Archangel – “The Story of God and His Angels”

Archangel an RPG from Visionary Games

A new role-playing game set in biblical times (Old Testament), where a war is waging. As the forces
of Hell try to reap the souls of mankind, the army of Heaven fight against them in what is called
“The Prophet War”. Players get to play the parts of the heroes, the good guys… who can literally
say; “We’re on a mission for God!”

This game is possibly one of the best things for the gaming industry in a long many years… I’ll go in
to that a bit later, after I tell you a bit about the game itself.

From the website:

“In the year of 435 BC, God closed the Holy Book for a span of 400 years. During that time, Lucifer
made another assault on the throne of the Almighty. His attack was aimed not at Heaven directly,
but at followers of God, the Israelis. By removing the chosen people, God's influence on the world
would be greatly diminished.
Lucifer unleashed the hordes of demons and false angels against the world. False prophets
strengthened by the powers of evil began to sway those who would listen and destroy those who
would not. To protect His chosen, God bestowed great men and women with His awesome power
and released the Host of angels to aid them.
The Prophet War, as it came to be known, spanned across a period of almost 400 years. Through
the rise and fall of nations, the battles raged on throughout the spiritual and earthly plane. Angels,
demons, and humans fought for an eternal prize.”

The basic premise is that the world is as it was in Macedonia, Asia Minor, Egypt, Assyria, & over to
Persia in the time range of 392 BC – 23BC. In this game, the ancient gods of these lands were
actually fallen angels, who used their powers to gather power from the mortals that worshiped them
as gods. As the Fallen become more powerful they become a threat to higher powers (and the rest
of the world), and thus the Prophet War was created. God had chosen men & women to combat the
worshippers of the Fallen, and foil their plots. All the while Angels and Fallen (along with demonic
hoards) engage battles in the spiritual realm known as AngioDem The players of Archangel can play
various types of angels, prophets, skeptics… and others. You chose your “class” or character type.
These classes can be as mundane as a simple normal person unsure and unaware of where they
stand, or as spectacular as a powerful angel that has the gifts to call upon the powers of God.

Once a class is chosen then you develop your character from there with attributes, skills, “perks and
flaws”, equipment and a large assortment of powers. Make no mistake, unlike other games that
have similar themes… in Archangel you are playing on the side of good, doing God’s work, stopping
the forces of Hell from infesting the spirit of mankind… and smite them “old school” style for it.

This is a complete game system (although there is an NPC supplement… but that’s another review).
There are about three-dozen skills to choose from, while there are nearly 32 pages of powers! All of
which seem to have some biblical source. The system only requires the use of a d20 & d10
(percentile roles) for all roles. The system is simple and easy to learn.

One of the great things this game provides is a complete historical backdrop of the nations that
existed during the 400 year Prophet War. This gives GMs vital information for running games, and
provides the choice of what technology is available, where the adventure takes place, and who or
what is in power during that time.

At this point you may be asking; “So Marc… why is this game so good for the gaming industry?”

I believe that Mr. Baxter may have had an ulterior motive while writing this game. First off, in the
credits he thanks God & Jesus…has a few Bible quotes….and then states the following:

“ The story line to Archangel is founded in the Bible, and my hopes are that you, the reader and
gamer, will be made curious by the occurrences in the game and will want to read the real thing. “
With the history of role-playing being plagued by religious groups that see gaming as a path to
damnation, it is very encouraging that someone, who is very obviously a devout Christian, who is
trying to bring gaming to those who do not know the joys of gaming. Look at what was going on
with the Harry Potter movie, or what was happening in the late 1980’s & early 1990’s when gaming
was being preached as a path to the occult and to Lucifer himself. With this kind of game, perhaps,
people may be able to see beyond their narrow perceptions and try it. After all… this game is clean.
You can only play the good guys, you are doing God’s works… and smiting the bee-geez-us out of
the minions of hell.

My hopes is that if everyone who is approached by people preaching “the path to hell is paved with
d20’s” would just mention “Archangel” to them, then maybe a few might check it out… then a few
more…then maybe all of the silly intolerance can stop.

I spoke to Mr. Baxter who confirmed my impressions. He also offered this:

“Archangel is a game I am very passionate about on many levels. I have put myself into this book,
and I hope that you will see that on every page. If you enjoy the game even a fraction as much as I
did creating it, then I will be a very happy man."

In my opinion… that is why Archangel may be one of the best things to come to the gaming industry
in a long time. This is a good solid game. Its fun, its ‘clean’, it has lots of good background material,
and tons of potential. The art is pretty average and there are 1 or 2 errors, which compared to the
low price & over all usefulness of this game, it is insignificant.

Above all I suggest you judge for you. Check out Visionary Games & Archangel at
http://www.visionarygames.com.

Archangel – “The Story of God and His Angels”

From: Visionary Games
By: David Baxter
Cover art by: Christi S. Hayden
Additional art by: Christi S. Hayden &Edward Bourelle
Pages: 188
Retail Price: $18.00 (US) - Book
Retail Price: $10.00 (US) - CD

Reviewed by: Marc Shayed

Added: April 10th 2002

Reviewer: Marc Shayed
Score:
Related Link: Visionary Games
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Language: eng