There are people for which this game is nearly perfect. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. I wanted to love this game. This game is pretty much Traveller or Stars without Number meets PbtA. I love the concept but I feel the execution is only par.
First, the Traveller style histories mean a good amount of customization but also a ton of flipping back and forth and interpretting what the skills and backgrounds mean.
Next, the PbtA mechanics work pretty well but as a GM I hate how often the stats overlap and can be used instead of a weaker stat. For example, if you are trying to pilot a starship, there is no specific skill. Instead, you use one of your stats. However, Interface often used to pilot but then so can Expertise. This means 2 out of 4 stats can be used to pilot a starship. Gee, I guess my PCs will pick the +2 stat rather than the +1 / 0. (The buff characters with -1 stats for this will obviously avoid piloting if there is another PC around). Now, remeember this is a 2d6 system so +2 is huge.
This mechanic is SO important to the game that it almost breaks the system. Random space encounter? No, problem +2 roll to evade. Anti-spacecraft guns? no problem. Space battle? Easy to dodge
The other problem mentioned elsewhere with this game is that it lacks any suggestion of a setting. That by itself was no problem for me though as I took a fun space trader phone game and designed worlds and missions around this. I wouldn't weight this as a serious problem as there are SO many Traveller or generic space fantasy sourcebooks.
Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!] |