Very versatile game with lots of tools to promote a Sci-Fi game from Opera types to Gritty. We've started some "Firefly"-esque characters and hope to continue with the campaign.

I and my players like the depth and development of characters during creation. It gives variety but control to the players. Love the Career Development that promotes player contributions and character strengths.

Combat works well and does not bog down. One can use Tactical Maps or Theater of the Mind. The non-combat was also well done and not just a series of skill rolls. There was some challenge and tension in some of the scenario.

In summary: a customizalbe and nicely done sci-fi game. Also, you could probably do a Fantasy Sci-fi cross-over (ie He-Man, Thundar, etc) with the tools contained.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

The 11th module of the groundbreaking Zeitgeist AP clocks in at a massive 90 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with a massive 85 pages of content, so let's take a look!

This is an adventure-review and as such, it contains SPOILERS. Potential players should definitely jump to the conclusion. You do NOT want to SPOIL this saga for yourself.

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All right, only prospective GMs around? Sure? All right! The sun and stars are gone and the dread conspiracy of the Obscurati control the world, with the nation of Risur being the sole bastion against the powers that redefined a world's very fundamental rules. In the last adventure, Godmind, the PCs not only will have duked it out with creatures far beyond what most APs deliver as final bosses; they also saved Cherage, capital of Danor, from a fate most horrific and undermined the conspiracy's influence in global politics...and if Danor thus drags its feet, Risur will have at least some time...but ultimately, it is but a matter of time before the nation falls under the combined military force of the obscurati.

Unbeknown to the nations of Ber, Drakr and Crissillyr, there are not in for easy pickings and the calamities that befell Danor would only be heralds of the dread things to come. Now here, the module branches a bit in playstyles: If you want to go full-blown Justice League, swooping in via an airship will have you covered - and yes, including travel distances handily collected in a table. If you prefer (more likely, imho) more deliberate planning and smarter moves as a modus operandi after a whole campaign of intrigue and espionage, then the module supports that playstyle as well.

I was talking about apocalyptic calamities, right? Well, turns out breaking the Axis Seal did open the world to interlopers: The dread Gidim have taken root within the nation of ber, feeding on the psychic forces of the populace; via infiltration and invisible eye-like oculi patrolling the streets - the PCs are contacted by the executores dola liberta, an elite cadre of Berian lawkeeping women - which will bring them, quite probably, to Berian Ursaliña - a land, whose ruler Bruce Shantus may well have been saved by the adventurers in module #6. Glaucia, a gnoll and one of the executores, has detected that something is amiss and offers an alliance if the PCs look into the whole matter - and as they discuss matters, the first assassination attempt is sprung, as high-level Ob killers attack-

A timeline for the Ursaliña-investigation is provided and the PCs better don't drag their feet, as the gidim 's cerebreal mesh is draining the spirits of the locals, slowly building towards a massive cataclysm for the country and perhaps even the world - think of the whole investigation here, with numerous social scenes, as a combination of "reap what you have sown" meeting a dystopian, spirit-draining surveillance state engendered by a grey eminence. The strangely apathetic and sad populace, the requirement for high-level tricks to avoid get past the forces of the gidim - the whole section has a very unique flavor I haven't seen done before in PFRPG, where high-level modules tend to become either sandboxes, epic crawls or combinations thereof due to the system-inherent limitations. While the section cannot possibly account for all player capabilities at this level, it does a neat job - and yes, dealing with gidim bases and meeting up with old aquaintances who may have switched sides in the Obscurati's new world render this section a rewarding experience indeed.

Ultimately, though, the PCs will have to find the massive gidim leviathan hidden in the nation - a collossal ship of flesh and steel - think of it as a disturbing, quasi-cthulhoid THING. Now, obviously it will take off and attack and ship-to-ship combat is a very real chance...unfortunately using teh rather bad naval combat rules employed by the AP - I'd strongly suggest using Frog God Games' Fire as She Bears instead...or go for the imho more interesting route: You see, the authors seem to have understood that not everyone enjoys the rules employed and thus, the interior of the leviathan is actually mapped like a living dungeon. So yes, infiltrating the thing, an appropriately epic undertaking, may thwart the imminent feeding of the gidim homeworld...provided the PCs can prevail against the powerful gidim commander.

