This is a great book for Rogue Trader games masters.
I liked Edge of the Abyss. There is enough there that is useful that will help me GM ...moreThis is a great book for Rogue Trader games masters.
I liked Edge of the Abyss. There is enough there that is useful that will help me GM exciting RT games. My favorite bits:
Legends, myths, and lies. Great mood setters and examples of documents your players might come across.
"The Breaking Yards at SR-651." What a great place to make repairs, meet pirates, and do business.
The Eldar: My players love the Eldar and Dark Eldar, even if their characters do not. They want more Eldar adventures, and these four Eldar (or 3 Eldar, 1 Dark Eldar) factions will help get that kicked off. I love the light cruiser.
The Rok 'Gol: A chaos worshiping race that looks like the Geiger designed monsters from Alien? That shows up when the players are at any archeological dig site? Works for me.
The Stryxis: My players are already fascinated by this race. Enough details and fluff to use them in many encounters.
Chaos Reavers. Yes please. I'm already using the Brotherhood of the Horned Darkness as the power behind several rival rogue traders. Time to ratchet it up and bring out the big boys.
Kasballica: Great. I've already built in a shadow war between the Kasballica and the Ameranthine Syndicate.
Vaults of the Forgotten. I'll mod it before I use it, but it's a fun action / horror scenario. You could substitute the Ameranthine Syndicate for the Kasballica if that's the way your campaign is moving. And I really like the hooks. The PCs are minority investors with the control being in the hands of criminals.
Most of the rest isn't bad, just not as useful to *my* campaign. I wish they had cut all the space they devoted to rival rogue traders (there are enough in "Lure ot the Expanse") and really fleshed out the Disciples of Thule and the "mysteries" of the other worlds. Vehicles for each race would have been nice. Worlds that would have helped my campaign:
a sample Pirate haven
a high tech, but non-Imperium, planet to trade with
a Thulian forge world(less)
Great fun. Nice historical perspectives, and plenty of Steampunk zombie fun. Wonderful characters and a great cross country steampunk voyage. Trains a...moreGreat fun. Nice historical perspectives, and plenty of Steampunk zombie fun. Wonderful characters and a great cross country steampunk voyage. Trains and walkers and spies, oh my!(less)
This is a big story, with a long, slow build, and quite delicious. And very evil. Simmons does a great job of writing with the cold-blooded voice of W...moreThis is a big story, with a long, slow build, and quite delicious. And very evil. Simmons does a great job of writing with the cold-blooded voice of Wilke Collins, the father of the modern mystery and friend of Charles Dickens.
When I got to the climax, I was ready to give this 4 stars. The ending didn't do it for me. Too predictable. But Simmons fooled me, there was more to come, and I loved it.
If you like 18th century writing, Charles Dickens and horror, this may be a perfect book.
Amazing voice, great characters, especially Charles Dickens, and a wonderful, if tragic, story.(less)
There is only one reason for players of Rogue Trader not to get Into the Storm, the game's newest supplement. If buying the book means not making rent...moreThere is only one reason for players of Rogue Trader not to get Into the Storm, the game's newest supplement. If buying the book means not making rent, then don't. (I paid $50.00 for my copy, bought by a friend at Gencon). While not perfect, this a ridiculously good expansion of the game, and the only player-friendly supplement for Rogue Trader outside of the core rulebook.
Given they all share the same basic game system, Into the Storm has useful crunchy and fluff bits for both Dark Heresy and Deathwatch. Much is Rogue Trader specific, but players of the other two 40k games would find a lot to mine from. Players of other science fiction role playing games might find it an interesting read, but the rules are intrinsically tied to the Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k setting. This is neither a nice nor a realistic setting, but is a damned cool one.
Some of the standout materials are the expansion of character creation and customization, the vehicle rules (perfect for Dark Heresy and Deathwatch games), and the ability to play as an alien on a Rogue Trader vessel. The aliens covered are the Ork and the Kroot.
The hardbound, 256 page (2 pages for the index, 2 pages for ads) book is a handsome piece of work, with a generous helping of well done color and black and white illustrations. There are eight chapters.
