Sci - fi RPG Battlelords of the 23rd Century hit its 20th anniversary this year , and publisher SSDC has big plans in computer memory for everyone who love “ Roleplaying in a life-threatening Future . ”
Battlelords of the 23rd Century is a extragalactic nebula - span space opera house RPG in which the musician take on the roles of corporate soldier of fortune fight to hold out one unfriendly surroundings after another , and make a few credits while they ’re at it . There ’s a Galactic Alliance unite C of foreign races ( you may choose from about a twelve of them ) , but real political power lies in the manpower of megacorporations . They root for all the strings .
Ram Pythons , Eridani Swordsaints , Vector 4 Pulse Cannons and the mysterious Arachnid Threat make the Battlelords universe a fun place to chit-chat , but I would n’t want to know there .
part creation is a mix of random rolls and point buy . You opt your backwash , but there are n’t really “ classes ” in the traditional RPG sense . Everyone ’s class is basically “ Mercenary . ” You will take a primary and junior-grade job by buy certain skill sets , but you ’re still a soldier of fortune . There are several board of random benefits , drawbacks and quirks that you may seethe on to make your type a little weird than the rest . Some of the drawback are serious ! It ’s almost like drawing from aDeck of Many Things .
The basic system of rules used in the secret plan is percentile . For a return power ( either a acquisition or a combat power ) , your score increases as you gain experience , and to succeed on a check you must roll below your sexual conquest . I ’ve always favored percentile systems because they ’re inherently easier to infer than system based on D20 or a cumulation of D6es . I can see the shock of contribute four share points to a acquisition much more easy than I can parse what effect total a +2 to a 4D6 curlicue will have . Two thumbs up for percentile - based RPGs .
I have to confess I discover the scrap timing system a spot strange . I do n’t want to misconstrue anything , so I ’ll just quote directly from the book :
A Battlelords armed combat round is three seconds long , each second being anticipate a “ section . ” Characters will have the pick of either two half actions ( one section each ) or one full action ( three segments ) .
I ’m not mathematically fain , but something does n’t quite seem to be tot up there . I guess Battlelords grapheme can literally give 150 pct .
[ Update : Aaron Thies of SSDC let me have sex that , “ the combat segments are puzzling , and fix that is a big focus of our new variant that we are in the eye of working on now . ” ]
The mass of the volume is sate with list and table of everything you might possibly want to acquire during your mercenary vocation . Weapons range from the most primitive clubs and blade to gunpowder arm and up to outrageous sci - fi guns , like disintegrators and Z cannon . Cybernetic implant , spaceship , computer systems , communications gadget – it ’s all here with full statistics . There ’s even a sort of magic system , call Matrix Control . Matrix Controllers redact “ spells ” called matrix from a range of disciplines . You might just heal your comrades , or you might fold up space in on itself and destroy five star systems .
The concluding incision of the book , intended for the Battlemaster , has additional info on the biz ’s universe , as well as one detailed setting , a cloud city called Hell ’s point in time which float over a planet called Harper ’s World . There are plenty of Nonproliferation Center listed , as well as some nice whiz charts that roughly show where fundamental parts of the galaxy are in relation to each other . And , though it should be obvious from the example I ’ve included here , the art in Battlelords of the Twenty - Third Century is excellent , ranging from grandiose views of space architecture to McFarlane - esque action slam of grizzled warriors in their blank space armour .
If I have one serious complaint about this record book ( apart from the slightly bedevil combat segments ) , it ’s the sneering , snide tone . There are constant sarcastic aside , include what appear to be inside caper directed at the author ’s personal friends . Not only are these just not especially funny , they get onetime very quickly . I do n’t know how much of that is left over from the original writer ( Lawrence R. Sims ) or whether it was introduced lately – this is the 6th variant of the heart and soul rules , the license changed hands at one compass point in the plot ’s history , and I hump the content has been altered significantly over the age . Either way , if there ’s a seventh version , I hope they delete all of that out .
As a band of heart and soul rules , Battlelords offer tons of options , a comprehensive percentile organization , and a very nicely flesh out creation . There are several supplements and modules usable , and SSDC is in the outgrowth of releasing PDF versions of them . In the future , they plan to revamptheir website , add together a series of web tools ( both for Battlelords and for ecumenical gambling ) . Upcoming releases let in Engage , a book focused on starship combat , and Core Worlds , a travel guide to all the important planets in the sleep together universe .
It ’s a big galaxy ( and if it is n’t big enough , there ’s really a second nearby galaxy to check out , too ) , and I can visualize a nearly dateless supply of bizarre , activeness - packed adventures in the Battlelords universe . Armor up , mercs , it ’s time to remove the airlock with guns blaze .
This Emily Post originally appearedon Robot Viking
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