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Over the Edge (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
Over the Edge is a surreal role-playing game
of secrets and conspiracies, taking place on the mysterious Island of Al Amarja. It was created by Jonathan Tweet
with Robin Laws
, and published by Atlas Games
. Over The Edge departed from the model of predefined character attributes
and skills, in favour of player-chosen traits; and was among the first to be based on the dice pool
, where the number of dice rolled, rather than how they are interpreted, is determined by the characters' abilities.
Both Over the Edge and Vampire: The Masquerade
were based upon a project between Jonathan Tweet
and Mark Rein·Hagen
which followed their development of Ars Magica
for Lion Rampant. They share the concept of a dice pool, which they presumably inherit from that initial design. This game mechanic
had previously been seen in West End Games
' Ghostbusters
and Star Wars roleplaying games, but was far from common before it was popularised by Over the Edge and Vampire.
While Vampire has achieved far more popularity, Over the Edge has distinguished itself with critical acclaim and has been acknowledged as a major source for the indie role-playing game
movement.
Over the Edge was also the basis of the On the Edge collectible card game
.
If a character attempts an action based on their primary or secondary traits, they get (usually) four (for the superior trait) or three six-sided dice to roll.
If a character has a particular advantage, they may add a bonus die — they roll one more die, and discard the lowest roll. If they have a particular disadvantage (such as their flaw), they must add a penalty die — they roll one more die, and discard the highest roll.
For most tasks where the traits don't apply, they get two dice. For a routine, very easy task, the difficulty is 4; for an easy task, 7; for a moderately difficult task, 11; for a difficult task, 14; for a very difficult task, 18; and for a nearly impossible task, 21. If an opponent is resisting the action, the difficulty is their roll.
Mediterranean island of Al Amarja.
in the southern Mediterranean. The western side of the island is covered by three interconnected cities(from north to south): the port town of Skylla, the slums of The Edge and the tract housing of suburban Traboc. Most of the population lives there.
Freedom City, the capital of Al Amarja, is on the eastern end of the island and was based on Washington D.C. It consists mainly of stately government buildings and the opulent homes of government officials, surrounded by the rickety slums that house the government employees. The only difference between Washington D.C. and Freedom City is here the drug dens and brothels are in the good part of town and are very exclusive.
The two ends of the island are linked by the "October 7th Memorial Highway" along the northern coast and "Freedom Road" along the southern coast. The rest of the island is undeveloped hilly forest, at the center of which lies an extinct volcano called Mount Ralsius.
The French version of the game (called Conspirations) shifted the position of Al Amarja to the Atlantic ocean, as the Mediterranean sea did not seem a setting exotic enough to French audience to the translators' point of view.
and conquered in succession by Greek
s, Roman
s, North African Muslims
, Catalonia
ns, Castilians
, various Italian states and eventually the newly unified Italy
.
The official history of the island states that on October 7, 1940, Her Exaltedness Monique D'Aubainne, the Current Shepherdess of Al Amarja and president
-for-life, drove out the fascists
with the aid of her bodyguards, the Loyal Defenders. In reality, she just bought the island from her lover, Benito Mussolini
. She founded the new state and legislation after the war using the newly ascendant USA as a model.
. It is not member of United Nations
or any other international body. It does not maintain embassies anywhere in the world.
Al Amarja's official language is American English
adopted following Her Exaltedness' wholesale embracing of American culture and enforced by the shadowy Language Police. Fearful of being considered disloyal, many 'Marjians translated their names into English or randomly selected English words from the dictionary as first or last names.
Al Amarjan patois
(called 'Marjan) has numerous loan words from just about any other language in the world. A particular word or phrase might use various languages' versions of the word to imply subtext. An example would be the word "Yes" — the English
"Yes" is used for simple confirmation, the French
"Oui" is used to imply apathy or boredom, the Russian
"Da" is used for dejected acceptance of the inevitable, and the Japanese
"Hai" is selected for enthusiastic agreement.
Al Amarja gets its income from various sources — decadent tourists, private donations and investments, legal and illicit business, smuggled ivory
and other forbidden animal products, lecherous sailors, expense accounts of various operatives and pirated products.
Businesses like the lack of any copyright
and trademark
laws, absence of safety regulations, and easily-bribed law enforcement.
Guns, explosives and bulletproof vest
s are illegal. Only the Peace Force, the island's heavily-armed law enforcement agency, can carry guns and they enforce this law very vigorously. Drug laws are similar to those in Europe and USA but enforced only sporadically. Otherwise the police and government lets everybody do whatever they want unless it threatens the state or they have something to gain in stopping it.
Al Amarja is also a center of just about every kind of global conspiracy
imaginable and all of them have their own operatives in the island.
an, North America
n and some Asia
n and Sub-Sahara
n Africa
n immigrants. They also include mutants, maniacs, outlawed psychics, magicians, intelligence and conspiracy operatives, fringe scientists, unscrupulous businessmen, rich patrons and anything else. There are no accurate census numbers.
