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In Harm's Way:Wild Blue
by Daniel V. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/01/2022 15:50:49

The organization/ format of the book makes it difficult to read and the rules are only somewhat understandable if you read from cover to cover. Jumping into the middle of a chapter will leave you lost with the mechanics, especially dogfighting. I love the concepts, but certain elements are not well addressed and even after buying "Aces & Angels" in hopes of clarification I was left without answers. Still, the author presents good ideas and this can be viewed as a robust concept draft rather than a finished product. I suppose it might be worth the asking price, but I'd recommend reading other reviews and seeing if this is worth your time.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
In Harm's Way:Wild Blue
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Outremer
by Joseph Q. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/17/2020 21:41:58

This is a hidden gem!! Great historical detail. For those very interested in the Crusade period or Middle East locale (I love both). The magic paths are excellent. I think they should be imported to other games! Also love the life path system, allowing you to move into certain professions/vocations rather than starting out in them.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Outremer
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Forward... to Adventure!
by Ginger S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/11/2020 14:54:03

Forward... to Adventure! is a fantasy roleplaying game, written by The RPGPundit, that appears to be a combination of ideas and mechanics from both Dungeons & Dragons and Tunnels & Trolls. Though, puzzlingly, T&T is not specifically cited by FtA!'s author, it was clearly one of the major influences. The other, of course, being D&D. Unfortunately, RPGPundit has failed to capture the best elements of either game. There is scant trace of "OSR" D&D's tactical elements, nor of the simplicity and whimsy for which T&T is known.

The author states in the introduction that he intended to write a game which is short, complete and focused on adventure. But the D&D-inspired bits that have been added on are mainly kludge. These things are small when taken individually (an alignment system with accompanying mechanics for one, critical tables for another, and so on...), but when taken together, they bury the simple chassis of T&T in cumbersome aftermarket parts that detract from its performance. Conversely, what has been stripped away has been done so to the game's detriment. For example, T&T's rather large selection of weapons (one of the most fun and meaningful parts of new character generation in that game) has been pared down to a handful of weapon "Categories", effectively leaving a mere 5 weapons for players to choose from! The additional (and IMO unnecessary) additions from D&D hang on the stripped-down T&T framework like an ill-fitting suit of clothes.

While D&D and T&T are both great games, I can't see why I would use this in place of either, and it doesn't really stand on its own.

On the plus side, the game is complete, with full and lengthy spell lists, and even a bestiary. It is illustrated in a style that suits the theme, digitally retouched photos of ren-faire types, from the look of it. A sample adventure would have been nice, but that's just a personal preference. It is obvious that some time and effort was put into this. At 176 pages and $3.60 (the sale price when I bought it), I can't complain. But I really can't recommend it, either. The two stars I have given it are for presentation and completeness, rather than the game itself.

Bottom line: while merging elements from D&D and T&T is an intriguing idea, the author's approach has resulted in a whole that is less than the sum of its parts.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Forward... to Adventure!
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The Centre of the Universe - Special Edition
by Guy D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/18/2016 23:07:12

The game is quite simple and not particularly well balanced, but it is chock full of idea, concepts and inspiration for any kind of SF - pulp fiction - fantasy - mash up in the core of the universe game. You can just step back, let the play happen and have fun.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Centre of the Universe - Special Edition
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StarCluster 2
by Simon G. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/03/2015 04:08:33

Pretty disappointing... the introduction sounded promising, but that was as good as it got, after I found myself confronted with page after page after page of tables, and very little substance. Seriously... I like a good career-based system, but the character creation section consists of about 80 pages of low-information tables listing the different academic and career progressions.

I couldn't actually find anything that explained what the mechanics were... the examples imply that it's roll-under percentile, but it doesn't seem to say this explicitly anywhere. In general, the presentation and layout leaves much to be desired... the small amount of setting fluff is good, but everything else is just hopeless.

Frankly, there are plenty of much better games available... Traveller, Diaspora, Stars Without Number... games that I can actually read and work out how to play.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
StarCluster 2
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for your review. This product no longer represents what we are capable of, so we have pulled it from distribution. This product is no longer available for legal free download anywhere, and has not been available for sale for four years. The print version - priced at cost - is no longer available as well. We have also discontinued the Light version of this product.
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High Strung
by Thomas B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/27/2015 06:55:01

SIX POINT SUMMARY

  • Just tons of random tables, from interesting background facts to random real life events to random band name generators. Obviously, I find this to be hugely appealing.