So that would be the first threat of apocalpytic proportions. Well, guess what? Drakr has seen better days as well: Grandis Komanov's army of doomsday eschatologists besiege Bhad Ryzhavdut, bolstered by not 4, but 5 legendary riders, this world's 4-horsemen analogue if you will, to reclaim the eye of the dread fey titan Voice of Rot. Oh, and the riders? Well, they're now undead titans. Granted, one may well betry the others out of spite...but still. The issue is not simply stopping the exceedingly powerful messiah of the end-times...it is about stopping the very idea that has infected the minds of eschatologists - and so, while confrontation, warfare and the like may well be possible takes on the issue, actually managing to destroy the eschatologist hivemind, their endzeitgeist, if you will (that was weird to write!) may be the smartest and most prudent thing to do.

This is not the end, stopping an army of doomsday cultists is not the high point of this module - Morgan Cippiano asks for assistance on behalf of the ecclesiastical monarchy Crisillyir: The sacrament of apotheosis, which may have been in the hands of the dread eschatologist mastermind, but it most definitely has found its way into the hands of former Godhand Vitus Sigismund - and he is holding public trials for the deities of the world, sentencing them to death for their crimes...and actually KILLS THE GODS. Every two days, a god falls - and with the deity, a lot of the followers fall as well. Stakes high enough for you? Once again, there are quite a few means to handle Vitus Sigismund and actually find the ritual of the axis seal, which may be the only hope for the world...but how to go about everything? Consulting with the powerful Dons, the PCs will have to establish a strategy and while multiple courses of actions are possible, the most rewarding would pertain the journal of Triegenes, held within the dread Crypta Hereticarum - so there is a good chance that this is where the PCs will go. Oh, have I mentioned that the heavenly host, bound by powerful vows, is actually on the side of Vitus? Arrival at the tainted place may not only allow the PCs to reconnect with a powerful demon, Ashima-Shimtu, and free her...it also well may pit the PCs against a whole host of angels, as the breaking of the Axis Seal brings millennia of prayers down upon the place to eradicate everything inside...including, potentially, the journal they need to save the deities. Oh, and even if the PCs succeed here, they still have to actually win the trial - for, like before, the true fight is not about slaying foes, it's about establishing the supremacy of ideas over one another. Unfortunately, Vitus does not take kindly to being defeated...and conjures forth a nice little 300-feet lava dragon. Oh, and the PCs don't have the power of Risur's rulership to back them up...but they do have an airship and hopefully the avatar of Triegenes...but still: Cr 25, if you're interested...the thing is a genocide machine and defeating it will take serious creativity...oh, and aforementioned demon...she may make for an alternate boss as well.

The pdf comes with several handouts - news, a primer on the horrible defensive situation of Risur, maps and letters - the supplemental material is, as we've come to expect, of high quality.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, no complaints in that department. Layout adheres to EN Publishing's two-column full-color standard and the module comes fully bookmarked for your convenience with nested bookmarks. The artworks range from awesome to solid and generally are full-color with few b/w-stock images thrown in. The pdf is layered and lets you eliminate the graphics on the borders etc. to make it less draining on the printer - kudos!

Liz Courts and Ryan Nock deliver basically 3 evocative campaign-ender modules in one; each of the chapters in this book features the epic depths and stakes one usually only sees in a campaign finisher...and there are 2 modules to come beyond this one! While Zeitgeist has always cheated a bit with the rules and precise modifications of how specific components work, with the breaking of the axis seal and the unfettering of magics, that has gone...and the module embraces the issues of high-level adventuring in a smart way: Instead of focusing on slogs, whittling down PCs in drawn-out battles and grinding everything down to a crawl, the book and the AP's focus on ideologies and ROLEplaying, the means to influence whole nations and ideologies, makes this module stand out. The minor weaknesses of the AP can still be found - when I see a DC 15 check at these levels, I shake my head and there are some minor deviations in the implicit conventions of what type of check a certain action would require to resist. This does take a massive backseat, though; this module's selling point (and that holds true for the whole AP, as far as I'm concerned) were not the mechanics.

