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Blade of the Iron Throne Color Edition
Publisher: Iron Throne Publishing
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/23/2015 19:10:25

To be fair, it seems to be everything the publisher's blurb says it is - combat heavy (extremely so - and not a bad thing in and of itself).

The only (and main) gripe I have is that there is a lack of Tabular information overall - instead of being easily accessible and at your fingertips, a lot of vital information is buried deep in masses of un-headinged text ... and the majority of the existing tables that are actually quite important are either at the very end of the book or, often, at the end of the entire section they apply to. Not conducive to ease of learning or ease of play ... especially if you are trying to get new players (even experienced ones).

I expect that once you can get past the learning curve it might get somewhat easier.

That said, it does seem to capture the essence of Conan style low magic, brutal combat, Swords and Sorcery ...



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Blade of the Iron Throne Color Edition
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The Gunslinger Betty
Publisher: Storyart
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/21/2008 02:47:01

This is the first supplement for Rocketship Empires 1936, and is a worthy successor to the core rulebook ... which I rated (see the review elsewhere) at 4.25 to 4.5/5.

The same problems with spelling and layout make it impossible for me to give it a 5/5 ... you need to work on this, guys!

The artwork, however, continues to be fantastic!

The chunky goodness ... well, RE36 is a systemless series, supposedly. So why is a huge chunk of this book taken up with systems to add to whatever system you might actually be using with it? I would have thought it better to simply design an entire stand alone system and include a lot of the "systemless system" stuff from here in the core rulebook as part of that real system.

That aside, the detail provided in this book of the layout and contents of the Gunslinger Betty is phenomenal ... it is far, far, more detailed than any Traveller starship supplement I have seen (though I will admit I haven't seen many since the death of T4) and is just outstanding.

If the writers can clean up the spelling and layout problems and continue to produce books of this quality, I'll continue to buy 'em ... and that's high praise, indeed, if you know me through reading my reviews ;-)

Overall rating, 4.25-4.5/5



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Gunslinger Betty
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Rocketship Empires 1936
Publisher: Storyart
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/21/2008 02:38:44

Hmm. I'm of two minds about Rocketship Empires ... but not in a bad way ... but whether to give it 4 or 5 stars.

The book is graphically beautiful ... no other word for it ... but the layout is, well, not great. Lots of widowed and orphaned section headings, which simply wasn't necessary ... a sign of an inexperienced layout artist, I suspect. Of course, while I find that personally annoying, it doesn't change the chunky goodness of the product overall.

Likewise, the spelling ... grates ... obviously they didn't use a spellcheck program or, if they did, it has serious problems. The plurals of words ending in "y" for example, end in "ies" ... one company, two companIES and NOT two companYS. Sure, minor thing. But so obvious ... and that's not the only gratingly glaring spelling error ... parachute is abbreviated as 'chute (or, maybe, chute) ... it is NOT represented by the word shoots ... I know that schools don't teach spelling as such any more (I'm a teacher, so I should), but, they DO correct errors (well, I do, anyway) ... and if the writer knows as much about WW2 as he seems to, then the mis-spelling is unforgivably sloppy.

The use of full colour fills on tabular information ... looks great, but chews through the ink cartridges ... and wasn't necessary. At the very least the layout could have included a printer friendly version or just used coloured TEXT rather than coloured FILL.

The fact that tables have no headers and are not always placed on the page to which the text that refers to them actually is ... unfortunate. It's not as if there wasn't space ...

That's the layout stuff, which, if you read my reviews, is almost as important to me in some ways as the actual content ... and its the reason why I can't, in good conscience, give RE a 5/5 rathing.

How about the chunky goodness ... the content?

Well, this is a "tubepunk" game ... WW2 (well, its set in 1936, so the leadup to WW2) in Space with Martian Technology as the deus ex machina ... and it looks like it could be an interesting campaign. Very interesting.

I have some issues with the history ... the Martians appear in 1919 and, for example, by 1936 something like (from memory) 80% of Spain's population has moved offworld ... and Spain is as much an industrial powerhouse in RE36 as it was in the real world. Which is to say, its NOT. And all this is done in freighters that rarely exceed 3000 tons. Fifteen years to move 80% of 50 million people in 3000 ton freighters. Sorry. Suspension of disbelief just crashed and burnt in flames.

