Excellent value as a POD with a reliable system that is compatible with the Cyberpunk RPG (should you ever consider a crossover).

I think I am right in considering the 1st edition of Mekton to be the first Japanese Anime adaptation for tabletop gaming as well as being one of the first Mecha games (Battle Tech was also released in 1984). However, the full anime RPG effect didn’t really come until Mekton Zeta (released in the mid 1990s).

The system is quite technical - like Cyberpunk which I see as a feature as it allows players to really simulate the design and tactical battle of the giant mecha in the game, but there are also roleplaying opportunities outside straight combat too. It features a life path generator for characters like in Cyberpunk which I think is notable. The setting is ‘multiversal’ with some some specific worlds detailed and it is pretty open to storytelling creativity. The presentation is a scan which makes some of the black and white imagery (was it originally colour?) a bit murky but still easy enough to read.

Good buy for sci-fi fans.

A comprehensive overview of a classic superhero role-playing game. Well edited, full colour layout (in the PDF) and confidently written with real authority. You will not find a more encycopedic book about the history of the genre or running games of this type. The provision of customisable archetypes is welcome, as it provides a quick way to get into the game which is appreciable given the compexity of the standard character generation process.

You do need a core rule book to play it, however, whether it is Champions Complete or the Hero System volumes. It is a pity the developers didn't simply expand the book to make it complete the first time round.

A historical sourcebook that uses out-of-date sources, and perpetuates racist narratives that have been historically debunked. Not a good look for a company and line that has previously taken pride in its academic research.

It is also not good enough to claim this is just a fantasy book and not to be taken seriously as a historical book. The cultures and geography being depicted are from the real world and being an entertainment does not exempt a product from racist content.

Not good enough, Design Mechanism.

Following the, now familiar format of Mongoose Traveller 2E sourcebooks, this one details two sectors of Charted Space that lie way beyond the Third Imperium (Vanguard Reaches and The Beyond). You get the various zone maps, new careers (Storm Knights), spacecraft and aliens specific to each area and a write up of the history and key worlds. This one is meatier than most (370 pages), with full colour layout and illustration throughout. Without the influence of the Imperium to condend with, this will appeal to those who want to explore some fairly alien pocket empires with a pretty baltic feel.

A tight focus on exploration-based campaigns still gives a very wide range of playable experiences, when the sandbox happens to be anywhere in space! This is a great taster for the full game, which gives more campaign options by virtue of having more careers if you want to expand, but could be played by itself indefinitely, with an iconic Scout Ship exploring traditionally random generated Systems, all provided in this book. It's a steal at $1.

A game that always garnered huge passions from it’s fans, and kept fans returning largely due to the central concept of ‘consensual reality’. It’s hard to relate to the impact that this concept would have had on it’s fans upon first reading. The post-Matrix world has this type of postmodern, New-Agey idea in mainstream abundance these days, and it seems to be nothing new. At the time, however, it felt like you had been touched by genius upon reading it.

The game itself is very messy - a few too many unnecessary skills, confusing explanations and curious rules stipulations that don’t make sense. The organisation is a bit all over the place.

It never meshed especially well with the prior WoD games either - Vampires can hardly be running the world if the Technocracy is supposedly doing so too, Werewolves have their Umbra concepts compromised by Mage’s version of the same idea and, indeed, how can Vampires and Werewolves truly exist in a world dominated by a Technocracy-dominated paradigm? Shouldn’t they have been eradicated in this modernistic worldview?

Not a classic, as such, yet the passion and concepts still shine through in the writing - and that’s what gives it value.

The best version of Vampire: The Masquerade that there has ever been. State of the art mechanics supporting a fully realised vision of a world from the perspective of children of the night. Mean, lean and gorgeous in equal measure, and brave enough to recapture the focus and themes of the original.

I'm not convinced that this really does capture the feel of the original game as much as allow for a further development of the "Revised" edition that came out in 1998.

