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Though designed to emulate TSR's Marvel Super Heroes RPG, the 4C System makes an excellent basic foundation for any genre of role playing. The rules are simple, so getting a game started is a breeze. Definitely a great resource whether you're just looking for a quick supers pick up game, or planning to publish your own supplements or game. Get this one!
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Describing itself as a light-hearted science fantasy, this book dives straight in with a brief account of how the universe got to be in the state that it is. Back in the mists of time, two black holes were orbiting around each other, causing a rift that allowed 'magic' into this universe... and created the myths and legends of spellcasting wizards, elves and dwarves and dragons and the like. Then the black holes gobbled each other up, and magic began to fade away. One powerful wizard was not impressed and set out to make his own gate to the other dimension... and he almost made it, except his life-support spell failed at the last moment and his final spoken words of power did not carry to the carefully-inscribed gate as sound does not, of course, travel in a vacuum.
Time passed, magic faded away to the substance of legend, and technology held sway. By the year 2194, mankind was scampering all over the Solar System, and one prospector - looking for irridium - came across the partially-completed gate... and managed to trigger it. The other dimensional energies flooded back into this universe, causing many changes - magic flared up, wild mutations changed many people into creatures of legend... and nothing was the same again. Advanced technology and high wizardry live in uneasy relationship, as they conflict you can only be good at one or the other.
After a scene-setting introduction scarcely longer than the above, the book gets on with character creation. Using the basic Fudge system, characters may be generated using a point-build system or by a more free-format method of describing in great detail what the character is to be like, and then matching that description to the attributes, abilities, skills and special powers available. While it is not mandatory, most people conform to the basal technology and magical levels for their homeworld (or, if they have moved around a lot, wherever they spent their formative years). Some places are more tolerant of magic than others... on Luna it can be difficult for the hapless mage to buy air!
Chapter 3 deals with Supernormal Powers. Each character starts with 3 Supernormal Power slots, which may be used to buy cybernetics, supernatural talents (think wild magic, untrained, uncontrolled and often unreliable) or magic ability (trained wizardry). There is also the possibility of becoming a shapeshifter and being able to change your gender, photosynthesise or grow wings - to give a few examples - at will.
Next comes Chapter 4: Actions & Combat, which explains in detail how the game mechanics work - unless you want to tweak the rules, there's no need to own a copy of the basic Fudge rules, it's all here. There's everything you need to know: action resolution, opposed and not; combat with anything from your fists to a nuclear device; magic duels, and any other way you can think of to do harm - exposure, radiation, poisons and so on.
Chapter 5 looks at Magic. How to become a magician, how it interacts with technology, the sorts of things that you can do with it... There are several different sorts of magic you can learn, each being treated as a separate skill: Conjuration, Enchantment, Esper, Kinetics, Necromancy, Psionics and Summoning. (Espers affect perception, Kinetics make things move, while Psionics act on the mind.) Even once you have got the hang of a particular style of magic, you still have to learn how to cast each individual spell - and most people find them easier to cast from 'crib notes' than from memory, although some can be memorised. It's quicker by far to cast from memory, of course. You also need to expend Magic Points to make something happen. Like most 'traditional' magics, you can enchant items, attract a familiar to your side and so on.
As you might expect, the next chapter looks at Technology in similar detail. There are a range of Tech Levels from -10 (stones used for counting) through to +10 (the limits of Lunar tech), with current 'real world' technology pegged at about -1. There's a bit about repairing things, and the sort of equipment and armour that characters will be able to kit themselves out with. Then we get onto the weapons available, a dizzying range of means of dealing death ranging from grenades to firearms (in Fudge, melee weapons do damage based on the wielder's Strength, so there isn't much need to list them here). Drugs, computers, starships and the mechanics of space flight round off the chapter...
And lead neatly into the next one, Tourist's Guide to the Solar System - one of the bits it is recommended that both players and GMs read before the game. Each planet, moon, asteroid, etc., is provided with basic data such as gravity, atmosphere, daylength, etc.; and with notes on the sort of technology found there, their attitude to magicians and a description of the general appearance, products and lifestyle in that location.
The final 2 chapters - Game Master's Guide and Secrets of the Universe - are best left for the GM's eyes alone. Much of the advice addressed to GMs is applicable whatever you intend to run, although naturally focussed on Gatecrasher. There are suggestions for the sort of adventures and campaigns that might fit in, with a mix of 'normal' adventuring and the oddball fantastic to which this setting is ideally suited. There are notes on customising the game system, and on defining your prefered style for things like combat - cinematic or realistic, that kind of thing - and magic (do people need 'material components' to cast spells?) as well as a fine collection of random curses.