It was always the story that dares to demand smart and engaged players and GMs, that dares to weave a yarn beyond the old structures, that focuses on roleplaying and consequences, on free will and the interactions of unique ideologies. In contrast to the old "then the world is doomed" scenarios, here, the stakes REALLY feel high; bereft of the tools that helped them defeat the forces of the fey titans, the PCs this time around are reduced to their wits and considerable, demigod-like powers - and not to slay another demon lord, prevent another meteor...this time, nations and all its inhabitants are at stake; people the PCs know...and their deaths would not even be the damn point of the whole thing! The world turns towards annihilation and it is up to the PCs to try to halt its inexorable spin towards calamity.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of opportunity for the PCs to flex their level 19 muscles against foes that are actually worth going up against - but the true achievement of this module is to one up the threats faced in the installment #10: There is, at least for the thinking woman/man (which I assume your group belongs to if this module interests you) more satisfaction in the awesome roleplaying this requires; there is simply more at stake than just fighting titanic beings - this module depicts the war on the very souls and minds of a world. How much more epic can you get? We'll see. Two modules to go.

Is this perfect? No. But it is one absolutely superb module and at this level-range, the only other module I'd consider on par with it, but with a completely different focus, would be the legendary Colliseum Morpheuon, which handles the challenges of highest level gameplay in a radically different way. In short: This is an excellent high level module that transcends in scope and stakes just about every module I know. 5 stars + seal of approval; this further fortifies Zeitgeist's status as the premium ROLEplayer's AP and with only 2 modules left to drop the ball, it is already a monument to smart storytelling.

Endzeitgeist out.

W.O.I.N. N.E.W. RPG is a solid and versatile roleplaying system. I would recommend this rpg and book for any science fiction fans and others who have an interest in running or playing a science fiction game.

For the gamemaster, the game is a tool kit that allows you to add elements and options to create a universe that is alive and dynamic. The game offers different styles of play from the hardcore science fiction to space opera. The book allows options for creating new species and careers, which I really enjoy with the ability to expand upon what is provided. The different play styles between tactical and theatre of the mind are excellent options to help the gamemaster to adapt the game to the gaming group's preference.

For the player, the options provided in the book allow the player to customize the character to fit their idea of what the player wants to play. The open skills system allows the players to be creative in the development of skills that can be useful within the game. As stated above for the gamemaster, the ability to create new races and careers allows players to expand the selection of species to use within a particular game.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this game for roleplayers. I have run the game frequently with a group and the system is efficient and allows for fast and exciting action scenes without being over complicated. It is this fast learning curve and versatility that captures the essence of a true science fiction roleplaying game.

First I'll summarize my opinion on the game. It's great! You should get it. That being done here's a quick list of pros and cons followed by my, likely rambling, opinions on some of the highlights.

Pros Flexible character creation. Huge number of character options. Simple, flexible psionic rules. Variety of gear to cover many sci-fi universes. Fairly simple space travel. Star ship combat that involves multiple PCs on one ship. Guidelines for making a setting. Useful scale for technology levels. Rules for making star systems. Useful guidelines for making your own everything. Random tables for inspiration. Great Art.

Cons The options could be overwhelming for new gamers. There are only a few sample space ships.

This is the best sci-fi toolbox system I've ever used. You can build a very wide range of universes, or multiverses, with N.E.W. A GM can choose what technology advancement level everyone has access to, choose where on the scale of hard/soft sci-fi the game will be, decide if psionics or cybernetics are present, and set the PC species and careers to make whatever they want. You can really make the game your own.

