This allows for an expository recollection of another police officer who took her ration card as well as her rubles.

One gets the feeling that Wixted didn't care much for communism.  In any event, he was successful at conveying a mood.  Unfortunately, the only audience was the gamemaster.  Yes, any half-way decent gamemaster would utilize the material in an attempt to convey that mood to the players but, in so doing, Wixted's enthusiasm is wasted.  With the bait-and-switch nature of the setting, Wixted tried to instil Phoenix with excitement – that was the selling point.  Sadly, the resultant, focused setting is the reason the game languishes in obscurity.  Given another setting, without the bait-and-switch, Wixted could have given us a lasting, viable game fueled by Wixted's passion for his creation.

The Tao of Year of the Phoenix

Years before there was an Internet on which Alexis could ply his blog, Martin Wixted employed the word “Tao” with regard to engaging a role-playing game.  Specifically, one of the sections of 'The Art of Gamemastering' chapter in Wixted's Year of the Phoenix Adventure Guide has the title of 'The Tao of Rule Writing.'  In this post, we will examine Wixted's thoughts about rules and how they represent his philosophy of gamemastering in general.  That philosophy can most succinctly be presented in the Plamondon quote with which he begins the 'Tao' section on page 41; a quote which bears repeating in large font.

Consistency and realism are subservient to enjoyment, since they are intended to enhance it, rather than being goals in their own rights.

Additionally, Wixted comments, “[T]he rules help you have fun.  If everyone's having fun, you're playing the game correctly.”  He also says that “the rules serve as a buffer between [the gamemaster] and [the] players, and between the players themselves.”

Wixted compares roleplaying to improvisational radio theatre and explains that  the gamemaster is the director.  Wixted then goes on to describe three 'stages' on which the action unfolds:  the Big Picture, the Immediate Situation, and the Inner Self.  The Big Picture is, in essence, the campaign setting.  The Big Picture encompasses all of the events and things that could potentially affect the player characters, especially the events and things of which the players characters (or the players) are aware.  The Immediate Situation is “the area of the world surrounding the players' characters – i.e., what they can detect with their five senses.”  Finally, the Inner Self represents an “individual character's interaction with the world.”  Each player, of course, is responsible for the Inner Self of his or her character, but the gamemaster is responsible for the Inner Self of all other characters.

In the 4-page Player Handout, Wixted compared the rules for a role-playing game to a dictionary, a comparison he expands upon in the Adventure Guide:

...[T]here are a few words in the dictionary that you never use.  They are either too esoteric, too large, don't fit into your way of speaking, or maybe you just don't like them.  This is the way you may find a few of the rules in these booklets.  And because of that, you may never use them.

Leaving behind the dictionary analogy, Wixted further states that “rules are a tool.  As with any tool, they should be used or ignored as needed.”  Also, “too many rules can rob a game of its possibilities, turning it into a strategy prison.”

With regard to adding rules, Wixted encourages gamemasters to consider the following questions.

Is This Rule Necessary?  “The environment, geography, culture, or local/personal authorities can all influence or limit characters without a rule being imposed.”

Can a Player be Allowed to Choose a Response?  “Try relying on your players to make a reasonable decision.”

What Natural Forces Can I Use as a Pattern?  “Strive to make the rule as inconspicuous and culture-oriented as possible.”

What Real-World Facts Can I Use?  “Learn how the situation would be handled in this world and use that as a base.”  Wixted, with his pre-Information Age paradigm, cites the utility of the public library.

Politics in Year of the Phoenix

or 'There Are No Blue States In 2197'

With the U.S. Presidential election a month away, now is an appropriate time to discuss politics in Martin Wixted's Year of the Phoenix role playing game.  The Phoenix boxed set comes with a 17” x 22” 'Map of Amerika' which I don't particularly care for.  So I crafted my own version and the results of my efforts can be seen above.

The “United Provinces of Eastern Russia” consists of eighteen provinces, more or less based on former U.S. States and Canadian provinces.  Connecticut has been renamed New Minsk and Alaska is now Aleyeska (similar to Alyeska).  The mid-Atlantic region south of Pennsylvania is called Tidewater and Richmond (your humble host's stomping grounds) is the administrative center of Eastern Russia.  Lake Geneva is the provincial capital of Wisconsin, Wixted's not-so-subtle dig at TSR.  Each province is run by a Deputy-Governer.  The Deputy-Governers are elected democratically; however, there is only one political party – Communist.

