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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Darryl J. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/29/2020 13:22:38

The Good - Very fun mechanics, absolutely love the gambits. All the classes are recognizable adaptions from the 5E PHB but reimagined in a broken world. Easy and fast NPC / monster building system. Interesting races (called origins here) that give the player choice in crafting the unique creature they are. Great choices for art.

The Neutral - No setting. By default this book is a collection how-to's not what-to's. As with the D&D core books no assumed or implied setting is the default. Rules are given for surviving and perservering in a broken world, not how the world broke. Zombies, robots, aliens and multiple other threats are all included within.

The Bad - Really, really needs a few more editting passes. Numerous typos, a few mentioned but then not described gambits (think I counted 2).

Super enjoy this supplemennt. The group I'm in has two alternating games currently encorporating these rules - a lighthearted 5E version of After the Bomb, and a more gritty zombie survival game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
HELLSCAPES Corebook
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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Zack R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/17/2020 13:19:55

Game is very interesting, gave it a little shot and i love it. Just missing some of things in the books like smash hit for example would love a fix for that



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Z. D. B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/20/2020 10:58:49

Pros, cons and conclusion to follow. Hyperlanes is a refreshing supplement to bring science fiction gameplay to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. It relies heavily on you/your group having knowledge of 5e rules and mechanics, but that's the point (I've seen several reviews that seemed surprised by this.) If you're looking for an inventive approach to creating completely unique sci-fi races and adding some unique backgrounds or magical/technological items to your game, this is not a bad option. (I purchased the PDF/Hardcover combo pack - unless noted, this review can apply to both.)

Pros:

  • The sci-fi race creation system is unlike anything else in D&D 5e. Adding the element of the cultural archetype and layering that on top of a bevy of potential sci-fi races is a neat way to customize the character creation process with little extra work.
  • The classes presented in Hyperlanes are like the best parts of the Star Wars RPG by Fantasy Flight Games, but without much of the crunch that makes that system cumbersome. Anyone looking to run a Star Wars-themed game in D&D would do well to start here.
  • Gambits (this supplement's version of spells) are a great concept that bridges the gap between the thousand feats of Starfinder with a 5e system that can leave some classes with many fewer neat tricks. What an elegant way to solve that problem!
  • The technology and supertech (magical items) in the guide are fun and inventive with lots of options that put roleplay on even footing with mechanical advantage.
  • The art is incredible - in fact, one of my favorite things about the book. It inspires adventure in me!

Cons:

  • The ship combat system is sorely lacking. Any players engaging in a sci-fi game are looking for a ship combat system that is comprehensive but easy to learn - I don't find this system to be either. The layouts of ship stat blocks are also confusing and hard to use. When creating a supplement to D&D 5e, your layouts certainly do not have to mirror D&D books to the tee - but they should seem familiar, and these did not.
  • Ditto the creatures that are listed in the back of the book. Creating a basic monster stat block is a pretty simple task (I do it in Google Docs for my home game almost every week) and Hyperlanes does not succeed on this count.
  • These classes would probably work better as subclasses. Rather than presenting a class with a wink-and-a-nudge and an understanding that it's actually this other class you're familiar with - just say "these Ambassador-themed subclasses are for the Bard class," etc. This book already concedes that you'll need the D&D 5e books to get the most of it, so why not lean into that portion of it?
  • I like the gambits, but I wish the classes didn't eliminate D&D 5e spells completely. It would not be hard to present the gambits as a special kind of spell that uses those mechanics, since that's what it does, anyway.
  • The layout of the PDF/book verges on amateurish. This partially ties into my point about stat blocks for monsters/ships, but is also present in much of the text. It lacks polish.
  • Overall, I think this product feels like a beta-test version of a supplement. The system is sort-of half-baked and the content just doesn't seem to be in its final iteration, like neat homebrew content that I might buy when I want new backgrounds here or a new magic item there, but not cohesive. I know when I buy from independent creators that it will not have all the polish of an official RPG book, but - especially when buying a hardcover book of it - I do expect something a little more refined.

Conclusion: Hyperlanes is fun and inspiring and would make a good addition to your bookshelf if you're looking to run a science fantasy game for D&D 5e or add some anachronistic pieces to your bog-standard D&D game, but it is not the comprehensive system that you're looking for. I will definitely borrow things from it for an upcoming science fantasy game - and will gladly allow my players to pick certain things from it to complement their character builds - but this alone does not a sci-fi game make.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
HYPERLANES Corebook
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Neil P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/24/2019 15:34:30

The system did reference items that did not exist in the core book at all. It made the gaming system very clunky and hard to play.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Sean K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/25/2019 17:44:55

"Wow" I said about a billion times, "I wish someone would do a sci-fi port of the D&D 5e rules."

And they did. And it was good.

And it's not just a direct port with no flavor, either. They did a great job of changing the things that needed it, and adding options and adaptability. My favorite feature is their rules for creating your own alien species, based on physical and cultural templates in different combinations. Their sci-fi versions of the classes look really good. Haven't tried them in play yet, but they look reasonably balanced.

