Pyramid Review
Steal Away Jordan: Stories from America's Peculiar Institution
Published by Stone Baby Games
Designed by Julia B. Ellingboe
56-page b&w undersized softcover; $20
The subject matter for Steal Away Jordan: Stories from America's Peculiar Institution is as controversial, noncommercial, and as unglamorous as it is possible for an RPG to be. It is a storytelling RPG written to explore the existence of those that lived as property, the black slaves of the United States during the period of the antebellum or Old South. The creation of neophyte RPG designer, Julia B. Ellingboe, it is inspired by "Neo-Slave Narratives" (accounts of slavery written in modern times) such as Octavia E. Butler's Kindred, Toni Morrison's Beloved, and Margaret Walker's Jubilee, her aim being not to create an RPG about slavery itself, but about the lives of those who live within its shadow.
The game requires at least 30 six-sided dice; an ordinary deck of cards; and a single six-sided die marked with a skull instead of the one, which is the Skull Die. The book itself is illustrated with period photographs, illustrations, and advertisements. However, the writing is rough around the edges and the rules not as clearly explained as they could be, in one instance being detailed before they are relevant. Fortunately the book's appendices neatly summarize the game's rules. Nevertheless, this first edition needs both an editor's touch and further development.
A game begins with everyone deciding upon the setting: . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 27, 2008
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