Character Generation Library - Unhallowed Metropolis

I got this game ages ago, and I haven't actually managed to play it yet. It's not so surprising because I don't frequently get a chance to play much lately, and the game itself is one that requires a pretty good understanding of how the parts work in order to really get it but that's fine because the setting is what makes this game amazing.

Instead of it being some kind of history game, it's a far future game based off of something that happened in the past. So in 1905 there's basically a zombie outbreak pretty much right in the middle of the industrial revolution. Because of all the death and destruction we don't really get much past that stage, so it's set in 2105 but very much has that Victorian feel. I read that again and again because of how much I love that idea.

Now, to the details:

Game: Unhallowed Metropolis - Revised
Pages: 345
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
My Familiarity: Read it once or twice
Designers: Jason Soles and Nicole Vega
Publisher: New Dark Games (My 2011 book says Atomic Overmind)
Affiliate Link to core book

Step 1 - Character Concept

This is where you kind of do that over arching view of what your character should be. It's where you choose your calling, which is like your class. I just saw Castlevania, let's Alucard this up by saying that my character is going to be a Dhampir Vampire Hunter. A human corrupted by vampirism without going full vampire.

I think this character is out for revenge, the thrill of the hunt is just a side effect.

I also get all these cool things for the being a Dhampir:

Alien Grace, Blood Drinker, Half Lifer, Hatred of Vampires, Heightened Vision, Immune to Vampiric Mind Control, Sense Undead, Unnatural Passions, Vampiric Transformation, Dustman

They have cool effects, and are mostly what it says there, but yay free stuff.

Step 2 - Select Starting Attributes

There are 6 attributes, Vitality (Health), Coordination (like Dexterity), Wit (Perception and Reaction time), Intellect (how smart you are), Charm (Poise and force of personality), Will (Strength of Mind)

You start with 1 in each stat and get 25 points to spend with each stat point costing it's value, that means going from 1 to a 2 costs 2 but going from a 1 to a 3 costs 5 (2 for level 2 and 3 for level 3).

I think this is going to be much more on the killing things than the being suave and debonair. So I'm going to be putting up more things like Coordination, Vitality and Wit to be aware of what's going on.

3 Vitality (5 points)
4 Coordination (9 points)
3 Wit (5 points)
2 Intellect (2 points)
2 Charm (2 points)
2 Will (2 points)

Prowess is Derived from Coordiation + Wit which gives me a 7.

Step 3 - Select Starting Skills

The Calling gives you a list of starting skills, and you get 25 points for those or other skills. As a Dhampire Vampire Hunter I get Melee Weapon at 2 and Unarmed Combat at 2 and 5 other skills at 2. They also have a limit based on the skill which is tied to an attribute, or not. It's not consistent at all.

Also, if you have ranks in combat skills you get stunts per rank, so that's something.

4 - Acrobatics (Coordination) [Costs 7 points]

2 - Archery

*Night Fighter

*Trick Shot

2 - Concentration [Costs 3 points]

3 - Melee Weapon [Costs 3 points]

*Fast Draw

*Lucky Shot

*Two Weapon Fighting

2 - Paraspychology (Intellect) [This is the knowledge of the paranormal]

3 - Shadow [Costs 3 points]

3 - Survival [Costs 3 points]

2 - Thanatology (Intellect) [Costs 3 points - This is the knowledge of dead and dying things]

3 - Unarmed Combat [Costs 3 points]

*Brutality

*High Kick

*Ground Fighting

That looks like a pretty well rounded solo ass kicker.

Step 4 - Corruption

Everyone starts with at least one point of corruption. You can't get rid of this regardless of what you do. The three paths of corruption are Physical, Desire, and Drive. Since I'm a Dhampire I can't have any physical corruption because I'm already there! Yay vampirism! 

This one is easy. It's a Drive one and it's Consumed. My life is just a vehicle for my work.

Step 5 - Spending Custom Points

You get 5 extra points to spend on either more attributes, skills, or cool qualities. I think I'm going to fixate on qualities because those are "new."

Okay, Reputation - Street is certainly in. It's 3 points and it's nice to be known as someone you don't cross. Same with Reputation - Underground which is 2 points and takes up all 5 right now.

Step 6 - Qualities and Impediments

I'll need to take some bad things to get more good things now.

Infectious Bite because I think it's kind of fun, which gets me 3 points

Melancholy which gets me 4 points, and a character that has a hard time with difficulty.

Night Terrors because he can't sleep well which gets me 2 points which puts me at 9 total for buying more qualities.

More qualities include

Quiet, 3 points because being so silent even vampires can't hear me is good

Safe House, 4 points

Time sense because it's only 2 points and that's all I have left.

