Designer(s) | Philippe R. Boulle, Stéphane Brochu, Joshua Mosqueira-Asheim |
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Publisher(s) | Dream Pod 9 |
Publication date | 1998 |
Genre(s) | Fantasy/post-apocalypse |
System(s) | Silhouette |
Tribe 8 is a fantasy/post-apocalypse role-playing game designed by Philippe R. Boulle, Stéphane Brochu and Joshua Mosqueira-Asheim with visuals by Ghislain Barbe. It was first released in 1998 by Canadian publisher Dream Pod 9 as a departure from their mostly mecha line of hard science fiction games.
Tribe 8 takes place in a land known as Vimary, which is a post-apocalyptic Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At some indeterminate point in history, something has gone horribly, cosmically wrong. Though the nature of this disaster is never fully explained, the result was the appearance of the "Z'bri", twisted demonic creatures of spirit who either initiated the fall of the "World Before," or came in the wake of its destruction. The Z'bri, needing flesh to sate their demonic hungers, herded the majority of humanity into camps where they were killed or enslaved until the "Fatimas" (Avatars of what is called "The One Goddess") imbued humanity with hope and with Synthesis, a potent but subtle form of dream magic. In this way, the Z'bri were fought back into the wilds. The Fatimas then established the tribal lands of Vimary, protecting the inhabitants of their own tribes.
Player characters typically take on the role of the Fallen, outcasts from the Tribes who live on the exile island of Hom (present day Île Sainte-Hélène). Although many of the Fallen truly are criminal, many have also been cast out from the Tribes due to their inability to deal with the unjust society that the Fatimas have built. They are heretics, warriors, dreamers, and leaders who hope to build something even when society has abandoned them.
The game has a strong metaplot, which tells the tale of the Fallen's struggle with the Tribes, the demonic Z'bri who had destroyed the world before, and also with themselves. It focuses on themes of spirituality, horror, and the cost of hope in a world that has gone terribly wrong.