Chapter I: Advanced Origins doubles the choices for a player character background. There a new character Home Worlds, Birthrights, Motivations, and so on. An optional Lineage is added to the Origin Path, letting the character start play as Disgraced or Witch Born among others. All this change does not invalidate anything a player may have come up with using the core rulebook; these are additions, not replacements.
This chapter also includes an alternative method to create a starship. Instead of rolling for Ship Points to spend, players can build one up using an Origin Path for starships.
Chapter II: Koronus Carreers adds the Kroot Mercenary and the Ork Freebooter as player character options. The Ork is surprisingly well done, and the opportunity to play a battle crazed green spore creature working for the "humies" has a lot of role playing potential. Not to mention the bird-like Kroot, who can assimilate traits of their enemies by eating them. Each alien gets their own Origin Path.
Also in Chapter II are Alternate Ranks, where a player character can deviate from the skills and talents of their chosen profession and spend a rank pursuing a specialty, such as becoming a Flight Marshal (think Starbuck) or and Ork Mekboy (who can turn any piece of useful equipment into something much more useful for a short period of time -- then turns into worthless junk). Elite advances add smaller customizations at a lower price.
Chapter III: Extended Armory is a big toy box. Not just weapons and armor, but also medical equipment, drugs, bionics, and special equipment for Orks and Kroot.
Chapter IV: Starships Expanded has new hulls and components for starships. Now the players can build all sorts of ships, and the GM can throw new designs at them. There are example Rogue Trader vessels, including the Sovereign Venture, from the free Rogue Trader Quickstart adventures.
Chapter V: Vehicles, covers ground, air, and small spacecraft. How fast they move, how many people or how much cargo they can carry, and how they can shoot at (and ram) one another. High speed chases, aerial dogfights, crashes and more are covered. 14 sample vehicles are listed, included iconic 40k examples such as the Aquila Lander, the Rhino armored personnel carrier, and the Ork Warbike.
Chapter VI: Expanded Psychic Powers not only adds more powers for Navigators and Astropaths to choose from, there are new extended actions for both professions to use in Starship Combat. No longer do the three eyed Navigators and the blind Astropaths have to sit there and look pretty while the pilot, gunners, and auspex operators get all the glory. Now they can use their psychic powers to tip the balance the next time a pirate fleet tries to take on the player's starship.
Chapter VII: Enhanced Game Mechanics is the chapter where they put all the new rules that didn't fit in the other chapters. Social Interaction Challenges can be used to sway planetary rulers, sign trade agreements, broker peace treaties, and more. The mechanic is very similar to Exploration Challenges from the core rulebook and fills the same purpose as the 4E Skill Challenge, albeit with more player control.
Endeavours get some extra attention with the addition of Background and Meta Endeavours. A Background Endeavour is one where the players hire the work out. It's beneath them, they would rather be swashbuckling across the stars than hauling ore, so they let their hirelings take care of it. Sometimes the hirelings screw up. Royally. Meta Endeavours string together many endeavours to create an entire campaign. While interesting, that's not how my game rolls. I don't have every game session planed out for the next two years of playtime. But the concept made me think harder about the theme and direction of my campaign.
Expanded Acquisition Rules spell out what happens when player characters throw too much money and influence around. Bad things, like attracting the attention of thieves or even the Inquisition.
Ship Roles creates a job description that player characters can choose to fill. While the Rogue Trader will take the Lord Captain slot, the rest of the players have many choices, such as First Officer, Choir-Master Telepathica, and Ship's Confessor. Not all roles suit every type of player character, but there are plenty of choices. Each role gives the Gamesmaster another way to involve the players in running their ship and each player a bonus to a useful skill.
Chapter VIII: Port Wander is an extensive gazetteer of this enormous space station. Maps, history, major movers and shakers, shady meeting places with shady characters, adventure hooks, and dark secrets. This chapter tips into Gamemaster material at times. Having the less detailed Footfall gazetteer in the adventure Lure of the Expanse at least keeps the secrets out of player hands. Still, this is an excellent example of what to put into a Rogue Trader setting. There is a sidebar on the use of Port Wander in Dark Heresy games.
