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Overall
A Campaign Supplement with a premise too big for its 100 pages.
It feels like there was an idea to explore Osaka much, much further, and a lot has ended up on the cutting room floor.
As a result, the world building isn’t quite engaging enough to keep playing after the scenarios.
Although the supplement is half-decent, it definitely needs additional editing, proofreading and play-testing (by those not part of the workflow).
PDF issues and Missing Errata (2022-2023)
Despite being released to Kickstarter backers in December of 2022.
At the time of writing (July 2023, 7 months after initial release) the PDF has not been updated to reflect the feedback given.
Bugs are still in the PDF with several broken links, a “tbd” on page 40, a missing stat block on page 61, and some sort of Obedient/Cunning/Clever role assignment being used but never explained properly.
Hunters Enterainment tends to neglect updating Altered Carbon products as a whole, lacking much needed Errata in places.
This lack of feedback processing strongly contributed to my rating of this product.
World
The book also refrains from using page numbers when referencing NPCs in the supplement, and even when referencing stat blocks from the core book.
It does provide PDF links internally (and those do work), but it’s a nightmare for print.
There is world building for 13 locations, 8 factions, and 22 NPCs, crammed into a mere 25 pages.
NPCs don’t have stat blocks, which is a missed opportunity to highlight their qualities, and making them difficult to improvise should combat occur.
No pre-generated player character sheets were provided.
This would’ve been appreciated as the core book is quite complicated/chaotic with its character creation and no published character sheets actually follow it thus far.
The new history for Osaka touts serious changes, but provides no actual maps.
With roughly 22 NPCs spread across 8 factions. A diagram that groups these properly and shows internal relations would have made things a lot more comprehensible as well.
Scenarios
The scenarios make up the bulk of the supplement (55 pages).
The ideas for the scenarios are good, but the write-up leaves something to be desired.
First of all, it has no summaries to preface them. GMs have to read the entire scenario before understanding the plot and intent.
Some pieces feel out of order or incomplete upon arriving at the next scene.
Scene descriptions are often pre-written, which is good considering there aren’t a lot of images in the book.
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Un système facile a prendre en main mais pas insipide. La méchanique des tokens d'adversité est vraiment bien pensé et s'intègre parfaitement sans casser le roleplay. Le système de questions de création de personnages avec les question vous fait déjà créer de la narration entre les pjs. Complètement fan depuis la découverrte de ce jeu il y a quelques années.
Si il y à un thème de prédilection présenté, a base d'années 80 et de gamins a vélo qui nous rappelles des thèems a la stranger things, goonies et autre, il ne sagit pas d'un jeu a univers ou d'un jeu a secret, libre a chacun d'y mettre sa touche.
Un jeu très freeform accés narration partagé et a un prix abordable.
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I really wanted to like Altered Carbon, but this chaotic, cumbersome and incomplete mess is essentially unplayable. The rules are poorly explained, self-contradictory and often either shockingly clumsy or outright broken. Even simple things like tracking ammo and making purchases are made procedurally arduous for no gameplay advantage. Unnecessarily burdensome mechanics make the system an absolute drag to read through, let alone play. Worse still, the whole thing's so fundamentally limited. For a game based on a literally galaxy-spanning property where people live forever by swapping their old or damaged bodies for new or artificial ones, you're stuck in a single, poorly developed city getting constantly hit in the head with cumulative penalties for "resleeving" your character. Overall, this is the most poorly written and edited rulebook I've read in over 40 years of tabletop gaming, and the best advert for Eclipse Phase I've ever seen.
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I really liked this adventure. It filled in a few holes from the core book and gave a great direction others games can take. Looking forward to working this into my campaign!
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I bought this for to play with my kids, i found the setting cool and the coverart appealing so i bought it.
But what kills this for me its is constant reminder in this game to have players think about ethnicity, sexuality, race and gender. Call me old fashioned but for my 12 to 14 year old boys I just want to enjoy a game of high school magic, not really have a discussion with them about their characters sexuality or ethnic systemic oppression.
But on the flipside, if those things are important for your game group you will find plenty there. Its just not for us.
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Just to clarify: My experience with this game is that of a player having played it on Roll20/Discord.
"Alice is Missing" takes the missing person scenario and puts a new spin on it--new for me, anyway. Its context is simple and down-to-earth yet still compelling. The game's strongest asset is it's emphasis on text-based communication. Prior to playing this game, I had gotten used to communicating with my fellow TTRPG players verbally. The change was a pleasant surprise yet very much welcome for someone that appreciates silence.
