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This is a nice little monster lair that is designed to be tweaked a bit by the GM because it is a system-less mini-adventure. While I already had some specific encounters in mind and wanted the map more than anything else, the suggested encounters were well written and meshed well with my plans at least. I envisioned this small foray into a kobold lair as the prelude of a larger adventure, but that did not materialize for my group.
Overall, good writing with a nice map.
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A brilliant idea for an encounter when the GM wants to add something extra to a campaign, or even for those times when gamers drop over and want to play something on the spot. Each location includes a GM sheet with spaces to fill in details – Background, Key Locations, Encounters, and more, and thumbnails of the maps are reproduced on the in the corner for making notations. This is a fantastic idea for busy GMs who don’t have the time to build an entire encounter scenario for the upcoming game, or need just a bit of an inspiration boost.
The inclusion of maps in larger format for use in virtual table tops is a great bonus, and something that I hope will become more common with all RPG products in the future.
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A brilliant idea for an encounter when the GM wants to add something extra to a campaign, or even for those times when gamers drop over and want to play something on the spot. Each location includes a GM sheet with spaces to fill in details – Background, Key Locations, Encounters, and more, and thumbnails of the maps are reproduced on the in the corner for making notations. This is a fantastic idea for busy GMs who don’t have the time to build an entire encounter scenario for the upcoming game, or need just a bit of an inspiration boost.
The inclusion of maps in larger format for use in virtual table tops is a great bonus, and something that I hope will become more common with all RPG products in the future.
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A brilliant idea for an encounter when the GM wants to add something extra to a campaign, or even for those times when gamers drop over and want to play something on the spot. Each location includes a GM sheet with spaces to fill in details – Background, Key Locations, Encounters, and more, and thumbnails of the maps are reproduced on the in the corner for making notations. This is a fantastic idea for busy GMs who don’t have the time to build an entire encounter scenario for the upcoming game, or need just a bit of an inspiration boost.
The inclusion of maps in larger format for use in virtual table tops is a great bonus, and something that I hope will become more common with all RPG products in the future.
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Here's a rather intriguing religion that could easily become a central feature of a whole campaign!
Rarely seen, these star-gazing political commentators emerge only when they think a particular government or ruling dynasty has been in charge long enough and remain in public view only long enough to forment a revolution to overthrow them. Then it's back to their mountain fastnesses until the next time...
Being a generic resource, you will have to add necessary game mechanics to everything here, but there are excellent descriptions of beliefs, practices and NPCs to start you off. There is a rough sketch of one of their strongholds as well.
The product also abounds with ideas on how to incorporate the Temple of Celestial Revolution into your game - the characters may be bystanders or they may be involved on one side or the other from the outset, they might even precipitate events!
One thought (not mentioned) is that if you have a region with an oppressive regime and seed the place with legends and rumours about the Temple of Celestial Revolution, the characters might go seek them out and try to persuade them that now is the time to act! But what will be the response? Indeed, are they still there?
Have fun - I shall!
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Edge of Space is a lovely little d6-based sci-fi system that comes with its own basic space marine setting. Choose from one of 6 professions, then roll 4d6 and consult a table of skills for your profession. Rolling multiples of the same skill gives you more points in that skill. Come up with background and "Strings" that connect your PC with other PCs. Each PC has essentially 4 HP. That's your character.
For the core success/failure mechanic, roll 2d6 and add points in a relevant skill, trying to beat a target difficulty number. The system comes with a set of standard difficulties, from easy (4) to epic (14). There's even a simple mechanic for leveling up.
Most weapons deal 1-2 damage, and all have a range (in meters) and number of rounds.
The game also comes with information on the standard setting, which primarily consists of space marines against sentient alien bugs. You also get stats for 4 of these bugs.
Even better, your purchase includes a PocketMod version of the game, which you can print out for easy transportation and reference.
