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Starfarer's Companion
Publisher: Rogue Genius Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2018 23:30:10

The Starfarer's Guide from Rogue Genius Games is a meaty 253 page compendium (in PDF and POD; I splurged for the print copy) of pretty much the entire rest of the kitchen sink that Starfinder did not include from Pathfinder. If you are looking at Starfinder and wondering how to de-retcon bards, the magus, wizards, paladins, rangers and clerics in to Starfinder, then this book has you covered. Missing any of twenty prior fantasy races (okay, give or take a couple unique aliens) missing from Starfinder? This book has you covered. Think Starfinder needs level 7 to 9 spells? Got it.

There's additional interesting content of wide use, too. New computer rules and equipment, feats, and some rules on companions and mounts with appropriate SF themes make for a rounded package. Seventeen new starships, built with the Rogue Genius Games setting in mind but perfectly useable in your own are also available, which will hold us over nicely until Paizo gets around to doing the Pact Worlds sourcebook with more starship designs in it.

Starfarer's Companion's greatest failing is the issue I griped about earlier: it's a trove of content, but most of it is reintroducing old Pathfinder material for use with Starfinder. This might be very useful to your campaign, but to me it feels like going backwards, not forwards. I want weird, new and most importantly unexpected strange science fantasy stuff; let the aasimar and tieflings rest on Golarion in peace. That said, you definitely get your money's worth with this tome if you need this content. You could probably even adapt some of it to a more conventional game by reskinning the racial options and classes, if you wanted. I can see definite utility in allowing a ranger type in some games, for example. For that matter, the bard class alone might be all you've desired if you ever wanted to play your own version of Ruby Rhod!

Afternote: I've been using this book a lot in my ongoing Starfinder game, so I have to say it's definitely paying off. Mechanoi, vishkanya, nagaji, rangers, bards and paladins have all made it in to my game now, and I've taken copious advantage of the new ship blocks, too.

Original Review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-robots-of-known.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Starfarer's Companion
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Robots of Known Space
Publisher: Nothing Ventured Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2018 23:27:23

Produced by Nothing Ventured Games, this PDF is 18 pages containing nineteen robots across a CR 1-19 spread, from the lowly Observation Bot right on up to the terrifying CR 19 Hellreaver Automaton, forged literally in the bloody fires of hell to destroy all level 17-20 PCs in it's path. I'll be using this book quite a bit, as anyone who has picked up the Alien Archive from Paizo will notice that it is woefully short on meaningful robotic foes. The PDF is clean, follows the Starfinder stat block protocol, and has some nice black/white illustrations that get the job done. I look forward to seeing what the author, Paul Stefko, comes up with next for Starfinder. This appears to be the first Starfinder resource from Nothing Ventured Games, and hopefully they make more thematically utility-driven resources in the near future.

Source review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-robots-of-known.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Robots of Known Space
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Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2018 23:25:44

This very nicely illustrated PDF takes the conventional demons and devils of Pathfinder but gives them an SF makeover that would make the Event Horizon proud. The concept of the Fiendish Wastes introduces an interesting concept, in which the planar realms of the Abyss and the Nine Hells have somehow collided and bled through in to the Drift, creating a new dimension which has captured both demon and devil, and in turn both twisted them for the worse and forced them to work together to try and escape their prison, so they can get back to their rightful dominions. To this end the fiends seek to build drift-navigable ships and they need a hyperspace engine to escape their fate. It includes some guidelines on using the concept of the Fiendish Wastes as well as fourteen adaptations of demon and devil for Starfinder as well as two ships and some adventure seeds. The artwork is incredibly evocative and will probably make you (like me) want to find further ways to repurpose these bad boys for your own adventures.

If you get one supplement for Starfinder from a 3PP, I suggest you check this one out. Well worth it, and will go far toward realizing your own Event Horizon incident in the Pact Worlds for sure.

Original Review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-close-encounters.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends
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Strange Worlds: Desert Planets
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2018 23:24:41

Desert Planets is 16 pages, with an overview on how starfaring explorers could survive a hostile desert world (Arakis-like and others), from getting food and resources to dealing with dust storms, flesheater storms, mirages, survival equipment for the desert and so forth. It's not the be-all-and-end-all resource for running your Red Planet or Dune inspired desert campaign in Starfinder, but it gives you plenty for your spacefarers who are jumping around the drift looking to explore random weird worlds. Like the other tome, Desert Planets also includes desert stalkers (CR 7 rat-wolf-cat things), CR 1 dust rats, and the CR 20 sand annelid (sense a theme here?)