However, the intriguing possibilities of the background are such that I can (and believe YOU should, if you even care) forgive the historical uinlikeliness (I'm a historian by training, so I'm biased ... or just too persnickety, I guess) because I can see the possibilities of this background.

So, yeah, some of the history is clunky and unbelievable, but the backrground as a whole has real potential.

RE36 is a systemless book ... but a considerable chunk is taken up with creating a system to show how to fit it into whatever system you actually use. Probably almost as much space, in some ways, as a cut down system suitable for the genre would have taken up ... go figure ;-)

This is especially the case with the Spaceship design section, which, for a "systemless" system, is remarkably system heavy. And some of it just a tad clunky. Well, at least you are being encouraged to use some OTHER system evil grin ... I figure that Silhouette Core/Gear Krieg would be a pretty good fit (though not, by any means, the only one! Not even, necessarily, the best ... it is just one I have some familiarity with).

Overall, the systemless system and the background are intriguing ... I can really recommend this product, despite the minor shortcomings ... it's probably around a 4.25/5, possibly a 4.5/5 ... and I don't rate things highly unless they are damn well worth it!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Rocketship Empires 1936
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.45 Adventure: Crimefighting Action in the Pulp Era
Publisher: Rattrap Productions LLC
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/17/2007 00:00:00

An interesting game system. Well done, as far as the rules go ... though there are a few places where a little proof-reading would have been valuable, but that's life. Well laid out, in general.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Clean system. Simple. Easy to run.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: No Cover included in the pdf file. There is a cover thumbnail, so, presumably, a cover exists ... but it isn't included. I emailed the publisher with a query and ... well, that was months and months ago. No reply. Not happy<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
.45 Adventure: Crimefighting Action in the Pulp Era
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Traveller - The New Era 1248 Sourcebook 1 - Out Of The Darkness
Publisher: Avalon Game Company
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/05/2006 00:00:00

Got this yesterday, the first day of release (afaict), and read it - cover to cover - last night.

TNE:1248 is a continuation of the awful stupidity that was TNE (which shows you which side of the TNE debate I stand on!) ... however, that said, it is chock full of information. There are virtually no rules (and they make no bones about this, so no-one should be complaining ... and I most definitely am not), just scads and scads of data.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Like most GMs I think having lots of data is a good thing ... however, that said, like most Traveller fans, I have very definite opinions about TNE/Virus ... and, as you have probably guessed, I do not think it was the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, to borrow a phrase from the arsenal of the TV critic, I think that Traveller "jumped the shark" with TNE/Virus. Of course, probably as many would disagree vocally with that opinion as would agree with it, so you pays your money and takes your choices ...

The good thing about having so much information is that it provides you, as GM, with a massive choice of plot hooks ... so many that I can't see that you'll have any likelihood of ever running out of ideas that you can trawl from this product.

That is a major, MAJOR, plus.

However, if you think that Virus was the stupidest, most unbelievable, and downright idiotic idea ever (as I do) then you will be disappointed to find that the explanation of Virus is ... well, fantasy.

Oh, I'm sure the writers would claim the protection of Clarke's Law (y'know, "Any sufficiently advanced techology ..." and all that), but what their non-explanation boils down to is distressing for a game that has always prided itself on being basically hard-science ... Virus is basically a handwaved fantasy and no real pretense is made to disguise this.

This is not, however, a major problem. There is just so much other information of value provided that the stupidity of Virus simply pales into insignificance in comparison ... and, in any case, you can completely ignore it if you don't like it (and, allegedly, around half of the long time Traveller players do like it ... ghu knows why).

I do have a couple of fairly major reservations about the way the "history" presented progresses ...

Firstly, I am extremely doubtful (as a historian) that so much could have happened in such a short period of time (less than 50 years since the original TNE). There is simply far too much action occurring ... in reality what you have are events that would, more believably, taken up at least a century, and probably centuries. YMMV on this.

Secondly, I am equally doubtful (as a historian with a special interest in military history) that the sheer number and scale of the military campaigns presented in this book as happening over a few years could have happened, on an interstellar scale, in less than decades and, more likely, generations.

Neither of this will spoil your enjoyment in all likelihood.

The third issue I have with the background is that, well, it doesn't seem at all Traveller-like. It is really an "after the holocaust" game background ... a la "Mad Max", or "The Hills Run Wild", or FGU's "Aftermath" (if you're old enough to remember it!), or RPGObjects (from this very site!) "Darwin's World" ... and I don't think it fits in with what most Traveller players will expect.