Character creation is great in this game. You choose your species and then a series of career grades. Each grade increases your abilities and age. You build your character's history while you build your stats. I love the range of character options. There are several species to represent iconic alien types and a ton of careers, but better than that there are good guidelines for making more of your own. N.E.W. provides you with star knights (think Jedi), pilots, medics, star marines, drifters, smugglers, psi-cops, and many others. If you think of some other career your setting needs you have the tools to make it. Species and careers are made up of attribute increases, skill increases, and exploits (like feats and class abilities in D&D). All of those parts combine to define what your character can do. The guidelines in the Building A Universe chapter tell you how to put those parts together to create even more options. That chapter also has guidelines and tips for everything else you might need to make your universe as detailed as you want. There's a section that has guidelines and tables to build star systems and worlds. It gives you plenty of detail without being overwhelming. It seems quite a bit of homework was done for this section of the book. Different types of stars and planets are described, as well as various space phenomena to keep travel interesting.

Once you get done playing with all the building blocks and actually start playing the game it's really fun. All those various choices you can make to build the setting and your characters make them unique and make them feel different in play. Each PC will likely play quite differently, unless they tried to match up their abilities. The system uses a dice pool mechanic with six-sided dice. You add dice from attributes, skills, and high quality equipment. Then apply situational modifiers. That basic routine is the core of basically everything. It's easy to get a grip on and it's flexible. Combat includes a variety of tactical choices that apply modifiers to attacks and defenses. Position plays an important role in any combat. Holding still for long periods makes you an easier target. So moving and taking cover tend to be important. Of course, if you want to be a melee character there are character options that can make that very effective. I've seen an android marine with a titanium two-handed sword in play. It darted and wove between space pirates, laying them low while they tried to shoot blasters at it. The game includes these tactical elements, but surprisingly it doesn't bog down game play. Combats run quickly, and the tactical choices aren't just abstract game mechanics. They follow logic that's easy to grasp.

It's also worth mentioning that this book looks great. The art is fantastic. There are illustrations showing a wide range of characters, futuristic tech, space vistas, and more. It makes just looking through the book interesting. The overall presentation and layout are quite good as well. The presentation of this game is on par with the biggest RPGs.

All in all this is a great game. I highly recommend it, and the next time I have a cool sci-fi idea this'll be the game I run. The only downsides are that a multitude of options sometimes overwhelms newer RPG players and there aren't many star ships. These problems are pretty minor. The first is common in games with a lot of options and , I think, best handled by guidance from more experienced players. The lack of ships is understandable given that books typically have constraints on length. There are enough ships to get by for a little while and to make up some others by modifying those, but if you want detailed rules for building ships you need a companion piece to this, the Starship Construction Manual.

My group is looking for our next game when our current 5E campaign wraps up and had mentioned sci fi, so I bought a copy of NEW while it's on sale. I was absolutely blown away! Not only is the system innovative and really well thought-out, but the presentation is very slick and professional. I like the interoperability with the fantasy and contemporary action games, but NEW can definitely stand on its own. I think the decision to go with a crunch-heavy, fluff-agnostic game was a great one as I can see the rules being easily adapted to all sorts of settings, both homemade and based on existing books, movies, and TV shows.

There are a few quibbles. The book really could have used a good proofreading pass. There's nothing disastrous or incomprehensible, but there are a few more than the average number of typographical errors. Given the otherwise incredibly professional presentation, that's a bit of a disappointment. There's also basically no creatures and very few starship designs, both of which can be easily rectified by the Starship Construction Manual and the upcoming bestiary, but it does make it feel a bit less like a "turn-key" RPG.

Still, those are minor complaints, and overall, it's a fantastic game. I can't wait to give it a try at the table, and I'm definitely looking forward to NOW and OLD.

TLDR: Really awesome game!

We've played several tester sessions with my group and are now graduating onto a full campaign. It's a lot of fun and gives a proper toolbox for Sci-Fi play. We've played some decent 'firefly' style light and punchy short sessions and are now building a Trek inspired 'troupe style' space oddessy - it's going to be great!

