Pen & Paper RPG - Mutant Chronicles. Why I like it more than Warhammer 40k.
Posted by: Sheba in Role Playing GameBack in the 1980s, I was drooling over the boardgame Space Crusade, a game from the Warhammer 40k franchise. But in the 1990s, when the trading card games like Magic: The Gathering were all the rage, a card game has drawn my attention. Its name? Doomtrooper. It’s a trading card game from the Mutant Chronicles franchise. Then snowball effect came along. I have gotten my hands on the RPG sourcebook. I have fallen in love, and Mutant Chronicles turned out to be the RPG I played the most along with Dungeons & Dragons and Legend of the Five Rings.
Then the franchise slipped off the radars because of the misfortune of its publishers (the cancellation of its MMORPG just did not help). However, a strong community of players (especially those from Europe) refused to let it die and kept the flame burning. The internet helped the communities to provide help for each other, then a new edition of the game, along with a movie has been announced.
The new Mutant Chronicles. Less BIG shoulderpads. MORE grit.
For those who will go see the movie, I’ll tell you this: If you were a player, don’t expect too much and take it as a separate entity, just like how Burton’s Batman is so different in flair and style from Nolan’s Batman. If you never played the game, just know that beneath the shallow B-movie shell lies an ambitious universe that hold strokes of genius that set it apart from its concurrent, Warhammer 40k.
So how Mutant Chronicles has come out as 40k clone but has managed to get an identity on its own? Why do I like it more than Warhammer 40k?
Mutant Chronicles: Before the RPG
Everything began in 1982, age when people were still scared shitless of Bad Reds nuking their asses off. In Sweden, a game named “Mutant” was published. Its setting took place on Earth, torn by war and violated by pollution, where some humans has mutated into… mutants (hooray!). Then came Mutant 2, in 1988, the scope has been extended to the whole solar system, and tried to include Dark Fantasy element, without much success (its roman catholic religious aspect did not take well and came off as clunky and clumsy). Then a contract with a american toy company, in 1991, helped Mutant to come to fructition as an universe, first with Mutant R.Y.M.D that was meant to be a concurrent for Games Workshop productions then cancelled because it was too much like Warhammer 40k, then with Mutant Chronicles as we have come to know. For this Mutant Chornicles, Earth and Mutants were ditched, then Mutant Chronicles has been revamped under the influence of cyberpunk themes like those seen in the games Cyberpunk 2020 and the rather odd Shadowrun, and horror a la Hellraiser and Silent Hill BUT taken from Kult, the other game owned by Mutant Chonicles’ publisher: Target Games. This allowed Target Games and its collaborators to broaden the scope of possibles games, the RPG itself, board games like Blood Berets, the card game Doomtrooper, video games or later on, novels. All was left about Mutant was the title.
The Mutant Chronicles known and loved by veterans.
The game’s undoing was the publishing of the “Algeroth” sourcebook that induced a lot of wtf from fans, it was all good and well with the publishing of more and more refined Corporations sourcebooks (read “Imperial” and “Capitol” then “Mishima” and Bauhaus” to witness the contrast and how rich the background has become) until that infamous “Algeroth” book, I guess that flirting with the Dark Symmetry is not a wise move, even in real life as a writer.
The game then disappeared off the Earth’s surface, kept alive by fans that managed to expand on the universe well beyond Target Games’ hopes. One to come in mind was a revamp of Mishima with the Emerald Empire from Legend of the Five Rings as model, where the Major Clans has become zaibatsu and the Minor Clans were keiretsu.
Now what’s the universe of Mutant Chronicles? How did it set apart from its main concurrent?
Mutant Chronicles: the universe
In a far future, Earth has been turned into a polluted wasteland beyond all hope to repair it and has been deserted by humans who has left; nation-states as we knew them were now a thing of the past and has been replaced by megacorporations that has taken over all components of the social body, using their resources to terraform the others planets of the solar system.
Soon, Luna City has become the first megacity.
Representing the values of the American Dream, Capitol has made Mars home for its people and employees.
Founded on the values of the old European aristocracy, such as excellence and devotion to duty, Bauhaus has turned Venus into a world of jungles and imposed its laws on Venusian newest colonies.
Mishima, as a herald of the asian model of society, has dug gigantic caves and created microworlds beneath the rocky crust of Mercury, protected underground from the scorching Sun.
Imperial was the last. Heirs of the late Commonwealth, Imperial has no planet to claim as home, only asteroids and the moons of Jupiter like Ganymede. Its hunger for resource often dragged the Imperials into conflicts against the concurrents.
Imperial Conquistadores has landed on Pluto and found tablets with unknown glyphs carved on them. They soon disappeared and were never hear of again. This is when the most advanced technologies of the humankind has turned against their masters. As a result, technology has regressed, computers were banned, the progress of the robotic sciences were halted. Only the huge Dreadnoughts spaceships were spared. This triggered a tragic economic crisis worse than those in the 20th century and it escalated into the first Corporate War, topping in bloodshed the second world war. For the sake of their survival, it seems that humans has traded the purgatory they has created on Earth for another one in space.
A man, named Nathaniel Durand, has discovered that a great evil was at the root of this horrible carnage. He sought to put an end to this, and founded the Brotherhood, with the discovery of Art, a power lying in the human spirit that was untapped, as pillar, and also the funding from private citizens. He then built the first Cathedral in the heart of Luna and managed to turn the humankind to peace. The evil that lurked in the shadows of the solar system retreated to its point of origin.
Almost a thousand years later, the patience of the Dark symmetry has paid off, for it was nearly forgotten by men, pushed down to a fairy or horror tale status, in despite of the efforts of the Brotherhood.
Imperial Conquistadores has discovered a tenth planet, they named Nero, then found a seal they has broken, unleashing an evil never seen. Illian, Lady of the Void, followed by Algeroth Apostle of War and Technology, Muawijhe Apostle of Visions, Semai Lord of Spite, and finally Demnogonis the Befouler. were unleashed upon the unknowing humanity. Threatened to be wiped out, humankind has not choice, they united under the banner of the Brotherhood, and the newly created Cartel that has formed the Doomtroopers, veterans of all corporations who has put aside their differences. The Brothers managed to awaken powers that were untapped in the human potential and used it to fight off the Dark Legion. The greatest of them were the Cardinal Durand who defeated Algeroth, the Apostle of War, in the climax of the battle of Venus. But this fight has cost him his life and his death was mourned by many, while he was elevated to a martyr, even messiah, status.
Sadly, it didnt mean that the Dark Legions were utterly defeated. Instead, they retreated to the farthest corners of the solar system. Worlds and moons beyond Jupiter were now a no-man’s land, after their colonies has met a tragic fate from the release of the Dark Symmetry; there, from Saturn to Nero, and maybe beyond, the Dark Apostles were the absolute rulers. As if it was not enough, humankind got back to their petty conflicts, leaving the Brotherhood and the Cartel powerless.
Decades later, stock markets went through a commotion as various holdings of the megacorporations were lost to an entity. In only one night, a fifth megacorporation was born. Its name: Cybertronic.
Somehow, Cybers managed to overcome the limitations on technology that were imposed by the influence of the Dark Legions. This appeared suspect to the Brotherhood who were relunctant to welcome the Cyber among their ranks, and this set the greed of Cybertronic’s concurrents ablaze.
This was how the Mutant Chronicles universe has been presented to the fans, back in 1993-1994.
Mutant Chronicles has many factions to offer to the players. The five megacorporations, the two non-corporate organizations, the Dark Legions (divided between the five Dark Apostles):
As a megacorporation, Capitol may be the only one that can be labelled as a democracy. You are a citizen of Capitol as long as you have a share of the company. Foreigners will have to spend ten years in the Freedom Brigades to prove their value as men and worth as future Capitolians. In that regard the Freedom Brigades are close to the French Foreign Legion. Capitol leave the most room to the individual as far as the social ascension goes, and this is as long as you have the money and fame for that.
It is basically the United States of America and share the following traits:
- The society put a great emphasis on the rights of the individuals and freedom.
- Ease for the citizens to get a firearm.
- Martian environment mirror the Far West.
- The omnipresence and omnipotence of the medias.
- Its corporate structure with its executives and districts reminds the american states and senators.
- Consumerism, consumerism, consumerism!
- An ultra-violent society that can hold a great comparison with Paul Verhoeven’s “Robocop” movie.
