''Pandemonium'' is a

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

designed by Stephan Michael Sechi and published by MIB Productions, Inc. It is inspired by the fictional "news" that appears in tabloid publications such as the ''

Weekly World News The ''Weekly World News'' was a tabloid which published mostly fictional "news" stories in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news t ...

''.

Setting

''Pandemoniums

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and ca ...

is a fictionalized version of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

that the game refers to as Tabloid World. In Tabloid World, all of the unlikely events described in tabloids are true, although most of the public does not believe so. (For example,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

is alive, aliens abduct people on a regular basis, and the

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterio ...

hides the lost continent of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

.) People who know the truth about Tabloid World are referred to as Enlightened.

Player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

s in ''Pandemonium'' are Paranormal Investigators (P.I.s), Enlightened individuals who have left their regular jobs (or Mundane Professions) to research unusual phenomena for the fictional newspaper ''Weekly Weird News''. Their

adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

typically involve investigating sightings of tabloid staples like Elvis and

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

in order to uncover larger mysteries and conspiracies.

System

''Pandemoniums rules are divided into two groups. The E-Z Rules are a minimal ruleset intended for beginning players, and assume players use pregenerated characters included in the rulebook. The Very Complicated Rules allow player-generated customized characters and include more detailed rules for combat and other tasks. ''Pandemonium'' characters have three

Attributes Attribute may refer to: * Attribute (philosophy), an extrinsic property of an object * Attribute (research), a characteristic of an object * Grammatical modifier, in natural languages * Attribute (computing), a specification that defines a proper ...

(Body, Mind, and Spirit), which are described as bonuses to action rolls. For example, a Body score of "+1" gives the character a one point bonus to die rolls involving physical activities. Characters also have

skills A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...

which provide adjustments to action rolls. Skills may derive from characters' Mundane Professions, Hobbies, or Paranormal Talents. Character actions in ''Pandemonium'' are resolved by rolling a

ten-sided die In geometry, a pentagonal trapezohedron or deltohedron is the third in an infinite series of face-transitive polyhedra which are dual polyhedra to the antiprisms. It has ten faces (i.e., it is a decahedron) which are congruent kites. It can be d ...

, adding the relevant Attribute or skill bonus, and subtracting situational modifiers (if the Very Complicated Rules are being used). If the adjusted result (the Action Sum) is six or higher, the character succeeds in the action. The Action Sum is then compared to the Fate Table to determine the degree of success. Players may improve their rolls by spending their characters' Instant Karma Points, which are earned in a manner similar to

experience points An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...

in other games. One of ''Pandemoniums most distinctive rules involves

past lives Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or physical body, body after ...

. In keeping with the game's tabloid theme, all P.I.s are reincarnations of historical figures such as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

, who have skills and abilities far superior to a typical character's (a notable exception is

, who in the game's world is still alive). If a P.I. successfully recalls a past life (through a successful action roll), the P.I. assumes the past life's personality and skills for ten minutes. The

gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...

in ''Pandemonium'' is called The Editor.

History

The game's core book, ''Pandemonium!'' (subtitled ''Adventures in Tabloid World'') is a 176-page softcover manual written by Stephan Michael Sechi,

Robin Laws Robin D. Laws (born October 14, 1964 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist. Career Robin D. Laws ...

, and Joel Kaye. It was published in 1993 by MIB Productions, Inc. and distributed by

Atlas Games Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its founder and current president is John Nephew. History When Atlas Games did not have the finances to publish '' On the Edge'' (1994), they partnered with J ...

. Pandemonium was the first role-playing game inspired by tabloid newspapers, predating the

Amazing Engine ''Amazing Engine'' was a series of tabletop role-playing game books that was published by TSR, Inc. from 1993 until 1994. It was a generic role-playing game system - each publication employed the same minimalist generic rules, as described in th ...

-based ''Tabloid!'' by one year. MIB Productions and Atlas Games released only one accessory for ''Pandemonium''. ''Stranger Than Truth'' (subtitled ''Further Adventures in Tabloid World'') is a 96-page collection of adventures written by Rob Heinsoo, Robin Laws, and

John Scott Tynes John Scott Tynes (born 1971) is an American writer best known for his work on role-playing games such as ''Unknown Armies'', ''Delta Green'', ''Puppetland'', and for his company, Tynes Cowan Corporation. Under its imprint, Pagan Publishing, Tyne ...

, published in 1994. In the summer of 1996, Atlas Games publicly admitted that ''Pandemonium'' had "not found a solid market niche", and reduced its overstock by giving away copies of both products (Varney 1996).

Reviews

*''

White Wolf A white wolf or Arctic wolf is a mammal of the ''Canidae'' family and a subspecies of the gray wolf. It may also refer to: Organizations * White Wolf (band), a Canadian heavy metal band * White Wolf (band), white power oi band from the USA * Whi ...

'' #46 (Aug., 1994)

References

*Varney, Allen 1996. 'The Current Clack.' ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'', 232:118-120 (Aug 1996).

Setting

System

History

Reviews

References

Further reading