Step 7 - Buy Shit

I'm good, thanks.

Now just for details and a history.

Edmund Minster was a young man when he learned a secret about his family. His mother was a Dhampire who had decided to leave, after having fulfilled her revenge on the vampire that had killed her sister. However, the vampire's childer came back and killed her, leaving Edmund in the cycle of violence that seems to be continuing generation after generation. It is his turn to take a spin on the wheel, and he wants to end it. Not be coming to a mutual understanding, but by removing as many vampires as he can.

Anyway, here's the character sheet:

RPG Review Recess - Unhallowed Metropolis

One of the two books I picked up at Gen Con was Unhallowed Metropolis. I love Horror Games, I pick them up almost out of habit, but this one I was looking forward ever since I first heard about the game.

Now, something you need to know about me. The older I get, the less I enjoy fiddly bits. Fiddly bits, those little bits and pieces of games that so easily get lost. They're the million or so pieces that come with games, the ones that are all vitally important to how the game functions and heavens help you if you lose one or two pieces. The parts of RPGs that requires an encyclopedic knowledge on how every thing works. You know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about Pathfinder and the bajillion and two feats that you need to know in order to make sure that the players aren't powered to the point of being boring ... you get the picture. I'm not a big fan of 4e either, with all the card powers stuff. It's the same kind of thing, but now everything you do is one of those little card things.

Annoying. Massively so.

Unhallowed Metropolis is kind of filled with fiddly bits.

I don't care one whit.

The basic premise of the game is that the zombie apocalypse happened, it just started in 1905 rather than say today. Any major city was pretty much wiped out, as not only did the zombies just appear out of nowhere, but any bite led to infection which led to more zombies which led to further destruction. Humanity had to live on the outskirts until they co-ordinated themselves enough to fight back. The game itself takes place I think in 2150 which is some time after the British managed to reclaim London.

I love this game because it's got a huge social stratification, the upper classes don't mingle with the commoners if they want to avoid scandal. The poorer places in town, notably the East End, is full of poverty, desperation and spontaneous animate outbreaks. You've got a people who had their technological advance halted in the early 20th century and are figuring things out that we take for granted. There are body snatchers, mad scientists, broken war veterans and a blighted country-side that has pockets of survivability. It truly is an amazingly bleak setting.

That's one thing that I love about this game. The setting is both original, in depth, stark, dark and rather deadly. You have to worry all the time about the GM springing an animate outbreak on you, especially if you're playing a group of people who live in the East End. You can try to pretend that the outside threat doesn't exist, but it's always got the potential to just explode from the city itself. I love the disconnect that the upper classes feel the right to since it really only happens to those of the lower class.

The system itself is where you get all the fiddly bits. You have to pick a role, I don't have the book on hand so I can't check out what they're called officially, and every role has their own special features that you can pick. Now, they aren't all specific to one role. Some of them overlap, and all of them make sense. They're all special rules and abilities that just that one character gets.

*sigh* Fiddly bits.

Another amazing part of the game is that everyone is corrupt. There is no way to escape this. There is something eating at your body, your soul or your mind that causes you to be, a little darker than you should be. This leads to a few more fiddly bits, things you're going to have to keep track of in regards to negative effects on your character.

*sigh* Fiddly bits.

The mechanic is a 2d10 mechanic, and it is set up in such a way that you've got a pretty good chance at succeeding at most things. The problem that occurs, especially in combat, is that everything else also has a good chance at succeeding at what they do which is killing and/or eating you.

Despite all the fiddly bits, that normally would drive me up the wall, I can't wait to play this game, or run this game. Hell, I'd love to run this game as a LARP, because it would just be that awesome. It'd have all the societal maneuvers of Victorian London with the very real threat of zombies. You could have three of four different groups doing different things, I mean having the Deathwatch have to corral some annoyed Noblefolks would be a great scenario. You could make the LARP book just as beautiful as the main book which is filled with amazing photographs and really good illustrations. To be fair, I wanted more of the photography but I'm not going to complain. The book is very, very pretty.

Ultimately this is, for me, a game that shows that a phenomenal setting can overcome personal problems that you might have with a system. They even tackle trickier problems like mental illness in the game, and very explicitly tell you that if you're looking for an excuse to play 'the crazy person' then maybe you had best find a different game. Even if you don't agree with how they went about implementing things like mental illness in a game, or even if it should be in the game, the fact that they took the time to tell people who play "crazy" in games off is worth it for me. Get it, get it now and scare the hell out of each other while being incredibly snooty at the same time.

TL;DR
Unhallowed Metropolis is one of the best settings I have ever seen. It's the future after the zombie apocalypse hits in 1905. It's dark, deadly, scary and worth every penny you spend on this gorgeous book.