[Review revised now that the rules have more adventure-generation information.]

This is a packed, information-rich deck of cards to assist the running of a science fiction RPG. It offers multiple fields of information. The individual cards are each printed on both sides of 60 cards, which makes it unclear which side to pick (draw a card, and flip it like a coin, maybe?)

A small wheel of numbers lets you make dice-rolls from d4 to d100. This is VERY handy to make dice-rolls in a secret way for the GM, or by anybody for general noise-reduction. There are fields on the card to allow you to randomly pick evocative first names, sights, sounds, smells, locations, and belongings (in case an NPC living OR dead is encountered) suitable to an SF environment.

The cards are adapted from their set for fantasy, and several fields of the card have different sets of icons that are perhaps more suitable to fantasy. There is a field for the Elder Futhark runes (the runic alphabet of the Vikings) as well as an icon for the Four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. This is not much of a drawback since they offer tables of "archetypal" meanings to help you imagine outcomes in any sort of RPG. There is a random verb, subject and object on every card that can add up to over a million combinations if you draw 3 cards. Parts of the cards resemble a more gamer-focused version of Rory's Story Cubes.

What is slightly imperfect about the game is that the instructions still insert a few fantasy examples and mention goblins, bandits in a forest, castles and so forth. They could hone their instructions to be more sharply SF in orientation (although some SF games such as Shadowrun might have no trouble mentioning magic or psionics). The instructions do offer suggestions to "transpose" the meaning of a draw to something more suitable to your game.

They describe how the deck could be used to generate encounters for a solo or GM-free game. An adventure generation scheme has been added to the rules more recently.

Overall, this is a beautiful deck of cards that can be used in different modes: evocative ideas for adventure design before the game, dice-rolls and random draws for the GM to improvise a situation or NPC on the fly, and suggestions for a GM-free game or for generating SF adventures.

"Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting!" --Carl Douglas

Although I prefer having Rules Companions released after the core rules of a game to be a big tome including lots of new stuff, the modular Admin Toolkit is an acceptable and flexible way for the Admin to add new features to their game.

Advanced Training: Hand-to-Hand is a supplement to White Lies, the spy game resembling old-school gaming (based on Dungeons & Dragons rules). Secret agents who opt for this Advanced Training will need to gain more Experience Points (XP) to advance to each new level. However, in return they will get to use some advanced hand-to-hand fighting techniques in a way that resembles "spells per day". Individual techniques can be used more than once a day, but the number of types usable per day are limited. There is no extra check or Saving Throw to make, and no special preparation once trained. Various kinds of strikes and defensive stances are described, organized in Techniques up to Level 3.

The "spell" structure will be inherently familiar to players, and as usual, pay close attention to the details and conditions for each Technique. Now get out there and knock some heads!

Bulldogs! is a reworked version of a previous release for FATE version 3, re-released for Fate Core (there was also a d20 version). It is a game centered on the Bulldogs, space truckers for the TransGalaxy corporation involved in hauling Class D cargo in aging rust-bucket freighters, the shipments nobody else wants to take. Characters sign on with TransGalaxy for 5 years, and ply the space-lanes in a galaxy far, far away, in the wild Frontier Zone straddling the democratic but ruthless Union of the Saldralla and the theocratic Devalkamanchan Republic.

Bulldogs! is complete with Fate rules included, but the presentation may be a bit back-to-front. In exposing how a character is constructed, some Fate features may not be immediately explained, so people totally new to Fate reading this might need to flip through some pages and get things straight before making choices for their character's Aspects, Skills and Stunts.

Characters can be of 10 principal alien species: human-like Arsubarans, intelligent Robots, and 8 more, which were well-written and not just humans in funny costumes. Each species has species aspects and special abilities which cost Refresh points. Attitudes and sample names round out each description. Guidelines are also given to create your own species.