  • Sure seems like this could be hacked for indy pro wrestlers with just a little work.

  • It feel very close to Tools of Ignorance, but with some cool and clear tweaks to make the struggling rock band vibe ring true.

  • Something about "Jobs" never quite "clicked" with me. Ostensibly, a crappy, no future job was depressing and ground you down, but were less demanding on your time, but I didn't see that mechanical balance on the demands of the job. I don't know if I just missed it or what.

  • It probably needed some kind of mechanic for one of the band members to become a "breakout star" and become "too big" for the band.

  • A little bit of rock attitude, but no exploitative art, which makes this nice pick for a broad audience looking for something more than standard RPG fare.

I liked the idea of Tools of Ignorance, even though I don't like baseball. I love this, because it's a great idea and more in my wheelhouse. I really just can't shake the notion that this would be relatively easy to adapt to indy pro wrestling.

If you are always grumbling that there's nothing fresh out there, then spend the $5 to pick this up.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2015/03/tommys-take-on-high-strung.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
High Strung
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Lowell Was Right! - A Very Different Now
by Kenneth S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/14/2014 13:50:45

I've yet to play this game but based on my first cursory read through I'm kind of in love with it. I've yet to grok the mechanics, something to do with pools of D20s... there are two optional forms of this to choose from or mix together. There are Traits and Skills and Edges... some talk about 'setting stakes.' Nothing jumped out at me as being too heavy or too clever/quirky... I'm guessing the system is fairly utilitarian and 'gets out of the way' quickly.

What REALLY has me soaring though is the setting... it's so familiar yet so strange! At first I thought I'd have to suspend a lot, too much, disbelief to run/play in the alternative reality it presents... based on obsolete science... but then I realized how much fun/bizarre stuff became possible without directly confronting me with nonsense I couldn't swallow. As the introduction states, this isn't Steampunk... it's based on science rather than SCIENCE! Everything in here extrapolates from acceptance of 1880's scientific assumptions, but takes part in our present day. So much is different though that it's pretty much another world. No electronics but spaceflight is common (with lots of alien life forms on other planets)... evolution can happen in a flash, as can geological changes. A particular favorite of mine is the scientific vindication of some of the claims of Spiritualism... and the idea of creating ghosts of living beings, on purpose, for various mundane purposes. It's a pretty wild idea in a book full of wild ideas... that aren't all that wild since they are based on a real world science that once was current/modern/up to date.

It's all a bit to wrap my head around... it's not a setting I think could just be jumped into... similar to brain-twisty stuff like Eclipse Phase this game was a bit of a mindwarp as I first read it... but it's a fun one, and not depressing/scary/uncomfortable the way Eclipse Phase felt at first. Definitely recommended for at least a read through and mine for ideas, since I can't speak for how it plays... yet.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Lowell Was Right! - A Very Different Now
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Creator Reply:
Thank you, Ken! I\'m kind of in love with it too! This is the hardest game to describe I have ever designed, but you did a bang-up job of it! :D -clash
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Volant - Kingdoms of Air and Stone
by Thomas B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 06/02/2013 16:22:32

WHAT WORKS: I love the setting concept. I love the idea of playing an adventurer riding around on a giant bird. It’s just cool. I really appreciate all of the tools provided to make Volant your own, right down to the resolution mechanic used. All of the various examples at the back of the book are certainly appreciated, and the maneuvers are a cool feature to provide mechanical support for more versatile combat.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: The extra cost tables on weapon creation just seem out of place because, unless I missed it, there is no real benefit to paying more for better quality weapons…so why would you? As much as I love tools and random charts, I do also like having ready-made material to work with, so I would have appreciated a larger bestiary.

