Over the Edge: The Role Playing Game of Surreal Danger [Paperback]

Jonathan Tweet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Devious secret agents, subtle alien invasions, ancient conspiracies, the secret of human nature, drooling psychopaths, weird science, a quick but painful death -- who knows what you may find when you play Over the Edge? For the first time, the surreal undercurrents of fiction, cinema, and television have come to roleplaying, and Over the Edge is the game that can take you where you've never been before.

Over the Edge Features:

Freeform Character Creation: Define your character the way you want to, without the limits of skill lists, random rolls, and artificial limitations. The rules favor character development over mechanics.

Open Setting: Anything goes on the chaotic island of Al Amarja. If it troubles your dreams, if it scares you, if you hope it isn't true, it's waiting for you Over the Edge. Players can never be sure what they're up against, who is on their side, and why.

Focus on the Story: Easy, open-ended mechanics allow you to spend more time developing your character and your plots, instead of crunching numbers. The GM's chapters include numerous story ideas and plenty advice for better gamemastering.

Easy To Get Started: Three beginning adventures introduce the GM and players to the wild world of Al Amarja and make the first sessions easy to run.

New in the Second Edition:

The mother of all charts: what each Al Amarjan conspiracy thinks of all the other ones.

Updated references include all supplements published before this edition.

Plus Improved layout and graphic appearance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Atlas Games; 2nd edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887801529
• ISBN-13: 978-1887801522
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,681,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Playground of desire, December 27, 2002

By 

"dallimpex" (Vilsbæk, Padborg (Denmark)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over the Edge: The Role Playing Game of Surreal Danger (Paperback)

This is one of the great role - playing games: what else could one expect from johnathan tweet? (you know, the fellow who did 3D&D). Its choice of setting - a corrupt island - state in the mediterrainian is inspired: the various shady expatriates who gather in such places can create all kinds of strange trouble. Especially when some of them come from lost civilizations and other worlds.
This is NOT an illuminati conspiracy - theory spoof: the setting has strong internal consistency, and is derived from a more specific area of litterature than one would think from its open - ended nature: where beatnik and science fiction meet, giving birth to authors such as William Burroughs or Philip K. Dick. It has the kind of mythology suited to spies, drug addicts, the perverted, and space ghosts.
Oh, and the system actually tells you to make whatever character you like. Dont worry though, it still uses hit points.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple rules, inspiring mood... what more to ask?, March 8, 2001

By 

Jerzy Kociatkiewicz (Warszawa, Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over the Edge: The Role Playing Game of Surreal Danger (Paperback)

This game has achieved something of a cult status, and quite rightfully so. First of all, the rules system is a beauty - very simple, elegant, and innovative. Second, the laid-back, surreal mood is achieved superbly - strange conspiracies, inexplicable events, other dimensions - whatever suits your fancy. At the same time, I have to admit, that I was more impressed with the mood rather than the actual setting - an English-speaking island in the middle of the Mediterranean just somehow didn't sound plausible(!) enough. But then again, I'm European.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unleash Yourself, April 29, 2003

By 

Daniel R. Robichaud II (Worcester, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over the Edge: The Role Playing Game of Surreal Danger (Paperback)

Freedom... That's what I'm talking about.

I started playing Over the Edge with its first edition. My game group and I were tired of character classes, of prefab dungeon crawls and the typical nonsense associated with the roleplaying hobby. About that time, we were also getting heavily into Philip K. Dick (We Can Remember it for you Wholesale), David Lynch (Eraserhead), William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) and David Cronenberg (Videodrome). We wanted a game to reflect these diverse interests; we wanted something New and Different.

We played Over the Edge. At the time, the adventure was a terribly bizzare Lynch meets Clive Barker by way of Jacob's Ladder affair.

Each time I have played this game, it has been different -- mood and style. If you can imagine it, you can do it. The setting is fantastically interesting (welcome to Interzone, for all you Burroughs fans), the mechanics are a dream of streamlined, and there are no predetermined character races, classes, whatever. If you can imagine it, you can do it.

To this day, I run OTE -- now adapted into an email game, since my group has scattered across the continent.

In short, if you need charts to have fun. If you need someone else to set limits on your creativity (be it modules or character generation guidelines) then move along. There's a game called Rolemaster with your name on it.

If you want absolute freedom and unrestrained creativity in your gaming session, this is the game for you.

For me, OTE remains the standard by which all other game systems are judged.