I've particularly enjoyed the crunch and depth in character creation, which gives a lot of control and variety. The career development system helps match a story to a character... the exploits ensure characters are each quite different with clear strengths.

What is particularly great is that the 'at table' play is pleasantly rapid. Combat flows nicely and doesn't bog down, works well with or without a tactical map. Non combat, there are some decent work ups for challenge resolution and it felt like everyone could pitch in. We had a really tense repair scenario that worked well - good mix of roleplaying and some tense dice!

Adjustable character creation and flowy at the table. It's the ideal mixture for me.

If you have the slightest interest in sci fi, pick it up and have a look!

Pros Guidelines for making a setting. Useful scale for technology levels. Rules for making star systems. Useful guidelines for making your own everything. Random tables for inspiration. Great art.

Cons No bookmarks or hyperlinks.

This book has guidelines for creating anything you need for your N.E.W. games. WOIN is very much a toolbox kind of game. You use the pieces that make your setting what you want it to be. Building A Universe tells you how to make those pieces. This book is vital for anyone starting a sci-fi campaign for WOIN. Several parts would also be useful for other systems.

There's a detailed section for creating star systems. It's surprisingly detailed and if you're stuck there are random tables. You can tell the author did his homework for this. There's a variety of star and planet types and other astronomical features. This part would be good even you were running another game entirely.

Among the world building guidelines there's a useful scale for technology to determine what kind of ships and gear will be used. You combine the advancement level with a genre rating, from hard sci-fi to science fantasy, to get a rating to use with the Starship Construction Manual and Future Equipment. Future Equipment also had rules for being in organizations. This book has rules for making those organizations. It covers everything from small teams to empires.

My favorite parts of the book are the sections on creating species and careers. I think making your own options for the players goes a long way toward personalizing a setting. There are good guidelines for making these game components and others.

There's also an in depth creature/NPC creation section. I find this an important thing in any game. The guidelines are pretty detailed, but not too complicated.

This book has suggestions and guidelines to make almost everything in the game. It doesn't cover vehicles or starships. Those are covered in their own books. The upcoming Redline for vehicles and the Starship Construction Manual, already available.

There are a lot of suggestions and random tables to give you inspiration. The campaign building guidelines ask questions to help you fill in the blanks for your game.

All of this is enhanced by excellent art. This seems to be a standard for EN Publishing, and certainly adds to the value of an already great book.

The only flaw is a lack of navigational aids. There are no bookmarks or hyperlinks.

Pros Detailed ship building. Lots of options. Beautiful art.

Cons Detail may be too much for some. Sloppy bookmarks.

This book allows you to create and modify starships for N.E.W. These ships are just what you need to fully use the Space book for WOIN.

There are step by step instructions for choosing all the parts. You choose hull size, FTL engines, sub-light engines, shields, weapons, crew recreation facilities, and more. There's an impressive variety of options for your own personal starship. A GM could populate an entire universe with this. There are also several example ships that are good standard ships for common roles in a game.

This book is great for players into building and customizing things in their games. Each part of a ship interacts with other parts to form the final stats for the ship. For example, the range of your weaponry is influenced by how good your sensors are. If you're overwhelmed by huge lists of options this book might be a bit much for you, but if options are what you want it's just about perfect.

The art in this book is phenomenal. I've mentioned art in reviews for other WOIN products. It has been great in all of them. There's a variety of excellent starship and space themed art, and a lot of art throughout.

The only complaint I have with this book is that the bookmarks are sloppy, but there are bookmarks and a hyperlinked table of contents. It's still quite easy to navigate.

This book is an excellent resource for space faring games. There's also a ship building online app at woinrpg.com that works with these rules. You can build a ship on the website to get all the stats. The book and the app are very useful combination.

Pros Fairly simple space travel. Star ship combat that involves multiple PCs on one ship. Great art.

Cons No bookmarks or hyperlinks. Only includes a couple of sample ships.