CONCLUSION: This one “sings” to me more than clash’s other games do, because of the fantasy element over the alternate history element. That and it’s just overloaded with cool factor. Also, I can’t NOT love this many random charts in one book. This is definitely not your average fantasy game. There’s no dwarves, elves, gnomes or halflings, or orcs, goblins and drow here. That said, if you’re wanting something you can just jump right into and run, that’s not going to work unless you’re adept at running with the random results. That’s not a knock on the game, just an observation. My favorite iteration of StarCluster yet.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2013/06/tommys-take-on-volant-kingdoms-of-air.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Volant - Kingdoms of Air and Stone
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Volant - Kingdoms of Air and Stone
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/17/2013 11:49:25

My first-read review of Volant is that it's a good value. The writing is clean and straightforward, and the writer sticks with his concept and keeps the whole deal coherent, both the milieu and the book's content and construction. Most of the things you'd want to see covered in a book about a world of floating cities and giant birds are here, and they seem well-designed. Twelve dollars is a fine price, although page-count padding abounds, like it does with all of these projects, with loads of white space and full-page art that's nothing special.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Shebang
by Stephen Y. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/04/2013 09:50:53

For £5.26, Shebang is 196 pages, of which 192 are the rules,maps, etc. There are 2 colour maps included. The character sheet is one page, but has an ink heavy top part (picture). Your character starts off with either 40 or 55 points to spend on 5 attributes.

The setting is Mars; where the wealthy/powerful, prey on/use the less fortunate (dog eat dog).

The prices are in dollars. The weapons have restrictions. The PDF can be ink heavy if printed; it's not as bad as World of Wonder, but it will still consume some ink.

Mechanics: 1D6 modified by the difficulty of the action. Modifiers are applied to the character's chance of success, not the dice roll itself.

It's not bad; so I'll give it 4/5.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shebang
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In Harm's Way: StarCluster - Five Ships
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/16/2013 11:58:29

Herein are presented five military vessels, in the service of the SaVaHuTa Navy. Naturally, if you are playing a different game, you may assign them to whatever naval forces suits.

Two are quite small and agile, built for stealth - one is intended for unorthodox inter-ship warfare (but can also carry and land ground-pounders) and the other is designed for infiltration, sneaking up on large enemy ships or planets to land its complement of warriors.

The rest are much more massive. If things go wrong, there is a giant hospital ship. Despite being painted in bold colours, so that its nature is plain to all who see it, it is able to defend itself if the need arises. Conventional enemies might respect the non-combatant status of a hospital, but who knows what aliens think?

There is a bizarre thing called the Three Amigos, basically three capital ships linked on a spinal mount, each capable of being released to perform different functions once the big engines on the spine get them to where they are needed. And finally there's an even more bizarre and unorthodox vessel called The Last Resort. This has an innovative array of spines - making it look like a hedgehog or porcupine - the idea being that any incoming fire is going to hit spines rather than the actual hull.

The download contains a PDF with rather crude pictures and plenty of background about each ship and a spreadsheet (you'll need Microsoft Excel to open it) with all the statistics needed for this ruleset. The information in the PDF is the sort of thing that might - provided you are on the same side as the navy using them - be found on your ship's library computer... or maybe in an intelligence report if they are your enemies.

This would be good for ship-to-ship combat under the Star Cluster ruleset, or as some really strange vessels passing by whatever rules you are using. There are no deckplans, so don't get too tactical when visiting any of them, though. However, I enjoy collecting unusual vessels from other games to puzzle my Traveller players, and these will be really useful for that!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
In Harm's Way: StarCluster - Five Ships
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StarCluster 3 Five Ships
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/15/2013 09:27:38

This is rather a neat idea: five specific ships each with its own purpose and backstory. They're suitable for passing encounters, part of the backdrop that forms your universe - if your plot causes for much action aboard any of them some further development work may be needed - in particular, no deckplans are provided.

The information comes in two parts. There's a PDF document with a one- or two-page summary of each vessel along with rather crude illustrations. It's at about 'library data' levels of information, the sort of thing that characters ought to be able to access if they think of it when they encounter the ship in question. The second part is a spreadsheet (you'll need Microsoft Excel to read it) with full game details for each ship. You could use this as a basis for conversion if you want to use this ships in another game system, should you have a need for actual numbers (if you just have them happen by, that may not be needed).

The ships are the Petronius, a 'resource-extraction ship' - basically an ore processing plant with drives attached, the Kirin System Police HQ and one of the cruisers based there, the Hare's Rest (a smuggler ship), the Enchanting Esmerelda (a touring theatrical ship - perhaps bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'space opera'!) and the Winston Powell University. This last is a travelling educational establishment in which students and teachers get to go see what they are studying rather than just read about it. Wonderful idea, although I wouldn't care to speculate how high tuition fees are!

