It was this:
The Gaean Reach
It's by Robin Laws, and uses GUMSHOE, which I've only read about, not read.
It was a good choice of a gift - I like Jack Vance, I had no idea this game even existed, and I wouldn't have picked it up for myself. Yet at the same time I'm totally into reading it through even if I won't get to play it. I'm not even familiar with those Vance stories in particular, so now I have a double set of things to look into.
This is a great upside of having a close family member who games. I got him the Dungeon Dozen hardback and one of the D&D 5e adventures. The second was on his wish list, but I knew he didn't know the first was out there.
Merry Christmas!
Gaean Reach is an wonderful game and an excellent introduction to GUMSHOE. I wrote a short review of it on my blog (http://oneyardhex.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-gaean-reach.html). There's also the Gaean Reach Gazetteer (http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=14373), which is a systemless compendium of many of the places and things that feature in the Vance stories.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Gumshoe is an interesting game that makes some potentially polarizing choices in mechanics. People tend to love it or hate it.
ReplyDeleteSweet merciful Jeebus. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME OF THIS?
ReplyDelete(So very getting it.)