Psion
Adventurer
African Alliance
African Alliance is a chamber book, providing details of on one of the many chambers of the Archer Conspiracy in the Shadowforce Archer setting for the Spycraft d20 espionage RPG by AEG. The book cites Steve Crow, Alex Flagg, Patrick Kapera, Clayton A. Oliver, and James Malizewksi as the primary authors.
A First Look
African Alliance is a 128-page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $24.95.
The cover of the book is illustrated by standby Spycraft cover artist Veronica V. Jones, depicting an a man in a tuxedo aiming a pistol.
The interior art is black-and-white, illustrated by G.W. McKee II and Chris Grun. The art is black and white ink art, and is overall decent, if not eye-popping.
The book includes a number of site and area maps by Chris Dornaus. The maps are attractive and functional, and feature grids and scales where appropriate.
The book uses a conservatively sized body font and clear, distinct header fonts, falling in line with most recent Spycraft products. The tables are neatly arranged and attractive. Overall, I noticed no major formatting problems.
A Deeper Look
(Warning: This section contains spoilers regarding the Shadowforce Archer metaplot developments featured in this book.)
African Alliance follows a basic structure similar to most chamber books, with different chapters detailing metaplot developments, chamber structure and methodology, rules material, and plot/adventure material.
As followers of the Shadowforce Archer setting may know, the setting tries to divide different areas into different espionage subgenre. The African Alliance chamber and region is supposed to represent classic and over-the-top superspy yarns like James Bond. Africa seemed like an odd choice to me to host such tales. The first chapter, which covers metaplot developments (and possible related scenarios for PC groups) seems to recognize this as well as the “big metaplot event” does not occur in Africa at all, but rather involves the destruction (or near destruction) of a major US city. Hmmm.
Following the chamber book formula, the book starts off with a sizable fiction section before it segues into the first chapter with a mock newpaper headline page with stories covering events that, in the following pages, are blown out into mission ideas related to the features article. While the main event involves drawing the African Alliance into America for several potential missions, other stories draw the action into Africa (though some still link back to the US event.)
The agent chapter defines the methods, major characters, component agencies, and major enemies of the African Alliance chamber. There are a few minor rules tweaks, including the introduction of Code White missions. Code white missions are, basically, voluntary missions that aren’t (or don’t start out as) formal operations of the alliance, but rather rely on PC personal initiative or favors; I suppose the James Bond Movie Licence to Kill, where Bond takes on drug cartels to avenge a friend, would be an example of this.
The third chapter brings you a bevy of new character options for your agents. As with other chamber books, this one introduces a new base (20 level) class. As with other chamber books, I am dubious about the practice. The base class here is high roller, a risk-taking (and often gambling) playboy. First off, it seems to me that the playboy part clearly falls in the lap of the faceman class. Second, in terms of archetypes, it seems to me that gambling (vice just risk-taking, which all superspies are hip deep in) is something superspies do as a side dish, not a main course.
There are only four new prestige classes, a little lighter than the norm for a chamber book. These are:
-Commander: This is a 5-level "senior agent" class representing the Alliance’s top operatives. The class abilities reflect resourcefulness and style. For example, the "smooth operator" class ability lets the character select a different style feat for each serial as the needs dictate.
-Pretender: Yup, this prestige class is just like the series character or similar "Jack of All trades pretender" archetypes. The class is a mentalist type psion class with class abilities that let the pretender perform convincingly as members of another profession.
-Tamer: A reflection of the "wild side" of the African Alliance subsetting, the Tamer is a specialist in mastering animals. This could make for an interesting villain as well as possibly a neat agent shtick.
-Troubleshooter: This is sort of a more general agent version of the Commander class, though a bit less focused on style and more on flexibility. The troubleshooter is a great class for those who want to make less "MI team member" agents and want a more small team or individual troubleshooter in the vein of that self-reliant superspy favorite Bond.
Towards the end of the chapter are a selection of Spycraft style NPC classes to fill common NPC roles: diplomat, hot rodder, monitor, mouthpiece, rabble-rouser, security job (gee, has this one been missed?), squad leader, and stalker.
In addition, the chapter brings new departments, skill uses, combat actions, psitech, and feats (many involved with handling animals, though a few gritty new combat feats are concerned with scarring enemies.) The African Alliance also is known for having more than it’s fair share of mentalist psions, and as such this chapter brings new mentalist psion skils such as gravity control and machine link.
