Over_the_Edge_Players'_Survival_Guide

CHAPTER 3
Over the Edge
Meeting the
‘Martians
In your PC’s first days on Al Amarja, he’s likely to run
into some colorful characters. Below are some encounters
that someone may have while in the Edge. Even if your
PC doesn’t have exactly these encounters, they will give
you a fair impression of what life on the island can be like.
In the airport an intoxicated fellow talks to you.
He’s in his forties, ragged, and smelly — but happy.
He’s with a crew of friends, bodyguards, and groupies.
His speech is a little slurred, but he definitely has
a US accent. He says:
“Just off the plane? Oh brother, do I envy you! I
remember when I first got off that plane. No, I don’t
so much ‘remember’ as know it happened, and I
imagine it was pretty cool. But you, you’re in for a
real good time. It’s like Heaven and Hell all rolled
up into one and sneezed out God’s nose to the tune
of the Star Spangled Banner. Yeah, but it’s not for me
no more. Me, I’m heading back to Betty Ford’s. Yeah,
got to recuperate so I can get my butt back here for
the big bash at the end of the world. Take care, and
overdo it, man!”
On the street an elderly, wrinkled woman with
matted, patchy hair approaches you. She’s wearing
sandals, soiled shorts, and a baggy shirt. She says:
“Hey pal, look, I’m trying to get off the street and
I’ve got this little business started up, and I thought
maybe you’d want to encourage the entrepreneurial
spirit.” She pulls miscellaneous items from her pocket.
“I got some buttons, some rubber bands, a pre-owned
bandage, half a shoe lace, some string, paperclips
— there’s all sorts of stuff here. Look, as a grand
opening promotion, I’ll let you have any one of these
things for a buck, or the whole handful for three bucks.
What ya say, pal? Help an old lady, eh?”
Hanging out on a street corner is a native dressed in
leather, rubber, chains, and sandpaper; of the opposite
gender of your PC (perhaps). In a mocking voice, the
native says:
“Here, burger, burger, burger. Hey baby, let’s party
til our heads blow up! I can tell you’re looking for a
wild time. Hey, don’t turn away, I can tell you’re in-
and shrieks, “Shoot me with your holy bullets!” The
officer obliges.
A man walks into the D’Aubainne Hospital with
several kilos of plastic explosives strapped all over
his body. He says “I’d like t-t-to see Dr. Nusbaum.
NOW.”
An oddly dressed man in a multicolored hat gives
a young woman a lock of hair. She holds it a second,
croons a few words of a mellow song, then whips out
a switchblade and attacks the man.
A man purchases a pill from a street-kid. He takes
it and begins to moan in ecstasy. Then he screams
himself hoarse and bangs his head against the sidewalk.
Another man blinks, walks up to the girl, and
says “I’ll have what he’s having.”
If you’re going to play Over the Edge, get used to
frustration and disappointment. The above vignettes
are actual scenes from Over the Edge games. They
should show you that you’re never going to figure
out everything, so don’t even try.
This doesn’t mean it’s not a fun game, or that it’s
not worth playing; on the contrary, it’s the difficulty
of the game that makes it worthwhile and rewarding
— sort of like life itself.
Al Amarja is a very complicated and disorienting
setting. Whereas many other games have one plotline,
one goal, one end towards which you work, Over the
Edge has literally dozens. You will run into a lot of stuff
that, on the surface, does not make sense, and there
will be many, many different causes for the weirdness
you encounter. If you get on the trail of one mystery,
you just might get to the bottom of it. If you expect
to figure out everything, think again. You’ll never
have the big picture — sort of like life itself.
Another important thing to remember about OTE
is that it has a different tone from many role-playing
games. The characters are not as “heroic” as they are
in many other games. Your PC’s goals are less well
defined. There is plenty of puzzling and scheming and
straightforward clobbering, but an additional element
of sleuthing is included. Most important, the idiom
of Al Amarja is founded on moral ambiguity. There
won’t be many easy choices. Rather than fighting evil
and defending good, your characters may well end
up fighting evil on behalf of lesser evil, or having to
choose between two opposing goods. Sort of like...
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