My only problem with the rules lies in the awkward grammar and odd word choices spread throughout the PDF. For example, the big galactic federation is referred to as a "banding of planetary governments," there are a lot of run-on sentences, and most of the setting description is composed of simple statements in a bland passive voice ("The Confederacy is...A senate is formed...Colonists are average citizens...The Space Marine Corps was formed...."). It doesn't communicate the big space action feel I expected in an action SF system like this. Fortunately, I'm sure this will be resolved in future editions, and it doesn't affect gameplay.
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This is a small game designed with a what appears to be a single purpose. That purpose is to have you read the rules, makes some characters and get playing, all in one session. The simplicity encompassed by this system is great, the careers, skills and strings (traits) are evocative and fit the theme.
There is just enough background info here to give you a taste for the alien bashing that the game is designed for.
Marines IN SPACE!
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for the review, glad you like the game! |
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If I need to run a quick, off-the-cuff game in the style of ALIENS, this would be it. Simple rules with a bit of depth to get a feel for your character, it's all you need to get dropped on some miserable rock of a planet for a bug hunt. It's EXACTLY what I want for a PocketMod game, at the price I like for a mini-game.
My only negative would be the mechanics behind Strings. While I LIKE Strings (connections to other characters), the way you use them to help others seems a bit wonky (a String roll resulting in 6 or higher is added to the other person's roll? seems a bit overpowered...maybe just add +2 to their roll?). But the rule about "burning" Strings is perfect, in my opinion.
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They say that your life flashes before your eyes before you die... devotees of THIS cult go out of their way to make sure that it happens! For this is not just a death cult, they are enthusiastic gatherers of knowledge even (or is that especially) from those who don't want to share it, and they also provide civic services: they run libraries and gaols.
It's unlikely many characters will want to join this cult, but they can provide an intriguing, useful and scary bunch to have around. They are quite happy to hire out to any lord or state that needs a gaol but doesn't particularly want to go to the trouble of running one, and even track down anyone who has the temerity to escape. As unlike many death cults they are as happy to embrace death as to inflict it on others, they make scary opponents - quite fearless in battle and very determined.
Leadership is loose, they claim to get directions from the deity through visions during near-death experiences... and as they are not afraid to die, they are quite happy to seek divine inspiration via this method. As gaolers they are quite brutal, and some warlords have been known to employ them to find things out from their captives as well as keep them imprisoned.
Once the nature of the cult has been described, along with different 'levels' from a mad old woman living in a cave to a territory-wide state sponsored subjugation run by devotees, you get sample NPCs and a list of their practices to add flavour to their presence. There are several adventure hooks to provide ideas on how to get them involved in your campaign. There's also a rough plan of a typical cult base, an underground prison/library built into a mountain behind a waterfall - a typical location for them.
Overall, there are a lot of good ideas if you are looking for inspiration, a well-developed (if quite nasty!) cult to incorporate into your campaign world. In a perverted sort of way, their teachings hang together, enough to make them sound as if they could exist within your alternate reality. Being a generic resource, you will have to do some work to fit them into your chosen ruleset - but provided you know your way around the game mechanics, there is plenty of detail here to help you to utilise them.
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Matt Jackson isn't the only RPG cartographer who has a distinctive personal style, Dyson Logos and Tony Dowler are both easily recognizable. Matt, however, is the only cartographer I know of who can draw a straight-up dungeon or cave system and make it whimsical without resorting to gimmicks.
When I first became aware of Matt five or six years ago, he was creating semi-photorealistic maps for Four Ugly Monsters. As an artist, designer, and erstwhile cartographer, his mapping skills made gave me that competitive feeling teenaged death metal guitarists get when they see someone better than them. Now, I'm not a man who cares much for photorealism in my fantasy gaming, so when Matt simplified his style to basic lines, I was blown away. It's amazing how much personality he manages to imbue in his maps with just a sharpie and few, if any, special effects.
Like all his other work, this collection of maps is full of creativity, humor and imagination, something sorely lacking in this hobby.
