Unbidden

Game: Unbidden
Publisher: Politically Incorrect Games
Series: PIG
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 20th, August 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 8/10   [ Really good ]
Total Score: 19
Average Score: 6.33

I like games like Unbidden and I especially like Unbidden. With taste comes tolerance and perception. If you’re not fond of “monsters are real but only yourself and a few others know” reality horror/chiller games then they all might look pretty much the same to you. If you’ve some experience with them then you’ll be able to pick out the finer details. The same is true for other genres, if you don’t play much fantasy then there’s not much dividing the different fantasy settings out there or if you don’t dabble in sci-fi then the nuisances of galactic travel could be lost on you. It’s worth looking at Unbidden, the finer details here help push the PDF product forward into the ranks of excellence.

On the surface Unbidden is a horror game. There are demons; the insubstantial shadowy kind that whisper perversions and corruptions for dreaming mortals to hear and succumb to. The would-be heroes are the Unbidden, people who’ve come to discover that reality isn’t as real as once thought. These men and women find it impossible to live normally in society. In fact, because of the Unbidden’s power and special relationship with reality there are often creep effects associated with them; knocking sounds, stuff moving around, think poltergeist and you’ve got it. That’s the war for humanity, the evil Darkness versus the spooky Unbidden.

Unbidden is more than just a horror RPG. The game plays in the horror wrapper but is also about personal discovery. There are demons; the personal, physiological ones that need to be faced and accepted. Although the power of the Darkness seems insurmountable; so is the collective power of the Unbidden. The demons of the Darkness are afraid of the Unbidden.

If you’ve played a Politically Incorrect Games product before then you’ll be familiar with the game mechanics. They’re simple but effective and this is ideal for a game like the Unbidden; you really don’t want the dice to get in the way. You bounce 2d6 in normal circumstances and more dice if the chances of success are higher or lower than that. The system tends to focus on what your character can do rather than what she can’t do and this helps bring the unusual qualities of the Unbidden to the fore.

Knowledge is very important in Unbidden, in many ways the game isn’t about what you can do but what you know. Mythos Lore is as an important game mechanic as it is game meal. The Unbidden learn about the Darkness, about ways to deal with different demons, their likely targets, their methods, the weaknesses and strengths through Secret Stories. These Secret Stories myths and legends passed on from generation to generation. Not, we’re told, urban legends about alligators in the sewers and kidney thieves, but local truths. I think I know the type of story meant. There’s a roundabout on the outskirts of Livingston as you approach it from Edinburgh (where this reviewer currently sits) called the Lizzie Bryce roundabout. That’s why it’s special. There are dozens of roundabouts between here and there – so why name this one? Numerous locals have told me that it’s named after the witch Lizzie Brice who lived there once. My gosh, I’ve just found this story about her on the web. Ahem! Back to the review! (But it goes to show you how local legend could be used rather nicely in a game of Unbidden). The Secret Stories are knowledge and Mythos Lore is a sort of supernatural awareness. The combination of the two allows the Unbidden to battle the Darkness.

There’s a breed of gamer who likes to collect knowledge. They tend to play characters who can speak tons of languages and who have dozens of lore skills. Unbidden will appeal strongly to them. There’s a whole bunch of lores; the Lore of Providence, the Lore of Warding, the Lore of Crafting, etc, and it would be quite appropriate to have an Unbidden scenario centred around learning these lores. There’s a catch, though, in Unbidden these lores are more than just knowledge, they’re also truth. Loremasters, sage Unbidden who know the most in their field of study, believe that some of the lores, rival lores, are actually part of the Darkness.

The differing beliefs of the Loremasters, the teachers and tutors of the Unbidden, mean that there are different types of Unbidden. Perhaps “type” is a too strong a word; there are Unbidden with different sets of powers, different castes. The Unbidden’s Mythos Lore caps their supernatural power, their Endowments. The lore the Unbidden know to be true, and which he understands, will determine which Endowments an Unbidden can use. If you want a D&D analogy then think of Endowments as divine spells, Lore as domains and Mythos Lore has the combination of rank and wisdom. You’ve got to believe, understand and be strong and smart enough to wield the abilities. Unbidden belong to castes, these castes have different understandings (and therefore Endowments) and they have different weaknesses too.

As I read through Unbidden I quickly decided that a great way to introduce the game to my players was to run a scenario where they awaken and realise their powers. I was slightly worried because it seemed as if the Unbidden rule book was assuming you’d be starting with Unbidden of some experience; after all, you chargen with a full complement of Endowements. Politically Incorrect Games was, thankfully, fully aware of this. The text discusses starting the game where the characters begin as mundane people and it discusses starting the game with the characters as fully-fledged Unbidden. I do have a slight grumble that the chargen system is slightly reliant on randomisation. I much prefer being able to assign numbers precisely by hand so I can best match the concept I have in mind.

As there are different styles of Unbidden there are different instances of the Darkness, different types of demons. The download contains stats and descriptions for these different demons: familiars, fiends, hordes, incubi, kinder, nightmares, plague bearers and Fates. Actually, there are no stats for the Fates, there’s no point, there’s no need since they’re too powerful for that and seem best used as a plot device. It’s possible for a GM to invent more. It’s just a question of being able to anthropomorphise (to an extent) a sin, base emotion or corruption. The demons rarely take on material form, most can’t. A fiend that feeds off jealousy might only physically manifest itself as inappropriate love letters. On the other hand, familiars often take the form of animals and delight in tricking a would-be witch into thinking it’s her and not the familiar with real magic power.

Much of the Unbidden download (81 pages) is there for the GM. The rules begin by describing the world and way of the Unbidden and then move swiftly on to character generation. Afterwards the GM has access to advice ranging from how to run combat scenes and the what sort of experience to hand out to intelligent observations on plot themes and sample adventure seeds. There’s even a long time line, it starts at 3300 BCE (the start of the Mayan calendar) and concludes at the present day. On it you’ll find key events in history and their secret truth. The tale of Beowulf, for example, is actually a rare case of a myth being the literal truth. In 1640 when the governor of New Amsterdam calls for a massacre of Wappinger Indians it is because of the influence of a Fiend.

Unbidden might offer GM tips (it even points you at some resources) and explain what roleplaying is all about but I think it’s a game that’ll appeal most strongly to gamers with a bit of experience. It’s wishful thinking to hope that newbies will find Unbidden and discover roleplaying through it – but if it happens then I think they’ll become the type of gamer I enjoy playing with.

The PDF product is professional. The introductory pages are especially well composed and they look and feel great. The document is properly bookmarked and indexed. The illustrations have a surreal feel but this is clearly by design and suits the mood of the text well. There are pictures that look as if they’ve been sliced in half and the two portions slide slightly apart, just to give them that extra bit of unreality.

Unbidden is an excellent choice of game for any player who wants to try a dark reality game that doesn’t get lost up its own angst. Unbidden is an excellent choice of game for anyone who enjoys physiological horrors.