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Tales from the Loop: Our Friends the Machines & Other Mysteries
The first campaign book for the award winning Tales from the Loop RPG, which scooped no less than five ENnies including Best Game, Best Setting, Best Writing, Best Internal Art and Product of the Year in 2017!
Toys suddenly developing intelligence. A mystical mummy roaming the beaches. Weird events in the local video store. A mixtape full of mysteries. Four wondrous machines. A guide to creating your own setting for the game. All of this and more is included in this volume, the first official module for the multiple award-winning Tales from the Loop RPG. This book includes:
Our Friends the Machines. A mystery about a product launch of a new line of action toys that suddenly takes a turn to the weird.
Horror Movie Mayhem. The ’80s was the decade of moral panic, when everything new was dangerous and corrupting. In this mystery the Kids will investigate what is really happening in and around the local video store.
The Mummy in the Mist. There are whispering rumors that it is back again. The mummy down by the lake. Roaming the beaches by night, looking for something, hungering after something. It will be up to the Kids to solve this mystery.
A mixtape filled with mysteries. Eight short mysteries based on classic pop songs from the era.
Blueprints, background and adventure hooks for four advanced and iconic machines from the world of the Loop.
Hometown Hack. A guide to creating your very own setting for the game, complete with the Norfolk Broads, a UK-based Loop.
Toys suddenly developing intelligence. A mystical mummy roaming the beaches. Weird events in the local video store. A mixtape full of mysteries. Four wondrous machines. A guide to creating your own setting for the game. All of this and more is included in this volume, the first official module for the multiple award-winning Tales from the Loop RPG. This book includes:
Our Friends the Machines. A mystery about a product launch of a new line of action toys that suddenly takes a turn to the weird.
Horror Movie Mayhem. The ’80s was the decade of moral panic, when everything new was dangerous and corrupting. In this mystery the Kids will investigate what is really happening in and around the local video store.
The Mummy in the Mist. There are whispering rumors that it is back again. The mummy down by the lake. Roaming the beaches by night, looking for something, hungering after something. It will be up to the Kids to solve this mystery.
A mixtape filled with mysteries. Eight short mysteries based on classic pop songs from the era.
Blueprints, background and adventure hooks for four advanced and iconic machines from the world of the Loop.
Hometown Hack. A guide to creating your very own setting for the game, complete with the Norfolk Broads, a UK-based Loop.
104 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Simon Stålenhag
22 books860 followersKonstnären och författaren Simon Stålenhag är mest känd för sina digitala målningar som ofta visar vardagliga scener med fantastiska inslag. Efter sitt genombrott 2013 har Stålenhag publicerat två böcker om ett alternativt 1980- och 90-tal på Mälaröarna utanför Stockholm. Ur varselklotet (2014) och Flodskörden (2016) har hyllats både i Sverige och utomlands. Den ansedda tidningen The Guardian korade Ur varselklotet till en av tidernas bästa dystopier, i sällskap med Franz Kafkas Processen och Andrew Niccols Gattaca.
Simon Stålenhags evokativa och filmlika bildspråk har väckt uppmärksamhet även i film- och datorspelsvärlden. Han har verkat som konceptillustratör och manusförfattare i ett flertal projekt. Stålenhag har medverkat i Searching for Sugarman (regisserad av Malik Bendjeloull) och i datorspel så som Ripple Dot Zero (2013).
Simon Stålenhags evokativa och filmlika bildspråk har väckt uppmärksamhet även i film- och datorspelsvärlden. Han har verkat som konceptillustratör och manusförfattare i ett flertal projekt. Stålenhag har medverkat i Searching for Sugarman (regisserad av Malik Bendjeloull) och i datorspel så som Ripple Dot Zero (2013).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 17, 2020
TL;DR: A mixed anthology. The full length mysteries are strong, especially the first two. The mixtape mysteries are ideas I'd approach carefully. The blueprints give some nice ideas for scenarios, whilst the hacking the Loop chapter is a useful checklist of things to consider. As ever, this looks gorgeous with Stålenhag's art set in a clean, attractive layout. Recommended on the strength of the longer mysteries.
