Not a Review - Tribe 8

[demonground]

This isn't a review. For one of those you either have to read the RPG or play a game of it. This is neither. This is a comment on my impressions as I flick through its pages.

Tribe 8 by Dream Pod Nine

Okay, now I know this sounds a bit odd to do such a thing, but the simple act of looking over this book made me want to speak out. Yep, that right, just glancing over the book I had a couple of strong impressions on the game and thoughts on gaming in general. Of course, not being one to hold my opinions back, I felt this was a pretty good forum for airing them.

• The book itself is short - especially when compared to to modern hardbacks. It comes in around 200 pages, of which the first hundred seem to be background and setting, the second rules and gaming related material. 
• It is a great quality print. I know I'm borrowing a copy off of a friend (one who by first hand knowledge looks after his RPG stuff well), but it is a robust, well bound book with a real solid feel.
• The layout is fantastic. We all know that there is a real art to layout, but DP9 got this book right. A thick sidebar allows for - you guessed it - sidebar text, or where appropriate, graphics or icons that obviously relate to the page. There is also a great use of white space, and the main font (Calibri?) really gives the text an - easy to read, but still stylish look).
• The layout change for the rules section also needs noting. Moving to denser text and more traditional two-column format, it nicely separates the fluff from the rules nicely!
• The art - so-so - nothing really stands out to me (most art in the book is sketchy B&W quarter-pages - nothing to write home about). The maps on the other hand do look quite nice...
• Finally, the books includes both a detailed Table of Contents and an exhaustive index (which is probably a bit small to read comfortably).

So, should I form an opinion on these facts alone? I don't know, they say that you 'should never judge a book by its cover', but then again 'everything you need to know is usually on that every same inside flap'. All I can say is that  I know almost next to nothing about Tribe 8, but the DP9 guys sure did a great job at making me want to change that!