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This product is very short. It seems to be intended as a part of a complete SRD, but since most games have their SRDs available for free and in one piece, I can't understand the logic behind this one. Additionally, this seems to be simply the same rules as Mongoose Traveller with just a couple of differences. And the entire Mongoose Traveller SRD is available free and in one place.
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Creator Reply: |
There are no rules for generating characteristic scores in the Traveller SRD; this product fills that gap. There is nothing to say that SRDs have to be free - the Pathfinder core rulebook is not free yet that is a SRD/OGC; Mongoose publishing\'s own Legend series are all SRDs/OGC and they are not free either. |
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The buildings in this pack are gorgeous. Don't let the plain terrain on the cover turn you off. It is designed for Inkwell's Cityographer program, but it works fine in Campaign Cartographer 3. It takes about 90 seconds worth of effort to create a symbol catalog for it in CC3. A tutorial on how to do this is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Lhz-QLpX0
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Fantastic work. The art is beautiful and diverse, yet apparently the work of one man. The crunch is nice, and covers more than just "here's how to make a ninja." Actually conducting missions, and even things like simply finding patrons are covered. The new Foci are wicked and the Descriptors are fun for more than just assassins.
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Ryan Chaddock has proven with Angels and Ashes that he is the best creator of third-party Numenera content. This book is highly imaginative, well-written and gorgeous. I highly recommend this book!
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As a mmatter of full disclosure, I received a free copy of this product from the publisher. These minis are fantastic. Inside you will find a good assortment of sci-fi minis that don't simply consist of generic Halo ripoffs. The figures are colorful and detailed and can be used with just about any setting.
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Starports is a great supplement for Traveller. Consider that PCs will spend a great amount of time at one, and that thus far we didn't really have any maps for them. Included are several maps of new stations, what you can expect at an average station, a list of encounters and even cool story plots for each of the presented stations.
The artwork is great, the book is organized in a manner that exceeds most of Mongoose' releases. I recommend this as a resource for any science fiction game.
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This product delivers what it says. You get a good framework for running solo adventures with Traveller. There is one enormous error: the starship maintenance fee is way too high. According to the core rules, it should be multiplied by 0.001.
I want there to be expansions; I'd like to see naval and scout books.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for the review Jacob, and for the errata ... I noticed it says 1/12 and also 0.1% in my rulebook, I've corrected the text. Thanks again. I am working on a Solo Explorer game in the same spirit, it's a tough proposition however, and there have to be certain assumptions straight off the bat. |
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Absolutely fantastic product. It's gorgeous, easy to use and gives you a book-quality planetary map with data for any campaign. This product works with any sci-fi RPG, really, so I recommend it to everyone.
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As a matter of full disclosure, I am a freelance writer occasionally employed by Mongoose. I had nothing to do with the production of this book.
AM5: Solomani does a great job of presenting the formerly monolithic baddies of the Solomani Confederation in a more balanced and complex light. The Solomani are still baddies from an Imperial point of view, but they are here given more credible motivations, and viewpoints from fairly open-minded to severely xenophobic are examined.
The book offers new minor races, including a deeper look at Uplifted Dolphins and Apes, as seen in the Core Rulebook. The Career section could be longer, offering nothing like the selection found in previous Alien Modules. The book would benefit from more artwork, including an actual picture of the apes, although the artwork is parsecs ahead of that found in Alien Module 4: Zhodani.
Overall, this is a great read. And GMs of any system can use the info here to inform their own baddies. Just swap names and you have Cardassians, the Galactic Empire or anything else that your campaign requires.
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Tars Tarkas of Mars is an inventive gamebook in the style of the best CYOA of the 80s. It has a lot to recommend it, including a gripping if fast-paced story and a professional look and great game system. Also, the price is right.
You'll notice that this review has two stars. The problem that I've encountered is that this hyperlinked epub file is broken. The links seem to be layed out properly, but sometimes you are taken to a section that you did not click, leading to loops in the game. I am not certain that the book can be completed as is. If this problem is fixed, then it will get a far higher review.
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Darrians continues Mongoose' Alien Module series in fine fashion. Darrians present new and interesting options for players in search of a new Traveller experience. The art is fine, and the reader comes away from the book with a real feel for the Darrian culture.
My one gripe, and this holds true for the entire Alien Module series, is that unlike the careers in the Career books, the careers here have limited event options, similar to the core rulebook. For such an interesting race, I wanted to see more life event options. Ah well, it is better to be left wanting more than regretting the purchase.
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Cybernetics scores a great win for Mongoose Traveller. I personally wish that this book would have been elevated to "Career Book" status, as it presents many career and chargen options for players. The careers presented fit well with established careers from the career books, such as the Cybernetic Agent receiving Trust, as in Book 5: Agent.
The artwork is superb, their are plenty of components presented and options for the type of modified being a player wishes to create. It can make very powerful characters, but there are appropriate drawbacks given. The only thing that would improve this book would be to have it include rules for androids and "supplant" Mongoose' Book 9, Robot.
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Book 9: Robot follows Mongoose' wonderful eighth career book, Dilettante. There are some large shoes to fill, and unfortunately Robot fails to live up to its predecessor. The fluff is fine, giving insightful looks at a few different "ages" for robots, indicating the degree of social acceptance and rank that robots may achieve. Imaginative NPCs are provided, as well.
However, the rules system does not work. For instance, if creating a large Size 5 robot, unless one takes the Lightweight frame option, it is impossible to make a large android, because Size 5 legs cannot support the weight of the body. There is a "slot" system provided, but its usage is not fully explained. Do limbs "use up" slots, or does their slot statistic provide extra slots for gadgets? Legs are specifically mentioned to come singly, but there is no mention of whether arms come in pairs or as one. The number of slots indicated on the arm entry seems to indicate that they come in pairs, but no explanation is given.
The PC generation process is incredibly tedious, with players being required to do a lot of bookkeeping in order to remember whether their character will be smart enough to go adventuring and whether or not all of its spiffy gadgets will fit. Statistics are provided for human-like robots reminiscent of the Cylons from New Battlestar Galactica. However, these characters are incredibly unbalanced, gameplay-wise, and the careers provided do not mesh well with the point-buy rules.
I personally wish that this book would have followed in the path of Mongoose' Cybernetics book, simply listing components and how and where they fit on the body. If I ever run a campaign featuring androids, I will house rule that the Cybernetics book represent robots as well.
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Animal Encounters is a fine bestiary for Mongoose Traveller. Not only are the advertised encounters present for all sorts of worlds and habitats, but a very workable animal creation system. The creatures rolled will be unique and memorable thanks to the quirks system.
One complaint is that the animal NPCs in the encounter section do not have a size given. One is supposed to infer size from physical characteristics. The book is skimpy in the art department, but what's there isn't bad. Overall, this is a book that I definitely recommend. It takes the animal creation process from the core book and adds many options.
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Zhodani covers the necessary human villains of the Original Traveller Universe. While the game elements presented within, and the fluff as well, are given well and really immerse one in the Zhodani culture, this book has one major flaw.
The artwork is horrendous. It's a shame to say it about this product, but especially the drawings in the career section. The pictures there look like they come from a bad Tintin fan comic. It's not enough to turn one off completely, but it distracts greatly from an otherwise-fantastic book.
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