I pick up the first book and hand it to my partner. “Look at this.” I say. Not, “check out the system” or “this is like this game, television show, or book.” No I just hand the book over and let her look at it. She begins turning the pages, looking through the art, and just feeling the heft of the book. I can tell that she is already hooked and when I ask her, she agrees that she is ready to try it.
That is what picking up Primal Punk, Book 1 of Degenesis: Rebirth is like. All games are art. Many have high production values. But Degenesis: Rebirth is high art and being handed the book is akin to being given the keys to a high end German sports car and told that you can take a drive. Of course you have to drive it through the end of the world, which is not always a comfortable place to drive.
If I were going to describe my first impressions of Degenesis: Rebirth, I would ask you to imagine Kingdom Death barreling into Tribe 8 (the RPG, not the band) and the survivors having a smoke as the world burns. When I picked it up, the simple heft left me wondering what I was getting int
pening the first book, I felt on more familiar ground; Degenesis: Rebirth intends to overwhelm your senses, attacking you on a visual, tactile, and intellectual level. There is a lot of information to unpack and that may be an issue: Degenesis: Rebirth is not a casual game nor a casual investment of resources and time. That might be a turn off for some folks, so beware the depths of the water before taking a dip.
Degenesis: Rebirth takes place on a future Earth where asteroids have struck the planet. This has caused a great deal of damage to the planet, society, and humankind. It is Eshaton, the end of the world, and players take on the role of descendants of the survivors. Their world is a mixture of modern and primitive, focusing on the lands of Europe and Africa and the new cultures that have arisen on the bones of the old.
Primal Punk, which is just book one, is all atmosphere and background. It contains the first four chapters of Degenesis: Rebirth detailing the fall of mankind and the destruction of much of the Earth. Chapter One is a Forward, a short hand for the setting to come. Chapter Four talks about the History. Chapters Two and Three though, talk about the Cultures and Cults respectively. This is the meat of Primal Punk; these two chapters begin to organize a player's thoughts on character and what kind of person they are going to portray during play. The information is in depth, with quotes and world building spliced through the pages. The writing is clear and the English translation seems well done; there were no points where I thought the translation created an awkward moment. Primal Punk seems well edited overall.
Throughout, the art pieces focus heavily on individuals. The art quality is excellent, but very dark. Do not go looking for happy faces and drinking buddies here. There are some pieces showing ruins, but very little showing relationships between people. Though dark, the art is not exploitative and shies away from things like revealing or skimpy armor. It is certainly evocative and an important aspect of setting the tone. The characters themselves are diverse, showcasing the various European and African descendants.
As mentioned, Primal Punk is just the first book of this game and it is 351 pages all by itself; we have not even gotten to the meat of the mechanics yet. That comes in book two, Katharsys. Stay tuned.
Sixmorevodka will be live streaming a session today. You can watch the live stream on Twitch and YouTube.
This article was contributed by Sean Hillman (SMHWorlds) as part of ENWorld's User-Generated Content (UGC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us