Our Friends the Machines & Other Mysteries is the first anthology of mysteries and background material for the Tales from the Loop RPG. It is an attractive 104 page hardcover book that matches the style of the core book. There are three fully developed adventures, a 'mixtape' of mystery ideas, blueprints of machines and some guidance on how to hack the look to your location. The book is a compilation of all the stretch goals into print.
It looks gorgeous; the end papers include the same map of a version of the Loop in the Norfolk Broads. Along with the map in the section on hacking the loop, this is presented three times.
The first two mysteries are much stronger scenarios than those presented in the core book; both of them set off the GM in me thinking about 'how do I run this'? The first - Our Friends the Machines - riffs on a popular product line in the 1980s and the implications of machine intelligence. The second - Horror Movie Mayhem - touches on one of the same themes that one of the core book mysteries covered but more successfully. It's a classic SF trope; the players may well guess what's going on, but that's half the fun.
The third scenario - the Mummy in the Mist - is different to mysteries that have been presented before. There's an element of a bait-and-switch in the plot (or a flip) as the reality of the scenario is revealed, showing an element which hasn't been addressed in previous work. The scenario should work well, but is very much a sandbox with things going on in the background.
The mixtape collection is pretty dark; the mystery ideas presented are in some cases nastier than those developed into full scenarios elsewhere. There's opportunity to be mined here, but I'm not certain I'd want to draw deeply on these. Indeed, it's interesting to read these in the light of the issues that happened at UK Games Expo 2019 with the Things from the Flood game. I'd definitely tread warily with some of these scenarios (especially 'Girls just wanna have fun' and 'Every Breath you Take').
The blueprints selection presents two robots and two magnetrine vessels with some ideas for mysteries which could involve them.
The final section talks through how to hack the Loop into your home town, using the Norfolk Broads as an example. It's very top level, being effectively a list of bullet points to consider, but would help a beginning GM through the process. Personally, I'd have placed a UK Loop in Cumbria or Scotland, but the Broads works better than I expected.
All in all, this is a mixed collection. The full length mysteries are strong, especially the first two. The mixtape mysteries are ideas I'd approach carefully. The blueprints give some nice ideas for scenarios, whilst the hacking the Loop chapter is a useful checklist of things to consider. As ever, this looks gorgeous with Stålenhag's art set in a clean, attractive layout. Recommended on the strength of the longer mysteries.
Our Friends the Machines & Other Mysteries is the first anthology of mysteries and background material for the Tales from the Loop RPG. It is an attractive 104 page hardcover book that matches the style of the core book. There are three fully developed adventures, a 'mixtape' of mystery ideas, blueprints of machines and some guidance on how to hack the look to your location. The book is a compilation of all the stretch goals into print.
It looks gorgeous; the end papers include the same map of a version of the Loop in the Norfolk Broads. Along with the map in the section on hacking the loop, this is presented three times.
The first two mysteries are much stronger scenarios than those presented in the core book; both of them set off the GM in me thinking about 'how do I run this'? The first - Our Friends the Machines - riffs on a popular product line in the 1980s and the implications of machine intelligence. The second - Horror Movie Mayhem - touches on one of the same themes that one of the core book mysteries covered but more successfully. It's a classic SF trope; the players may well guess what's going on, but that's half the fun.
The third scenario - the Mummy in the Mist - is different to mysteries that have been presented before. There's an element of a bait-and-switch in the plot (or a flip) as the reality of the scenario is revealed, showing an element which hasn't been addressed in previous work. The scenario should work well, but is very much a sandbox with things going on in the background.
The mixtape collection is pretty dark; the mystery ideas presented are in some cases nastier than those developed into full scenarios elsewhere. There's opportunity to be mined here, but I'm not certain I'd want to draw deeply on these. Indeed, it's interesting to read these in the light of the issues that happened at UK Games Expo 2019 with the Things from the Flood game. I'd definitely tread warily with some of these scenarios (especially 'Girls just wanna have fun' and 'Every Breath you Take').
The blueprints selection presents two robots and two magnetrine vessels with some ideas for mysteries which could involve them.
The final section talks through how to hack the Loop into your home town, using the Norfolk Broads as an example. It's very top level, being effectively a list of bullet points to consider, but would help a beginning GM through the process. Personally, I'd have placed a UK Loop in Cumbria or Scotland, but the Broads works better than I expected.