A favorite among european fans, the Bauhaus corporation is an aristocratic corporation that used to be a democratic institution until nobility took over. Its foundation are the noble houses that dictate the laws and the customs of the Bauhaus society. Hierarchy is present at every levels, from the great Dukes-Electors to the poorest commoners. The social body is regulated by all kinds of ministries and sub-ministries, as well as professional brotherhoods or templar orders that put an extreme pressure on the individuals. The average Bauhauser is gifted by an extreme sense of discipline, and this is also helped by one of the greatest propaganda structures of the system solar. Its past gives the megacorporation a lot of affinities and ties with the Brotherhood, the first Cardinal being a Bauhauser first.
Bauhaus is inspired by the aristocracy of central europe, especially Germany, Russia, Italy and Austria and share the following points:
- The individual means nothing, The successes of the megacorporation are the fruits of the collective effort of a given social order. Everything is a matter of honor and duty.
- Its industry is geared toward the heavy industries. Excellence is the criteria of its products.
- Its military could remind people of the Red Army or the great Prussian Army.
- The greater-than-life buildings of the megacorporation may be a mirror of the accomplishments of the Soviet Union.
- Its social system monitors every aspect of the life of the citizen, and have a strong religious flavor.
- Gulags wait for those who dare to deviate from the Bauhaus model.
Heir of the Asian values, especially Japanese, Mishima is another of those aristocratic megacorporations. It’s made up of several Keiretsu and zaibatsu ruled by the samurai class. Above everyone, there are the Overlord, who hold little to no power. Under him, the three Heir Princes (two princes and one princess) actually rule the megacorporation and struggle to be the next Overlord. At the bottom of the social ladder lies the commoners, lobotomized and hypnotized by the Mishiman propaganda with no hope of social promotion. Mishiman has been known for having great intelligence services that allowed them to carry on their practices of industrial and economic espionnage. As a way to balance out the overwhelming power of the samurai class, there were the Triads.
Because of its little care for the Brotherhood, Mishima also sells the few electronic goods, aside those from Cybertronic, that are safe from the influence of the Dark Symmetry.
What define Mishima as representing Asia is:
- Its society clings to the traditions as a mean to define its identity.
- The indivualism is scorned. However, personal honor means a lot.
- Its working class has little to no value, mirroring China in 1990s.
- War that is waged between the keiretsu, with three main powers, mirroring the Sengoku period in Japan.
- Their venusian holdings in the Graveton Archipelago and the resulting conflicts with Bauhaus and Capitol that remind the readers of the Pacific War in World War II.
Imperial megacorporation carries on the heritage left by the British Commonwealth. Having lost a lot of territories because of the wars, Imperial’s foreign policy has been the most agressive of all megacorporations, not even hesitating to take over holdings of other megacorporations, especially those that belong to Cybertronic that have little to no protection from the Brotherhood. Because war was always in their politics, Imperial is the first weapon manufacturer of the solar system, but also its most faithful customer. Imperial is made up of an alliance of clans that all specialize in a niche of the industry and economy and are hold together by its Imperial Serenity, the Chamber of the Lords and the Parliament. However, Imperial individuals care little for the megacorporation as a whole, but will fight to the bitter end for their own clan. They’d rather die to the last man than giving ground to their enemies.
Imperial’s most famous military unit: The Blood Berets
Imperial is a throw back to the old British Empire because:
- Its goverment made up of the Chamber of the Lords, and the Parliament. With the Queen as the Imperial figure head and symbol of union for the Imperial citizens.
- The nobility has to prove its value on the battlefield.
- Its empire is spread all over the asteroid belt, the moons of jupiter and the few imperial holdings on all inner planets.
- Highlanders swinging their claymores in battles, throwing back to the time of medieval Scotland. And if “clan” dont remind you of Scottish clans, I dont know what will.
- The Imperial space fleet is one of the best of the Solar System, if not the best.
- Cynism is a mandatory quality in the Imperial way to negociate, be it in business or war.
- The Free City of Fukido in Mishiman mercurian territory mirror Hong Kong before 1997.
- Beer and whisky as their staple drinks.
The most mysterious and least known of all Megacorporations. Its birth was rather recent and Cybers has to face enemies from everywhere, especially the Brotherhood and Imperial. What they brough to the table was advanced technology that has managed to be safe from the Dark Legions’ influence. Cybertronic was the cyberpunk touch of the Mutant Chronicles universe. Brotherhood suspected Cybertronic to be a Trojan Horse sent by the Dark Symmetry while Imperial saw them as enemies to be mercilessly crushed.