That last chapter, Secrets of the Universe, is really just for people intending to GM Gatecrasher, as it runs through the history of the solar system as it really happened - everything the characters will hear is coloured by the perceptions and 'party line' of the government they live under. There's also the lowdown on each planet, moon and asteroid... never mind what they tell the tourists! There are also various special-interest groups who may prove friend or foe, employer, companions or opposition to the characters; and an explanation of the way in which magic and technology really interact. Legends, Gods and 'Random Icky Things' (more prosaically known as monsters) round this off.
If you are a very serious role-player, this may not be the game for you, but if you enjoy a bit of a laugh as well this could prove a pleasant interlude.
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A useful description for Runequest of worship of elemental water. The creation story, Sea Sleep and Tap Spring are especially nice. Editing has missed quite a bit and the spelling of the deity's name seems to ebb and flow like the tide.
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Even if you weren't a fan of the original Marvel Super Hero rpg, the system was clean and very stable. And now 4C brings the system back with a good solid basis that truly can be used for any genre, and at any power level. 4C does away with convoluted concepts and additional rules that sometimes run counter-intuitively against the action resolution process.
I was able to print out the 32 page basic core rules and have my players create characters and play an actual game within an hour! And best of all, they understood the rules without raised eyebrows and a lot of head scratching. AND my 15yo daughter said it wouldn't be easy going back to picking pockets in that "other game system" after having created a character that was able to throw a train car through a tunnel wall!
4C is supported by dozens of old MSH fan sites as well as several new websites, so download the rules, surf the web, and get playing tonight.
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Open Core can be defined as a point-based system with two basic attributes (body/mind) and six derived ones (life, movement, defense, initiative, toughness and perception) and the possibility of specializing your character in a specific application of the basic attributes by taking certain abilities. You also have a short list of standard which can also be further specialized by taking abilities. You must also choose one or more descriptors and both a virtue and a vice which describe your character's nature.
Abilities are effect-based (à la Hero system or BESM) and allow you to replicate any kind of special powers and perks (superpowers, magic, psionics, contacts, etc.). You can also buy disabilities to get a few more points to complete your design.
A 3d6 roll plus the applicable attribute and abilities is made against a target number for all tasks. Rules are included for combat, experience, exposure, etc.
The download also includes a supplemental file with detailed rules for guns and weapons and an abstract wealth system. A simplified mecha/vehicle construction system in the same vein would be an excellent addition.
What we have here is an streamlined mixture of Action! system rules and BESM/Open Core rules for powers and special abilities. It is not terribly innovative or groundbreaking, but it certainly is a lighter "traditional-style" alternative to other more heavy systems out there which many gamers might find interesting.
It is definitely worth a look and offers a lot of content for the price.
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Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane (#2) is a collection of new spells and magic for D&D/D20 Fantasy by Aren Arendsen and published by Seraphim Guard. It is a nine-page product (eight after OGL) with decorated borders and two pieces of black and white art (one, presumably of Iap, reused from the first volume).
The main body of the product is fifteen new spells, all credited to the mysterious Iap, almost all are non-combat spells, though some could have application in combat to a creative mind. Non-combat oriented and creative spells are always a welcome addition to the books of magic. A few of the spells build on the spells contained in the first Practical Guide (though that product is not needed). There are spells for copying items, spells for transportation, even one spell (Iap’s Planar Domain) that creates your own perfect “home away from home”a pocket dimension of your own, lastly there are a pair of spells that permanently change a character by manipulating feat selection. Many of Iap’s spells are quite powerful for their level and several could easily cause problems in a campaign. However, that caveat having been stated, they are quite inventive and interesting.
Five magic items, based on the spells included, conclude the product and, again, some are above the power curve but quite interesting.
Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane, volume two, like the first volume, is useful for inspiration but the game balance of the spells must be checked carefully against what is wanted in a campaign.
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Iap’s Practical Guide to the Arcane (#1) is a collection of new spells and magic for D&D/D20 Fantasy by Aren Arendsen and published by Seraphim Guard. It is a seven-page product (six after OGL) with decorated borders and a few nice pieces of black and white art.
