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Pretty barebones and straightforward Sword and Sorcery OSR with an excellent essay on what the genre is and how to run it at the beginning of the book. The kind of game you can easily pick up and play with minimal prep and minimal rules consultation as you go. Well worth the price of admission.
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Really excellent game. The highlight is easily the excellent magic system which focuses on summoning and binding elementals, and demons. Includes a lot of detail on these summon creatures and the gods associated with them. Worth the purchase price for that alone. Also has a great gazeteer of the Crimson Lands, a mass combat system, and all the basic rules you'd expect from an RPG too.
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Gorgeous art but extremely complex and clunky rules
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With so many other great's in this genre (such as White Star, Stars Without Number, and Traveller) I was reticient to purchase SB&CS... BUT i must say it was money well spent! This one possibly stands on top of the heap for those seeking SPACE OPERA action. It has a very detailed, well written, and exciting setting which (to me) sets it apart from more 'generic' space opera titles. And the mechanics do not dissappoint either. I'd highly recommend SB&CS to anyone seeking a good ol' space opera experience, bonus points if they like OSR an rules-light systems. Top notch black and white art throughout as well.
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Magitech High Fantasy
The setting is well outlined but rarely gets beyond 'broad strokes'. Many original and evocative ideas are to be found, few are developed very far.
Races include fully sapient baby-dragons (Drakin), plant-based Elves, steampunk Dwarfs, sky-viking Orcs, mutant Goblins (Glowborn), and anthrophomorphic animals enslaved by the Elves (Wildlings)
The setting itself is a shattered world of sky sialnds floating between an icy glacier and a raging inferno. Sky ships navigate this oddly glowing world in search of salvage, and commerce. Sadly many of the physical laws of the world are based on game balance rather than cinematic appeal or intuition (sky ships cannot approach sky islands from the top or bottom, only from the edges for example)
The religion is fairly detailed and involved avatars still walking amongst mortals in the world. But it reads like a bad soap opera or over the top anime. The gods come across more as reckless and childish superhumans than divine personifications.
Half of the book is dedicated to a plot point campaign. This is the story the setting was designed to tell. Sadly it is both a hard railroad and poorly written. Few options are presented besides 'run screaming into combat' and there's not enough detail to support any other play style. The plot itself makes little sense, follows no logical train, build no momentum. It's just a long series of combat encounters with the vaguest excuse as to why a fight is needed. Indeed sometimes I have no idea why the author believes a scenario would ever lead to combat. He just types 'when the fight begins...' leaving me asking 'what fight? why?'
There is not much art in the book. What is there is full color but of variable quality. the PDF is bookmarked.
The setting itself likely deserves a 3/5. Good ideas, just not enough detail. Even the hokey 'religion' can't drag it down too far. The plot point campaign is 1/5. At times it makes no sense and cannot be followed even after several re-readings.
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If you want an 'Aliens' RPG then look no further. OSR style! Over half the book is setting detail, info on the corporate powers which control humanity's destiny, and on the 'Great Blackout' which has left Sol isolated from it's once prosperous colonies. It's up to you; a ragtag band of colonial marines, corporate spies, and ex-cons; to find out what happened to the colonies. And there WILL be giant buggy aliens to battle admist those derelict ruins! Not quite as combat focused as the similar 'We Hunt Bugs' RPG, but brimming with a lot more setting info for sure.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I just wanted to clarify that it does not use OSR mechanics. |
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4 classes (agent, grunt, engineer, and hunter), and 8 corporate sponsors to choose from in this 'Aliens' style OSR. Every jump through hyperspace can cause buggy aliens to appear on your ship, and this has led to some insanely dangerous derelicts drifting through the void. Not quite as detailed in terms of setting as the similar 'Foreign Element' RPG, but a more capable 'run n gun' dungeon crawler.
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An excellent dark fantasy setting. Knights collide with barbarians, elves collide wth humans, religion collides with magic. This is a politically charged game of clashing cultures against the backdrop of a grim and perilous world full of weird and mysterious magic just beyond the city walls. If you want an injection of politics and horror into your fantasy game then this is an excellent title to pick up.
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A simple, solid, narrative system married to classic tropes and some decent writing (primarily) in the form of their species gallery. Also a fairly pretty, full colour, book. Not what I was expecting, a lot lighter on the setting info, and a lot heavier on the narrative gameplay elements, but still a solid product.
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A very average narrative RPG with a superficial scifi coat of paint. Definitely not an OSR, despite the advertising as such. Gorgeous book, servicable and functional mechanics (if you like narrative games), but ultimately lacking in cohesion, or setting. I had very high hopes for this product as I'm a huge fan of the (supposed) genre. But there was very little of that genre here. This book could play fantasy as easily as scifi, or some ungodly mix, but it can't play anything to much degree of depth sadly.
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The setting is solid hard scifi (other than the mecha) and the campaign is strongly written and plotted. I just wish there were a bit more depth to the setting here, and possibly more campaign scenarios. This is everything you need to run the included campaign, but not much beyond that. Still a very good effort.
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A very cheesy pulp railroad. Done in imitation of some of the worst pulp tropes. If you don't mind railroads, and love really cheesy nonsensical pulp adventures then this will be for you. If you want logic, consistency or player agency give this one a pass.
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Fast and simple point-based ruleset. Lots of gear. Psychic powers. Starship rules. All the basics are covered.
The book includes a 'broad strokes' kitchen sink campaign setting including pastiches of the Empire (Star Wars), the Federation (Star Trek), and a more 'corporate' empire which has a more grey morality. Each region is touched on in brief and campaign ideas are provided for each (rebels vs the Empire, space rangers, free traders, space explorers, etc.). Also many species of humanoid aliens are mentioned in brief, some fairly original but most being pastiches of familiar races from pop-culture (predators, xenomorphs, klingons, hutts, etc.)
The Bestiary and Starship Gallery are extensive. The Art is black and white, but very strong, about as good as black and white art can be, with many illustrations of ships and characters. The PDF is not bookmarked.
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'A lighter, softer, Warhammer 40k'
Do not confuse this with science fiction! This is science fantasy! Swords, bows, knights, cavalry charges, magic, and just the occassional spaceship or alien seems to be the order of the day in Fading Suns.
The setting goes into lavish detail in some sections, but completely omits other areas which will likely be vital to play. Feels incomplete.
The core mechanic is fast and simple. lots of gear, both psychic and magical powers are included. No starship rules!
The art is black and white but of the highest quality for black and white art. The PDF is not bookmarked.
Hard to give it low marks in the areas they did include. But so many areas are omitted I can't give it any higher rating than a 3/5. If it were a more complete product 4/5 would be more likely.
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A wonderful Retro 'Rockets and Rayguns' style SciFi RPG. Look no further for Flash Gordon style adventures in a well thought out pulp setting covered in plot hooks.
A half dozen pulp-scifi style species to play as with good roleplaying details for each
A Large gazeteer of the Slipstream setting
A complete plot point campaign
A dozen 'Savage Tales' suitable for oneshots, sidequests or random encounters.
A random adventure generator
A large bestiary of pulp-scifi baddies and monsters
Full colour art throughout. The PDF is bookmarked.
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