Vibora Bay

[Messageboard Golem]

From the Hero Games website:
THE CITY OF SHADOWS

Welcome to scenic Vibora Bay! One of the Gulf Coast’s largest and most exciting cities, it’s a center of commerce, culture, tourism... and strange goings-on.

Vibora Bay details this fascinating city, which maintains unusual traditions of mysticism and religion alongside modern technology and habits. With its eclectic inhabitants and frequent paranormal incidents, it holds a lot of attraction for superheroes — and supervillains. Vibora Bay includes:

—a complete history of the city, from pre-colonial days to the present... including a secret history for the heroes to uncover!

—a description of the city and surrounding region, with detailed maps

—information about daily life in the city, including its unusual traditions and mystic phenomena

—nearly twenty new superheroes (including such stalwarts as Black Mask, Dr. Ka, Juryrig, and the enigmatic Robert Caliburn) and supervillains (like the unliving assassin Deadman Walkin’ and the members of the bizarre Cirque Sinister)

—a GM’s Vault containing all the true and secret information about Vibora Bay and its inhabitants, so players can use the book without learning any of the “GM only” information the Gamemaster plans to create adventures with

 

[Sketchpad]

First, let me state that this is not a d20 product. Vibora Bay is a setting book for DoJ/Hero Games’ popular Champions line. That being said let me add that anyone who plays superhero RPGs could benefit from this book. It’s handling of the mystic genre makes the book a welcome addition to any library that also includes such comics as Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Man Thing and the old Howard the Duck comic.
Starting off with a brief fictional story that serves as an introduction, the book then explores the history of Vibora Bay. Within this small chapter, the reader is treated to an informative look at the city’s history, ranging from around 1585 to present, as well as stats for the Bay’s first hero, Max Pendragon. From history to geography, the next chapter discusses the layout of the city, its surrounding areas and some of the local ecology. Also within this chapter are some great regional maps by cartographer extraordinaire Keith Curtis, as well as some information on the various sections of the city and city-wide politics.
Chapter Three supplements the data from the former chapters and tightens the focus on life in Vibora Bay. Within this chapter one could find information on local TV stations, colleges, newspapers, sports teams and the Bay’s nightlife. Also in this chapter is a discussion of the superheroes of Vibora Bay, including stats for the current Black Mask and Dr. Ka. In addition the info at the beginning of the chapter, there are several short pieces on Vibora Bay’s business world, the religion in the area, military aspects and even a bit on the martial arts scene.
A good companion to the last section, Chapter Four discuses the law in Vibora Bay and the people who enforce it. Within this chapter are several NPCs, including the city’s commissioner, chief of police and Primus’ agent in Vibora Bay. Additionally, there are also some known superhuman allies that are also statted out, including the aquatic Amphibian and Loa empowered Sister Rain. But what would law enforcement be without the underworld to fight? Detailed after the various officers and heroes are Vibora Bay’s underworld workings, including organized crime, gangs and information on the status of various organizations.
Chapter Five focuses tighter on the locales within the city, detailing places that heroes may enjoy and/or investigate. Included here are a men’s club, a mysterious manor, an alleyway that seems much more, a magic shop, and an office building that’s akin to various modern landmarks. Personally, this is the one chapter I had a real problem with. After seeing the great cartography job that was done in Demon: Servants of Darkness, the fact that none of these locations have maps was kind of a let down. I would’ve loved to see a floor plan for the magic shop or even the men’s club.
Like in other Champions’ books, the last chapter is devoted to gamemaster information. I won’t spoil too much in this review, as I’m sure there are players as well as GMs who read these. What I will say about this chapter is that it’s chucked full of data for a good GM to exploit. Need plot hooks? It’s got them. How about odd information about some of the locations? Got those too. Need more NPCs? There are seventeen that are statted out in this chapter, with a small section devoted to villains in the back of this chapter.
Take the content, mix it with a nice crisp cover by Erich Von Hase, as well as Hero’s standard for design and indexing, and you have a great setting book. I think the only drawback visually for this book is some of the interior art. While some of the pieces are really good, some of the pieces just don’t work in the setting or for the genre. I think that people who are a fan of the odd or mysterious places that you occasionally see in comics would easily be a fan of this book, though it shouldn’t be limited to comic book fans either. Another great aspect that I saw in this book is working on campaigns like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or TSR/WotC’s Dark*Matter. It’d also make a great alternative to Lovecraft Country in the Northern United States, as well as working well in a spy game for a voodoo inspired mastermind’s base.