Characters cannot be created without first considering the TransGalaxy Ship they are in, and their Captain (usually but not always an NPC). Characters have 7 starting Aspects, but two are reserved for Aspects relating to your species heritage, one is tied to your the reason why you signed with TransGalaxy (which is your "Trouble" in this game), one to your relationship to your Captain, and two more Aspects resulting from how you "crossed paths" with Crewmates. Characters have a whopping 6 Refresh (but less if you pick a species with lots of inherent abilities, or if you want more than 2 Stunts or 2 Gear points.) Money is abstracted by 10 Credit boxes for major purchases -- but as a Bulldog, you have 9 of those checked, meaning you are in the debt of TransGalaxy principally.

The "dials" of these Fate Core rules are set up for bold action. There are 4 Conditions each with its own kind of Stress track: Winded, Angry, Stunned and Broken. Using up a track will lead to a Consequence related to that Condition, and depending on the level the Consequence may take some time to remove. Armor is in Mild (-2), Moderate (-4) or Severe (-6) varieties, obviously built to absorb stress of those magnitudes. Energy shields can be added to absorb even more as well. Weapons have light, medium and heavy categories and, depending on their category, can "bypass" one or more lower Conditions to deal Stress on a higher track. So weapons and armor can be powerful science-fiction tropes but operating on a soft, squidgy being who doesn't have much inherent defense. Like I said, a game built for bold, swashbuckling rock 'em sock 'em action.

There follows a standard discussion of Fate rules, a slightly reworked list of 18 Skills, and a discussion of Stunts appropriate to each Skill and the setting's style. Gear is covered: equipment meant to rise above the mundane, with information on creating your own and figuring out the gear's worth in Gear Points. Spaceship rules and combat are described. TransGalaxy is paying for your ship, fuel and basic maintenance, but refuses to pay for your adventurous "excursions" or ammo for combat or anything else you might have to do despite company policy! Larger categories of spaceships have more of the lesser Stress Tracks, and their powerful weapon categories can again "bypass" the lower Stress tracks of enemy ships. There follows information about Conflict design (including villains and their minions), and tying them together to make lengthy Adventures. A couple of pages on setting up campaigns with other kinds of characters rounds out the book.

All told, this is a strong, action-oriented Fate game with colourful aliens and working-stiff ethic!

[rewritten review with a few corrections] UNCHARTED WORLDS is a generic science fiction game based on the Apocalypse World rules engine, and does a good job of explaining these rules.

Players define what their characters want to do, and these intentions are analytically classified into specific Moves. Players then roll 2d6 plus a Stat for each kind of Move. Rolls of 10+ succeed outright and definitely, but rolls of 7-9 succeed with some kind of cost or consequence. Players pick an Origin and two Careers for their character which grant the character various Skills, which define or enhance the 2d6+Stat roll. The Game Master presents the setting and story as usual, but must decide on the complications and setbacks, presents foreshadowings, and decides how unsolved problems get worse. The Game Master NEVER ROLLS DICE THEMSELVES. The Game Master is also encouraged to write games with elements that remain undefined, and turns these questions over to the players.

The way the rules are structured, the dice-rolling and Stat/Skill adds resembles Traveller on the front-end but the outcomes are non-numerical and reminiscent of Fate rules. The Game Master decides the meaning of "successes at a cost" and on occasion flips a question back to the players. Damage, for living beings and machines, is on a five-tier system, where untended conditions may get worse and turn into permanent "Debilities" that affect ability.

On some good skill-rolls, the player may define something about the game that is absolutely true (and the GM must run with that), or can collect and spend Data Points that improve the roll on informative Moves by +1 each.

The rules have skills to cover both exploration of unknown planets and urban adventures with political intrigue. There are chapters for qualitatively described medical operations and healing, weapons and gear, vehicles, trade and Debt (players take note of fulfilling Debt but there is no credit-counting in this game), factions (wealthy and powerful groups which have the function of Patrons in Traveller), starships and starship combat, and a sample adventure illustrating the loose plot-style that allows player input.

There is no game setting or star system generation scheme detailled here, although Kickstarter backers were said to have received additional material about planets and factions.