Problems: Some of the tables don't include everything they should, such as the ships components table leaves out a plasma drive. Some of the examples confused me more than the rules they were meant to illuminate, like the first Social Challenge example. Where did that -10 on the Blather test come from? (After a long time, I think I figured it out. It should have said in the example.) I'd rather have a 4 page index than 2 pages of ads. But these are nits.
I heard Mary give a reading from this last Orycon. Jane Austin with magic.
I'm not a huge Jane Austin fan. She's a wonderful writer, but th...moreI heard Mary give a reading from this last Orycon. Jane Austin with magic.
I'm not a huge Jane Austin fan. She's a wonderful writer, but the plight of upper class young women who must marry "well" or be forced to endure the life of the bottom 99 percentile never struck me as tragic.
That caveat out of the way, I had a great time reading Shades of Milk and Honey. While Mary Robinette Kowal sticks to Jane Austinish constraints, I found myself unable to put this book down. Great writing, some surprises where I saw none coming, and details, especially the details of the ethereal textile magic system, pulled me right in.
Nice novella, great characters and a fun plot. I do prefer Priest's novels, as they have more space for craziness. I <3 the Clockwork Century. ...moreNice novella, great characters and a fun plot. I do prefer Priest's novels, as they have more space for craziness. I <3 the Clockwork Century.
The only letdown for me was the lack of development and the ending got a little cutesy. Those are nits, good read for Steampunk fans.(less)
This is the story of Boudica told with a pagan worldview. Some people have prophetic dreams. Others have visions of the dead, even if they are wrong a...moreThis is the story of Boudica told with a pagan worldview. Some people have prophetic dreams. Others have visions of the dead, even if they are wrong and the person didn't really die. That's it as far as magic goes. Read this as historical fiction, not swords and sorcery fiction. Though there are plenty of swords.
Scott gives us a wonderful rendition of pre-Roman Britain. I kept wondering how much she made up and what she researched. There are no written records from the British side, only from the (highly biased) Roman side. At the back are notes on her (extensive) research. Scott used archeological finds to bring to life what life was like for these people. She does indeed make up things in order to create a story about Boudica, the woman warrior who defied Rome. She has to, the record is sparse.
Dreaming the Eagle is a very engaging story. This is the first of four books, and follows Breca from 12 years old to a 20-something warrior. Scott does an impressive job of creating tension even though the reader knows the Romans will invade, when her characters do not.
Some of the book is from the point of view of one of Breca's people who is living in Roman Gaul. They even get some emperor time with Caligula.
A solid start to the four book series, I'll be reading the rest.(less)
Great read, wonderful history, well told. From stone age lamps to LEDs and everything in between. The tech, the culture, and the personal stories. Plu...moreGreat read, wonderful history, well told. From stone age lamps to LEDs and everything in between. The tech, the culture, and the personal stories. Plus some nice Tesla vs. Edison anecdotes I hadn't heard yet.(less)
An amazing read. Brings Mieville's New Weird into modern London. More of a romp than his other works, yet very serious at the same time. I love the id...moreAn amazing read. Brings Mieville's New Weird into modern London. More of a romp than his other works, yet very serious at the same time. I love the idea of multiple armageddons scheduled for the same day. How embarrassing.
The characters are quite odd, and very engaging. The more horrifying character talks nonsense in a way that is truly scary. Another is a mean spirited tattoo on someone else's back. Good craziness.
Accessible yet high geek. (less)
King can do third person point of view, so close, so vivid, that in two to three sentences you know these characters better than ever wanted to. Twist...moreKing can do third person point of view, so close, so vivid, that in two to three sentences you know these characters better than ever wanted to. Twisted and tense.