These are really inventive and whatever space-faring game you play you may well find a use for at least one of these.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
StarCluster 3 Five Ships
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Outremer
by Robert M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/02/2013 09:26:12

OVERVIEW

Outremer: A Dream of What Could Have Been is a Alternate History game of the Crusades, set in the Levant. Outremer, comes from the French and means Overseas, as the Holy Lands of the Crusades were called. The subject of Historical/Alternate History RPGs is an interesting one, as traditionally there have been relatively few historical RPGs. Most authors instead opting for alternate earths with faux versions of historical societies, or outright fantasy worlds. Which is a shame, as historical adventure makes for very fertile ground for RPGs.

This has been true for most fiction as well, your author was relatively unfamiliar with the Crusades themselves, in part due to the limited amount of source material. As part of my reading, I read through the historical adventures of Robert E. Howard, of Conan fame. First the omnibus by Bison Books Lord of Samarcand and other adventure tales of the Old Orient There is also his collection Sword Woman and other Historical Adventures . Howard himself talks about this limited love for Historical Adventure compared to Fantasy, Weird, and Science Fiction Tales, in a letter to a friend, written after he had completed the Sowers of Thunder.

"And Babar the Tiger who establishes the Mogul rule in India — and the imperial phase in the life of Babair the Panther the subject of my last story — and the conquest of Constantinople by the Fifth Crusade — and the subjugation of the Turks by the Arabs in the days of Abu Bekr — and the gradual supplanting of the Arab masters by their Turkish slaves which culminated by the conquest of Asia Minor and Palestine by the Seljuks — And the rise of Saladin — and the final destruction of Christian Outremer by Kalawun — and the First Crusade — Godfrey of Boullion, Baldwin of Boulogne, Bohermund — Sigurd the Josala-farer — Barbarossa — Couer de Lion. Ye Gods, I could write a century and still have only tapped the reservoir of dramatic possibilities. I wish to hell I had a dozen markets for historical fiction — I’d never write anything else."

Another Author I read is Howard Lamb, his Swords from the West and other Swords from Series have great Historical adventure. Even Hollywood has only done a few Crusader movies. The most recent being Ridley Scott’s the Kingdom of Heaven (which has gorgeous shots, but is kind of dull, thought its version of Baldwin makes for great inspiration. I also watched Arn: The Knight Templar, based on the popular Swedish book series by Jan Gaillou. And of course, there are innumerable books on the subject. I read through Thomas Madden’s A Concise History of the Crusades. For further reading Check the Crusades titles by Thomas Asbridge and Armin Malouf. But I digress

Outremer: A Dream of what could have been, part of Flying Mice Games ‘Blood Games’ line, in which the option of Magic is included, is a Historical Adventure RPG set during the Crusades, in a alternate history where the Crusader states were able to survive into the 16th century. Although it could use some more introductory text and supplementary material., Outremer provides a set serviceable rules, a novel campaign setup, and an option for troupe play, that come together to deliver solid historical adventure RPG in a field with a dearth of titles. Check it out, God Wills it!

THE PDF

293 Page PDF, Color Illustrations, as well as some black and white line art. historical looking pieces done as paint filtered, brings across mood/feel ok. Good for most part. It is laid out as a single column with a sidebar in a serif font. It consists mostly of black white text and tables, with a few art pieces here and there. Serviceable and is relatively printer friendly due to its simple design aesthetic, . It is easy to read and has plenty of whitespace. However, some of the text has been cut and pasted from another game in the “Blood Games” line, On Her Majesty’s Arcance Service (OHMAS), or Starpool, which you will see reference to where it should be Outremer. So –1 point there.

INTRODUCTION:

The introductionIs fairly dense, and focuses on the history of the crusades. The text could have used more Historical asides here and there, such as the one included on Hulagu of the Mongols. (An appropriate one would have been a note on the assasination of Saladin as historically the old Man of the Mountains and the Assassins of Ismali attempts on Saladin’s life). Later in the chapter a Timeline of the Crusade era, as well as the alternate Outremer timeline is given. Which would have been better first. A brief overview of the Crusades themselves probably would have helped make this game more accessible. A couple of Maps are included which help.

Probably the most interesting/contentious element of the game, that despite it being a alternate history that closely follows history in the real world, that the game includes magic in the setting. However, the designer makes a good point, the power of faith and a belif in magic played a real role in the historical crusades, consider the siege of Antioch, the Crusaders were trapped by the Turks, starving, and by all rights ready for defeat. Then a monk by the name of Peter Bartholomew dreamed that the Spear of Loginus, the relic used to wound Christ on the Cross, was buried in the city. After much digging in St Peters, the Crusader leaders produced a rusty spearhead. Believing it the Holy Lance, the Crusaders managed to sally forth and defeat the Turks.