This book covers what you need for space travel in a game of N.E.W. The rules cover a lot of scientific anomalies to spice things up, but the rules are fairly simple. There are rules for faster than light travel and sub-light travel. The rules are easy to follow. The speed of travel depends on the ships and technology levels of the setting. There are tables to help keep track of the information, and random tables for inspiration. There are several types of FTL drives discussed. They don't really change the game mechanics, but they greatly help in defining your setting. The space combat rules are quite detailed, but similar enough to normal combat to follow easily. There are options to play with or without a grid. Both options seem equally usable depending on your groups preferences. Ships get multiple actions, leading to each PC on the ship having a part in each round of ship combat. For actions the PCs aren't personally handling there are simple rules for crew. All in all, I think this is a good book for the inevitable space travel, and space combat, in most sci-fi settings. To make the most of this book you'll need the Starship Construction Manual for WOIN to populate your space with vessels. There are just a couple of sample ships. As I've mentioned in my reviews of other WOIN books, the art is excellent. The pieces are lovely and convey the wonder of space very well.

Pros Variety of gear to cover many sci-fi universes. Easily customized. Great art.

Cons No bookmarks or hyperlinks.

This is one of the essential books for futuristic games in the What's O.L.D. Is N.E.W. system. I highly recommend this game. There's a good variety of gear for different kinds of sci-fi adventures. There are advancement levels and genre categories. The GM selects both of those for the campaign. The full details are in Building A Universe, but there's enough info here for the players. Those markers help give you the flavor of your game. From near future hard sci-fi to far future science fantasy, you're covered. There are weapons from clubs to phasers, armor from leather to powered armor, and a variety of non-combat gear. There are rules for cybernetics, vehicles, and drugs. A GM can pick and choose which categories of equipment are available and how advanced each category is. Whatever choices the GM makes players will still have plenty of choices for their PC's equipment. The various weapons and armor have enough variation in stats and special features to make them feel distinct from each other. You also have the option to buy higher quality equipment and add upgrades to make your gear more unique. This book also has great art representing the equipment, and other sci-fi scenes. The art in all the WOIN books is top-notch. Overall this is a very good book. I think it would have been better if the information was organized a bit better between books. For example, the advancement level stuff could have been better explained here. The biggest downside for me is the lack of bookmarks to aid in navigation.

Pros Flexible character creation. Huge number of character options. Simple, flexible psionic rules. Excellent art.

Cons The options could be overwhelming for new gamers. Navigation is not optimal.

Short version of this review: If you're an experienced gamer looking for a sci-fi system that's fun and easy to customize buy this book and the other components of WOIN that suit your ideas. Longer version to follow.

There are a multitude of character options in this game. There are several species reminiscent of aliens from various sci-fi media. There are a few dozen careers to choose from. Each career has several abilities, called exploits, to choose from. The species and careers roughly correspond to race and class in D&D style games, but the careers are far more granular and flexible and you're not expected to be in one career forever. Grades in a career give you attribute bonuses, skill ranks, exploits, and increase your maximum dice pool. The careers in the book cover a wide range of sci-fi careers, and some would work well in modern or even older era settings. There are star ship pilots, psionic investigators, space marines, police, criminals, and many more. Exploits further increase customization. Exploits serve the same function as class abilities, feats, or edges in other games. Each career has a selection of exploits you can only take as part of a grade in that career. Then there are universal exploits that anyone can take. All of this leads to an exceptional degree of character customization. Then there's the ability to spend XP for attributes, skills, and exploits in addition to taking grades in careers.

I've played several RPGs and this one has my favorite character creation system. As you layer on the various options you get a real feel for the character and its history. I've never played a game that got me that involved and invested with a character even before play begins.

This book also contains the psionics system for WOIN. As with everything else in this system you can use or ignore the psionics portion of the game without hurting the rest of the game. Psionics are represented as exploits. There are several careers with psionic abilities and there is an array of universal exploits. The universal exploits use a point system to fuel the various abilities, while the career exploits are usually more specialized and cost no points to use. If you want to keep psi simpler just limit it to the careers. You can have just the career exploits, just the universal exploits, or use both for maximum options. The psionic exploits themselves cover a wide range of abilities. Telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation, and more are covered. You can totally have your own version of Jedi running around your universe if you want, along with many other types of psi characters.