There are five other Zoviet satellites in North Amerika as well as several Free States.  There is much unclaimed wilderness.  Astute observers will note that the Atlantic Ocean is now the Atlantis Ocean.  This is how it appears on the original map.  Although the phrase “Atlantic Ocean” is used in the Adventure Guide, that book contains another map that shows the “Atlantis Ocean.”  I'm assuming this is an intentional renaming by Wixted; I have, however, corrected Artic to Arctic.

Wixted imbues his setting with a tremendous amount of detail; he even has a population/ climate and linguistic maps for North Amerika.  (The linguistic map seems to have an error; nothing in the provided background suggests why Spanish would be prevalent in New England and the Canadian east coast.)  Page 14* consists of an operational unit diagram for the Zoviet occupation forces – the North American Strategic Direction.  ('Nasties' – derived from N.A.S.D. – is “foul language” slang used by Amerikans to refer  to Russians.)

In a 'sidebar' on page 11, Wixted provides the following information:

          The Peoples' Province of Eastern Russia [sic] is in a state of flux.  Until last year, the military had unlimited power over any Deputy.  But that has been steadily changing.  Deputy-governors [sic] and Deputy-Mayors have been challenging the absolute power of the military, and have been somewhat successful in curtailing operations within their own province.
          Characters may be able to exploit this internal unrest.

With regard to the 'Free States,' Wixted supplies details such as how they govern themselves, their view of Zoviet rule, current actions against Zoviets, how strangers are treated, etc.  Here are the nine Free States listed in the Adventure Guide (in alphabetical order):

• Allouettes:  French Canadiens.  “Currently regrouping.”
• Creole Country:  “Cajun/Creole inhabitants of the swamps and land around Louisiana, East Texas, Southern Arkansas.  Includes several Indian tribes.”
• Dixie:  “Simplistically described as a revived Confederacy.”  Dixie is a theocracy in  Year of the Phoenix.  The area of Dixie is quite large considering they only have a population of 1,000.
• King Country:  “The majority are Black and Oriental holdings.  Most minorities who fled from Zoviet oppression have wound up here.”
• Maple Leaf Confederation:  “Union of northern New England and Canadian maritime provinces.”  Possibly fluent in Spanish.
• Mormons:  “Largest passive Free State, located around the Great Salt Lake.  Manufactures most of the Amerikan flags.”
• Native Amerikan Alliance:  “Indians from numerous reservations in the Pacific Northwest...who avoided much of the cataclysm's effects due to their relative isolation.”  Their view of Zoviet rule is – “Typical treatment by white man.”
• Nonnewaug Resistance:  “Located on the former Staten Island, they keep the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World safe until the flag of freedom once again shines from sea to shining sea.”  This 'tribe' is featured in one of the introductory scenarios.
• Star-six Country:  “Remnants of civilian and military population of Aleyeska.  Takes its name from the 6th Light Infantry Division and their star shoulder patch.  Strong martial spirit and traditions help them persevere through the harsh conditions.”

*  All page references in this post refer to the Adventure Guide.

Cataclysm

Hans Hofmann     Cataclysm     1945


Last week I indicated that Year of the Phoenix (hereinafter Phoenix) is a post-apocalypse game.  The rules refer to the apocalypse at issue as the ‘cataclysm.’  According to Chapter 10 of the Adventure Guide:

          North Amerika was engulfed in a cataclysmic disaster over a century ago.  The exact nature of it is uncertain (letting the gamemaster tailor the facts to fit his or her campaign), but the results are all around.  World population is drastically reduced, culture has been altered, and the Zoviets rule North America.
          Two different versions of a possible holocaust (the Third World War) are included:  one at the beginning of this chapter, and the other at the end.  The first one stipulates that everyone knows what happened, while the latter assumes that portions of the world entered a 'Dark Age,' from which they are only now emerging.

The section on slang indicates that ‘Zoviet’ is the “[e]volution of the twentieth-century term, ‘Soviet.’”  ‘Amerika’ is “a rebel word, to distinguish themselves from the America the Zoviet government represents.”  Yes, the first paragraph of the quoted section above begins with “North Amerika” and ends with “North America.”  I assume that author Martin Wixted intended a consistent spelling.

In the ‘full-disclosure’ version of the cataclysm, the entry for the year 2007 begins:

          Testing of a new Ion Propulsion engine by Japan American Corporation in space leads to disaster for Earth as the magnetic effects wipe out many computer systems monitoring life support, water, sewage, and power use.  The polar ice caps begin to melt as Earth is ripped asunder.  The Van Allen belt disrupts the Ozone Layer, admitting vast quantities of ultraviolet radiation.  Earth's fault lines convulse and nuclear power plants around the globe suffer chain-reaction meltdowns.