So yeah, if you totally want your Starfinder crew to go explore not-Arakis, this book will help you out a lot. Very cheap at $1.95 for the content. I am definitely looking forward to future releases in the Strange Worlds line from Fat Goblin Games, and hope they eventually become available in some POD format, perhaps as a compendium.

Original Review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-close-encounters.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Strange Worlds: Desert Planets
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Strange Worlds: Dead Planets
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/26/2018 23:22:56

Dead Planets is a 16 page PDF which provides an overview on typical dead worlds of science fiction, with details on how to survive, gather resources, deal with airless dead worlds, and wrestle with what made those worlds like they are: total war, destruction by AI, extinction events, or the unquiet, worlds ravaged by the undead. In addition to survival, terrain and threat advice the PDF provides stats for four sample monster encounters: the bloodshade (a terrifying CR 20 undead blob), embalmed ones CR 2 denizens of a dead unquiet world), living holograms (Cr 5 relics of the dead civilizations gone) and overseer robots, who somehow survived the civilization that created them (think CR 10 variant on Halo's Guilty Spark).

Good product for the price, and useful for GMs looking for extra content for unexplored planets.

Original Review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-close-encounters.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Strange Worlds: Dead Planets
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Genesys Core Rulebook
Publisher: EDGE Studio
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/14/2017 18:37:27

Excellent multi-genre system. Genesys Core is the same basic system as used in the various FFG Star Wars RPGs, which means it uses a series of color-coded dice with symbols to track varying degrees of success and failure. The Genesys book is much tighter in design and explanation than it's SW predecessors, and does an excellent job at explaining the dice mechanic for anyone who is worried about using symbols instead of numbered dice.

The rules provide direct support for six genres: fantasy, science fiction, space opera, steampunk, modern and weird wars. These map to six of the worlds/settings from FFG board and minis games such as Runescape and Android, and no doubt those will get sourcebooks down the road. Additional content provides spot rules for genres such as horror, pulp and even some superhero advice.

Despite that support, the meat of the rules is in its toolkit design....it gives you examples to work from, and plenty of rules for tailoring the system to suit your genre and setting of choice, with lots of guidance on building equipment, skills and opponents. The mechanical framework is light enough that this really isn't such a big deal. In terms of toolkit design it reminds me more of how Fate Core does things than, say, how GURPS or Hero System would tackle it....Genesys is a multigenre system, but it is a very lite system mechanically compared to the latter two.

That said, I really enjoy that it has a robust skill system, a decent range of talents and advice on some good core archetypes, plenty of interesting examples for genre support and even a decent magic system. This looks like an excellent and easy game to experiment with various genres for both short and long campaign design. It's also a very nicely illustrated book with its own distinct look.

Although you can subsitute regular dice (a pain) or Star Wars Dice (just convert the symbols, its easy) you will otherwise want/need at least one pack of Genesys dice to run this, though. One pack does not feel like enough, though....I plan to buy enough for everyone at my game table to use. So keep this in mind, it will require that extra level of investment or conversion effort. Outside of that, this game is a solid A+ and my favorite discovery of the year.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Genesys Core Rulebook
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OpenQuest
Publisher: D101 Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/27/2017 17:12:24

This is a very nice iteration of the D100-based BRP system, built from the OGL spin-off that came from Mongoose Publishing's version of Runequest a few years back. OpenQuest is closer in design and style to classic RuneQuest and the old Worlds of Wonder's Magic World, with a percentile-based skill mechanic, down-and-dirty combat system (but with fewer layers of complexity, especially in contrast with RQ6/Mythras) and an emphasis on evocking the style of play most familiar to those who cut their teeth on RQ2 and RQ3 especially.