Sure, you don't have to emphasise those particular aspects of the background, but I just don't feel they are truly in the spirit of the expectations that most Traveller players have.

Still, despite my reservations, I'm giving this 4.5 stars (and since you can't actually do that, it reads as five stars, which I think is reasonably fair.

A lot of work has gone into the information presented in this product and the authors are to be commended even if a surly old curmudgeon like me thinks some of it is incredibly stupid.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Lots of Information. Masses of ideas. Huge possibilities for plot hooks.

Really top stuff.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Amateurish layout. Looks like it was done in M$Word rather than a page layout program. Spelling and grammar are fine, but spacing between paragraphs is sometimes (annoyingly) missed and the use of the standard two column layout is, at best, uninspired, at worst, clunky.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Traveller - The New Era 1248 Sourcebook 1 - Out Of The Darkness
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/11/2006 00:00:00

Firstly, let me say that I am a sucker for almost anything to do with parallel worlds, time travel, alternate history and the like ... so Odyssey Prime was an immediate attraction when it appeared and, of course, since you're reading this review, I bought it.

I really wanted to like the game a lot ... and, no, its not awful ... it's just, well, it doesn't do much for me.

Why? Well, firstly, its virually a pastiche of parts of Season 3 of "Sliders" and "Stargate" ... even the artwork shows it is entirely derivative with thinly disguised Stargate Rings (only with Runes instead of glyphs) and Stargate entry chambers. To be entirely fair, neither Sliders nor Stargate are original ... there is a long tradition of these sorts of stories (and many variations thereupon) in Science Fiction (and even in gaming) ... its just that OP struck me as entirely lacking in originality.

Even the way the stargate was discovered in OP is a straight takeoff of the way it was discovered in Stargate ... just transposed to the UK from Egypt.

Secondly, the new character classes ... these are fine, as far as I can tell (I loathe d20 modern, much prefer Spycraft), but the names just strike the wrong cord. They are ... forced ... for example, the Special Forces class is called "Operator" ... why not "Green Beret" or, simply, "Special Forces". The assassin class, instead of being called "Assassin" is "Wetwork", and the Wheelman is "Outrider." Yes, this is a minor niggle, but it is part of my overall disquiet with the product.

Thirdly, the "Outfitting a Team" chapter, as far as weapons is concerned, provides a few new items, but a lot of the weapons included are already included in existing material such as the d20 Modern "Weapons Locker" (WotC, 2004) ... the Glock 18 Machine Pistol, the Mk 23 SOCOM, the PSS SP4 and the Steyr TMP. That's 40% of the "new" Pistols that are, basically, a waste of space as they are not new at all.

The same padding occurs with "Long Arms" ... the Colt Commando, Colt M635 SMG, OICW, M4a1 Carbine, MAG7 Shotgun, Remington 870, Shrike LMG, Steyr IWS 2000, Steyr Tactical (Scout) Sniper Rifle, Striker Shotgun, and the VAL Silenced Assault Rifle are not new material ... 11 of the 15 items listed and detailed.

The rest of the chapter is much of the same ... a few skerricks of new material, but mostly stuff you probably already have (hey, I do, and I loathe d20 modern ... its still reference material for Spycraft!)

The background material in Chapter #5 is, as noted, largely derivative ... it just lacks a spark of originality. It is workmanlike and well enough written ... it just doesn't grab you as something new, original, and tempting. Its all very "ho hum".

The chapter on campaigns is full of sketchy ideas that anyone could have come up with ... of course, that doesn't mean everyone would have. But, again, it lacks the feel of originality.

The last quirk is the last chapter ... which provides data for OP for the Unisystem (Eden Games). Now, I like the Unisystem. I think Witchcraft and Armageddon are great backgrounds. In fact, if OP had been entirely a Unisystem game, it would have been better ... of course, realistically, d20 sells better, I guess. The problem is that a large chunk of the material here is a repeat of the material in the equipment chapter ... it may well be new material for the Unisystem, but I can't see it being useful for anyone who buys this, as the huge majority of purchasers will want OP for d20 (which is sad, as I said, Unisystem is far far better).

