Armageddon (Armageddon Roleplaying Game) [Hardcover]

C.J. Carella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2003

For decades, warning signs have told of a coming Reckoning. Its exact nature was unknown. Some predicted a new dawn for humankind - a golden age. Others issued dire warnings. In truth, it was worse...far worse. The near future has arrived and the tidings are grim. An ancient force is reborn and the ultimate conflict to determine the destiny of humankind is underway. Fought by forces mundane, celestial, demonic and otherworldly, it has ravaged cities, plundered lands, and brought doom to millions. Angels and devils walk the Earth once again and the Old Gods have returned. Will even this be enough to stop the relentless darkness? Armageddon is a complete role-playing game. In it, you will find: A fantastic setting filled with angels, demons, gods, supernatural servants...and the humans struggling to survive and even triumph. Detailed character creation rules ranging in power level from normal humans to gods. The ultimate exposition of the Unisystem, a universal game mechanic fully compatible with CJ Carella's Witchcraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Terra Primate and other Unisystem games. A brief overview of the types of weapons used in the ultimate war, from knives to the Holy Fist tank. Background information on the most powerful of the wartime bodies: The Alliance, Heavenly Host, Infernal Legion, Lodge of the Undying, Pantheons and Watchers. A variety of metaphysical arts including Magic, the Sight, Necromancy, Divine Inspiration and Spirit Patrons. Specifics on the capacities, powers and limitations of a variety on non-human entities, from angels to immortals to Primal beings. Terrible knowledge of the Adversary's host, including Adepts, parabiologicals and undead.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Eden Studios (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891153218
• ISBN-13: 978-1891153211
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,907,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apocalyptic Revelations, May 30, 2006

By 

Aaron Zirkelbach - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Armageddon (Armageddon Roleplaying Game) (Hardcover)

This and Terra Primate are the two games Eden Studios has done and not heard many sung praises for. The premise for Armageddon is simple: a near-future World War 3 setting involving demons and angels, because something else threatens to destroy reality. Armageddon is the first Eden game to have a massive power scale, going from normal humans right up to godlike beings. In fact, I think it's the most diversly spread Unisystem power level to date. This game uses Classic Unisystem, of Witchcraft, All Flesh Must be Eaten, Terra Primate, and Conspiracy X 2.0 fame

In this way, it reminds me of Nobilis (search books for that one, you can't miss it), save the baddies are basically Cthulu with the serial numbers filed off (great tentacled beasts from beyond). In fact, I initially discounted it because I already had Nobilis, and let my prejudice cloud my judgement.

I was wrong. While Nobilis fits at the demigod level exceedingly well, Armageddon sets this toward more "realistic" war action. I say "realistic" as a genre in this sense, not as an actual nod toward true realism, which would take much more math than this 350 page book could contain. That said, it does it's job admirably.

Several different races are listed in the game, all with pulpy overtones (norse gods, atlanteans, immortals, etc). There's also another big difference from Nobilis: humans.

In Nobilis, humans are playthings of the gods. In Armageddon, humans are (as the good book says) made in the likeness of the creator. While Angels and Demons are more powerful physically and spiritually, both will not adapt or evolve, unlike humankind which will advance to near the power of the creator.

And here's why I think Armageddon has been put under wraps. It could bother people who think the game is mocking a real world faith. CJ Carella (the author) has a disclaimer proclaiming that it, like all RPGs, is a complete work of fiction, not meant to be taken as "an occult manual or religious work". While it may contain many elements of real world religions, anything it says about them it claims upfront are completely bogus when placed next to their real world counterparts. CJ looks like he did his homework when writing the setting, but never once does he claim to be a theology scholar or any other type of expert in the field, and never once does he claim that anything he says is a fact. Quite the reverse, actually.

Anyway, with that unpleasantness out of the way (it had to be said), I'll continue on to another merit of the system in my eyes: mechanically, it treats Angels and Demons as the same thing: Seraphim. While they may have fallen, Demons still are basically the same beings. They have wings, holy fire, and can weild a blazing sword. The only difference is the power source (divine or infernal).

The other great element is free will. Nephilim are half-Seraphim, half-humans. While socially looked down upon, they are more and more a great asset in the war, as they have human's spirit, and angel's blood. Another step I like: Nephilim aren't just watered down Seraphim. While at a lesser power level, Nephilim have unique powers all their own, and unique differences as well. Seraphim can learn magic, while Nephilim are practically immune to it's application (and for obvious reasons may never learn it).

The fast and loose Unisystem mechanics shine like always, bleeding into the background. There's even a section on Cinematic Combat which takes the game a step toward Cinematic Unisystem, the version of Buffy, Angel, and Army of Darkness fame, which happens to be my favorite version as of this moment.

The artwork is of average quality throughout, save the cover, which is quite good.

Overall, I think a person could look to a much worse place than this to start his Eden Studios collection, and a fan without this game should get it right away.