With most of the current BRP/Magic World line OOP now or no longer supported, I decided to take a look at the 2017 upgrade to OpenQuest and am glad I did. Here's the pros and cons:

PROS: --Great artwork in this edition. It's full color and evocative, and looks much nicer than prior editions --Good, elegant take on the BRP/D100 system with four magic systems and a sense of familiarity midway between classic Runequest and Worlds of Wonder/Magic World --The combat revisions are welcome --You could easily run a lengthy series of campaigns with just this book --I believe the vast majority of prior typos/errata are cleared up in this new edition --It's in print and New Newport and co. support OpenQuest like I wish Chaosium would support BRP/MW --close enough in compatibility to other BRP/RQ/MW games that you can cross-pollinate with other material --very fun and easy to play --Has several sourcebooks in print/PDF for support with more planned

CONS: --The layout in the book is still sparse and a bit ugly (contrast with the sister game Rivers of Heaven), but this is a YMMV issue and I like the spartan style --If you've bought in to prior versions the changes in this edition might not be enough to entice you (they did, however, entice me)

A+++



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
OpenQuest
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Class Compendium
Publisher: Gallant Knight Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/07/2015 23:30:45

Original review from http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2015/09/capsule-review-class-compendium-for.html based on the print edition which I purchased.

The Class Compendium from Barrel Rider Games is at last available in a print format. As I understand it this is a compendium of prior classes which were sold individually, although it looks to me like there's a whole lot more in here....235 pages' worth, in fact. It's available in print and PDF for $29.99 or PDF only for $9.99. If you do a lot of OSR gaming, I suggest a print copy for the table.

The Class Compendium is aimed directly at Labyrinth Lord but as with most OSR content you can adapt it with minimal fuss to your preferred brand of retroclone (or just use it straight up with B/X D&D). Here's a quick run-down on the book's contents:

4 new wizard classes (alienist, familiar, thopian gnome, wild wizard) 3 new dwarf classes (ragins layer, runesmith, warchanter) 4 new elf classes (dark elf, greensinger, half-elf, sylvan elf) 5 new halfling classes (burglar, feast master, huckster, lucky fool, tavern singer) 4 new clerical classes (angel, friar, inquisitor, undead slayer) 3 new knight/fighter classes (commander, dragon slayer, knight) 5 new barbarian warrior type classes (barbarian, berserker, gladiator, samurai, sword master) 5 new monstrous classes (dragon, goblin, half-ogre, half-orc, treant) 3 classes based on the Lost Boys/Peter Pan (fairy, lost boy, pirate) 4 new thief type classes (acrobat, explorer, fortune teller, wanderer) 4 evil classes (cultist, damphir, death knight, eidolon) 4 urban adventurer classes (bandit, bard, bounty hunter, watchman) 4 victorian steampunk classes (automaton, investigator, metaphysician, shootist) a page of new equipment (elf-shot bows and bullseye lanterns) a page on mastery points and other classes (using some sword master class rules to enhance core classes) three pages on firearms rules (and 8 weapons in detail) over 60 pages of spells (includes core LL spells and new spells; basically a spell compendium to support the classes in this tome)

That's a lot of stuff --52 new classes in total. What you get here is sufficient to provide a lot of flavor and thematic focus for any LL or B/X style campaign, and most of these classes (barring the racial classes) can be used as-is with Swords & Wizardry or OSRIC. The fact is....you could provide this book at your table, and baring specific setting limits (i.e. no monster or evil classes) you could readily end up with an entire table that does not contain a single one of the core classes in your campaign.

Without actually playtesting each class it's hard to comment on their mechanical viability, but each class I've read has distinct features and qualities to make them stand out from just playing "core." Nothing in particular looks overbearing....although I imagine you might not want to let someone roll up a death knight in your otherwise vanilla dungeon crawl, unless they plan on being the villain.

You could pick and choose classes from this book as well to flesh out a campaign idea: steampunk games, monster-centric games, urban adventures and even a setting focused entirely on non-magic users could be well supported with this book. The idea of a Lost Boys style Peter Pan adventure in Neverland is intriguing, too (sorry in an earlier blog I suggested you could to Alice in Wonderland due to a momentary brain lapse, I meant Peter Pan!)

Class Compendium also wisely avoids vampiric classes (which suffer in every iteration of D&D I've seen), although the damphir is done quite well.

