Alessandro Rocchi
In this review we talk about Brave New World, an official expansion of Dead Air: Seasons, which we have already talked about here. The manual adds new archetypes, starting communities, sectors and rules to broaden your experience.
The game was created and published by The World Anvil Publishing, and distributed by MS Edizionit. Thank you to the publisher for providing us with a physical copy. We invite you to follow the publisher’s website, Facebook page and Instagram and join the official Discord server to discover many new projects.
If you want to buy Dead Air: Brave New World, you can find it on the official store in physical version (+ PDF) for 45 euros. Otherwise, always on the official store, you will find the only digital version for 19.90 euros.
Review of the Structure and Aesthetics of Dead Air: Brave New World
Like the core rulebook, Brave New World is an elegant 16.8×24 cm size book with a hardcover. It is very resistant and pleasant to the touch.
The manual consists of 120 pages divided into 4 chapters. The writing is remarkable, making it easy to consult. In addition, thanks to the excellent use of italics and bold, the most important terms are always highlighted.
Artistically speaking, the manual maintains the same quality as the editorial line, with fascinating and intriguing illustrations. The style remains consistent throughout the volume, even with regard to the chromatic palette. In fact, green, black, orange, brown and all their shades always dominate. In this way each page silently suggests the idea of the Blight that makes nature grow and infests the world of man.
The New Archetypes
Dead Air: Brave New World introduces 5 new Archetypes, adding variety to character building and gameplay. Each Archetype has its own exclusive Gifts, totally compatible with the material of the basic manual.
The new archetypes are: Soldier, Provectus, Crimson Hunter, Lone Wolf, and Finder.
Provectus and the Crimson Hunter are very peculiar because they are closely linked to the Blight. The first one is a human being capable of partially dominating the power of the Blight. Thanks to their abilities, they will be able to control their own body or that of others, or influence the spread of the Blight in a body. The Crimson Hunter, on the other hand, has spent his whole life, or a good part of it, studying the Blight and its implications. With their knowledge, they can more easily eliminate the creatures of the Blight or get bonuses of various kinds. The most interesting Gift, in my opinion, is the one that allows them to have a Chimera at their side ready to help them in any situation.
Soldier, Seeker and Lone Wolf are more grounded characters. Soldier has skills derived from military training. Seeker, on the other hand, is an Archetype who has developed great skills in rummaging through the ruins to find what can still be useful. The last one, the Lone Wolf, is a person who has learned to survive alone at their best.
A value that I want to highlight is the presence of various examples and details for each Archetype, so as to offer many ideas during the creation phase.
Dead Air: Brave New World: Review of the Communities
In the manual we can find 6 Starting Communities to be able to quickly start a session. Just to be clear, the Communities are the groups of which the PCs are part and that they will face Crises on which the survival of everyone depends.
Each of them is fully explored and includes: the Concept, the Background, the Gifts and Descriptors, the most important NPCs and many hints for possible Crises. These elements are all very interesting and allow you to explore various aspects of the Community, so as to create very engaging sessions.
The Communities presented are: Ruota del Sangue, Figli delle Nuvole, Resort Apocalisse, L.L.T.B, Costa Paradiso and I Remnants. Each one is meticulously and precisely built, making it unique, and optimally exploits the potential of the game system found in the core rulebook.
The ones that impressed me the most are Figli delle Nuvole and L.L.T.B. The first presents a special situation: the community is made up only of boys between the ages of 6 and 20 who live in the skyscrapers of a large metropolis and have completely isolated themselves from adults. This leads to very interesting game dynamics and you can explore various themes by understanding how young people face the various Crises. L.L.T.B (Long Live The Brotherood) are instead a group of long-time friends who have gotten together and made a list of things they want to do, see and try. They move from place to place trying to tick the items on the list, but one of the members hides a big secret that could throw the group into chaos. Here too we find the perfect dynamics for a nomadic community.
Thematic Sectors
In Brave New World we find 15 Thematic Sectors to use as a setting for your campaigns.
The Thematic Sectors are the areas of the Region where the adventures of the Community and the PCs will take place during the sessions. Each Sector present in the volume has been created with the method proposed in the basic manual, emphasizing the effectiveness of the system.
A great advantage is that each of them is built in a generic but precise way. So each Sector can be inserted at will into the game world or modified according to the needs of the group. For example, the “Luxury Resort” Sector can represent any high-end hotel, wellness centre or similar.
In each of the 15 Sectors we find: an overview, points of interest and distinctive elements, but also important NPCs and various ideas for Crises. The really interesting concept is that each Sector deals with and explores a different theme. For example, Behind the Bars explores penitentiary institutions and their vicinity, while Underground takes a look at bunkers and similar facilities.
A Sector that impressed me a lot is Legacy of the Ancestors, written by Peter Chiykowski, author of The Story Engine and The Deck of Worlds. It is set in a large historical cemetery with tombs, mausoleums, catacombs and more. Surely it is an unusual place, which can be the basis of many stories and encourage interesting themes.
Foreign Communities
With this expansion we find a system of rules to create and manage Foreign Communities (in addition to 5 pre-generated Foreign Communities).
These Communities are groups of NPCs that are more articulated and present in the Region. Like that of the players, an External Community has: a Concept, Descriptors, Gifts and Key NPCs.
But the real peculiarity is the relations between the various Communities. In fact, in the volume we find 6 types of relationship that can have two Communities, such as Trade, Dominion and Alliance. For each of them we find a series of questions to deepen the relationship and its operation.
In addition, two methods are presented to include more External Communities during the campaign. The first, the linear method, involves introducing first one and then, later, another that expands the concepts of the previous one and that could become a danger. The second method instead provides that in the starting situation we have the Community of PCs and another one; following a Crisis, one of them will introduce a third one. They are very organic and useful methods for managing relations and conflicts between Communities.
In addition to all this, we find 5 External Communities ready for use. Among them I can mention The Golden Hand, a group of ex-soldiers who travel together and use their military skills to great advantage.
Dead Air: Brave New World Review Conclusions
To conclude, I consider Dead Air: Brave New World a very successful expansion, which enriches the potential of the base game and adds a lot of new material. Thanks to the highly refined and fascinating artistic style, it is also configured as a perfect manual to be exhibited on your shelves.
The new Archetypes add more depth to the game by bringing very interesting new themes to the table. Through the Starting Communities and Thematic Sectors, each group can start their adventures in a short time. The material is truly inspired, also giving many new ideas for your original campaigns.
I recommend Dead Air: Brave New World to all fans of Dead Air: Seasons. If you loved the basic manual, this expansion will certainly not disappoint you.