The author is fond of slipping in movie-quotes in the text, so I say to him, "A beginning is a delicate time." --Princess Irulan, DUNE. I encourage him to develop more adventures or material to demonstrate the game and bring out the strong points of the system.

As is well-known, MYST is a ground-breaking series of computer games which began in 1993, focused on exploration, atmosphere and puzzle-solving. There was almost no violence (except for a truly memorable turn by actor Brad Dourif as Saavedro in MYST Exile!) I would have been in the market for a MYST worldbook or compendium, and it was by chance I heard that a tabletop RPG had been made for it.

The rulebook starts off with 30 pages or so of typed and handwritten background letters for flavour, and that is my one reservation about the game. Using that for an introduction sort of clutters the beginning of the book. Fortunately, the base font of the .pdf made no attempt to be atmospheric or otherworldly, just a straight font to help me get through most of this massive but well spaced-out 338-page book (in a digest-sized format comparable to the size of the Fate Core rulebook).

The game is based on Fate Core rules and, in order to be a stand-alone game, presents all the rules and Fate Core concepts adequately. The story-focused mechanics works well with the atmospheric setting of MYST focussing on character and interaction with people and environments. The Fate Core Skill list has been modified, with Skills such as Experiment, Research, Engineering (the Crafting of more complex machines) and Surveying appearing. The Actions have been significantly modified: Overcome, [create or take] Advantage, Discover, and Active or Passive Opposition as needed, with no Attack or Defend Actions as such. But if you truly want gritty Age Wars with invading Disco Dwarves from Dimension X (hello, Teenagers from Outer Space!) with depleted-uranium morningstars, and you must stop them with monomolecular slashwire nunchucks, Fate Core will let you do so. It could be just me...

The heart of Myst is its puzzles, and there is concise information on how to set up machine-like puzzles and how characters uncover the history of an Age (a pocket-universe or dimension). The game master need not have to sweat out having to do original puzzles if that is not their inclination. A puzzle can be handled as an abstraction to discover and overcome according to the Unwritten rules.

There is considerable information on the history of D'ni, laid out in chronological order, and the new wave of humans who have found the entry-point to the abandoned D'ni cavern under the New Mexico desert and are occupying the abandoned D'ni city, trying to recover the lost D'ni arts of travelling with Linking Books. Some are just day-trippers, maintaining a day-job on the surface, others are hardcore people occupying the city and even adopting D'ni clothes and mannerisms. Factions are developing among the humans, arguing about how to handle these discoveries.

There is little information about Ages set in the computer games (another supplement, maybe?). Atmospheric artwork throughout reinforces the game. Overall, a beautiful tome to complement your experience of the MYST computer games, and careful study will reward you with rich role-playing sessions.

This Fate World book covers an alternative 19th-century Europe where dirigible and biplane technology have been pushed to its limits. It seems to read like a ground-bound version of SPACE 1889. The authors say it's okay to relate this to steampunk, but suggest the manners of Jane Austen novels mixed with the technology of H.G. Wells or Jules Verne is a good way of thinking about it.

The Great Powers in this setting are Brittania (which also covers France, as the Plantagenet dynasty was never eclipsed), the Muscovite Empire and the Caliphate of Baghdad, with other minor countries. There are adequate settings notes to give the exotic flavor of this alternate history and the individual countries. A mini-game is offered which expresses these powers as characters, and an Attack or Creating an Advantage from the Fate Core actions translates into an effect on entire countries which will generate stories for the Player Characters at the regular character level. This feature is a novel concept and adds flavour resembling a Diplomacy board game or the scenes in the movie Doctor Zhivago, where the Bolshevik Revolution tosses individuals back and forth and governs their, er, fate.

Next, once players have played the mini-game to generate overarching political story-arcs, much of the book is given over to an adventure set in a flying hotel called the Pension Bellevue, where player-characters are supposed to mingle with stylish, upper-crust NPCs for adventure and intrigue across all the major cities of Europe and beyond.

The "great game" in particular seemed to be well done, and a commendable effort to spread the "Fate fractal" idea where even countries can be dealt with as characters but on a different scale.