Oddly there's only one east-Asian class here: the samurai. Perhaps a future tome will add the shukenja, wu-jen or kensai types that would let one flesh out a proper Asian fantasy campaign. Elves are another exception in this book: you get four new classes, but only one is a themed class (greensinger), whereas halflings get five unique classes and dwarves another three. So we now have "dark elf" for example, but no "dark elf ranger" or "dark elf matron" or even something like a bladesinger.

There are also a lot of spells....a huge number in fact, but many are reprinted from LL, adding the additional details necessary to support the classes in this tome. As such, if you have a spell casting character from this book, you can also use the Class Compendium to manage his spell lists.

In terms of style and art, the book is utilitarian in design, easy to print out if you choose not to go with a POD option, and the art is a mix of creative commons, royalty free and commissioned art....all of it looks good, nothing offensive or tonally off.

If you're like me and always felt that the racial classes of B/X D&D were the major stumbling block to properly enjoying the game, then Class Compendium definitely helps fix that. If you like diversity in class options, this book is for you. My advice is: get this, you will find it well worth your investment. A+



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Class Compendium
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Greyhawk Player's Guide (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/20/2015 10:17:22

This is a great book and one I have been eager to find again....but agreed, the scan is terrible. I can't read this easily with the grey drizzle in the background, and given that other scans WotC has cleaned up became clear and legible, it seems like this one could use more work. Please rework this scan so it's legible.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Greyhawk Player's Guide (2e)
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101 Not So Simple Monster Templates (13th Age Compatible)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/29/2014 17:54:08

Original review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2014/10/rite-designs-reaches-13th-age-with-101.html

This crept up rather innocuously on rpgnow.com (and its other drivethrurpg site). Rite Publishing has done a lot of stuff for Pathfinder over the last few years, most of it good or notable as 3PP resources go. This foray into the 13th Age is no exception, and actually the first really cool 3PP resources I've stumbled across that's worth a review and mention.

101 Not So Simple Monster Templates provides exactly what it indicates: one hundred and one templates you can overlay on existing 13th Age creatures. The templates follow the standard set in the 13th Age core rules, which is basically additional features or modifications that enhance or change the existing creature (so, standard D20 system stuff). Unlike some of the existing monster templates in the game, these offer a really wide range of the strange and familiar all at once.

Want a kyton-bound minotaur? Here you go. Are you determined to stat out that homeless, legless beggar? Add the legless template. Eager to take out your party with an exploding manticore? Add the Pyrrhic template. There's some good stuff here.

All of these templates are concise and too the point, except for the ones that are really complicated or offer a lot of specific detail such as the winterwight, walking fortress, grim reaper or bloodshackle templates.

Some of the templates add in some "D&Disms" to 13th Age currently absent or under-represented. If you've been missing crypt things in your game, you can make all sorts of them with the appropriate template. The aforementioned kyton-bound, constructed, divine, phase, and others will fill in needed gaps.

All of the templates offer definitely flavor and make for interesting and distinct creatures....for the right mix of encounter stew, naturally. A few could be the basis of entire plot lines (I'm thinking a kyton-bound template would open up all sorts of interesting denizen concepts for a visit to the City of Chains, for example).

Anyway, if you're a 13th Age junkie like me this is a PDF well worth checking out. I've printed out my copy for easy access at the table in my next planned 13th Age campaign (coming soon!)

Rite Designs has a sample on their blog if you'd like to see a bit for free.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
101 Not So Simple Monster Templates (13th Age Compatible)
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BRP Mecha
Publisher: Alephtar Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/03/2013 12:54:21

A very good book, adding detailed design mechanics for giant mecha to the Basic Roleplaying system. It provides a sample campaign, scenario, lots of advice on character generation in a manga/anima world with giant robots, and sound build mechanics. I have encountered no noticeable errors/errata yet. The art is black and white with an anime style to it, nothing terribly special but its genre appropriate and not ugly, either (sorta looks like Mekton in style, actually).

Worth buying if you are like me and have been wanting more SF themed sourcebooks for BRP!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
BRP Mecha
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Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting
Publisher: Alluria Publishing
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2012 15:08:32

This book is a steal at the current price, though I admit the price used to be higher and that kept me from checking it out. Now that I have it, I intend to buy the print edition. Very short but here's the pros and cons of the book:

Pros: a fantastic resource for an undersea campaign environment and very comprehensive at that; gorgeous illustrations, the nicest 3PP Pathfinder book I have yet seen; full of useful and interesting content; provides three dimensional rules for undersea combat.