The main body of the product is fifteen spells all credited to the mysterious Iap (though a Minos is accidentally referred to instead in one of the spells), the majority of them are non-combat spells, a field that can stand considerable expansion. The ideas for the spells are nearly all excellent: magical palanquins to all travel in comfort, a set of spells (“Iap’s Spell Hanger(s)”) that holds other spells for later use, another that creates an extradimensional pocket, one that make a temporary crude shelter and more. Excellent ideas all, but the execution is flawed. In many cases the duration is too long (who needs to buy a bag of holding when you can use a spell for the same effect and minimal cost?) or the effect too good when compared with equivalent level spells or break the usual rules with no significant cost (the Spell Hanger spells).
Three magic items, which also suffer from being entirely underpriced for their effect, and a new feat, which seems balanced (though requiring a full round casting time to gain its benefit would also be reasonable) and encourages creative use of non-combat spells.
Iap’s Guide is useful for inspiration but the power levels of the spells must be checked carefully before allowing them into a campaign.
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Iap's Practical Guide to the Arcane is a short d20 book of new spells. The product is just under two megabytes, and contains a single PDF. This is seven pages long, including a page for the OGL. No bookmarks or table of contents is given.
While short, there is some artwork to be found here. All of the pages are bordered on all sides by a flowery black and white border that is quite pretty to look at. There?s also two black and white images tucked away amidst the new spells. There shouldn't be, in other words, too much trouble if you want to print this out. All but the feeblest printers should be able to handle a few pages of this.
There's no introduction of opening here. The book immediately begins with the new spells, all of which are named after Iap (which is apparently short for Iapetus). Several of these are the same spell at increasing levels of power; Iap's Handy Palanquin is a stronger version of Iap's Floating Throne, etc. Several of these seem to be reworked versions of spells from the PHB, such as Iap's Diminutizer being a different version of Reduce Person. In some cases, these work nicely (one spell is like a less powerful version of Contingency, which is nice for lower-level spellcasters), but in others, they don't seem to be as well defined as the original (the Diminutizer Spell, for example, talks about reducing a character's dimensions, but nothing about size categories). Three new magic items based on the new spells, and a single new feat, round out the book.
The bad news is that Iap's Practical Guide to the Arcane is a book whose spells are hit and miss. The good news is that, overall, it hits more than it misses. There are several very good spells here, and it's definitely worth the download price. This is a good book to round out a mage's utility magic.
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<b>LIKED</b>: Several of the new spells here are quite handy, either as original ideas (such as the floating throne spells) or as lower-level versions of existing spells.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A few of the spells didn't seem as good as spells they were obviously based on.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Finally! Some magic spells for Fudge Scholarly Magic, as seen in the free RPG Fudge (the SRD version at www.fudgerpg.com).
Although only structred into two groups (low level cantrips and everything else, including magic items and herb/alchemy spells), this is a good starter for Fudge GMs.
Note there are small changes from the Fudge SRD and that the primary audience for this is HeartQuest (Seraphim Guard).<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Good, broad grouping.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Very different from Degrees of Magic (which was known as Scholarly Magic on Stefan O'Sullivan's website -- see the PDF), I thought the spells could be a bit more catagorized. Or not.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
Hello. We just wanted to take a moment to let people know that the changes from the Fudge SRD to what was used in Fudge Magic: 50 Magic Spells was minimal at best. The name of the Shamanism Scholarly Magic skill was changed to Spirit Scholarly Magic (to make it more generic) and the amount of mana given to a character from purchasing the Scholarly Magic gift was doubled from 5 pts. to 10 pts. Plus a couple of the spells use an attribute from HeartQuest. The changes were kept to a minimum in order to make sure that these spells would be as compatible as possible with people using the Fantasy Fudge rules.
The broadness was also intentional. This is the "entry" product into our Fudge Magic line. Sales permitting, more specific future supplements will be available. |
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Pretty much what it says: D&D goblinoids ported to RuneQuest.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Short, to the point, cheap.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: In a way I would have liked to have seen one or more alternate takes on the standard D&D species. Maybe not volumes of cultural background, more like different ways of using goblinoids (e.g. Eberron civilized goblins, or disciplined Midnight orcs)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Five Classic Fantasy Monsters delivers exactly what it promises (that being five fantasy monsters plus two bonus monsters...the rides of a coule of the monsters). This book contains Runequest write-ups for goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres and orcs. Just like the text describes, these are some of the staples of fantasy monsters and will be of a great deal of use for those GMs who are looking for more monsters to throw at the player characters in their campaigns.
Keep in mind that this is exactly what is described: a no frills supplements that gets right to the point without a lot of extraneous fluff. There are also no illustrations in the book, which may turn some off but I didn't find that the lack of art actually got in the way of use of these monsters.