The geographic upheaval of the cataclysm affected the continents in terms of coastlines and ecology.  A map of ‘North Amerika’ will have to wait for a future post, but I like to think that Wixted was inspired by the original Gamma World map when creating his setting.  Otherwise, here is a portion of the world map from the back of the box:

Most of the rest of the map is covered by a text box; however, for those interested, Australia seems to be Non-Zoviet.

Among the more drastic changes, page 7 of the Adventure Guide says...

          The North American continent settled, dropping many areas below sea level.  These areas were eventually reclaimed when the nuclear winter increased the polar ice caps...
          The great Mojave desert has all but disappeared, thanks to the shift in the weather and the increased size of the Great Salt Lake...
          No new mountain ranges sprang up as a result of the cataclysm, but most have changed in height to some extent, with several volcanoes active along the Northern West Coast.

Anyway, “The Soviets are hurt badly be the catastrophe, but gamble that the rest of the world is completely helpless.”  Despite the fact that “the comparatively undamaged Asiatic Conclave surges into Russia,” the USSR makes gains in Europe and successfully invades North America.  Nuclear weapons are used and “Disease begins its insidious spread as radiations sickness [sic], rabies, and cancer tear through the innocent populace.”  By the time 2197 rolls around, the Soviets Zoviets still occupy much of Europe as well as the (former) United States and Canada.  Also, the Asiatic Conclave “remains a deep thorn in the Russian side.”

The ‘Dark Age’ version of the cataclysm consists of flavor text on page 17 of the Adventure Guide on a graphic that is intended to represent a tattered document.  Beneath the document, the bottom of the page reads, “Discovered near the Blasted Heath, and translated by Sister Emmanuel Luth.”  ‘Blasted Heath,’ the slang section tells us, “Refers to any radioactive zone.  Originally meant a specific radiation-soaked area in the Southwest.”

The document is titled “St. Augin's Book of Days:  The Third World War” and consists of seven numbered, biblically-styled passages (20-23 and 57-59).  One supposes that “The Red Death,” “the Thing,” and “Evil” are synonyms for communist forces.  In passages 20-23, God commands “the ruler of the greatest nation which opposed the Thing...to go forth and end this plague.”  The ruler and his “war chiefs” travel “across the great sea” whereupon the ruler “led the holy crusade across the length and breadth of the land...”

The last three passages tell us...

          On the twelth year of this task, it is written that God again came unto him.  In his vision the Lord spoke thusly, “Great soldier, your faith is steadfast, and your mission here is finished  Return now, to your homeland, and bear all of life’s misfortunes well.”  “It shall be done as you command,” the man spoke, and returned home.
          Ill was his heart at the words of God, and his foreboding was not misguided.  The Evil One had indeed fled from sight – and had struck at the ruler’s own family, rending their home asunder.  The ruler fell to his knees in dismay, crying, “Lord my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
          God heard his plea, and pitied him.  “It is your holy quest to destroy this Evil, to seek it out wherever it lurks and rid it from the face of the earth.  Once the world is again pure, you may live in freedom.  Your flock is gone, so that you may well heed my message and raise a new people who must obey my word or perish.”  The ruler accepted this mission and went forth into the daylight to fulfill the Holy Word of God.

Sort of like The Book of Job meets Twilight: 2000.

Wixted provides one last bit of ‘flavor’ regarding the cataclysm.  In the slang section, there is an entry for ‘By the Day of Great Blood.’  It is defined as “An oath to swear upon, ‘By the Day of Great Blood I do swear to uphold this treaty.’  Refers to unspecified past event, having to do with the cataclysm.”

The Roleplaying Game of Amerika in 2197 C.E.

Although not labeled as such in its RPGGeek listing, FGU's Year of the Phoenix roleplaying game (hereinafter Phoenix) falls into the 'post-apocalypse' genre.  However, refering to Phoenix as a post-apocalyse game does a disservice to its premise.  Phoenix'  focused and elaborate premise is its most endearing feature; it is also the reason Phoenix is condemned to obscurity.

Phoenix embraces the Reagan era fantasy of a Soviet invasion of the United States.  It was published in 1986 (the same year as Fortress America), between the motion picture Red Dawn (1984) and the televison mini-series Amerika (1987).  To the extent that an invasion of the U.S. was likely at all, your humble host felt that the Chinese were a more plausible culprit (doubtless due to the influence of Heinlein's Sixth Column and “Free Men”).