While Cybertronic cannot be related to any existing powers of the modern world, it is temptful to relate them to Isreal, without its religious elements:
- Their creation has been protested by many of the local powers.
- They are constantly persecuted by other corporations, and the Brotherhood. With only Capitol willing to offer them protection.
- Their small number of human personel is compensated by drones, androids and advanced weaponry and weapon systems.
- Their intelligence service rival the Mossad in its years of glory, backed up by electronic and computer-based intelligence gathering devices that could hold a comparison with the NSA.
The Brotherhood carry on the mission to track down and destroy everything related to the Dark Symmetry. They have the powers, both litteral and political, to do so, the means and the will. While they don’t produce any commercial goods, the members of the Brotherhood receive fundings from private citizens or corporations. The brotherhood welcome anybody to join them. However, once you joined their ranks, you should not expect to get out without being labeled as a heretic.
No one wish to cross the path of an Inquisitor
The Brotherhood is a mirror of the Roman Catholic Church because:
- It’s an organisation founded on the cult of a savior.
- It has a manichean vision of the universe. It’s the Light vs the Dark, the Good vs the Evil, etc…
- It’s backed up by an Inquisition comparable to the Spanish Inquisition of the XVIth Century.
- It has influence just about everywhere. Especially true for Bauhaus and its Templar orders.
- About everyone has its part in the Brotherhood’s politics. Like Imperial who manage to make the Brotherhood turn a blind eye on Imperial’s deals by building a new cathedral each time they manage to acquire a new holding via suspicious means.
The Cartel was meant to solve the conflicts between the corporations. While Capitol bring a large support to the Cartel, corporations like Imperial just scorn it. Over the years, the Cartel has become a tentacular bureaucracy that lack of efficiency in its actions and has also become a bit shady in its functioning. Its only substantial success would be the Doomtroopers, meant to fight the Dark Legions, and only them.
In many regards, the Cartel shares similarities with the UN:
- It was founded after a conflict, with the expectations to prevent future wars.
- A tentacular bureaucracy and rather unefficient, and its functioning is hindered by its members.
But it also have many differences:
- The Cartel has a substantial budget and a very good military force.
- There are only five permanent members, Others just shut up and has no rights to vote.
- A widespread corruption leading to some Cartel exeuctives leading their own shady business well beyond the interests of the Brotherhood or the Megacorporations.
As their name implies, it’s an unholy army serving the Dark Soul and bent on the destruction of the humankind or making them their slaves. They are ruled by the Five Apostles who also fight among each others for influence in addition of their war against Humans.
Not only they have their own armies of imps and demons, but they also have heretics who have either succumbed to temptation or fear.
- Ilian is the Lady of Void and embodiment of the Dark Symmetry, an unholy energy allowing its users to bend the laws of time-space and physics to their will. The Dark Symmetry was the primary cause of the corruption of human advanced technology.
- Muawijhe, Lord of Madness, is the incarnation of Insanity. He commands hordes of creatures born from the worst nightmares of humans and the Howling Legionnaires. His sects lurks in the cities to spread madness and turn the most innocent citizens into blood-thirsty psychopaths.
- Algeroth is the Lord of War and Technology. He is the most known of the Dark Apostles and provide most of the dark technology that is arming the Dark Legions.
- Demnogonis rules over disease and decay. His sects spead viruses and bacterias to contaminate civilians and military personel. His legions of Curators will use the bodies of fallen soldiers to resurrect them as Blessed Legionnaries who shall spread more disease.
- Semaï is the Lord of Spite and work to corrupt everyone or turn them against each others. He prefer to corrupt humans to make them his slaves. He back up Algeroth in the struggle for the absolute power against Ilian, who is the favorite and chosen one of the Dark Soul.
The Dark Legion symbolize the infernal force of the christian myths.
- They are unholy forces unleashed by the opening of one seal. Mirroring the myth of the Pandora’s Box.
- They are principles that represent the absolute evil: envy, corruption, deception, murder and madness.
- They are forces linked to Darkness, and are struggling against the Light, representing by the Brotherhood and the Cardinal.
- Many creatures are truly things coming out of inferno. There are also creatures from the game Kult like Razides or Nepharites.
Don’t be fooled. My players still regret to have underestimated a Nepharite
However, like in Warhammer 40k, some traits set them apart from demons met in the classical litterature:
- They resort to a corrupted form of technology. It could be a mean to convey the authors’ fears over pollutions, biotechnology and weaponry. What human fears in regard of science is found in the weaponry of the Dark Legions.