All in all, this is a mixed collection. The full length mysteries are strong, especially the first two. The mixtape mysteries are ideas I'd approach carefully. The blueprints give some nice ideas for scenarios, whilst the hacking the Loop chapter is a useful checklist of things to consider. As ever, this looks gorgeous with Stålenhag's art set in a clean, attractive layout. Recommended on the strength of the longer mysteries.
May 28, 2019
Tales From the Loop is one of the most exciting RPGs I've read in a long time, and it seems like it would be a ton of fun to run or to play. This book features several mysteries, including a fun bunch of mini-mysteries inspired by hit 80s songs. There's also some advice for tailoring your the game to your home town, instead of the two default towns the game provides.
The odd thing about these scenarios is that several of them seem related to the Loop in only the most tertiary way. I think that, in general, the book would work best if you use it to bulk up a 'Mystery Landscape' style campaign. Use the NPCs from the various scenarios interchangeably as you build the town for your PCs. A few of the scenarios felt too incomplete in their presented state, and I think would require a good deal of GM work to expand before actually running them, and again, might work better if plugged into a Mystery Landscape.
The other odd thing about the book is the pretty surprising level of editing fails. For such a beautifully produced, high quality product, it has a LOT of typos and mistakes, including a few places where whole paragraphs are repeated.
Complaints aside, if you like Tales from the Loop, I suspect you'll enjoy this.
The odd thing about these scenarios is that several of them seem related to the Loop in only the most tertiary way. I think that, in general, the book would work best if you use it to bulk up a 'Mystery Landscape' style campaign. Use the NPCs from the various scenarios interchangeably as you build the town for your PCs. A few of the scenarios felt too incomplete in their presented state, and I think would require a good deal of GM work to expand before actually running them, and again, might work better if plugged into a Mystery Landscape.
The other odd thing about the book is the pretty surprising level of editing fails. For such a beautifully produced, high quality product, it has a LOT of typos and mistakes, including a few places where whole paragraphs are repeated.
Complaints aside, if you like Tales from the Loop, I suspect you'll enjoy this.
June 20, 2020
The scenarios in this book are a bit odd, more extra-curricular mysteries than 100%-Loop-related mysteries. A few have very loose ties with the Loop, and a couple also feel a bit out of place (they go in dark places). I’m running one now (Horror Movie Mayhem) and I can also see they could have used a bit more playtesting, my players broke it 30 minutes in. That said, there are good hooks and ideas here, and I can see myself using two or three of them at the table. Even the mixtape hooks are intriguing, despite needing more GM work, but that it’s not a problem really. I would have liked the Hometown Hack to be expanded further, as it is now it’s just a generic overview of how your town could be turned into a Loop town, but it barely scratches the surface of what can be done. Perhaps a bit of a minor supplement with some good stuff in it, and some stuff that needs work. The printed version has an annoying amount of typos.
June 8, 2019
It's a rather disappointing sourcebook that has a grand total of one mostly solid adventure (Our Friends the Machines), and a sprinkling of good ideas in otherwise middling material throughout the rest of it. My PDF version could have used some more proofreading, as there's plenty of typos and mistakes. The Mixtape of Mysteries section feels rushed, with certain paragraphs pretty much copy-pasted within the same subsection. The Norfolk Broads isn't a new UK-based setting, as the book advertises, instead it's basically a map and some very general notes.
There's still some great art here (though some of it reused), and a bunch of pretty cool ideas, but for the most part it feels like B-side material that just wasn't polished enough to release in the main book, which is unfortunate.
There's still some great art here (though some of it reused), and a bunch of pretty cool ideas, but for the most part it feels like B-side material that just wasn't polished enough to release in the main book, which is unfortunate.
September 9, 2018
Good set of mysteries to run with the evocative Tales From the Loop RPG. Enjoyed reading, will enjoy running, this.
January 1, 2018
This one was exactly what you'd expect.
Read
July 3, 2020It feels like some of these don’t jive with the tone and conceit of the main game, but some are pretty cool. Will see about giving these a go. But with Things From The Flood coming, I’d wager that game is more in line with my own experience (born in ‘85) and, in general, has a more appealing premise.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews