Pyramid Review
Code of Unaris RPG
Published by Goldleaf Games LLC
Written by Gary Pratt
Cover by Eric Lofgren
Illustrated by Sedone Thongvilay, Derek Fridolfs, Peter Martin, Ray Dillon, Roxell Karr, & Socar Myles
Cartography by Eric Hotz & Daniel Schenstrom
318-page Perfect Bound Book; $15.95
Code of Unaris is different in two ways. First is its size. At 4½ by 6½-inches it is one of the smallest of RPG books since the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition reprints. Second, as an RPG, it is not intended for tabletop play, but for online play. Unlike other RPGs designed for that purpose, Code of Unaris is not played on dedicated servers or software. Rather it uses online chat software as its platform, such as MSN Messenger or ICQ, meaning that it can be played by a widely dispersed group of players rather than one sat around a table in a living room.
The fact that Code of Unaris is played in chat rooms is integral to the setting. Unaris began as an online computer sim, like a MUD or MUSH, powered by a master AI and set on the world of Unaris, the name of the Earth's moon over a billion years ago. Its setting is the Sunset Kingdoms, during the high fantasy golden age of Unaris' Third Age. In reality, the program running Code of Unaris is not creating a game, but a wormhole back into humanity's long distant past! At the other end of the wormhole, an ancient immortal known as the Winter Warlock discovers the existence of the wormhole and realizes that mankind at least survived his plans to . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: January 21, 2005
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