Then there's the typesetting. If you've read my other reviews you know I don't like bad typesetting ... and, well, OP isn't bad ... it's sloppy.

There are quite a number of scattered paragraphs in almost every chapter where the line spacing is incorrect, the lines are too close together compared to the other paragraphs. I know how this can happen ... you have a standard paragraph style set up for, say, 10 point type on 12 point spacing and call it "Body Text" ... but the DTP program insists on having a style called "Normal" which might be 10 point type on "one line" spacing (which is quite different from 10 point on 10 point, even). If you're not careful when doing editting and moving or adding paragraphs you will find that you have inserted "Normal" formatted paras where you should have "Body Text" ... its all too easy to do. But it should be easily picked up at the proofing stage. I mean, I picked it up in the first five minutes.

Which sorta sums up OP ... a great idea, pity about the absolutely average implementation.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The idea.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The implementation of the idea ... somewhere along the line the creative process seems to have been ... derailed. Either that or the light at the end of the tunnel was really an oncoming express train ;-)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Odyssey Prime
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Etherscope
Publisher: Goodman Games
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/19/2005 20:33:09

Etherscope is an excellent value D20 system role playing game set in an alternate earth where the British Empire never fell and alternate technology (steampunkish) reigns.

It is, however, a science fantasy background rather than a science fiction one ... which you should have expected anyway! So be warned.

That said, the elements of fantasy science are consistent and well thought out and set the scene well and there is an extensive amount of information provided on all aspects, including extensive equipment lists.

The character classes are quite generic but this is not a problem as the designers have included a system of careers (Templates) that will enhance the individuality of each character despite this.

The only quibble I have, as a professional historian, is the history and its interpretation ... not the alternative history so much, but the interpretation of history before the point of divergence. To say that it was a unique interpretation would be close ... but it would be more accurate to say that, at best, it is totally misleading and, at worst, downright wrong ... but that's a quibble. Most players won't know enough to notice ... and, if the GMs do, they'll just ignore the sillier parts as I will.

All in all this book is excellent value for money (the production values are outstanding!) and I highly recommend it for a group wanting something genuinely different, the one quibble aside.

Style: 4/5 Substance:4/5 Historical Accuracy: 3/5

Phil McGregor



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Etherscope
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Dawning Star: Operation Quick Launch
Publisher: Blue Devil Games
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/05/2005 09:19:07

Dawning Star is a very professionally presented product - layout and artwork is top notch, with few exceptions (hey, everyone misses some minor things).

It supports the D20 Modern system well, but suffers from the fact that (IMO) D20 Modern simply doesn't do a very good job of representing anything even vaguely resembling the real world in the way the system works ... which, of course, isn't the fault of the writers of DS:OQL who do their best to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

The quality of the material, rules and background, that are presented are excellent, by and large, and show a great deal of thought has gone into the product.

That said, there are two things that I have noted that really put me off ... one in a very minor way, and the other much more strongly.

The minor thing is that, given that this is a lost colony with limited production capacity, they have stopped producing cheap and simple projectile weapons and are concentrating on complex and expensive plasma weapons. In the face of no real threat that they are aware of. This is simply unbelievable.

The more complex problem is that the authors seem to have no knowledge at all of evolutionary genetics. According to their secret history several races, including humans, have been around for in excess of several million years. Unchanged. Sorry, not believable. Not even close. Several hundred thousand, yes. Not several million. But, of course, you can easily ignore this ... but I find that it grates.

Actually, neither of the above are the reason why I give the game a 4/5 rating ... it's entirely because D20 Modern is, at best, a problematic system at the base. Dawning Star itself is well worth the price.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dawning Star: Operation Quick Launch
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Thirty by John Wick
Publisher: John Wick Presents
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/30/2005 00:00:00

I'm perplexed. Thirty sounds like a great game. And it probably is. It's just that I can't figure out why it is so badly laid out.

OK, I can live with the fact that the US insists on not using metric siced paper. It's a nuisance, but that isn't the problem. Thirty is intended to print landscape on US 8.5 x 11" paper. That is, two pages to a sheet.

Which means, you would think, that it would be designed so that the pages would print such that when photocopied back to back (for the majority of us who don't have a duplexing printer), would be in numerical order.

You'd be wrong.

The so-called "layout" is senseless ... it simply puts two pages on the one landscape page ... but in simple numerical order rather than in a way that would allow you to print them out back to back.

