Homeworld Revelations is a great example of a corebook that delivers pretty much everything. Modiphius clearly took all the lessons they learned from developing Star Trek Adventures and refined it into Homeworld. The rules are rock solid, if a bit intimidating to new players. That said, I hope that enthusiasm will help get over that hump, and the fact that there’s a Quickstart product out for free will allow for people to get their feet wet in the system without being overwhelmed.

It delivers on all the important bits of a licensed franchise: it explores the setting in a way that gives insight to how the world works, without talking down to the reader, nor leaving them in the dark. There’s a host of inspiration, as seen in the dozens of plot seeds scattered around the setting chapters, making sure that GMs have something that could spark a campaign.

With clean, readable layout, and beautiful artwork, it is slightly marred by the minor oversight of not having a Starship sheet. That said, this is easily something that I’m sure Modiphius can address by uploading it on their website as a downloadable PDF once it’s available.

Overall, if you’re looking for a solid Space Opera offering what won’t ask you to buy dozens of books for a complete experience, then Homeworld is a good bet. Definitely something I’m glad to have in my library.

I love Homeworld. I bought it when it first came out (I’m also old). After beating it, I let a friend borrow my disc. Two weeks later I decided I wanted to play it again, so I bought another copy. So, buying this was a no-brainer. But, unfortunately, Modiphius seems to have done a less-than-stellar job with this book.

The book seems much more amateurishly put together than previous games. I'm sure the A4 presentation to my American eyes doesn't help. That just exacerbates the issue, it isn’t an issue on its own. However, beyond that, the fonts don't quite line up, even with themselves. The "e"s and "s"es in their blue font are all abnormally large, making words look funny (seriously, take a look at "The Great Wastelands" on p188, that word makes me motion sick just looking at it).

The two-column format with minimal art harkens back to Palladium books. When you get to the ships, there's more art, but, that's not that helpful. It looks like a first-draft of the print edition and it's . . . sub-standard. The book just doesn’t look professionally laid-out. That can all be fixed on updates.

I really wish that Modiphius' "new iteration" of their 2d20 system would have introduced a real combat range system. The area-based range-system is just awful. It might be okay for fantasy, but it is just useless for anything that isn't fantasy. It sucks in Star Trek, it sucks in Fallout, it sucks in Dune, it sucks in Infinity, it really sucks in Devil’s Run and it'll suck here.

Otherwise, it's basic 2d20. The rest of the system has a solid foundation, but is poorly implemented. Whatever their “new iteration” is, it’s not in the mechanics. Like Star Trek and Dune, it tries to do too much with too little, when there is ample room for more. Six attribute and six skills equal thirty-six options. Nuance is sacrificed. There’s a core for a good game system in there, and they’ve found it before (Fallout being the best, but Infinity is also good), but they seem bound and determined to over-simplify some IPs. It's the same game as all of the other Basic 2d20 games. Just the stats/skills have been crossed out and new terms written in, in crayon. Star Trek, Dune and Homeworld deserve better than this.

But, at the end of the day, with the exception of one of the worst range systems in modern TTRPGs, the rest of the system is functional. I won't use this game in 2d20. The implementation of the system is just too much hot garbage. I'll use the history and background and import it into a different system--one that doesn't prevent you from melee attacking someone on the other side of a door, because they're in a different, arbitrarily-assigned area. Look at the Star Trek maps for some absurdity and realize that, in many, many situations, shooting someone across the room is an easier shot than someone on the other side of the door that you're right next to. The range system may work fine for a fantasy game, but it's just awful for anything else. Could it be fixed? Absolutely. And, I had hoped that their "new iteration" would have done that.

Seriously, Modiphius, fire the person who thought areas were a good idea (out of a cannon--ideas like this should be punished). Hire someone to make you a new range system. Write a core book, based on the Fallout version and release a Generic RPG 2d20 system. There is a core of a good system that wants to get out; both from the flaming monkey poo that is the area/range system and the deliberate hamstringing of the writers.

TL;DR: It’s 2d20 Basic. If you like that, you'll like this. If you're here for the Homeworld lore, it's a good buy. It's more valuable as a sourcebook than an RPG.