Friday, September 18, 2020

Psychosis: Ship of Fools

So, a lot has happened. We've moved to a new city, and one of the first things we did was make a trip to a Friendly Local Game Store in this city. Aside from the usual D&D 5e and Pathfinder stuff, alongside less common fare like Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls (plus organized Dungeon Crawl Classics events - I can't wait until this pandemic is through), they also have an interesting selection of vintage games and supplements that changes over time. Though several splatbooks for Vampire: The Masquerade 2nd Edition tempted me, the only book I walked away with this time was an obscure game from the early 1990s, called Psychosis: Ship of Fools.

Having read through the whole thing, I can say that it's out of my league as a referee (or Guide, as the game calls it), but I hope I can shake off the rust and sharpen my skills to run it in the future. Using Tarot cards as the sole task resolution mechanic is a neat idea. My sole gripe is in some of the scenarios presented; suffice to say, fascism isn't the forgotten relic of the distant past that a lot of people once assumed it was.

Overall, though, I like this game a lot, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for any other installments in the series (assuming any actually got made).