Al Amarjans – also known as 'Martians – are rough people. Self-expression is common to the point of self-indulgence. Instead of neckties, they wear a noose around their neck; nooses previously used to hang criminals are very prized. Knives and steel-reinforced boots are universal accessories. Street and bar brawls are common entertainment. Because of the common mutual hostility and suspicion, it is a custom to serve beverages and snacks in their original containers.
Al Amarjans practice just about any religion from Christian Science
to human sacrifice
. They include Satanists
and "Sommerites", religiously oriented fans of rock star Karla Sommers. There is only one official but multi-religious temple in Al Amarja.
Sourcebooks
Scenarios
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
of secrets and conspiracies, taking place on the mysterious Island of Al Amarja. It was created by Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet is a game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, Talislanta and the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Collectible Miniatures Game Dreamblade.-Early life:Jonathan Tweet started playing D&D in...
with Robin Laws
Robin Laws
Robin D. Laws is a writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of a number of role-playing games and related products.-Works:Robin D...
, and published by Atlas Games
Atlas Games
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its current president is John Nephew.Games published include:...
. Over The Edge departed from the model of predefined character attributes
Attribute (role-playing games)
An attribute is a piece of data that describes to what extent a fictional character in a role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice...
and skills, in favour of player-chosen traits; and was among the first to be based on the dice pool
Dice pool
In some role-playing game systems, the dice pool is the number of dice that a player is allowed to roll when attempting to perform a certain action.-Mechanics:In most RPG systems, most non-trivial actions require dice rolls...
, where the number of dice rolled, rather than how they are interpreted, is determined by the characters' abilities.
Both Over the Edge and Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade
Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
were based upon a project between Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet
Jonathan Tweet is a game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway, Over the Edge, Talislanta and the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as the Collectible Miniatures Game Dreamblade.-Early life:Jonathan Tweet started playing D&D in...
and Mark Rein·Hagen
Mark Rein·Hagen
Mark Rein·Hagen is a role-playing, card, video and board game designer, best known as the creator of Vampire: The Masquerade and its associated World of Darkness games...
which followed their development of Ars Magica
Ars Magica
Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. The game revolves around wizards and their allies...
for Lion Rampant. They share the concept of a dice pool, which they presumably inherit from that initial design. This game mechanic
Game mechanic
Game mechanics are constructs of rules intended to produce an enjoyable game or gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game...
had previously been seen in West End Games
West End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
' Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
and Star Wars roleplaying games, but was far from common before it was popularised by Over the Edge and Vampire.
While Vampire has achieved far more popularity, Over the Edge has distinguished itself with critical acclaim and has been acknowledged as a major source for the indie role-playing game
Indie role-playing game
An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published outside of traditional, "mainstream" means. Varying definitions require that commercial, design, or conceptual elements of the game stay under the control of the creator, or that the game should just be produced outside of a corporate...
movement.
Over the Edge was also the basis of the On the Edge collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
.
System
Instead of representing characters using attributes and skills, characters are quantified with "traits" — freeform descriptors, like "Fireman", "Quick" or "Monster from another Dimension", which are created and defined by the player. Each character has one primary trait, two secondary traits, and one flaw. One of the three positive traits is chosen as superior.If a character attempts an action based on their primary or secondary traits, they get (usually) four (for the superior trait) or three six-sided dice to roll.
If a character has a particular advantage, they may add a bonus die — they roll one more die, and discard the lowest roll. If they have a particular disadvantage (such as their flaw), they must add a penalty die — they roll one more die, and discard the highest roll.
For most tasks where the traits don't apply, they get two dice. For a routine, very easy task, the difficulty is 4; for an easy task, 7; for a moderately difficult task, 11; for a difficult task, 14; for a very difficult task, 18; and for a nearly impossible task, 21. If an opponent is resisting the action, the difficulty is their roll.
Style
Tweet has stated that he designed Over the Edge to be more improvisational and open-ended than other role-playing games. On his website, he writes:I designed Over the Edge to be crazy and spontaneous, so that's how I ran it. I'd generally mix alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine to get my head right for OTE. I invented whatever came to mind as we played, and wound up generating dozens of weird clues to uninvented mysteries, many of which the players never followed up. The setting was a challenge enough, so I didn't feel I needed to present the players with hard-edged combat challenges. There were plenty of fights, but the challenge was to get into the right fights more than it was to win a particular fight.
Setting
The game is set in the fictitiousFictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof....
Mediterranean island of Al Amarja.
Geography
Al Amarja is an independent island stateSovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
in the southern Mediterranean. The western side of the island is covered by three interconnected cities(from north to south): the port town of Skylla, the slums of The Edge and the tract housing of suburban Traboc. Most of the population lives there.
Freedom City, the capital of Al Amarja, is on the eastern end of the island and was based on Washington D.C. It consists mainly of stately government buildings and the opulent homes of government officials, surrounded by the rickety slums that house the government employees. The only difference between Washington D.C. and Freedom City is here the drug dens and brothels are in the good part of town and are very exclusive.