- Demons have a physical bodies. They can be physically fought and defeated unlike classical demons that doesnt have bodies and possess people or objects, so they can bleed and people can kill them, only, it’s very very difficult, while classical demons cannot be killed by ordinary weapons.
- They are not bound or linked to the Devil. In fact, there are no God or Devil. Humans can only rely on themselves to overcome the Dark Legions. The struggle against the Dark Symmetry is actually more an armed conflict than a metaphorical struggle between Light and Darkness.
The first planet is the main territory of the megacorporation Mishima. Because of its lethal surface conditions, Mishimans has to dig large caves under the surface and recreate earth-like conditions down there. Their efforts met a large success and each caves have their own independant ecosystems, depending on the demands of the keiretsu that rule a given cave. The thorn in Mishima’s foot is a city named Fukido and held by Imperial since almost 100 years. It’ll soon turn back to Mishima, but the Imperial citizens does not intend to let Mishima take it without a fight. Mercury’s capital is Longshore.
It used to be a lethal world where no life could be possible, but the effort of terraformers has turned this planet into a world of lush jungles set on two large landmass and various islands. Venus is unique among the solar system because it rotate in such a way that Sun rise on the west and set in the east, and one Venusian day is about 117 Earth days for the day and 117 other Earth days for the night. It result in a hot but wet climate during the day and ice cold during the night. Venusian days and lights are its seasons.
Oh yeah, there be genetically engineered dinosaurs lurking in the venusian jungle too, as well as carnivoruous plants, potentially those that can eat men. It may be not wise to get lost there as a civilian. But military officers has seen there an opportunity to train their most badass soldiers. And they did. Bauhaus’ Venusian Rangers and Capitolian Admiral Colby’s Guards are example of tough-as-nail badass motherfuckers bred by the venusian jungle.
What used to be the Moon is now the largest megacity of the Solar System and the closest thing to be a neutral territory. The Brotherhood has absolute law in this place.
The city itself is multi-layered, the most recent buildings being at the top, while old buildings of the working class is under the richer blocks, while the zones at the bottom are deserted, excepted for crazy cultists, psychopaths and deformed mutants.
Luna is closer to Gotham City or the city in Alex Proyas’ “The Crow” than the Paris of Amelie Poulain.
Pool’s closed.
Where Capitol is almighty. Its terraformation has been interrupted a long time ago, Mars is breathable, allows life but is still a desert, a tad cold because of how far it is from the Sun. Martian agriculture is mostly hydroponic to prevent plants from freezing because of the soil. The Southern hemisphere is torn by inter-corporate or corporate vs Legions conflicts. The Northern hemisphere is mostly far from the southern conflicts. Its capital city is San Dorado and is entirely owned by Capitol. Atmosphere-wise, it’s close to the Los Angeles portrayed in the movie Strange Days.
The southern hemisphere also have one of the most famous Citadels of the Dark Legions, belonging to the nepharite Saladin. It’s kept in check by the Mac Craig Line, a network of barbed barriers and trenches, where Freedom Brigades of Capitol bravely fight a neverending battle against the Dark Legion. Truly one of the biggest slaughterhourse in huma history since the Battle of Verdun in the World War I.
Imperial’s domain, its capital is Victoria. While the mass of all asteroids are barely half a planet, these rocks hold valuable resources that made Imperial’s wealth. The trafic is divided between two types, asteroids to inner planets with the help of the Dreadnoughts, colossal spaceships of the time of the colonization and spared from the influence of the Dark Symmetry, inter-asteroids, with the help of space shuttles. Common practices in this place are piracy and military take-overs.
It used to be terraformed by Cybertronic, until Imperial and the Brotherhood took over, forcing the Cybers to turn towards the asteroids in the Belt and those around Jupiters, as well as the more hostile moons like Europe.
Sadly for Imperial, Ganymede’s terraformation has yet to be complete. Now they are on the frontline should the Dark Legions come to attack them, with little support from the asteroids belt, because of the distance.
Partially colonized by Imperial, the worlds of the outer solar system met a tragic fate when the Dark Legion flooded the solar system. They are now no-man’s land where few dare to come, excepted for quick and short expeditions to recover artifacts, or quick strikes against the ships of the Dark Legion.