More importantly, the text mechanic also inspires a bit of creativity and even an emotional connection on the parts of players. There are things that feel more nuanced and personal when expressed through text compared to the spoken word. That was probably one of the creator's intentions all along.
At least two things prevent it from becoming a perfect 5/5 for me: one, there are certain character tropes that I would have wanted to have seen and selected from; two, the type of ending that players encounter relies more on a certain game mechanic than most other things. Depending on what pops up, the ending can range from extremely unsatisfying to cathartic. Then again, perhaps the true joy of the game lies in its 90-minute journey, not its destination.
Nevertheless, these are minor gripes given the value that Spenser Starke has provided through this game. Its ability to take a bunch of seemingly everyday characters and make them come alive in 90 minutes through player improv and text makes it a winner. I am now studying the material and thinking of running it for others someday.
All in all, "Alice is Missing" is a solid offering from Starke. I was told that an expansion for this game is planned. If that is true, then it's definitely something to look forward to.
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I came across this system by chance, having heard of the original (Kids on Bikes) but unaware of other settings, and I have been very happy/excited to get my hands on it. This is a very rules light system overall which is my big draw as a player of some more crunchier game systems. I am not sure if I see this system as being able to do a long term campaign, while the system contains some progression systems I have mostly played games fitting more of a D&D formula and without specifics around combat it just is hard for me to work out what this loooks like in a long form game. The book does go a bit deep into a lot of diversity and inclusion style specifics that I personally feel came off a bit too much, I understand the importance of those but they are things that neither my players or I have ever had trouble just naturally doing in games we play/run.
I fell in love with this game because of the simple rules and just how open it allows someone to be with the game. Players and GMs can sit and have a very indepth roleplay session working together to build relationships and the world. It has a few issues here an there, these are mostly with book layout though. Almost all the tables are at the very back of the book but several are sitting with the chapter they pertain too, I am unsure why some are kept in the back while others are not. This was a bit of a hassle for my players having to jump back and forth during creation. All in all a system well worth the price though, even if you only ever play it in a one off capacity.
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An amazing, fun and (near the end, especially) tense experience. I loved this game, and it'll stick with me for a while.
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This game does have its pros.The design is lovely. The system is rules light, quick and easy, and manageable for young players. If you're playing with kids, I think this is a great purchase. That said, the overall content is lacking, and the product as a whole feels padded and riddled with blank space and editorialization. For example, this is a setting that lends itself to campaign play--it's essentially an unlicensed Harry Potter simulator, and those stories are structured around academic years. Who wants to sit down and play a single session of this? There's little guidance for longer play, no mechanism for advancement, etc. It reads like an unofficial Savage Worlds setting with less actual game and less world content. And--I have to say this--I support inclusivity in gaming, and I think the emergence of safety caveats at the outset of rulebooks is a positive thing, but Hunters has turned it into the Theatre of the Absurd.
TL:DR: way too little meat on the bone, frequently infantalizing, good for kids.
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This game is fantastic, you get to be a group of teens exploring rumors in small towns like Stranger Things or Scooby-Doo. The system is very rules lite which allows you to focus more on the story. The ideas for the players making rumors is Awesome! I have stolen it and use it in other games run now.
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This supplement to the core rulebooks is very useful, as it provides settings and adventure seeds, as well as notable NPCs and rumors. While not stand-alone adventures right out of the box, they get the GM off to a good start and provide a framework for customizing your own settings and adventures with your players. I have barely scratched the surface, having run 2 seperate adventures in Sharon Hollow, one for two different groups. I even went to Google Maps and found a similarily sized town in Michigan, and used it as the basis for my Sharon Hollow setting.
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Great fun! The first time I ran this is was at a small local convention, I had never even played before, so in hindsight kind of risky, but with this game it was doable. It was a big hit, I got the full 8 player slots filled, ages ranged from about 10 to 50, we did character creation and played all in 3 hours. I have since run the game for kids and adults and always had a blast. Growing up on the original Scooby Doo and my kids growing up on Stranger Things, it is the perfect setting. With the light rules, a great way to introduce new players to RPGs.
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Love the game. It has a great feel and a simple yet effective dice system. I finally get to use ALL my dice!!!
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Though I like the system, it is essentially just “Cyberpunk.” The thing that makes “Altered Carbon” different from any other of the cyberpunk universes are the elder race, that are colloquially known as “Martians.” With in the story line, the Martians are responsible for and may still be acting through the technology that humanity currently utilizes. This gives the Altered Carbon story the feeling of a house built on a burial mound, but the Martians are barely given a mention in the core rule book. Here’s hoping that a source book on the subject comes out soon.
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