The Exodus System is a simple game with a lot of good ideas in it. Some of the most innovative gaming ideas of recent history have been elded to a simple OSR sensibility.

Characters are built on atrribute dice, a Professional Selection, A combat Mode Selection, Two Flavors (these are packets of "Cool things" similar to Cypher System's Foci), and a set of skills.

Task resolution is simple and fast, like most OSR titles. Ther are also some tables and suc h to aid with adventure design ideas for GMs stuck for an idea.

The material inside has what is needed to play, but I am sure anyone who reads it is going to be inspired to craft a few Flavors of their own, and I am sure that is exactly what Mr. Ross wants you to do. Indeed, the first supplement showcases a custom flavor to give mechanical advantages to centuar characters.

There is some very nice art in the book and the layout is clean and sharp. Thunderegg has been very repsonsive adding features and options to the PDF to make it more useful, and that shows a great repsect and dedication to their customers.

White Lies is an OSR spy game from DwD Studios. It is a variation of the old white box rules (hence the name), and the classes are types of operatives in an intelligence agency.

The rules are simple and tooled to a genre best described as cinematic spycraft, but easily used to run more grim and realistic espionage as well. Support for the game is as well-wrought as the base rules.

The graphical presentation is on target with cool silhouetted spies doing spy stuff. The whole 'vibe' here is perfect for that Bond or Bourne feel.

River of Heaven is a trans-humanistic sci-fi game with a mix of feudal, Byzantine politics. It was written by d100 rockstar Jon Ossoway. The game is built on the d100 based OpenQuest rules. The setting is filled with some intriguing and scary ideas, as it focuses on a new Bright Age following humanity's survival of a catastrophic encounter with advanced alien science that nearly wiped us out. PCs are agents and operators for the various competing forces in this new world.

Art is gorgeous and mixes high-tech with the resurgence of Byzantine fashion and aesthetics. The graphical presentation and text are clear and clean.

The way the game uses OpenQuest's battle magic system to reflect the effect of implants, nanotech, and biotech modifications is a cool use of those rules in a harder sci-fi setting.

OVA (Second Edition) is an anime-focused RPG, but that really means you can play anything with it. The second edition improves upon the presentation and content from the first edition, but either is recommended.

The system is d6 based and involves assigning dice to a set of traits and weaknesses. The list of these provided by the game hits most things gamers care about, but it is easy to tweak it as required by the tone, power-level, and setting in question (and the game shows you how). Players roll dice based on their traits and weaknesses and then keep the highest value rolled (doubles, triples, etc. are added together into a single value).

It plays super fast and the combat options makes for some cool strategic choices when choosing your combat stance each round. Players and GM can create tailored attacks and defenses based on base traits and tweaks that give characters more options in battle as well.

The look of the game is amazing. Clay Gardner wrote and laid-out the product and it features the art of Niko Geyer. This is like Anime-styled Nirvana. Every image is gorgeous and builds on the cadre of sample characters used as examples in the game text.

I have GMed and played OVA in both editions and it is fun, fast, and handled a variety of genres and settings without breaking a sweat.

No art, except covers, makes this a very expensive game for the price. Some good ideas here, but $19.00 is too steep.

This is one of the those generic systems that just gets the play flow right. Characters are built using player-worded traits with a number of dice assigned to them.

Conflicts and test are resolved by building a "hand" of D6s and rolling them to determine success via simple and quick mechanic. Goals and Nudges provide some extra mechanics to allow for more more tactical resolution, as well as dials for the grit vs cinematic feel of a particular game.

There is a section of developing settings, including samples of various genre themes and it would not be hard at all to duplicate or pay homage to your favorite genes, shows, etc.

I recommend this title heartily.

Charming! This game is simply charming. The material is well-presented and the system is light and fun (shades of Risus, and that means goodness). Character creation is simple, but very fruitful creatively and produces characters with a breadth and some simpler systems lack.

The graphic design is excellent, with engaging and unified artists vision throughout. Well-written examples and a zeppelin-load of period material and guides for creating adventures in the genre is included.

As my cousins across "the Pond" would say, "Does what it says on the tin."

A game filled with a grand mix of Japanese culture and action-adventure, TBZ plays like a kabuki play filled with high-tech war as the backdrop. The game-play is based on a simple resolution mechanic with an abundance of strategic play options. There is room here for tons of role-play that dove-tails expertly with strategic play in combat (or any conflict).

Characters have access to some very interesting and engaging abilities and powers to give them a niche (even if they all play the same template). Players, meanwhile, have access to mechanical strategies to help them engage in the story as a way of fueling their successes in their exploits. Balance what matters to your character with how well you play to those desires, and you gain the ability to push the envelope when you need to.

The setting is a toolbox for building exciting situations of which the PC group become the very center. Games play fast and have a act and scene structure that emulates a Kabuki play while also channeling the characters' development during the story. Fast-paced and energetic play results from rules focused on that end. I recommend this game highly!

"Itras By" is evocative and surreal while still providing a framework to keep the group on the same page regarding the setting. An innovative idea in the game codifies the "make it your own" concept of setting design by assigning the group an exercise (one of four) to remove several paragraphs in the setting chapter from existence, as desired. Other exercises encouraging customizing the game via the addition of new pages and notes to the "official" setting material (and therefore canonizing it). An aside - these exercises make explicit "rules" that should be implicit in all games, and the group may strike or add rules or setting equally.

Game advice is provided for players new to the ideas of the early surrealism movement in art. Clear explanations and examples of how to make play surreal without making it meaningless and absurdist is provided.

