Bios Ex Nihilum is a 107 page supplement for the Hot Chicks RPG. It is lavishly illustrated in the usual Hot Chicks style of computer (Poser) art as well as littered with black and white illustrations.

As its name suggests, the book is concerned with creating artificial life forms, whether as PC or NPC creations or simply as PCs themselves. In 2015 technology is much more advanced than today and the ability to create life (biological, magical or technological) is present, as is a complete lack of ethical or moral structure to govern this. You're created, you're property. Get used to it or do something about it.

The first few chapters of the book deal with the details of creating artificial life - either as a player character or as an NPC. This comes complete with simple rules and costs for life creation as well as tables for mutations and errors should something not go according to plan. There is a new system for character generation where you buy the characteristics that you desire rather than roll them as you have been created with specifications in mind. Nothing is perfect though, and failing too many rolls will result in creatures that might look how you wanted them, but mentally they function very differently... Think "Fatal Attraction" crossed with "Psycho". There are new merits and flaws and the rules here work in the same manner as the original rule book, so the system seems well balanced. Included in these sections are the additional equipment (and Field guide to monsters!) that are needed to make artificial life, as well as additional spells and cyberware (mainly for keeping cyborgs under control).

After this comes a whopping fifty pages of NPC and creature examples of all types illustrating what can be created and what can go wrong. If you're looking for a sex toy, clone, rogue simulant, undead cyber zombie or just a basic mechanoid you'll find them here amongst many others.

Finally the book ends with a gamesmaster section with notes on how the basic organisations view and deal with artificial life, some new organisations that deal mainly with new life and some further adventure ideas.

If you're looking to expand your Hot Chicks game with artificial life of any kind, then this is the book for you. If you simply want a wealth of new NPCs, you won't go far wrong either.

Hero Force is a nice compact superhero game that you can just pick up for an evening and have fun with. For a ridiculously silly price, you get you do get a complete superhero role-playing game. But naturally, for a game this cheap and fun it can be a little rough around the edges and naturally does not allow you to create every superhero imaginable.

But that is where the Giant Size Super Special supplement comes in. For an even more ridiculous price you get bigger package containing a wealth of material. Included within the 30 odd pages are more superhero character types to fill in the missing blanks from Hero Force, expanded notes on the original types, more super powers and some optional rules as well. This alone is worth the asking price as suddenly you have so much more flexibility when you design your characters, but the GSSS does not stop there.

In addition, this supplement provides you with a campaign setting - Victory City. Located wherever you want it to be, Victory City provides you with a place to locate the action. The City is divided into five boroughs and each of which are described along with notable personalities, heroes and villains, complete with statistics. Each borough is different enough in style and substance that it seems impossible not to be able to fit an adventure of some sort somewhere in the City!

Rounding out the supplement are five more adventures written in the normal Hero Force style and set within Victory City, each of which is enough for a good evenings play.

If you are a fan of Hero Force, then the Giant Size Super Special is a must. For a cheaper price you get so much that will truly expand your super game!

This PDF was a very unexpected pleasure, I'm not sure what I was expecting from a game entitled "Hot Chicks" but the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" has never been more applicable than here. Despite the title, this is not necessarily a game about hot chicks (although you can play them), instead the setting is quite dark where humanity is mere cattle for demons, aliens and corporations and it your job to try and stem the flow of darkness.

The book is a hefty tome at 454 pages with lavish artwork running through it. The book is complete with background, character generation, magic, psionics, cyberware, super powers, vehicle rules, equipment, and a lot lot more. Everything you need is there, and then some. The authors have obviously thought about what might be needed and then covered their backs by including a lot more. Extensive appendices round out the book giving references, tables and more.

The game system itself is the Inverted Twenty System which despite the name is not another d20 clone - there are no levels here! Instead the idea is to roll low on the d20 to succeed, usually using your characteristic + skill as the base target number to roll under. Combat is based on "shrugs", not hit points; if you're hit you make a Damage Resistance roll using the damage of the weapon as a modifier, and if that fails (as it invariably will) you take "shrugs" as damage, the amount based on the damage of the weapon and the characters damage resistance. As an average NPC has 3 shrugs, combat can be over quickly. The system itself is also quick and simple to run, something ideally suited for an action-horror game such as this.

If you're looking for a modern/future game then this game stands up well in the crowd covering the genre very completely. The fact that it has hot chicks as well is just a bonus!