Epic start in a galaxy far away - a Mephisto review

The galactic civilization of the Milky Way has perished, and the remnants of humanity boarded hundreds of space arks on their way to bridge the millions of light-years between galaxies to start anew in Andromeda. However, when the space arks reach their destination after 500 years of flight, it becomes apparent that Andromeda is inhabited by many alien civilizations which do not welcome the newcomers. And even aboard the planet-sized ships, there is tension, intrigue, and conflict between four factions.

The Fate World of Adventure Andromeda offers a space opera setting with alien threats and internal tensions. On the space ark, there are four power groups: the ruling elite, the technicians and scientists, a mixture of church, educational institution and media, and the working population. The names of these groups and many other terms are derived from the artificial language Esperanto, to use a foreign and yet somewhat familiar language. Starting with this basic setting, however, some aspects remain to be defined by the gaming group - for example, whether the inhabitants of the space ark were in cold sleep, developed a centuries-old culture on board a generation ship, or were hatched as a new generation only arriving at their destination. It also matters whether the space ark is among the first ones to reach Andromeda, in the middle of the exodus or one of the stragglers.

Andromeda - like most representatives of the Fate Worlds of Adventure - uses its own approaches regarding several mechanisms. For example, this game consistently utilizes the Fate deck and its additional symbols and aspect phrases instead of the classical Fate dice. The aspect phrase on the cards describes the action as an Execution Aspect which can be used accordingly. The sun and moon symbols count as agenda points to advance the major goals of the characters and power groups. On the scale of this game, antagonists are defined as entire species right away and can be generated randomly or built from options.

More importantly, however, is the background of the space ark, its factions, and the characters associated with the factions. The central element is each character's agenda - a major goal to achieve, for which a complex rule system is presented. However, the game statistics of the characters are based on only four skills, which are rather basic attributes. In addition, there are extras such as allies and special abilities.

With agendas, the goal is to advance them, which is accomplished through successful tests and the collection of symbols on the Fate deck cards. How many symbols have to be collected depends on the size of the agenda - and lifetime agendas are the smallest size level here...

In general, Andromeda takes place on a level typical for space opera: the actions of a few individuals have effects on entire planets and civilizations.

Andromeda presents an exciting basic setting which requires some fine-tuning by the individual group, but encourages the game master to improvise heavily using tables and suggestions based on the characters' actions.

(Björn Lippold)

Amazing epic space opera

You could run multiple campaigns for years with this supplement

The core conceit is that you're a leader aboard a space ark bringing humanity to the mysterious Andromeda galaxy. Are your colonists frozen? generational inhabitants? or cloned upon arrival? your choice! the book has many scenarios for each

Upon reaching Andromeda you must decide who has gone before? are you the first ArkShip to arrive? the second wave? Or a straggler behind the curve? Each has surprising impact upon the state of the galaxy and what you find there

Finally there are all the perils of Andromeda. Establishing a colony and dealing with the natives and other humans from rival ArkShips.

I can't say enough good things about this product. I don't like FATE but this book will be well used believe that!

This setting pulled me in hard. I love the epic drama, the system for advancing personal and faction agendas, and the incredibly simple rules for alien civilizations and PCs.

Awesome art throughout, although one or two pieces caught my eye as a little lacking. Deeply, deeply interesting setting that feels ready to use -- exactly what you want from these World products, and very impressive given how very weird and far-out this particular entry is. I really like the factions and find their motivations are excellently set-up to serve as jumping-off points for players; they're primed for conflict and drama from the get-go. I could see a game of Andromeda easily capturing some Game of Thrones-style politicking and maneuvering. I really love the way that the Deck of Fate is woven into the DNA of this game: it uses every aspect of the Deck of Fate in everything it does, making it feel integral to the game and even serving to drive home the 'alien-ness' of the far-off future Andromeda setting. I equally appreciate that the Deck of Fate isn't required for playing, but I'm convinced if I find the time to play this I will be using the Deck.

If I have one complaint about this product, it is that it lacks a starter scenario. On one hand, I understand why it doesn't: the game is meant to be very specific to your group. Your group defines what generation your ark is, what its people are like, what agendas your factions have, and you randomly determine what alien life you come across. Its all very subjective. That said, the tagline for Worlds of Adventure is "The Fate Adventures & Worlds line provides compact, rich, affordable, gorgeous settings with a ready-to-go adventure for GMs in a pinch" and there simply is not a ready-to-go adventure in this game. I honestly do not think anyone buy this book and run it in the same day, simply because of what a specific and unique style of play it promotes. A simple scenario or a skeleton demonstrating what a scenario might look or play out like would be a very welcome addition. That said, this remains an excellent product.