The artwork and layout of the book is gorgeous and clean. Images bring the setting to life and also give examples of the dreamlike elements that appear in the game's setting. The layout and page elements have a feel of the 1920's art-books in which surrealism found its first home. Clear fonts without being drab and boring. Some pages might eat toner when printing, but the number of pages like this with game material is small.

The setting is creepy, majestic, and presents scenario ideas on each page. The rules are simple and clear, and focus on narrative control. Fans of "Over the Edge" will be impressed by this game, in both rules and setting. I highly recommend it.

A very solid offering of short stories from around a very intriguing setting. The mix of Western genre with Wuxia trappings is a compelling one and the stories here show that off in style. Each tale has a sense of that dusty trail with a hint of silk robes. Some of the stories are action and adventure, and some are more character studies with the occasional gunfire and/or kung fu, but whether action or emotion are on primary display in each story the writing keeps you hooked in. Well worth the price-tag and a rollicking good setup for the coming game.

This product is, at its essence, a joke - maybe a trick (I can't decide which). Sadly, the joke (or trick) is on those who purchase it. I once bought a game about dancing animal lawyers for a dollar that was made free a few days later. Until this product, I always considered that the worst gaming money I ever spent. Now, I have Hit-a-Dude to replace it.

To be fair, I should have looked carefully to see the page count and researched it a bit. I let the good reputation of the author convince me there was something worthwhile here. Do not repeat my mistake.

Overview: Technoir blends the concepts of cyberpunk with film noir with a tight and flexible game system that rewards play within the conventions of both genres. The system is easy to learn, allows for all sorts of strategic play within the fiction of the world, and ties the characters into the setting using a system that lets a GM build a plot-line as play evolves, if desired. The game is very customizable and developing new content is extremely easy.

Rules: Technoir's rules system is based on verbs and adjectives. The verbs are the things the characters do in the setting and you will see all the cyberpunk/noir regulars featured: Fight, Hack, Prowl, and Operate (drive drones and vehicles). These verbs are the WHAT you and your opponents do, the adjectives are (as you would expect) the HOW. Characters, equipment, and contacts all have adjectives that allow the player or GM extra resource options in the games fast-playing resolution system.

The effect of every contentious action from combat to verbal sparring is an attempt to put an adjective on your opponent. Use your "Fight" verb (and maybe help it out with your 'accurate' gun and your 'steady' personal adjective) to place the adjective 'shot' on your target. How bad the effect is and how long it lingers is based on a dice resource called Push that gets traded as adjectives are made to linger longer on the target. The PCs start with the Push advantage, but as they get embroiled in the plot, they start to give it over to the GM, whose NPCs start making life tough on the PCs, giving the dice back. The ebb and flow of Push keeps the game's pitch dead-on as the plot resolves to a good climax.

The game also has a system of favor trading with NPC contacts that keeps the PCs tied into the community they live in and beholden to players that become more involved in events the more they are consulted. Money is always tight and favors help get the right tools in your hands. The gear system is very intuitive and many cyberpunk classics are represented as well as some new takes on the cutting edge.

Presentation: The game is very cleanly laid-out and attractive to the eye. There are some full-color images in the text, but most of the art is very tasteful tri-tone images that set the tone for each section, demonstrate game-play, or show examples of the equipment in the game. As an added bonus to those of us who like a printout at the table, the raster graphics are on a layer in the PDF that can be switched off to save toner./ink. The text is clear and has clear examples of play close to each section of rules.

Portability: Similar to game like 'Fiasco', Technoir comes with setting bibles called "Transmissions" that make game setup and prep easy and organic, even during play. These setting manuals allow for the fan community to create and share their own Transmission with others and integrating other people's transmissions into your own game is a snap. Also, the system hackers out there will recognize that a few tweaks to the starting verbs and training programs allows a group to run a number of other genres.

I recommend the game for fans of cyberpunk gaming who want a more streamlined system or a system that is less about the shopping list and more about the motives of the characters. I also recommend the game to those who like modern noir movies like "Blade Runner" or "Brick" (both obvious inspirations for this game) or the classic noir films. Story gamers will find much here to love, as the game centers on the character's and their goals, even while keeping that cybernetic edge you need for good cyberpunk.

A younger me once fell in love with a game called Journeyman by this game's author. I see much in this product that reminds me of that old flame, and there is so much more as well. The rules give lots of hard sci-fi crunch and the art puts you in a mood for reaction massing, heat-sinking space adventure. It's like meeting my high school love only to find her having blossomed.

Simple and fun narrative gaming!

This game combines the cream of a crop of good story-based games with the simple fun of rolling a bunch of dice (by which, I mean you roll lots of dice instead of having to use lots of rolls - the difference will tell in play, let me assure you). The conflict resolution system is simple and universally applicable to any conflict in a way that keeps engagement, but also lets you enjoy that thrill of building up a hand of dice and letting fly at your opponent.

From social combat to blazing ship's weapons in deep space, the system's damage makes sense and the scalability of the game is simple and functional. The goals and doubts system gives characters and edge in getting what they want, but plagues them with doubts if they fail. This system pays off well in longer term play, and feeds well into the flow of experience and advancement in the game as well.

Check out the Big Five from d101 to see some specific uses of the system in a varying group of genres, or just grab any setting from your shelves and use this system for a one-shot. You can't go wrong.

With its very simple and dynamic trait-based character generation and its fun pool-building and quick rolling resolution system, Wordplay is simply quick and fun.

Any genre, any setting, any flavor of play can be simulated by the rules. The "Big Four" added to the presentation of the main rules are all engaging and show the depth and width of the rules engine.

The system is a mesh of ideas from games like HeroQuest and Burning Wheel with its own fresh flavor that dumps the overhead of those games for something much more turn-key and adaptable.