This is where the Dark Legion are truly home. From there, they can launch their ships to attack the solar systems. But they often prefer to open dimensional portals to infiltrate the human world. However, it requires a Citadel to protect thhem and preventing them from being shut by the Brotherhood.
With Mutant Chronicles, wherever the reader and the players lay his eyes, he can be sure to be familiar with something. there are themes met in many other universes. But the background allows for an universe where you can cross over and take on many themes without having the feeling to be clunky and stuck togetehr with duct tape and a sledgehammer. One day, you can make a standard investigation and mystery scenario. The next week, you can play a scenario based on the movie Apocalypse Now.
Moreover, its sourcebooks contributed to make a more rich universe (at one point, one could have the feeling to read history/geography manual with a slice of sociology and economy with a twist of irony and cynism and IT WORKED!
Finally, the sourcebooks has left enough space for the game masters to fill in the blanks for their own tastes.
For some reason, restricting the spatial scope to the solar system help to cast a feeling of familiarity and intimacy with the universe. Suddenly, players feels more concerned when Venus or Mars are threatened by crazy cultist. Or a private eye may have the spleen while looking at Earth from the window of a bar in Luna. And no need to leave the solar system to find exotic places, suchs places are the terraformed Venus, Mercury or Titan (presented by fans as a snowy and icy world that could be compared to Stalingrad when it comes to its warzones).
Many that were not that familiar with the genre may overlook the ambitions of Mutant Chronicles’ universe and see yet another Warhammer 40k clone. Believe, such assumption is untrue.
Unlike others cyberpunk settings, the corporations has taken over the components of the civil and military society. To the point that they experience the same problems as the nation-states of today. The difference lies in how they deal wit these problems.
Today, one could question if this vision still hold substance since the changes of the 1990s and 2000s where there are no more social, economic, politic and ideologic monolithic blocks like in the Cold War.
Especially when the cultural differences are blurring and when protectionism is frowned upon. One could expect the world to turn into one global village.
What if people refuse to let what made their own cultural identity fade away? Does it sound unlikely? History has shown examples of cultures crumbling and giving birth to something new, or a form of atavism in modern society.
I doubt people would let centuries worth of building of their culture fade in a few years. Political leaders often offer to be the protectors of such values, it’s not unlikely that CEOs may one day have the same ambitions.
At first, the universe of Mutant Chronicle was quite like Warhammer 40k universe with its axis good/evil, Light/Darkness, Humans/Dark Legions. This impression faded away as one read more and more sourcebooks. The Heart of it are the Megacorporations.
They are the cause of humankind’s damnation and also its saviors.
Damnation because they are the cause of what’s happening to humankind, the pollution of Earth and the restorations of near totalitarian aristocracies (this hold really true for Bauhaus) at the expense of democracy and freedom. But they proved to be a necessary evil against the threat of the Dark Legion, they are the order against the anarchy, the preservation against annihilation, civlization against barbarism, progress against obscurantism.
Mutant Chronicles portrayed a society that was the cause of its own demons: the colonization of Nero has led to the invasion fo the Dark Legions. It was the social difference that caused the marginalization of the poorest social classes and the resulting rise of heresy. The system of colonies and holdings encouraged military conflicts and military seizing of concurrent holdings, and it is the military industrial powers that needed a permanent state of war to be able to run and not fall.
There lies the paradox, because this not so bright society held the solutions, the Doomtroopers to fight the Dark Legions, the technology to upkeep the machines that were needed for the terraformation, and the model for the citizens so they can behave within the frame of a social body. In this universe, characters were shaped up by their corporations, without fully rejecting them or blindly following them. (Warhammer 40k has the flaw to portray the Imperium as a monolithic fascist entity, leaving too little room for the characters to have a little ambiguity, this gave a truly manichean universe where it is “us” or “them”).
It should also be noted that the Dark Legions, especially the Apostles are close in concept to the Archons and Death Angels of Kult. Those were principles related to aspects of human soul and society. Just like the Death Angels were perverted reflections of the Archons, the Dark Apostles embodies the worst in humans.
Mutant Chronicles is classified as retrotech. Every elements of advanced technology that were so dear to most of universes of sci-fi were mostly absent. In a way, Mutant Chronicles is closer to post-apocalyptic universes.
