The Inside Scoop on Gaming

As usual, I was wandering a local hobby store in search of a deal. While rifling through the 1/2 price rack, I came across some of TSR's, Buck Rogers: XXVc stuff. I had heard that it was very AD&D and decided to take a look. I chose "Mars in the 25th Century" figuring at least I could pirate the unique desert fauna. What I found was a surprise, the setting is dark and negative but interesting, full of intrigue and purpose. I also found the system material extremely AD&D. After purchasing "Earth in the 25th Century", I began to wonder why XXVc wasn't just campaign material for Gamma World (4th edition). Finally I worked up the courage to buy something full price (very rare occasion for me), "No Humans Allowed", which is an accessory dealing with genetics and altered life forms (which advertises its compatibility with AD&D on the back cover), the substitute for cybernetics in this cyber-space opera game universe. In this campaign universe the solar system is dominated by a megacorp called RAM (formally the Russo-American Mercantile company) which is based on Mars. RAM is the most powerful organization but the other planets constitute or contain pockets of resistance, competition and/or independence. Genetic engineering has created RAM's super-soldiers, and races that exploit environments too harsh for regular humans (asteroid belt, Saturn, Jupiter, Europa, Ganymeade, Luna, Mercury, Venus, ocean depths and orbital space). Terra-forming and enclosed environments have made other planets more habitable but, even so, the Martian citizens of RAM are not without low gravity and cosmetic (genetic) improvements.

After a devastating nuclear conflict and a second devastation at the hands of RAM, earth is a very Gamma World-like environment. There are areas of high radiation, mutants, primitive/natural areas of recovery, open urban environments (called orgs) and enclosed urban city-states completely independent from the outside (the Omegakron adventure reviewed previously, for Avalon Hills old Lords of Creation rpg, fits this Earth very well. It even contains a megacorp that could easily be substituted with RAM). RAM continues to exploit earth for its own gain and there are many revolutionary (terrorist?) organizations out to stop them. The New Earth Organization (NEO) is intended to be the most politically correct.

Gamma World (esp. 4th edition) players will find XXVc material extremely useful, especially those mentioned above and likely the other accessories concerning planets and hardware. Actually, XXVc players should seriously consider getting the GW4 rules, the mutated PC creation rules surpass the mutation rules in "Earth in the XXVc" and the general guidelines of "gennie" (term for genetically altered races) creation in "No Humans Allowed". All of the gennies in No Humans Allowed come with stats for use as characters that make for easy use with: GW4, Villains & Vigilantes, or AD&D. I don't know what TSR's plans were for this game. My opinion is that, like Metamorphosis Alpha, it should've become a campaign world for GW4, much like Dark Sun or Dragonlance is to AD&D. The benefits of combining the 2 are tremendous to players of both games, but who am I to second guess wiser folk. With any luck TSR will correct the oversight and provide Alternity data for Gamma World, XXVc, Metamorphosis Alpha and their other orphaned scifi games (like Bughunters and Galactos Barrier), just like they did for Star Frontiers in Dragon magazine. In any case, don't be afraid to check out any of the XXVc accessories, they are all well done and useful as above, the best of the rest being: Hardware, and The Belt (asteroid belt colonies).

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Buck Rogers: XXVc
Author: variuous Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: Buck Rogers: XXVc Capsule Review by Papyrus91 on 07/04/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space	As usual, I was wandering a local hobby store in search of a deal. While rifling through the 1/2 price rack, I came across some of TSR's, Buck Rogers: XXVc stuff. I had heard that it was very AD&D and decided to take a look. I chose "Mars in the 25th Century" figuring at least I could pirate the unique desert fauna. What I found was a surprise, the setting is dark and negative but interesting, full of intrigue and purpose. I also found the system material extremely AD&D. After purchasing "Earth in the 25th Century", I began to wonder why XXVc wasn't just campaign material for Gamma World (4th edition). Finally I worked up the courage to buy something full price (very rare occasion for me), "No Humans Allowed", which is an accessory dealing with genetics and altered life forms (which advertises its compatibility with AD&D on the back cover), the substitute for cybernetics in this cyber-space opera game universe. In this campaign universe the solar system is dominated by a megacorp called RAM (formally the Russo-American Mercantile company) which is based on Mars. RAM is the most powerful organization but the other planets constitute or contain pockets of resistance, competition and/or independence. Genetic engineering has created RAM's super-soldiers, and races that exploit environments too harsh for regular humans (asteroid belt, Saturn, Jupiter, Europa, Ganymeade, Luna, Mercury, Venus, ocean depths and orbital space). Terra-forming and enclosed environments have made other planets more habitable but, even so, the Martian citizens of RAM are not without low gravity and cosmetic (genetic) improvements. After a devastating nuclear conflict and a second devastation at the hands of RAM, earth is a very Gamma World-like environment. There are areas of high radiation, mutants, primitive/natural areas of recovery, open urban environments (called orgs) and enclosed urban city-states completely independent from the outside (the Omegakron adventure reviewed previously, for Avalon Hills old Lords of Creation rpg, fits this Earth very well. It even contains a megacorp that could easily be substituted with RAM). RAM continues to exploit earth for its own gain and there are many revolutionary (terrorist?) organizations out to stop them. The New Earth Organization (NEO) is intended to be the most politically correct. Gamma World (esp. 4th edition) players will find XXVc material extremely useful, especially those mentioned above and likely the other accessories concerning planets and hardware. Actually, XXVc players should seriously consider getting the GW4 rules, the mutated PC creation rules surpass the mutation rules in "Earth in the XXVc" and the general guidelines of "gennie" (term for genetically altered races) creation in "No Humans Allowed". All of the gennies in No Humans Allowed come with stats for use as characters that make for easy use with: GW4, Villains & Vigilantes, or AD&D. I don't know what TSR's plans were for this game. My opinion is that, like Metamorphosis Alpha, it should've become a campaign world for GW4, much like Dark Sun or Dragonlance is to AD&D. The benefits of combining the 2 are tremendous to players of both games, but who am I to second guess wiser folk. With any luck TSR will correct the oversight and provide Alternity data for Gamma World, XXVc, Metamorphosis Alpha and their other orphaned scifi games (like Bughunters and Galactos Barrier), just like they did for Star Frontiers in Dragon magazine. In any case, don't be afraid to check out any of the XXVc accessories, they are all well done and useful as above, the best of the rest being: Hardware, and The Belt (asteroid belt colonies). Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)