This article originally appeared in Pyramid #30

Pyramid Pick
Crisis of Faith

Crisis of Faith

Published by Dream Pod 9
$19.95

Crisis of Faith is the first of a series of Storyline books published by Dream Pod 9 for its Heavy Gear game. The book is half the size of a normal sourcebook, but more than makes up for its small stature with 112 pages of source material. Crisis of Faith advances the Heavy Gear timeline with excerpts of source material and snippets of fiction detailing or hinting at great changes on Terra Nova, the colony world that Heavy Gear is set on. The format of the book is very pleasing to the eye and easy to read, and complemented with excellent illustrations. The first few pages consist of a timeline for the Terra Novan years 1933 to 1935, which also serves as a table of contents.

For some time now, Heavy Gear has concentrated upon the wargaming aspect while only publishing a few RPG sourcebooks. Each book contains a certain amount of RPG material, but until the release of the Northern Lights Confederacy and Southern Republic sourcebooks, there was little in the way of RPG information for Game Masters to base their campaigns on. A large amount of Heavy Gear's appeal can be accounted for by the timeline embedded in all of its products. The publishers take great pains to make it clear that they have an overall story arc that they are playing out within the Heavy Gear line. Like the TV show Babylon Five, to which the game is often compared, the game has a unique plot woven throughout all its products. A feeling of foreboding and of great . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: May 15, 1998

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