A large part of the new options chapter is devoted to a few major rules additions: reputation, animals, and that inescapable features of superspy yarns, deathtraps.
The reputation system is multifaceted, and covers three different axes: recognition, competence, and ethics. Agents start with zero, and various events (including such things as game events or feat choices) bump the ratings of each around. This is a thoroughly detailed approach that will please those interested in such approaches. But if you are like me (who doesn’t even like to use the CR method for XP awards) the accounting may be a bit too much trouble.
The animal system provides basic rules for acquiring and using animals. A sidebar makes the best use of potential resources out there, but providing a method of converting creatures from other d20 system products to Spycraft, including a method to convert to the VP/WP system.
The deathtrap system is ultimately an adaptation of traps as they already exist in the d20 system, with CRs, spot, and disable DCs. The section includes a variety of sample deathtraps appropriate to the superspy genre.
The final chapter brings you more crunchy and practical aspects of chamber operations, including more behind the scenes details of chamber history and operations, statistics for feature NPCs in the Alliance (each in three levels: low, medium, and high level), and a number of new threats related to plot points brought up elsewhere in the book.
Finally, as with all chamber sheets, there is a selection of "hook sheets" providing a maps and diagrams along with game statistics for a quick, self-contained plot device. This book includes a weather control satellite and the Lodge, the headquarters of the African Alliance. Notably missing is a chase map of any sort.
Conclusions
Although I found the concept of the African Alliance as the traditional superspy subsetting a little hard to swallow in the SFA book, I found this book a bit easier to digest than some of the other chamber books (like European Commonwealth), though Pan Asian Collective still remains my favorite. The book doesn’t overload you with new options, but gives you the right ones for the professed subgenre, with the exception of the high roller, which I thought could have been left a prestige class or feat chain. The new mechanics are highly usable, but the reputation system may be a bit much for many GC’s needs (or patience.)
If you dig over the top superspy action, you should find most of the right elements, right down to destructive satellites and laser-powered deathtraps.
Overall Grade: B-
-Alan D. Kohler
African Alliance is a chamber book, providing details of on one of the many chambers of the Archer Conspiracy in the Shadowforce Archer setting for the Spycraft d20 espionage RPG by AEG. The book cites Steve Crow, Alex Flagg, Patrick Kapera, Clayton A. Oliver, and James Malizewksi as the primary authors.
A First Look
African Alliance is a 128-page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $24.95.
The cover of the book is illustrated by standby Spycraft cover artist Veronica V. Jones, depicting an a man in a tuxedo aiming a pistol.
The interior art is black-and-white, illustrated by G.W. McKee II and Chris Grun. The art is black and white ink art, and is overall decent, if not eye-popping.
The book includes a number of site and area maps by Chris Dornaus. The maps are attractive and functional, and feature grids and scales where appropriate.
The book uses a conservatively sized body font and clear, distinct header fonts, falling in line with most recent Spycraft products. The tables are neatly arranged and attractive. Overall, I noticed no major formatting problems.
A Deeper Look
(Warning: This section contains spoilers regarding the Shadowforce Archer metaplot developments featured in this book.)
African Alliance follows a basic structure similar to most chamber books, with different chapters detailing metaplot developments, chamber structure and methodology, rules material, and plot/adventure material.
As followers of the Shadowforce Archer setting may know, the setting tries to divide different areas into different espionage subgenre. The African Alliance chamber and region is supposed to represent classic and over-the-top superspy yarns like James Bond. Africa seemed like an odd choice to me to host such tales. The first chapter, which covers metaplot developments (and possible related scenarios for PC groups) seems to recognize this as well as the “big metaplot event” does not occur in Africa at all, but rather involves the destruction (or near destruction) of a major US city. Hmmm.
Following the chamber book formula, the book starts off with a sizable fiction section before it segues into the first chapter with a mock newpaper headline page with stories covering events that, in the following pages, are blown out into mission ideas related to the features article. While the main event involves drawing the African Alliance into America for several potential missions, other stories draw the action into Africa (though some still link back to the US event.)
