Pyramid Review
This Is Not Happening (for When Darkness Comes)
Published by Twilight Creations, Inc.
Concept, design by David Carl & Todd A. Breitenstein
Art by Dave Aikins
Developed by Kerry Breitenstein & Steve Donohue
Layout by Todd A. Breitenstein
Written by Todd A. Breitenstein, David Carl, Les Simpson, Robert Defendi, Heath Scheiman, & Jim Pross
Two full-color tiles, 24 full-color encounter disks, 64-page b&w rulebook; $9.95
The steps Twilight Creations takes as it expands its Variable Tile System are tentative ones. With The Most Dangerous Game, the company opened the door to espionage, joining forces with AEG and its Spycraft RPG. This Is Not Happening takes another baby step outside the comfortable cocoon, placing players in abstract settings like dream worlds and computerized virtual realities.
When playing these scenarios, Victory Points are replaced by Focus Points. These represent your ability to concentrate in weird, fluid environments, and may even allow you to manipulate reality. Players in a This Is Not Happening scenario start with a certain number of Focus Points, more if they have the Focused Mind skill. They can gain still more for each mission objective they achieve, and for opponents they overcome. Damage in the other worlds is suffered as Focus Point damage first, but that's not the primary use of those points. True, most of the Focus skills, based on Intelligence and Defense/Health, are aimed at causing damage to others or defending against and avoiding damage, . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: May 7, 2004
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