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M-space
Publisher: FrostByte Books
by Scott [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/13/2024 02:41:37

If you want to run a game of M-Space, you will have to do the heavy lifting, create a lot of stats and build the entire setting yourself - from the broad strokes of the setting down to how much a set of armour weighs. Items are not even matched to a particular tech level, although those are defined. What is there just really falls far short of both the level of specificity and detail that I expected from a sci-fi game; but even by skimping on details it still doesn't cover the breadth of science fiction styles or subgenres that it can properly emulate. The odd square page dimensions bother me. The internal art does not have a cohesive style. "You only need this book to play" is a joke. In short, this is a toolbox, not a [game + setting] the way many other competing products are. While I was writing this I found the segments of text on tech levels were taken straight from Traveller.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
M-space
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Creator Reply:
Hi Scott, I'm sorry to hear M-SPACE did not match your expectations. Let me know if you want a refund. The book does not come with a specific setting to keep the game open-ended, as stated in the introduction, much like Traveller RPG back in the early 1980s. If needed, there are additional books with scenarios and campaigns to get started. The use of Traveller's Tech Levels is my hommage to Marc Miller and the world's first sci-fi RPG, as I write in the book.
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Astro Inferno - Digital Core Edition
Publisher: Haxan Studios
by Scott [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/22/2024 20:32:36

Pro's: Art goes hard. Fantastic setting. Encourages players to commit to awesome deaths and deal with their character's inner demons. Love the aspects and truths system that allows players to collaborate with the GM to alter or affect scenes, characters and stories. The major crafting and magic systems are extremely flexible and often freeform using keywords.

Mixed: This is not a game that beginner GMs can easily run a campaign "straight out of the book" like other systems with an abundance of pre-written adventures/campaigns/setting guides. Major locations in the setting have only a few pages of information each, more to get across the feel and flavour of an area than specifics the players will interact with. This means there's freedom to fill in the world the way you want, but it also means you need to put in preparation (or more likely, improvisation) to describe specific setting details and NPCs. On the other hand, the ability for players to make checks for, and then determine, 'truths and aspects' allows some collaborative scene/worldbuilding.

Random keywords/origins on looted items creates some memorable loot with plenty of opportunity to create custom or freeform effects within guidelines. However you occasionally also roll random items that are a bit nonsense, like finding low-tier weapons with origins and types that mean they deal 0 damage. The keyword-based random items can slow down post-combat scenes while the players loot; the GM usually rolls on multiple tables per player, and then the players have to come up with what the items do specifically; sometimes you just can't think of something that lands in the middle of the Venn diagram of [Flavourful/Sensible] AND [Fits the random keyword descriptions] AND [Fits within the mechanical limits of the item's tier] on the spur of the moment.

Con's: The abundance of saturated and dark colour art means this pdf is not print-friendly for printing at home. Some odd choices with the mechanics puzzle me, but their impact on gameplay/enjoyment is usually minimal. Definitely not for every game group due to its themes.

Tl;dr: Despite a few mechanics I consider flawed, I have been having a blast playing with with my group and I believe it's well worth the money.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Astro Inferno -  Digital Core Edition
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Delta Green: Tales from Failed Anatomies
Publisher: Arc Dream Publishing
by Scott B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/21/2014 05:42:37

Some great, dark short stories that spans the entire lifespan of the Delta Green conspiracy, including a couple from different perspectives.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Delta Green: Tales from Failed Anatomies
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STALKER - The SciFi Roleplaying Game
Publisher: Burger Games
by Scott B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/13/2012 23:06:06

Intro: This is a great product for anyone who wants to run a Stalker game based off the original novel (Roadside Picnic) and movie (Stalker, 1979). If you want something that mimics the computer games (the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series), this is not for you.

Content: It's almost entirely setting and GM information, with only a very small portion devoted to rules - and if you don't like the rules (a unique diceless system that relies heavily on freeform storytelling and the GM's interpretation), it's very little work to strip them out and insert your favourite system. The book is split into two parts - a "Player's Book" and a "Game Master's Book", which contains information for each of those. In addition to the general setting of the world, two of the world's Zones and their Borderlands are detailed, along with plenty of information to generate anomalies and artifacts if the GM's imagination is stuck. Interior art is mostly B&W and fairly basic, but has a kind of 'noir/crime' feel to it that I liked. As an English translation of a Finnish work, any language errors are almost unnoticable. The download includes the rulebook, plus a separate character sheet .pdf.

Criticism: I am a tiny bit disappointed that it didn't come with more original 'pre-generated' anomalies, artifacts, inorganisms and mutants (most of the ones detailed are present in the book or movie), but it does encourage a GM to make them ahead of time and memorable. I would also have liked an example "rookie mission", a detailed scenario of a particular raid into a Zone that starting characters could be expected to complete. The system does not include much on character advancement, more or less being "when he is taught or practices a new ability for a while, add it to his sheet". The main improvement I could suggest is to offer separately or include with the download package the "Player's Book" as a separate .pdf file, so that it can be shown to players without also having all the Game Master's Book info as well. I am a little confused as to the purpose of Ability scores in the system, which don't seem to mean anything except as hit points.

Verdict: A great sourcebook for anyone wanting to run a mostly-freeform game in a Roadside Picnic/Stalker-inspired setting. First and foremost a setting guide, where a little bit of work could make this compatible with virtually any rule set. It has a ton of background info, and most of my critisisms boil down to wanting more detail. The rule system seems a little clunky for what is essentially a freeform system, but it's easy to gut it and stick new rules in.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
STALKER - The SciFi Roleplaying Game
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