Great characters. SF for non SF readers. Engaging all the way through.(less)
This book takes Around the World in 80 days and turns it into a race not only to see who can complete the Grade Ellipse first, but also to see if anyo...moreThis book takes Around the World in 80 days and turns it into a race not only to see who can complete the Grade Ellipse first, but also to see if anyone can stop a brutal empire is on the road to enslaving the world.
While the point of view shifts between characters, Luzelle Devaire, adventureress in a mock Victorian world is the heroine. Volsky does a fantastic job of showing us a woman in a man's world who will just not give up. If she wins, she has a shot at saving her country and is guaranteed control over he own life.
The exotic world that mixes gas light technology with the fantastic is the backdrop of Luzelle's race for freedom. Among her many competitors there are two men who she is attracted to, each from opposite sides of the war that is about to engulf her nation.
Great fun, with high stakes and a character you come to know better than she knows herself.(less)
With the upcoming HBO mini-series based on A Game of Thrones, there is buzz again about George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.
...moreWith the upcoming HBO mini-series based on A Game of Thrones, there is buzz again about George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.
The other day, my gaming group tried out the quickstart rules, and I was quite impressed. At no time did I feel lost, or that I was just playing a generic fantasy role playing game. We were all members of the same house, a young lord, who has taken over the house at the age of 14; his uncle, the proud knight; his bastard brother who dreams of one day being the master of horse; the young squire, who has hidden her gender in service to her dream of becoming a knight; and so on.
So I picked up the rulebook. I have the ugly orange cover, but the rules are well done, and my original feeling that the game will ground you in a nobel house is born out. There is a chapter telling the players how to design their own house. Players will get to decide on building castles, towers, and other buildings to hold their lands. They will have to chose between devoting resources to defensive fortifications, political infulence, lands, law, population, military power, and wealth.
Like any role playing game, there is a chapter on combat. There are also chapters on intrigue and large scale warfare. Seduction, poisoning, lies, and the rest of the staples of court intrigue are covered.
The rules follow the books very closely. You can create a character like any of those found in the books. You can be a cripple who has had his third eye opened and can see through the eyes of his dire wolf like Bran Stark. You can be a nobelwoman who stays within the boundaries of her class and gender while striving to protect her house and family like Catelyn Stark. Or a dwarf (human) nobleman with a big mouth and bigger wit like Tyrion Lannister. And so on.
Besides gold and experience, the players also work for glory. Glory is a resource for their house, which can be spent to improve the house's fortunes.
The cover art is annoyingly bad, but some of the other illustrations are fine.
If you wonder about roleplaying in a fantasy world based on a series that is not complete, this game is set just *before* Game of Thrones.
Recommend for George R R Martin fans who are gamers.
(less)
They don't write biographies like this any more. But the crazed gushing style, weird sexism, and total lack of documentation make this strangely fun. ...moreThey don't write biographies like this any more. But the crazed gushing style, weird sexism, and total lack of documentation make this strangely fun. I don't believe anything in this book, but I still enjoy reading it.
I really liked the bit where at a young age, Tesla made a 16 Junebug powered motor, and the son of an Army commander comes over and eats all of Tesla's spare bugs. This whole book is just that weird.
-0-
Finished it. Tesla was an amazing man, with a towering intellect and enormous flaws. The worst seemed to be he stopped learning after his success with alternating current. He even railed against the existance of subatomic particles.
The AC current that comes from every wall socket in the world comes from generators that are still based on his designs. He changed the world as much as Edison, but died in obscurity.
His last days were very sad, the only love he ever showed was to a lady pigeon.
If he had taken on a business partner and kept up with science, he might have changed the world over and over again.(less)
**spoiler alert** This a campaign for the Rogue Trader role playing game. In order to use this, you'll need a copy of Rogue Trader as well. This revie...more**spoiler alert** This a campaign for the Rogue Trader role playing game. In order to use this, you'll need a copy of Rogue Trader as well. This review is aimed at Games Masters who may be considering Lure of the Expanse, and contains spoilers for players. Stop now if you are a player!
My guestimate is 15 to 20 sessions would be played out before the end of this campaign. The approach is modular, so you could skip parts, or just cannibalize pieces for use in your own adventures. Or you could add your own customizations.