I eagerly await volume 3.
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I love maps. Ever since my first reading of Tolkien, maps have held a special place in my heart. From my cloth map of Ultima VI, to the Birthright campaign map, to the blue printed maps in the old TSR modules; maps permeate the hobby.
And Matt Jackson has been delivering fantastic maps. First he gaves Moleskin Maps I and now we have eleven more area maps in Moleskin Maps II.
Each map is two pages. The first page provides a small map and a worksheet for filling out the Location Name, Background, Key Locations, GM Notes, Wandering Encounters, and Major Treasure. The second page is the full-sized version of the small map.
As a GM you will need to do some work to populate the map; Then again, the GM is the best person to do the work.
Some of the maps are very simple structures with a few logical “rooms;” Others are more complicated structures with several rooms and passage ways.
If I had to name these locations I’d say go with:
- Fault line cave
- Bandit cave at the falls
- Collapsed tower and cave stores
- Fortification in the box canyon
- Dwarf crypt
- Shelter for the night
- Owlbear den
- River smugglers den
- Pit slave quarters
- Goblin warrens
- Gladiator arena monster’s lair
Moleskin Maps II is a fantastic compliment for your GM toolbox.
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for the review, we sincerely appreciate the kind words and hope you enjoy MM2! |
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Matt Jackson puts out some of the best maps. They are simple and easily usable for nearly any adventure. And I also love the format where there is a small subset of the map in the corner and the GM can develop the adventure. It's very easy and quick to use. As soon as I downloaded it within a half hour I already had two very cool adventures written. If your looking for a great maps and a quick way to develop an adventure give Matt's Moleskin Maps a try. I be getting Moleskin Map Volume Three.
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Pushed for time or just not very good at drawing maps... and got a game coming up? This might just be what you need: a series of hand-drawn encounter maps, suitable for some subterranean ramble (natural caves rather than a constructed dungeon location in the main, although some show evidence of deliberate modification) - all you need to do is decide where they are and what's going on there.
Each encounter map comes with a full-page sketch map you can lay on the table in front of your players and a handy planning sheet for your notes. This has a smaller version of the map and space for you to write some notes: background, key locations on the map, monsters and treasure. You'll have to print the page out and scribble longhand, though, it's not a form-fillable PDF. The 'notes map' is clear and with enough space for you to annotate it with monster positions or anything else - traps, maybe - for which precise location is important.
There is also a zip file with image files of all the maps (in .PNG format - so very scaleable to meet your needs without distortion) which you can annote with a graphics package if you prefer that to hand-drawn scribbles, or use with an online game system such as VTT if you are running your game online.
A useful little resource, if spelunking is on the agenda for your game.
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Save your dollar. Other than the most basic of character creation and task resolution there is nothing here resembling a game of any substance.
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Creator Reply: |
Mr Messina,
We have updated EoS with additional material, partly based on your comments as well as feedback from others. We invite you to take a look at the updated files and would appreciate your feedback and thoughts on the updated product.
Thank you,
Matt Jackson
CMG |
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I like Edge of Space a lot because it shows a lot of analysis and design. That said, it has some major issues, one of which being that it's so minimalistic that it's actually suffering for it, while there's some really, really good stuff there in terms of what could be expanded upon, it just doesn't do it and it kinda hurts. I recognize that there's something to be said for a game that can fit on just a few small pages, and if this were an entry for, say, Game Chef, it would be phenomenal. It's still a good game, but I'm just not feeling the pocket mod format, since it provides two formats it could very well be made with an examples and description "fluff" rich version and it would be a lot better, since at its short length (about 1300 words), it feels very good but still lacks some of the things that I'd like to see, namely at least some description of the alien menace, since as is it's not terribly engaging.
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for the review and your honesty. We are looking at your suggestion to expand the full size version of the game with more details on the setting and the aliens. We hope to have an expanded version completed soon. Thank you for the suggestion! |
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