Pyramid Review
Tibet the Role Playing Game
Published by Vajra Enterprises
Written by Brian St. Claire-King
Cover by Samuel Araya
Illustrated by Lorie Albrecht, Laura Dubuk, Jason Juta, Britt Martin, & Martina Pilcerova
224-Page Perfect Bound Softback; $29.95
At first thought, the country of Tibet seems an odd subject for an RPG. Then again, there are so many RPGs devoted to both China and Japan, certainly of the latter, that few of them seem strange. But Tibet the Role Playing Game published by Vajra Enterprises is not set in the medieval period like most Japan or China set titles, instead being set in the 20th century. Specifically the year is 1959, nine years after China marched across her borders and forced a slow conversion to communism upon Tibet. Now the country seems ready to descent into chaos -- Chinese troops mass ready to take over Tibet, the Chinese government threatens to disband the Tibetan government, the people fear for the safety of their revered religious leaders, and could break into open anti-Chinese rebellion at any moment.
This is an opportunity for the gamer to explore another oriental, but still very different country and culture at a moment of great crisis. It presents a clash of cultures, that of deeply religious Tibetans versus the uniformly Maoist and highly critical nature of the People's Republic of China. Politically it not surprisingly adheres to a Tibetan bias -- the PRC is definitely the bad guy here. The current situation has the Chinese occupying and . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: May 20, 2005
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