The only thing I might want is a few more variations on weapons, and armor, but that can easily be adapted from other stuff.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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HELLSCAPES Character Sheet
by William W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/24/2019 19:45:26

Really well built character sheet. Easy to use product. Thumbs up.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
HELLSCAPES Character Sheet
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HYPERLANES: The Celadon Caravan
by Steven S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/14/2018 23:04:30

This is a short 22 page adventure. It is really more of an outline, not giving any in depth details about most things (example: ships, characters). It is defintely not a pick up and run, as it will require quite a bit of planning before hand. This matches the theme of the Hyperlanes core book, they specifically kept things vague so that the DM can fill in what they want. However, I personally was wanting this adventure to be a good intro into the gameplay of Hyperlanes, giving an example of how you could play out a game. Instead, it's closer to a framework for an adventure. Example: It describes being in a 5 ship caravan. The party goes to the biggest ship, the had of the caravan, and it details out two areas of the whole ship, along with 2 NPCs. Everything else has to be filled in by the DM. I still give it 3 stars because it is what it is, a $5 adventure. Just be aware of what you are really getting.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
HYPERLANES: The Celadon Caravan
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Carl B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/15/2018 10:31:29

Love this book! My friends and I play 5E and have been playing a hybrid sci-fi fantasy setting for almost 4 years. At last I can bring my group out into outerspace proper for some action packed shinenegans. My players really love how open the gambit descriptions are so they can get creative at the table. For me as DM, I enjoy how much they put into using the Gambits creatively to keep me on my toes. Regular spells tend to be a little more strict and some of the folks get turned off by that. So thank you!

The ship and NPC building has been incredibly helpful. Alien race building is super easy too. While I usually homebrew all my races myself, the alien creation system has encouraged my players to create their own races on the fly and really own a chunk of the story.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to assigning gambits to stations on vehicles. It's such a smart, simple and straight forward way of getting everyone stoked to shoot at villians.

Highest of fives to y'all. Great job!

C



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
HYPERLANES Corebook
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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Sail H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/17/2018 15:31:05
This is a great system for helping 5e players experience a different world and it is great. I am GM'ing a game and it is going well so far but I worry about the crafting and loot because it was rather confusing. Other than that, this is absolutely amazing.

Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
HELLSCAPES Corebook
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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Geoffrey N. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/07/2018 06:31:27

Here's a link to a longer review.

Overall, I like Hellscapes. It's not a comprehensive post-apoc tool kit, but it provides some fun classes and other mechanics to make a memorable campaign. The folks at Scrivened have a real talent for re-engineering mechanics to fit different genres and for keeping those mechanics simple and fun. If you enjoy the way 5e plays and want an adaptation to the post-apocalyptic genre, Hellscapes is a good fit.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Ryan C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/24/2018 14:07:44

While it is certainly not as polished as their other work, it lays a great foundation for Post-Apocalyptic activities and enemies. The crafting, scavenging and vehicle combat systems add unique flavor to any post-apocalyptic campaign.

That being said, I do have some complaints, though they are minor complaints.

  1. I'm a little disappointed that there was not a re-skinning of the Monk class. An apocalyptic monk would have been a great addition to the spectacular array of classes and sub-classes Hellscapes already presented.
  2. The book felt a tad plain. The artwork that was there fit really well, but it would have been nice if the book had been presented more as a post-apocalyptic document you found, rather than just a plain text and pictures book.

Overall this is a great product, and while it needs some tweaking in future expansions I think it's well worth the buy.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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HELLSCAPES Corebook
by Scott Y. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/21/2018 18:41:03

While I don't think this is quite as polished as Scrivened's Hyperlanes book, I still think that this is a really compelling 5e supplemental. By building off of D&D 5e's rules, it allows you to play using rules that you already know while still bringing something new to the table. I'll be using this to create a Fantasy-Western setting.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Patrick B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/15/2018 01:21:31

NOT a standalone rule set. This sytem requires D&D 5. you will be completely lost from the opening paragraph, if you're not familiar with the core game. Well produced.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
HYPERLANES Corebook
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Douglas M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/21/2017 10:18:44

This book is outstanding. It's exactly what I have been looking for in a science fiction game. The artwork is inspiring without being overbearing and the rules are well laid out. The game does not seem like a clunky reskin of the fantasy elements of D&D.

It has one additional benefit that may not be immediately obvious: you can port the alien species rules into your fantasy-themed game to create interesting new character races!

Well done, Scrivened. Time to start me a new campaign...



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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HYPERLANES Corebook
by Eric C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/18/2017 12:50:37

If you're ready to take the D&D 5e Rules into space, this is absoutley the core book for the job. It's taken no effort at all to renergize a Spell Jammer setting using this rule book, even when the core material itself is created to be its own universe. The rules are flexible enough and familiar enough to adapt it perfectly. Highly recommended if you're looking for the perfect alternative to Starfinder.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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