Cons: Very specific to undersea adventuring, so of limited use if that's not your thing; the undersea combat rules look a bit complex.

Overall ratings:

Style and Presentation A+ Content: A+ for what it sets out to do; a C if you are looking to mine for ideas in on undersea campaigns. General Value: A+



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting
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Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual 1st printing
Publisher: Troll Lord Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/25/2012 14:37:33

Another fine book from the trolls. If you, like me, felt that the pinnacle of monster manuals from the 80's was the Fiend Folio, this is a book for you. Includes about 200 classic monsters from the era, as well as an extensive 1st edition DMG-style index of monsters from all three C&C monster books at the end. Great black & white illustrations, faithful recreations of many old classics of D&D that have been missing from C&C, and does a lot to bulk up the monsters of M&T.

Pros: 200 new monsters, well illustrated, very few typos/errata issues that I have found so far (i.e. cloaker seems to be missing from the index listing). Adds a lot of goodies for the CK to play with. A great tome if you loved the Fiend Folio. At $14.49 I felt I got my money's worth.

Cons: if you want new, this may not be the place to look; if you are fine with converting from other monster manuals of D&D to C&C, then this book may seem redundant to you. If you thought the Field Folio monsters were stupid, this book is not for you.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual 1st printing
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Stars Without Number: Original Free Edition
Publisher: Sine Nomine Publishing
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/09/2011 12:18:13

It hardly seems necessary to add more praise to Stars Without Number but I was so blown away by this book that I feel I need to at least let it be known. SwN manages to blend old school aesthetics and rules with a modern sense of science fiction in to an incredibly accessible and playable package. Giving it away free is a smart move; I immediately purchased the hard cover edition through the POD service and am already planning to make this my new go-to system for SF gaming. Stuff like this is really showing just how relevant indie game publishers are today.

Rules: simple but efficient; it includes a skill system, level-based advancement, career packages, streamlined combat and a plethora of useful GM tools and rules for world, creature and adventure design.

Presentation: clean and easy to read, nicely illustrated with evocative pictures that add rather than detract from the product.

Usefulness: extremely; I am already planning to use this book, a lot. It's everything you need for old school SF gaming under one cover.

Overall: 5 out of 5.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Stars Without Number: Original Free Edition
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Starships & Spacemen (Original 1978)
Publisher: Goblinoid Games
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/04/2010 17:23:27

This is a quirky retro RPG...well, perhaps retro shouldn't apply, since this is the original Starships & Spacement, circa 1978, with some supplemental material and errata originally published in Different Worlds magazine from way back when (I loved that magazine!)

Starships & Spacemen is essentially an unabashed riff of classic Star Trek (TOS for you modern Trekkies) with analogs of just about all the original races and characters to one extent or another. The system is simple, based on a series of base stats, a chosen branch study and augmented by a healthy dose of gung-ho "where are the green skinned women?" style of play. Even the sample characters and situations in the game....revolving around Captain Jerk....speak to the unabashed extrusion of all things Trek in to the S&S mold.

That said, if you are looking for a retro clone of Star Trek as an RPG this is a good place to start. The system is playable, contains a basic but fully functional set of rules for starships and combat, and has lots of classic trappings of old school RPG design, such as randomly generated alien encounters, planets and stellar anomalies floating around to be uncovered. It's really quite fun, and noticeably better than some of the other Fantasy Games Unlimited (the original oublishers) SF RPGs of the time (cough Space Opera cough).

If you consider yourself an officionado of the OSR, then you really can't go wrong here. if you just happen to be fond of kitschy Trek-styled space opera and rules-lite systems, look no further.

Appearance: 3/5 (it has that type-writer quality pervasive in games prior to 1980ish, but the art is decent for its time)

Substance: 4/5 (you get a full game here; I say 4/5 because it is so rules lite but if that's your thing consider it a 5/5)

Playability: 5/5 (plays well, and you can easily play it beer & pretzels style or go for a long haul campaign with it, I feel)

As a side note, Goblinoid Games seems to have plans to do support for S&S. I certainly hope so; it will make a fine addition to the Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future collage that GG is now known for.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Starships & Spacemen (Original 1978)
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