As it is, Sheet #1 will print with Pages #1 and #2 on it. Sheet #2 will print with Pages #3 and #4 on it. Printing them back to back will give you this order, when folded ... #2-#3, #4-#1.

It should, of course, print #1-#2, #3-#4.

Which means that you will have to print all the pages as single sheets, go to your quick print store and have them cut the pile in two, and only then will you be able to re-order them correctly so that the thing can be printed back to back properly.

This is such a basic layout error one wonders about the care taken (have they sent the wrong file to RPGNow? or do they simply not have a clue how layout programs work?) in preparing this product.

Pathetic.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Background seems OK. Game system is simplistic and limited in expandability ... I can't see this being the basis for an extended campaign, which is what the publisher's blurb implies it would be good for, but that's a first impression.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The amateurish layout for the specific reasons mentioned.

As it stands its only 72 8.5 x 11 pages, rather than 144 5.5 x 8.5 pages.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Thirty by John Wick
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Creator Reply:
Hi. We had two choices when laying out the book. The first choice was to make it easy to read on the screen. The second choice was to make it easy to print out and bind at a printing station. If we chose the first method, we'd get the response you gave above. If we chose the second method, you wouldn't be able to easily read the game from your screen. We chose the second method, which causes an understandable response from folks who want to print the book out and take it to the print shop. I'm sorry we didn't make the choice you wanted. Take care, John W.
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Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne
Publisher: Guardians of Order
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/09/2005 02:54:19

What can I say? First played EPT in 1976 (?) within weeks of its release -- even though I had to order it direct from TSR in Lake Geneva (by airmail), a much more difficult problem back before the internet existed ;-)

I've owned every edition since, and most (but not all, by any means - Australia might as well have been the Fifth Circle of ... wherever ... as far as indie rpgs from the US were concerned, and still is mostly) of the better known supplements. So I'd like to think I've seen the good and the bad ... and I must say I am impressed.

REALLY impressed.

And I don't impress easily. The layout and artwork are ... no two ways about it ... the best I've seen for a long time. Really outstanding. And they capture the "look and feel" of what I've always imagined Tekumel to be like ... spot on!

The rules are a variant of GOOs Tristat system ... and seem to be clean and well implemented, and, since I think highly of Tri-Stat, though I haven't had a chance to play the game yet, I can't see how they could stuff it up!

The contents are comprehensive and verge on the encyclopaediac. While note everything that's been published in core rulebooks for the various systems over the years is in this huge product, (240+ pages), it would come close. And there's even new material.

When GOO says that everything you need to run a Tekumel campaign is included in this book, they're correct. Of course, space consderations means that that doesn't mean "every Tekumel item ever printed" ... but, hey, lets hope that this is a huge success and GOO can print more Tekumel stuff.

The covers are really great, and really evocative.

The only downside is that the interior art seems to have been downsampled (which is fair enough, it had to be not too large to downlod), but I would imagine that the printed version is a glory to behold (can't wait for mine to arrive from Amazon ;-)

But I do have one complaint ... the full colour map seems to have been downsampled, too ... even printing it out at high resolution on glossy paper the names are unreadable as is most of the fine detail. I would have thought that, like the cover, this would have been one page that should have been inserted at high resolution. But I'm sure its there in the best form possible in the print version.

Highly recommended.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne
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Eric Flint's 1632 Resouce Guide and Role Playing Game
Publisher: Battlefield Press
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/07/2005 00:00:00

Having purchased on other product from Battlefield Press (Luftwaffe 1946) which was less than impressive, I must say that it was with some trepidation that I purchased this ... and only really did so because I really really really like Larry Flint's books.

First the good things. BP have taken comments about L46 to heart, and there is considerably more original material in this product (since the ACTION! System is, essentially, free, any pages devoted to it are, essentially, wasted from the "value for money" point of view).

Even so, only 78 pages are new material ... the remaining 131 include the cover, the ACTION! System rules and graphics that are not game specific and which, indeed, seem to be mostly clip art used randomly for no better reason than to fill up space.

The sections on the 1632 background and on the world of the 30 years war are reasonably well done, but, considering that less than half of the book is actually new material, it would have been nicer if the authors had provided much more information on these areas.

The character sketches for the main characters for the book, in A!S terms are also well done.