The plot is a race to claim a world of immense wealth, somewhere out there among the Heathen Stars. There are nine Rogue Trader dynasties, including the player's, competing for the prize. Each of the NPC Rogue Traders has their own agendas, modes of operations, and personalities. They all start out as rivals, but may become bitter enemies or even allies. The book covers how they will probably act at major plot points of the campaign. There is no reason to believe all nine Rogue Traders will be alive at the campaign's end, but it could happen.
This hard bound book is full of immersive, high quality, art that sets the mood for your role playing games. The illustrations are both color and black and white.
The book is broken into three parts:
I. Eye of the Needle. This which sets up the action with an adventure on the asteroid-city of Footfall full of intrigue and prophesy. There the players meet their rivals. When they leave Footfall, they have their first run in with the Eldar in ship to ship combat.
The play then progresses to the Heathen Stars, where the prophesy has led them. There are optional encounters in transit, many of which highlight the role of one of the players. For example, one deals with a warp storm that threatens the ship, and the player who is the pilot gets a chance to shine. Should your group not include a pilot, you may decide to skip this encounter and focus on the ones that most directly include your players.
At the end of the journey they find a planet with Eldar ruins and a broken star map to the treasure world. Local flora, rivals, and the Eldar will complicate things for the players. Each rival is given a course of action, but it is up to the GM to decide which rivals arrive on planet when the players are there and how they react to any player overtures or attacks.
II. The Heathen Trail. In order to complete the star map, the players must take readings from a number of other worlds found on the map. How many is up to the GM. If the GM has a world of their own design they want to insert into the campaign, this is a perfect place to do it. Each world has an Eldar structure where the reading must be taken.
Five worlds are given, and on each there is an Eldar device where the players must take the readings. The GM is advised the players need to take readings on at least three of them, but if everyone is enjoying themselves there is no reason not to have them do all five. The players could find a rival has beaten them to a world and destroyed the structure needed to take the reading. Some rivals are more likely to be encountered than others. And the Eldar would like to stop the players if they could.
On some worlds, the players could go in, take the reading, and leave. But on all the worlds there are optional side adventures that can lead to more profit for the trip. Each of the worlds is unique and entertaining in their own way.
Should the players skip a world or two, they could always return after the campaign.
III. The World Beyond. Here the treasure planet called the Dread Pearl is described, along with it's treasures and dangers. The world has been hidden by warp storms for 10,000 years, and now the storms clear.
The remaining rivals swoop in as well. The book describes the likely actions of the rivals, the native humans (descended from a lost ship thousands of years ago), and the Eldar. Treasure is all about.
Some of the rivals try to co-opt the natives, one bombards them into submission from orbit, and another herds them into slave ships. So much for paradise.
This is a lost Eldar Maiden world, and the returning Eldar wake their planet up. The GM is given almost unlimited power to throw at the players as countless Eldar Wraithguards awake to cleanse the world of the human taint.
The Eldar summon back the Warp Storms to prevent the world from falling to the humans, and the players must get off world with as much treasure (and perhaps rescued natives) as they can before the world is sealed for another 10,000 years. Options are given that allow for a variety of exciting escapes from the Dread Pearl.
Overall The book includes the ships of each of the rivals, as well as an Eldar craft. The adventures allow for space combat, diplomacy, investigation, exploring alien worlds, chances to engage in criminal enterprises, and some serious role playing with the rival Rogue Traders.
There are a few places where a little more guidance would have been useful, particularly in how the players could upgrade their own ship with the salvage they can do during this campaign. I just know my group will want to try that.
If you GM Rogue Trader, you will want this book. Even if you just pick bits of it, you'll want this book. Highly recommended.(less)
Here's what I said when I just started the book: I really need to understand how Briggs manages to make these books so wonderful. My life is better wh...moreHere's what I said when I just started the book: I really need to understand how Briggs manages to make these books so wonderful. My life is better when I'm reading one of these.
Now that I've finished it, I'm not so enthralled.