The two ends of the island are linked by the "October 7th Memorial Highway" along the northern coast and "Freedom Road" along the southern coast. The rest of the island is undeveloped hilly forest, at the center of which lies an extinct volcano called Mount Ralsius.
The French version of the game (called Conspirations) shifted the position of Al Amarja to the Atlantic ocean, as the Mediterranean sea did not seem a setting exotic enough to French audience to the translators' point of view.
History
During its history, Al Amarja has been colonizedColony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
and conquered in succession by Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
s, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
s, North African Muslims
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
ns, Castilians
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
, various Italian states and eventually the newly unified Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
The official history of the island states that on October 7, 1940, Her Exaltedness Monique D'Aubainne, the Current Shepherdess of Al Amarja and president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
-for-life, drove out the fascists
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
with the aid of her bodyguards, the Loyal Defenders. In reality, she just bought the island from her lover, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. She founded the new state and legislation after the war using the newly ascendant USA as a model.
Politics
Al Amarja is an independent stateSovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
. It is not member of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
or any other international body. It does not maintain embassies anywhere in the world.
Al Amarja's official language is American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
adopted following Her Exaltedness' wholesale embracing of American culture and enforced by the shadowy Language Police. Fearful of being considered disloyal, many 'Marjians translated their names into English or randomly selected English words from the dictionary as first or last names.
Al Amarjan patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
(called 'Marjan) has numerous loan words from just about any other language in the world. A particular word or phrase might use various languages' versions of the word to imply subtext. An example would be the word "Yes" — the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
"Yes" is used for simple confirmation, the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
"Oui" is used to imply apathy or boredom, the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
"Da" is used for dejected acceptance of the inevitable, and the Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
"Hai" is selected for enthusiastic agreement.
Al Amarja gets its income from various sources — decadent tourists, private donations and investments, legal and illicit business, smuggled ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
and other forbidden animal products, lecherous sailors, expense accounts of various operatives and pirated products.
Businesses like the lack of any copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
and trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
laws, absence of safety regulations, and easily-bribed law enforcement.
Guns, explosives and bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...
s are illegal. Only the Peace Force, the island's heavily-armed law enforcement agency, can carry guns and they enforce this law very vigorously. Drug laws are similar to those in Europe and USA but enforced only sporadically. Otherwise the police and government lets everybody do whatever they want unless it threatens the state or they have something to gain in stopping it.
Al Amarja is also a center of just about every kind of global conspiracy
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....
imaginable and all of them have their own operatives in the island.
Population
Mixed history of the island means that locals look like a mix of various racial characteristics. Current population of Al Amarja has also been increased by a mix of Mediterranean, EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n and some Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n and Sub-Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
n Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n immigrants. They also include mutants, maniacs, outlawed psychics, magicians, intelligence and conspiracy operatives, fringe scientists, unscrupulous businessmen, rich patrons and anything else. There are no accurate census numbers.
Al Amarjans – also known as 'Martians – are rough people. Self-expression is common to the point of self-indulgence. Instead of neckties, they wear a noose around their neck; nooses previously used to hang criminals are very prized. Knives and steel-reinforced boots are universal accessories. Street and bar brawls are common entertainment. Because of the common mutual hostility and suspicion, it is a custom to serve beverages and snacks in their original containers.
Al Amarjans practice just about any religion from Christian Science
Christian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
to human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
. They include Satanists
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
and "Sommerites", religiously oriented fans of rock star Karla Sommers. There is only one official but multi-religious temple in Al Amarja.
Product catalogue
Core books- AG2000 Over the Edge, 1992, ISBN 1-887801-01-4
- AG2002 Over the Edge Second Edition, 1997, ISBN 1-887801-52-9
- AG2010 Player's Survival Guide, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-02-2
Sourcebooks
- AG2300 Wildest Dreams, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-11-1
- AG2301 Weather The Cuckoo Likes, 1994 ISBN 1-887801-12-X
- AG2302 Friend Or Foe?, 1994, ISBN 1-887801-13-8
- AG2303 Cloaks, 1998, ISBN 1-887801-61-8
- AG2304 At Your Service, 2001, ISBN 1-887801-64-2
Scenarios
- AG2100 New Faces, 1992, ISBN 1-887801-03-0
- AG2101 Airwaves, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-04-9
- AG2102 House Call, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-05-7
- AG2103 Unauthorized Broadcast, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-06-5
- AG2104 It Waits..., 1993, ISBN 1-887801-07-3
- AG2150 The Myth Of Self, 1995, ISBN 1-887801-08-1
- AG2151 Forgotten Lives, 1997, ISBN 1-887801-51-0
- AG2200 Welcome to Sylvan Pines, 1993, ISBN 1-887801-09-X
- AG2201 With A Long Spoon, 1994, ISBN 1-887801-10-3
External links
- Atlas Games' official site for the game