Or consider the capturing of Jerusalem during the first crusade. Starving and with their numbers greatly decreased, the Crusaders won Jerusalem after the Barefoot Procession. The barefoot procession occurred after a Priest by the name of Peter Desiderius claimed to have a divine vision in which the ghost of Adhemar instructed them to fast for three days and then march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which the city would fall in nine days. Amazingly enough, the crusaders marched barefoot, while the Fatimid forces jeered them. And, they were able to successfully besiege the city and the Crusaders captured Jerusalem. So there is precedent for miraculous happenstance. Of course, it easy enough to ignore the magic bits, or declare them charlatanry, or outrageous luck at your table.

THE SYSTEM & COMBAT SYSTEM

Outremer uses the “Starpool” house system from Flying Mice’s Starcluster game. This can be deduced by the fact that the text is cut and pasted without changing the chapter name. Task Resolution has the character rolling xD20 as a dice pool against a target number equal to the controlling attribute for the skill. (Attributes have a max of 15 usually). Characters roll a base D20 plus one D20 versus, an individual target number, for each point of skill. 0+ skill leaves you with one die against a Target Number equal to the controlling attribute. For every 5 ranks in a skill, a character has a level of Mastery which lets him reroll his skill attempt if the attempt fails.

Combat is a standard actions in initiative order individual attack and defense actions type system. The system is moderately lethal, and a competent and functional traditional combat system. Healing is fairly quick in the system, and there is possibility of magical healing. In addition rules for diseases and other typical hazards are included.

CREATING YOUR ASSOCIATION

Unfortunately, the game falls down a bit in its presentation in that there is no explanation of the overall design of the game. Such as the fact that each of the characters is assumed to belong to an Association. (It is tucked away in the GM section, and the discussion of troupe style play, for which this game is a great fit, is in the appendices. Also, Can I get a search and replace on that, it has OHMAS in several places where it should be Outremer.)

Now that we have figured that out, each player character is assumed to be part of the same association or organization. These organizations can be one of a variety of associations. Mercenary companies, holy orders, Courtier Retinue, Government Agency, Secret society, religious cult, Witch Hunters, scholars, or part of a trading company. You determine the capital available to the Organization, and use these ‘points’ to purchase a home base and attendant amenities. A Mountain Stronghold would cost your Assassin organization 256. The options range from a literal hole in the ground (caves) to a full on palace. You then spend the remaining points on a number of “areas of interest”, with a logistics and maintenance overhead. These amenities/areas of interest include guards and security, espionage assets, warships, transport, medical assets, armory, Arcane library, Training, Cartography, Mercenaries, Artificers. This system will let the players build their own Monastery Fortress “Krak Des Chevalier”, or the mountain stronghold the Ismali Assassins and the Old Man of the mountain. Each amenity gives the characters access to various bits of equipment, retainers, etc, and serve as great plot hooks.

CHARACTER CREATION

Outremer’s character creation is done using a life-path system. Which I find helps immerse the characters more in the setting as they see their character evolve from the environment into which they are born. One of the biggest considerations for characters, if magic “is real” is if character follows a magical path. Which is a total commitment, they are limited to one Path of Power. Which offer great benefits and advantages. These paths include The Esotericist, The Magus, Minstrels, Crusader/Ghazi (holy/warrior paladin), The Kabbalist, The Sorcerer, Mechanists, Oracles, and Dervishes. Then there are the “quasi-path” hedge mystic types including fortune tellers, snake charmers. etc. There also options for non-humans, Half-angels, Immortals (there can be only one, or should be in a party), and Half-djinn. But we are interest in historical gaming, so you can agree to ban all this stuff at your table.