It tidies up certain rules whilst curiously keeping some other dysfunctional rules systems in tact eg the clunky combat system, and provides an overview of the complex world envisioned through 10+ years of game development. I personally tire of having to read through 500+ pages of content, however, especially when a whole bulk of it is just a catalogue of vampiric powers.

The artwork is a mixture of old and new, good and bad, black and white and colour. The writing is easy enough to read and the layout extends to 'splatting' out the Sects as well as the Clans, which does make the various political relationships easy to follow. It just doesn't quite have the focus or intensity of the original.

Meaty interlocking trio of scenarios set in modern New York. The major selling point is the high level of psychiatric research that went into it, particularly the award winning middle scenario. Without giving the plot away, it's well worth buying for that one alone.

The 1st edition of the game was still very much a formative set of ideas, some of which were quite developed which is both a weakness and a strength as it gave agency to the reader to interpret in their own way still. The magic system was very free form which, along with the philosophical take on concensual reality, paradox and coincidental magic was groundbreaking at the time. In my view, the general tone of the writing was slightly less 'in your face' than some of the later editions. Moreover, it was one of the first games that seemed to feel attuned to real world magical thought, themes and pracitices, which was a revelation for many when it was first released. For me, it is a gem and well worth keeping in print.

As with the previous 2nd editions of Chronicles of Darkness games, this is a highly polished effort with improved art direction, excellent rules for magic and by it being a self contained game. Its also notable shifted away from the Atlantis backstory emphasis of the previous edition, which is a welcome change.

Notably, this Mage game is only half the size of it's intimidatingly huge cousin, Mage: The Ascension, and will be certainly easier to play for newcomers. It manages this by missing out on much of the more gonzo, philosophical and real world culture referencing material of the former - and may feel a bit bland by comparison for the original game's fans. As a toolkit for running modern magical stories, like those you might find in a Vertigo comic, its a highly polished product, but it's still an obvioulsy fictional world with comic book tropes rather than an exploration of real occult concepts in many respects.

Regardless, it's a great addition to the Chronicles of Darkness line or just as a stand-alone urban fantasy game.

Good comprehensive supplement for M-Space, especially for those thinking of sprinkling their science fiction with a bit of a transhunan spin. As with the core book, this is a very neat book that crams a lot of information into it in a sleek and stylish way. Good art pieces too.

A major improvement from the previous printing in terms of layout, and kudos must go to Cubicle 7 for releasing this update free of charge to previous purchases.

The game could still be expanded upon, but it lays a pretty good foundation with a D6 dicepool rules system that functions a little closer to miniatures game than the previous percentile systems did. It lacks a 'high concept', as occured with Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and instead adopts a fully inclusive, 'choose your own framewirk' regarding campaign design. While some might find this lacks focus, others will be enthused by the opportunity of playing previously unavalable options, like Ork Clans for example.

Its a good product, although I do miss aspects of the percentile system, which creates a certain gritty tone, and for me, the main interest still lies with the fantasy version of Warhammer roleplay.

Continuing a tradition of Chicogo By Night campaigns from the 1st edition in the early 1990s, this is a model for how to organise a city campaign as well as being a great sandbox for the Chicago setting. The addition of the Lasombra is welcome, although I'd prefer to see this in a more core rules book, but each Clan gets a good write up. You could literally use just this, along with the core rules, to be able to run campaigns for years - and the various NPCs write ups are full and varied, along with a selection of Loresheets which are becoming an increasingly useable game aid at the table. The art/layout is excellent too and it's both easy on the eye and easy to read.

Ideal purchase in PDF, as the physical book always used to fall apart when you touched it.

Lots of cool ideas, and a terrifically colourful, card based magic system. I like the narrative-based character generation too, and have run some entertaining sessions from it in the past. It was ahead of it's time, for sure. Ultimately, the fairy-tale, faux-Victorian setting isn't may not appeal to everybody. Very much worth buying though, and the updated file makes everything feel quite spectacular again..