This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
Somalia: d20 Elite Force Adventures
From Holistic Design, Inc.
Game Design and Writing by Ken Lightner & Tom Ricks
Additional Material by Andrew Greenberg
Art Direction, Layout, and Interior Art by John Bridges
Maps by Craig Zipse
120-page b&w softcover; $20.00
There's nothing like timeliness in an RPG. Holistic Design, Inc.'s ongoing Real-Life Roleplaying series, a sort of gamer's tour guide to hotspots around the globe, picks up with Somalia: d20 Elite Force Adventures where the previous release, Afghanistan, left off.
Somalia, the West African nation made famous by the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter in Mogadishu in October of 1993 during United Nations efforts to capture or kill Mohammed Farrah Aidid, is a bold choice for a sourcebook. The country has been wracked by internal strife for decades, and the political situation changes faster than the weather.
A selection of warlords controls the various parts of the nation, and their constant hostilities and shifting allegiances make the country impossibly fluid. Nothing gets accomplished here without being subjected to an endless series of bribes, payoffs, thefts, and extortion schemes along the supply routes. The people find themselves torn between the pride they take in their independence from centralized or foreign governments, and the fear they live in knowing their loose structure might allow violence to erupt at any moment. The neighboring countries aren't of much help either, wishing as they do to use Somalia as a stepping stone . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: April 30, 2003
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