If you want to customize even further there's a companion tome called Building A Universe that has guidelines for making species, careers, and more. They combine very well to make your game universe your own.

I feel that the art needs specific mention. The art in this book, and others in the line, is wonderful. There's a lot of art and it's all good. The various pieces could fit in many different types of sci-fi, but they all fit together well. I'd say that this game line rivals the D&D and Pathfinder lines visually.

The only downside to this book, for me, is that it's not very easy to navigate. There are no bookmarks or hyperlinks in the pdf. You just have to look at the table of contents and navigate the old fashioned way.

My group has been running the 4e version of the Zeitgeist adventure for close to 2 years, and we're now on Adventure 9. It is, far and away, the best adventure I've ever run. The NPCs, the setting, the storytelling ... all of it just bleeds flavor and has completely absorbed my group.

If you love D&D 4e - as I do - this is the adventure which finally makes the playstyle "click." Forget about the awful slogs that WotC has produced; Ryan understands how a proper 4e adventure should flow, and the right mix of combat and non-combat, to make the system really sing.

You may need to tweak some of the enemies along the way depending on your group, but the monster design herein is as strong as any I've seen in any official product. It's phenomenal.

Pros Flexible mechanics. Solid examples for rule implementation. Engaging gameplay. Easy customization. Excellent art.

Cons A bit of a learning curve, especially for new gamers. Navigation and organization are not optimal.

This book provides the rules and guidelines to use what's in the other WOIN books. The core mechanic is a pool of d6's against a target number. It's simple and flexible. Future Core provides all the info you need to form and use your dice pools with guidelines for skill uses and suggested target numbers. There's also an interesting countdown mechanic for things with uncertain timing, such as the progression of diseases or damaged ships exploding. The various rules have useful examples included, but the real strength of this game is as a toolkit to make the game your own. You can use the rules here to represent myriad things not specifically mentioned. Combat is oriented toward using good tactics, utilizing your character's abilities and the environment. It may be a little complex for those new to RPG's, but once you learn how things work combat flows well and is a lot quicker than I expected in just reading the rules. There's a bit of a learning cuve for this game, but that's true of any of the "crunchy" games. I've been having a lot of fun running my first campaign in this system. What keeps this from being a five star book for me is the difficulty in finding things when questions arise. There are no bookmarks or hyperlinks in the pdf. You just have to look at the table of contents and navigate the old fashioned way. That is further complicated by the organization of information. For example, to fully understand the rules for maximum dice pools you read a few paragraphs on pages 8 and 9 for the basics then find the "Making An Attack" sidebar on page 31 for the details. The information is all there, but not always easily found. Aside from the srengths of the rules and the drawback of organization I feel that the art needs specific mention. The art in this book, and others in the line, is wonderful. There's a lot of art and it's all good. The various pieces could fit in many different types of sci fi, but they all fit together well. I'd say that this game line rivals the D&D and Pathfinder lines visually. Overall this is a rather good book for an excellent game.

I am one of the people who backed the campaign to put this system into print, and I have only just got to the stage where I was able to start reading the books. There is so much information in this handbook that it's crazy, but it's presented in an easy to read manner. There are just enough charts to make even the numerical informaton simple to follow. This book is a fantastic read, and provides enough options and information to be useful in almost any sci-fi space setting. But better still, the material invokes a sense of nostalgia for so many space-based books, movies, and tv series. As a sci-fi buff, and a bit of a science geek, I loved reading through this for the detail, as well as the mood setting of it's examples of play.

This book is a great addition to the O.L.D. Fantasy sourcebook, with many different weapons to choose from and enchantments and other equipment it is a must have for your fantasy campaign. I always criticized fantasy games for a battle Axe being a low damage weapon. This source book got it right! Many other interesting weapons to add flavor to characters or npc's!