On Armies Unknown is a resource for unfolding stories in the Unknown Armies roleplaying game.
This is where I share my notes on using the third edition to run one-shots, mini-series and campaigns.
Not only notes – I’ve got questions and thoughts about how the system and setting work in actual play.
The core mechanics to resolve uncertainty and conflict during play are straightforward.
But some of the other rules and guidelines feel inconsistent, contradictory or incomplete.
It may just be how they are presented across the core books, but they’ve been getting in my way of playing the game.
Which is a shame, because the setting is delicious, wickedly sharp and contemporary.
It perfectly captures a world ripe for character-driven, (post)modern, urban horror stories.
The writers describe it as “complicated and layered and confusing” (Play, p13).
It is.
And it’s here, in On Armies Unknown, that I’m trying to make sense of it.