Now for the bad news. The layout is terrible. As much as I was scathing about the lack of original material in L46, that product was much more professionally done.

This isn't going to make the product unusable ... so if poor layout doesn't worry you, read no further.

The layout is full of widows and orphans, needlessly so ... why? For the simple reason that the illustrations used to randomly pepper the pages (and it seems, for the most part, random) are so poorly placed and sized as to make this inevitable. Tables are similarly poorly placed and sized.

There is no rhyme or reason to picture size ... some are a column width, some less than a column width, some a column and a fraction. All could have been standard sized. Tables are also randomly sized, even when single column or double column sizing would have been easier (and more sightly!) to use.

Several text/other boxes are skewed, set at a slight but noticeable angle off 90 degrees, which is probably meant to look cool. However, for example, on page #23 this actually causes a worse orphan than the poorly considered layout already does! And the few other examples, more often than not, simply look ugly.

The art. That?s a subject all by itself. There are some good, obviously purpose drawn for the book pieces ... many of which are used again ... and again ... and again ... and again ... four or five times in some cases. Says a lot about why the layout sucks, doesn't it?

A lot of the rest is clip-art, or seems to be, and it is used badly. A lot of it seems to be used for no better reason than to fill up space and boost the page count. Which, of course, would be another reason why the purpose drawn for the book pieces are used multiple times.

And even there, there?s the map of Grantville and the circle of territory around it. Instead of a single page or, indeed, a double page, layout for it ... or even a single large sheet insert ... it?s split into quarters over four pages. In the middle of the book. And no, not in colour, and with nothing much in the way of detail that would justify the use of four pages. Or even two, for that matter.

Can anyone say ?padding??

None of this makes the product unplayable ... simply poorly laid out.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The ACTION! System is a pretty good set of OGL rules, and 1632 uses them. The background chapters for the 30 years war period are fairly good, as is the information specific to the 1632 books. Would be nice if there was more of it, though, considering more than half of the book consists of information that is OGL and, therefore, free.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lack of additional material.

Multiple use of the same illustration(s).

Lack of original material not available elsewhere for free.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Eric Flint's 1632 Resouce Guide and Role Playing Game
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Nocturne v1.0a(EABA)
Publisher: BTRC
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/25/2004 00:00:00

Having bought Nocturne when it was first released, I've only just gotten around to reading through it ... and, like all BTRC products, it is a quality effort and a very well done implementation of their EABA ruleset. As is often the case with BTRC products, the topic is rather "off the wall" ... a world-wide conspiracy of "dreamers" somewhat similar to PIG's "Ubidden" (but only somewhat), or like WW's "Wraith" (but even less so) crossed with Mage (maybe a little).

The rules are well presented and, importantly, work well, and the background detail is top notch. If you like a somewhat dark and mysterious modern day setting that is quite different from the usual thud and blunder genre, then Nocturne is it. And there's plenty of thud and blunder, too - just of a slightly more refined and intellectual nature :-)

Well worth the money!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Nocturne v1.0a(EABA)
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Guns! Guns! Guns! v1.1
Publisher: BTRC
by Phillip M.
Date Added: 08/11/2004 23:52:59

A comprehensively detailed weapon design system with mechanics that enable you to design any weapon for pretty much any major game system ... indeed, for any game system at all with a modicum of work. Unbeaten for accuracy.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Guns! Guns! Guns! v1.1
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CORPS Vehicle Design System
Publisher: BTRC
by Phillip M.
Date Added: 08/11/2004 23:50:14

Forget the competition -- it's no contest. CORPS VDS is the best vehicle design system on the market today ... comprehensive in its detail and coverage and, best of all, you can do all the design work in a logical sequence of connected steps ... no bs about having to use a spreadsheet and plug in figures more or less at random until you get a set that "works" as is the case with its competitors. Highly recommended!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
CORPS Vehicle Design System
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CORPS v1.0
Publisher: BTRC
by Phillip M.
Date Added: 08/11/2004 23:47:29

What can I say? If BTRC's EABA is the best game system on the market today (see my review of EABA!) then CORPS would have to be, only by a cat's whisker, you understand! the second best game system. Elegant and logical in a different way to EABA, just as comprehensive, and only a little less easy and simple to use. The only real downside is the lack of in print background material available for CORPS as compared to EABA ... but BTRC is working hard to change this.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
CORPS v1.0
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