It's almost as good at the previous books, lots of very interesting things happen, many are unintended consequences caused by Mercedes' adventures in the past, and there is some great character development.
I wavered between 3 and 4 stars, but the plot was a bit of a let down.
This is the fifth book that starts off with Mercedes in the cross hairs. I would love to see a plot where she is proactive.
Most urban fantasy heros have noir professions that lend themselves to being proactive. Wizard for hire, private investigator, police...
It's cool that Mercedes is a Volkswagon mechanic, but that doesn't create a reason for her to go out and seek trouble. Five books where trouble seeks her out is a little much.
I liked the set up to the climax. I liked the aftermath. But I missed the climax. Without giving anything away, I didn't really believe Mercedes' solution worked. I kept reading a few paragraphs thinking it had failed. Then "oh, that worked."
Anyway, I enjoyed reading this book, will read the next, but I hope this was a transition to a more proactive Mercedes Thompson.(less)
Fun, great art, but I expected more. After reading the RPG based on the comic, I thought there would be more depth, but it was just... nice. Fine. Gla...moreFun, great art, but I expected more. After reading the RPG based on the comic, I thought there would be more depth, but it was just... nice. Fine. Glad I read it.(less)
A great braided story, where the reader follows a mother and son as they explore the zombie infested core of Seattle in 1880. Airships, goggles, and z...moreA great braided story, where the reader follows a mother and son as they explore the zombie infested core of Seattle in 1880. Airships, goggles, and zombies, oh my!
Priest's occasional use of sliding point of view bothered me and took me out of the story. 99% of the time the reader is deep in the thoughts and emotions of Briar Wilkes or her son Zeke. Then we get a few surface thoughts or feelings from random characters whom we never get to know very well. Bugged me.
Briar is the daughter of a man considered a criminal outside of the city, but a hero to the survivors within. She's also the wife of the man who is said to have destroyed the city in the first place. Zeke, 15, enters the city to prove his father was not the villain everyone assumes, and Briar goes in to save the boy before the Rotters eat his young flesh.(less)
I'm GMing this now. Nice world, a good mystery to solve, some nasty bad guys, and some extra nasty really bad guys.
But just like the hardb...moreI'm GMing this now. Nice world, a good mystery to solve, some nasty bad guys, and some extra nasty really bad guys.
But just like the hardback book itself, it feels thin. With all the production values that went into it, I wanted something more. This is a very short adventure. You can run through this in two or three gaming sessions.
If I'm going to buy adventures, I prefer either collections of short adventures, or adventures that build on each other, and have NPCs my players can build up relationships with. For example, Lure of the Expanse, also published by Fantasy Flight Games.(less)
My favorite Urban Fantasy series, despite the anti-science sentiment. Briggs is a wonderful author.
In this book, Mercedes has to deal with...moreMy favorite Urban Fantasy series, despite the anti-science sentiment. Briggs is a wonderful author.
In this book, Mercedes has to deal with a few vampiric loose ends from Blood Bound, the second book in the series, and the romantic loose ends from all three of the previous books. Mercedes is marked for death, and leaves the Tri Cities for Spokane, a city controlled by a vampire that terrifies every bad-ass monster Mercedes has already tangled with.
I love this series. This story concerns the fey, and the reader is given some real insight into their mysterious, magical world. Mercedes has to clear...moreI love this series. This story concerns the fey, and the reader is given some real insight into their mysterious, magical world. Mercedes has to clear one of her fey friends of a murder charge before the other fey do him in just to keep the humans from poking too far into the case.
As with the rest of the series, the anti-science sentiment doesn't work for me.(less)
This continues to be my favorite Urban Fantasy series. This one focuses on vampires, and they are deliciously nasty.
The only thing that b...moreThis continues to be my favorite Urban Fantasy series. This one focuses on vampires, and they are deliciously nasty.
The only thing that bugs me is the relentless anti-science tone, which bothers me in a technological world. The protagonist is a mechanic as well as a shapeshifter, she lives in a world made possible by the study of science as well as a fantasy world.(less)
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