A Soviet-occupied America – without further elaboration – is a sufficient premise for a role-playing game (see Freedom Fighters, also published by Fantasy Games Unlimited, also in 1986).  However, Phoenix is not content to stop there.  The following excerpt appears on the back of the box:

     It is 1997.  You are a soldier of the United States Space Command, a member of the warrior elite.  Backed by the most powerful nation on earth, your job is to protect our interests in space.
     But tragedy strikes.  During a rescue mission at the space station America, a freak explosion tears you from your Shuttle and plunges you through a time warp.
     Stranded in the future, a future where our great nation fell to the enemy over two hundred years ago, you and your surviving crew vow to continue your fight for freedom.
     “Welcome to Amerika, comrade...”

The back of the box also states:

Unique in the roleplaying experience, players are as shocked and unprepared as their characters when this tragedy hits.

Of course, that's only true for players who happened not to read the back of the box and who otherwise avoided exposure to information about the game.  The 'unique experience' was viable in a playtesting context, but it was hardly feasible to maintain such a pretense in a published product line.  Even if it were so, it would not necessarily be desirable; someone eager to play a 'space commando' may not relish the expected setting turning into an 'underground resistance' campaign.

Phoenix includes a four page Player Handout, a forty-eight page Training Manual (covering chapters one through eight of the rules), and an eighty page Adventure Guide (covering chapters nine through fourteen of the rules, along with three connected adventures).  The handout and manual do not betray the secret that the player characters will be transported to a future, occupied America; that information is in the guide, evidently intended only for the gamemaster.  Phoenix also includes a gamemaster screen; one side is for the gamemaster to view and the opposite side is for the players.  Among other things, the players' side displays weapons tables that provide information such as 'Year of 1st Manufacture.'  Many of the listed weapons have dates after 1997 – the year in which the game supposedly takes place.  Phoenix doesn't make it easy to keep the secret.

Phoenix was created by Martin Wixted (1962 - 1994), who contributed to various projects for West End Games, including The Price of Freedom – another game about a Soviet invasion of the United States, also published in 1986.  The table of contents page of the Adventure Guide makes reference to “The Epic Game Series” and credits Wixted, along with Scot Fritz, for the design of the “Epic Rule System.”  Wayne Shaw and Curtis M. Scott are listed as providing 'Developmental Assistance.'  (Curtis Scott, like Wixted, died at the young age of 32.)  The idea of Phoenix'  rules as a 'system' is fascinating; an idea we shall explore in future installments of Thoul's Paradise.

Most of the art for Phoenix, including the cover shown above, was provided by David Dietrick.  His efforts were uneven in Phoenix, spanning a spectrum from poorly executed to charming.  Patrick Zircher supplied the art for two pages of vehicle counters.

[This paragraph contains spoilers.]  In Phoenix, players create characters who are part of the United States Space Command in 1997.  For their first mission, they travel to the space station America (via the 'military' Space Shuttle Phoenix) in order to liberate it from Libyan terrorists.  (The aptly named station is a metaphor that Wixted employs to foreshadow circumstances that the player characters are fated to experience.)  Before they can confront the terrorists, “the characters are thrown through time and space.”*  Of course, the PCs are not supposed to immediately realize they have travelled to the year 2197.  In the intervening two centuries, a 'cataclysm' occurs.  “The exact nature of it is uncertain,” Wixted states on page 7 of the Adventure Guide, but it provided the opportunity for the Soviets to invade.  Thus, although the back of the box says “over two hundred years ago,” as of 2197 it would be less than two hundred years since the occupation began.  Given the current state of affairs, the PCs are expected to “vow to continue [the] fight for freedom.”  As such, the Phoenix symbolizes a renewed America rising from the ashes of Soviet domination.  Had Wixted gone with communist China as the invader, Year of the Phoenix could have taken on another level of meaning.

The last page of the Adventure Guide describes supplementary products for Phoenix which were never published.  Liberty the Fugitive!  would have continued the 'storyline' of the introductory adventures provided in the Adventure Guide.  Surf's Up!  would have been a distinct adventure module.  Also planned was the Year of the Phoenix Sourcebook.  Evidently, official Year of the Phoenix metal figurines were to be produced by Frontier Miniatures.

Wixted put a great deal of effort into Phoenix and it would seem to be a labor of love.  Sadly, the focus was too narrow to be commercially viable and the topic ceased to be timely a mere handful of years after publication.  Year of the Phoenix remains available for purchase from FGU.  An electronic version may be obtained at RPGNow.


*  On page 46 of the Adventure Guide, Wixted states that “if there are enough requests, FGU may publish a Campaign Pack for adventuring with the Pegasus in the year 1997.”  (The Pegasus is the sister ship of the Phoenix.)

Edited on 11/04/12 to clarify that Curtis Scott passed away.