If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire… a Ninth World Assassin. While Numenera sets a stage for adventure in the far flung future, after the rise and fall of nine great civilisations, certain things remain the same – like the shadowy […]
Try Another: A Review of The Accelerated Book of Approaches
The Fate Core system provides an incredibly flexible platform for running games of any genre. Indeed, this flexibility makes Fate more of a gaming tool-kit than a system, as you can shape it to meet your needs – narrowing for simplicity or expanding for crunchy complexity as you and your gaming group see fit. Fate […]
I Can Haz Fate Core? A Review of The Secrets of Cats
Two of geek culture’s hottest trends today are the Fate Core roleplaying game, and cats doing just about anything. A merging of the two seems almost inevitable. Thankfully, The Secrets of Cats: A World of Adventure for Fate Core, by Richard Bellingham, does great justice to both subjects. The first thing that jumped out at […]
Now I Suspect You of Weaselry: A Review of The Gaean Reach
I must admit to having only a fleeting exposure to the works of Jack Vance, though I’m currently seeking to correct that by reading more of his work. For many, Vance has a strong link various editions of Dungeons & Dragons, where the mechanisms for spell-casting owe a debt to his Dying Earth books. Pelgrane […]
Magic or Science: A review of Karneval
Karneval wastes no time in getting going. As the anime opens there is a young man handcuffed to a bed and a lecherous noble woman astride him. Kinky? It would help if the noble woman wasn’t also a hideous monster who literally hungers for flesh. Thankfully for our innocent hero – “Get off, you’re heavy” […]
Alien Indian steampunk: A review of Jani and the Greater Game
Jani and the Greater Game is the first in a new series from sci-fi writer Eric Brown. Brown’s previous books include the likes of Satan’s Reach (Weird Space), Helix Wars, The Devil’s Nebula and plenty of other titles that often involve alien fleets. Readers familiar with Brown’s usual sci-fi style will be forgiven for wondering […]
On A Mud-Slick Road to Hell: Review of Dead Light
Survival horror in Cthulhu – the chances seem slim, right? I mean, without even saying the words ‘survival horror’, most people who play games based upon the entities of the Cthulhu Mythos probably don’t have anything like a 10 Year Plan or bother investing in a 5 Year Diary. Investigators into the Mythos probably wouldn’t […]
Forewarned Is Forearmed: A Review of Thulian Echoes
Does anyone give a second thought to the impact an adventuring party has on their environment? As they rampage through a monster’s lair or rampage through invaded territory, they make changes, slay doers and makers, and leave carnage in their wake – so, what happens next? Oddly, this is something I have considered before as […]
Mashing Up The Strange: A Review of When Worlds Collide
The strange and incredible come in many guises and sometimes you need a helping hand making sense of it all. With the release, from Monte Cook Games, of The Strange, the Cypher System has expanded with more than 400 pages of content. Given that the game uses the same system as the acclaimed Numenera, can […]
Psychological cyberpunk: A review of Psycho-Pass
You can play the game of trying to guess which sci-fi author has created worlds most similar to Psycho-Pass and award yourself bonus points if the characters in the anime agree with your assessment when they have the very same conversation. It might be tempting to describe Psycho-Pass as a utopian future as this is […]