Eschewing these options, we go back to our life-path character creation. You first decide on a characters attributes (max of 15), distributing 44 points or a making a random roll for Strength(STR), Coordination(COOR), Agility (AGY), Endurance(END), and Charisma(CHA). In addition points are distributed or randomly for characters Intelligence (INT), Magical Potential (MAG), and Family Lifestyle stats. Family Lifestyle here is a bit like Social from Traveller. Players then have a life stages, mother’s milk (you get a few points to spend on skill your character would have learned growing up, at age 10), then Apprenticeship (Artisan, Farmer, Scholar, etc.) and Journeyman stages. The character must meet attribute requirements and lifestyle requirements . The is a waiver roll to let the character enter it anyway, each apprenticeship, journeymanship, and profession has similar rules and skills and attributes available to those in it, similar to Careers in Warhammer.

So overall a solid system though it can be a bit lengthy. This flexibility and depth of detail in the character creation system is taken advantage of in the GM section by pointing out how a character can be ‘scaled’ to a particular “age” or stop on his lifepath, and then have adventures occur there. So it offers flexibility in play as well. Overall a good system, reminiscent of Warhammers careers.

RELIGION

A chapter with a brief outline of the major tenets and religious observances of the major faiths, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are given, as well as rules for Tests of Faith, Tests of Will, possession and Relics Artifacts. The section on Islam is both respectful, and includes details on the many sects within the religion.

THE NATIONS OF OUTREMER

This chapter outlines the major nations of Outremer (there are many, as it was a very balkanized area inhabiated by many people.) An overview of the many peoples and how they are referred to as well as the major languages of the setting are included. Included in each description are overview of the states relations with the other city-states and holdings, as well as common traits of the people. It is a good chapter for all of the players to read, and perhaps print out, as its exotic names and overview of each nation are inspiring. Consider the Order State of Ascalon, with major holdings by The Knights Templar, Knights Hospitalier, Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, Knights of St. Lazarus, and the Teutonic Knights

APPENDICES:

The appendices are full of good supplementary material including Historical/Culturally appropriate names for Frankish, Arabic, Armenian, Jewish, Byzantine, Bohemian, Kurdish and Turkish peoples. A short chapter on Cuisine discussing the major foods that would be available as well as the common types of dishes, and the diets practiced by the various faiths. Good Info for bringing across the exotic atmosphere, no monkey brains though. There is an appendix Muslim Titles, so you know a Turkish Atabeg from a Egyptian Caliph, from a Mongol Khan. Again, brings across the exotic atmosphere.

APPENDICE A: Options

This chapter is full of good stuff for adding optional rules. The most interesting being the rules for Troupe play. Which along with the Generational play style outlined in the all too brief Game master chapter is a great fit for this game.

SUMMARY

Overall Outremer is an unpolished Gem. It is chock full of Crusader era goodness and cool ideas. It could stand more detail for historical play and supplementary material to get people into the Crusader states and the Outremer setting.. My biggest complain is that that it is underdeveloped and underwritten at the moment. The game could use more explanatory text, and editing of its imported sections. Some of the sections feel more like notes than a full text. But if you and your group are up to diving in and using the bare bones presented, you have a solid set of rules and inventive alternate history to explore a terribly underrepresented and exciting setting for historical adventure. Check it out. God Wills it!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Outremer
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Outremer
by Thomas B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/16/2012 20:49:12

WHAT WORKS: I really do love clash’s layout, with the helpful details in sidebars. The extra detail being present in the book so I don’t have to look for it is also great. I’m a big fan of both Lifepaths and random charts.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: If you already own On Her Majesty’s Arcane Service, a lot of that book is present in this one, including the art. An unfortunate side effect of making a game completely self contained. For me, personally, the Middle East – past or present – isn’t a section of the world that holds a ton of interest for me as a gamer.

CONCLUSION: For me, personally, Outremer falls short against the previous Blood Games releases due to the focus of the game: As mentioned, I have no interest in playing or GMing in a Middle Eastern setting, historical or not. That said, the material in this book is completely compatible with the other two games if you have the extra to spend. Not a bad game, just not my cup of tea, setting-wise. Might just scratch your itch for fantastic historical horror set in the Middle East, though.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2012/12/tommys-take-on-outremer.html



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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StarCluster 2 Guide to Cluster Religions
by Chet C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/15/2012 23:55:21

Something of a disappointment. With the richness of the multitude of religions and philosophic traditions on Earth, one naturally would assume an extrapolation of what mankind would carry into the stars. Instead, these look more like random elements brought together through random generator charts. There are a couple of interesting ideas in here, but nothing which indicates any research was done, beyond the superficialities of a Wikipedia article. I give 'em three stars for effort.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
StarCluster 2 Guide to Cluster Religions
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