In other worlds, survivors would struggle to recover ancient artifacts so they could hope to rebuild the civilization. In Mutant Chronicles, the corruption of the Dark Symmetry has led the more advanced items to be banned. they has the items and the technology, but there are the risk to have the machines turning against their owners. Owning one supercomputer in the Mutant Chronicles universe is one thing, using it well and safely is another thing.
Finally, the weaponry is restricted to a level between the World War II and the second Gulf War. There are only firearms, no lazguns, no blasters, just the good old assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or sniper rifles. Before the corruption, humans were close to use energetic weapons, but not anymore.
At best, your weaponry would be close to what you see in Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers”. At worst, it would be the Wehrmacht’s first assault rifles.
The actions of the players characters of Mutant Chronicles may help them win small battle, it won’t affect the conflict against the Dark symmetry on the largest scale. In that regard, they are close to Guts from Berserk. The few heroic figures are mostly products of the propaganda from the corporations and the Brotherhood. On one hand, they have to fight against the Legions, on the other hands, they realize that the values they are fighting for may be not what they are. As a result, they may leave the corporate envinronment and become freelancers. But such is the nature of Mutant Chronicles universe, the plots of the megacorporations will soon drag the new freelancers back in the corporate struggle, making them serve who they have left.
The sweet irony and “loser” aura of the heroes gives them a flair close to the private eyes of the Noir movies.
It’s a world of shit, but I am still alive.
Those are one of the last words heard in Full Metal Jacket, and it rings so true for the heroes of Mutant Chronicles.
The +s
- The context is limited enough, avoiding to fall short on its promises from promising too much and deliver too little. In some ways, it avoided what slowly killed the old World of Darkness. And yet it offers enough for any kind of adventures, in any scope.
- No metaplot a la Legend of the Five Rings. This avoid old players to lose touch with whatever have changed in the storyline. Legend of the Five Rings has a long storyline with enough twists to make Geass look simplistic. And this may prove to be its undoing in the long run, if it has not happened yet.
- The broad scope provided by the different philosophies of each corporations, but also by the jobs of the characters. One can be a grumpy Capitolian Marine, the other could be a mishiman triad member, one could be an idealistic lawyer, a journalist or a rotten cop. It will work.
- You can play any kind of story, rotten cop drama a la The Shield, Platoon-like military drama, heretic hunt, political thriller like in the series “State of Play”, rescue mission turning into disaster like in the “Aliens” movie, you ask, you will get it.
The -s
- The packaging has lead many people to believe that it is a game about trigger-happy special forces against big bad demons, the illustrations of Paul Bonner made people believe that it was Doom RPG, when the background is way richer where you could play anything, from the greedy millionaire playboy to the world-weary war veteran.
- The apparent unoriginality of the themes borrowed here and there. In the game’s defense, Mutant Chronicles has managed to set himself apart from Warhammer 40k’s grim and gloomy tone with a lot of cynism and satire that one could feel from watching the two first Robocop movies. I remember one game master that parodied the “Big Shot” show from Cowboy Bebop with great success in his game. It just computed too well with the Capitolian medias.
With the upcoming newest edition, a lot of changes were announced. First, the tech level would be at most somewhere between at least the World War II and at most the Vietnam War era. Then, Cybertronic will disappear, wiped out during the last Corporate War. It will be replaced by Sundiata, an african and arabian themed corporation, close in spirit to the golden age of the muslim civilization. The cartel has also risen in power, now controlling most of the banks and the interplanetary transports, mimicking the Templar Knights when it comes to banks or the Spacing Guild from Dune, giving them the powers to force quarreling parties to negociate.
All I can do is to wish COG games the best of luck, and maybe the full resurrection of Mutant Chronicles as a franchise that has not only managed to acquire its own identity from Warhammer 40k but also turning out to be way richer than the surface would make think.
I have gamemastered this game the most, almost as much as Dungeons & Dragons. Making a campain that spanned over three generations of characters against a recurring enemy, this was because I and my players has loved the universe and its possiblity so much.
If I liked the game to the point of translating and adapting this french article while adding my own flavor, it is because I want to share my love for the universe of Mutant Chronicles and I think it deserves some justice.
I am hoping I have succeded and converted more people to Mutant Chronicles.
ADDENDUM
Some of the new concept arts for the new Mutant Chronicles RPG
Luna City
Inquisitors also changed
From top to bottom: assault rifle manufactured by and for Imperial, another one but manufactured for Bauhaus and last one is for the Cartel
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