The quality of the writing is high and the content is solid. I think that this is a supplement that will find a lot of utility at the gaming table. <br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Simple, clean layout that encourages printability. The book is easy to read and contains very good content, everything is potentially useful without a lot of extraneous waste.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I don't mind the fact that this isn't illustrated (since that is mentioned as one of the cost cutters), but it would be nice if the creatures were described a bit to take the place of the illustrations. Solid descriptive text that can be used by the Runequest GM would be useful.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Livin' on a Dream could be considered the best of the HeartQuest line of products, aside from the rules themselves. It blends good writing with good artwork and uses it to present a setting and campaign that one wouldn't consider a typical one for an RPG: the quest of a group of young dancers to win a summertime dance competition and the various summertime activities that they get involved in. Essentially, it's a very normal slice-of-life campaign of following the characters' dreams, with no powers or supernatural elements to it, which fits right in with the shoujo anime and manga themes that are at the core of HeartQuest.
It starts off with an introduction to the campaign setting and tone, as well as the explaining how the book's set up. Of particular interest is the section discussing the setting (Fukuoka City and Sandy Side Beach), along with the differences between the real version of it and the version as presented in the book. It shows how much thought went into creating the setting.
This is followed up with a very extensive chapter on characters. A lot of creativity went into creating the various character backgrounds (accompanied by stats in most cases), both main and supporting characters. There's also a subsection on roleplaying in the setting and getting the tone right, with much discouragement of combat (despite the presence of gang members among NPCs) and discussion of relationships in Japanese youth culture.
After that, the book gets into the various locations in the campaign setting, as well as running the campaign and various scenarios to run for the players. Again, a lot of thought went into setting up the city in which the characters live, giving it more depth than one might expect. Getting into the campaign chapter, alongside the main scenarios, there's also a list of possible random ones to insert to change things around a little (of course, players have their own ways of doing that by themselves!). Finally, there's the Extras chapter with various maps and references, as well as music suggestions to get folks into the right tone (no pun intended...awww...who am I fooling?).
The writings is very good, especially when describing the characters and places they can be found in, and the artwork's wonderful for the most part (even the pieces that aren't as good are still of good quality). Editing's pretty good as well...not perfect, but pretty good. All in all, this could be considered a must-get for any HeartQuest fan.
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<b>LIKED</b>: The writing and the artwork, both of which contribute towards creating a great setting to play in.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Can't really think of anything not to like about it<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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As one of the source books available for Seraphim Guard's HeartQuest RPG, Musical Mistresses is a solid addition to the HeartQuest library. It provides a magical girl setting for the game that can be played either tongue-in-cheek or more seriously, depending on which set of villains is chosen as antagonists for a campaign. Even if you're not intending to use the setting in either tone, it does provide some good examples and pointers for setting up your own magical girl campaign.
The book opens up with a bit of game fiction introducing the three Musical Mistresses and one of the villains, showing off the more tongue-in-cheek style of play, followed by a proper introduction to the setting. The characters section gives some pointers for creating your own Musical Mistresses, as well as providing the backstories and stats of the three main ones as well as villains and other NPCs (a few NPCs don't get stats, but they're fairly minor ones for the most part).
Once you've gotten your characters set up or chosen, it throws three adventures of different tones of play at you. One with the Phantom Thief (the more light-hearted villain), one with the Po 'Kran (the somewhat more serious one), and one with a rival classmate (the obligatory school ?queen?). The adventures are playable in their own right, but also provide some good examples of how to set up Musical Mistresses adventures of your own.
Following up on this is the Extras chapter, which is more of an appendix. It provides opening and closing themes as well as references that are a hallmark of most of the HeartQuest line. These would be a glossary and a list of recommended series for those new to the magical girl genre of anime.
Overall, the writing, editing, and layout is quite good, and very printer-friendly. The writing in particular tends to lean towards a more casual, tongue-in-cheek tone that adds to the fun of reading through the book. However, the artwork is hit-or-miss, with a few pieces that are nicely done, and more than a few that could've stood some improvement at the very least. That being said, Musical Mistresses is a fine addition to one's HeartQuest library, or to one's anime RPG library in general.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Very fun tone and good writing, as well as useful pointers and examples for other magical girl campaigns.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the artwork could've been much better.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Another great adventure with ideas for campaigns for the Fudge system.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Steel Roses and Mecha Aces for Fudge are very similar in their approach to the animie mecha system. Both are excellent. I have both and use them both. One has more adventures and more settings, one has more information on playing robot characters (artificial intelligence) or to have robots as NPCs barely under control of the players. Amazing stuff, this.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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