The agent chapter defines the methods, major characters, component agencies, and major enemies of the African Alliance chamber. There are a few minor rules tweaks, including the introduction of Code White missions. Code white missions are, basically, voluntary missions that aren’t (or don’t start out as) formal operations of the alliance, but rather rely on PC personal initiative or favors; I suppose the James Bond Movie Licence to Kill, where Bond takes on drug cartels to avenge a friend, would be an example of this.
The third chapter brings you a bevy of new character options for your agents. As with other chamber books, this one introduces a new base (20 level) class. As with other chamber books, I am dubious about the practice. The base class here is high roller, a risk-taking (and often gambling) playboy. First off, it seems to me that the playboy part clearly falls in the lap of the faceman class. Second, in terms of archetypes, it seems to me that gambling (vice just risk-taking, which all superspies are hip deep in) is something superspies do as a side dish, not a main course.
There are only four new prestige classes, a little lighter than the norm for a chamber book. These are:
-Commander: This is a 5-level "senior agent" class representing the Alliance’s top operatives. The class abilities reflect resourcefulness and style. For example, the "smooth operator" class ability lets the character select a different style feat for each serial as the needs dictate.
-Pretender: Yup, this prestige class is just like the series character or similar "Jack of All trades pretender" archetypes. The class is a mentalist type psion class with class abilities that let the pretender perform convincingly as members of another profession.
-Tamer: A reflection of the "wild side" of the African Alliance subsetting, the Tamer is a specialist in mastering animals. This could make for an interesting villain as well as possibly a neat agent shtick.
-Troubleshooter: This is sort of a more general agent version of the Commander class, though a bit less focused on style and more on flexibility. The troubleshooter is a great class for those who want to make less "MI team member" agents and want a more small team or individual troubleshooter in the vein of that self-reliant superspy favorite Bond.
Towards the end of the chapter are a selection of Spycraft style NPC classes to fill common NPC roles: diplomat, hot rodder, monitor, mouthpiece, rabble-rouser, security job (gee, has this one been missed?), squad leader, and stalker.
In addition, the chapter brings new departments, skill uses, combat actions, psitech, and feats (many involved with handling animals, though a few gritty new combat feats are concerned with scarring enemies.) The African Alliance also is known for having more than it’s fair share of mentalist psions, and as such this chapter brings new mentalist psion skils such as gravity control and machine link.
A large part of the new options chapter is devoted to a few major rules additions: reputation, animals, and that inescapable features of superspy yarns, deathtraps.
The reputation system is multifaceted, and covers three different axes: recognition, competence, and ethics. Agents start with zero, and various events (including such things as game events or feat choices) bump the ratings of each around. This is a thoroughly detailed approach that will please those interested in such approaches. But if you are like me (who doesn’t even like to use the CR method for XP awards) the accounting may be a bit too much trouble.
The animal system provides basic rules for acquiring and using animals. A sidebar makes the best use of potential resources out there, but providing a method of converting creatures from other d20 system products to Spycraft, including a method to convert to the VP/WP system.
The deathtrap system is ultimately an adaptation of traps as they already exist in the d20 system, with CRs, spot, and disable DCs. The section includes a variety of sample deathtraps appropriate to the superspy genre.
The final chapter brings you more crunchy and practical aspects of chamber operations, including more behind the scenes details of chamber history and operations, statistics for feature NPCs in the Alliance (each in three levels: low, medium, and high level), and a number of new threats related to plot points brought up elsewhere in the book.
Finally, as with all chamber sheets, there is a selection of "hook sheets" providing a maps and diagrams along with game statistics for a quick, self-contained plot device. This book includes a weather control satellite and the Lodge, the headquarters of the African Alliance. Notably missing is a chase map of any sort.
Conclusions
Although I found the concept of the African Alliance as the traditional superspy subsetting a little hard to swallow in the SFA book, I found this book a bit easier to digest than some of the other chamber books (like European Commonwealth), though Pan Asian Collective still remains my favorite. The book doesn’t overload you with new options, but gives you the right ones for the professed subgenre, with the exception of the high roller, which I thought could have been left a prestige class or feat chain. The new mechanics are highly usable, but the reputation system may be a bit much for many GC’s needs (or patience.)
If you dig over the top superspy action, you should find most of the right elements, right down to destructive satellites and laser-powered deathtraps.
Overall Grade: B-
-Alan D. Kohler
