The Inside Scoop on Gaming

As I am sure those you who have read my other Trinity reviews know, I am not a lover of the line as a whole. I certainly adore elements of it, but other things annoy me to no end. However, the game is powerful enough to keep pulling me back in and getting me to spend my money on it when I know I should be saving it. I bought Stellar Frontiers because I wanted to see how White Wolf had done with their extrasolar colonies. I was curious as to just how well they had fleshed them out and still remained reasonable. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised.

As with all Trinity books (and, I expect, Aberrant books as well), it starts off with a nice and pretty color section of "in character" information. What is common or uncommon knowledge about the Upeo wa Macho, the teleporting Psi Order. We are treated to a nice look at the internal structure of the order, as well as the internal friction it holds as well. Not every teleporter was entirely pleased with their Proxy's decision to leave Earth en mass, nor were they pleased by her apparently willingness to destroy the powers of other teleporters to enforce her ban on Earth visits. Apparently Proxies have the power to erase the powers of a psion, at least one within their Order. Quite an unexpected development.

The color section also gives us a tour of the colonies, as well as two new worlds. The recent developments on Far Nyumba (the discovery of more alien artifacts) and the continued aggression between all sides of Averguas' governmental conflict (mirroring the United States' centuries old reach for freedom) create very dynamic and interesting settings on which to set a chronicle. The new colonies of Ruan's World and Eden are also very interesting. The first is the Upeo's own small colony while the latter is a planet colonized and ruled by Aberrants, who apparently manage to rule as god-kings with a surprisingly benevolent hand. I think that Andrew Bates is definitely steering Trinity towards a direction that shows the Aberrants as the people they are, not the monsters that the Aeon Trinity paints them as to unify humanity. This creates a very interesting "A what cost unity?" chronicle, I think. I liked Eden a lot, despite my dislike for Aberrants themselves, and I think that it makes for a great place to give players a bit of culture shock.

The opening fiction is really rather good, and it manages to show how much of a sacrifice was made when the Upeo jumped off of Earth, both from within and without of the Order.

The first chapter in the black and white section is about the Order itself, the Upeo wa Macho inside and out. There is a clear and concise look at internal organizations as well as those who call for Proxy Atwan's resignation, which is something surprising and very interesting. Just what would happen if a Proxy stepped down? We also get news on what the Upeo do secretly, just because they have returned does not mean they have made everything public. Finally, there is a relations section, how the Order relates to the other powers in the Trinity world. A nice section, all it seems to miss is a discussion of how the rest of the world looks at the Upeo now that they have returned.

Chapter two explains Teleportation, which has some very nice and interesting abilities. The three modes are Translocation (teleporting the self), Transmassion (teleporting other things), and Warping (changing spatial relations and distances). Very interesting and with nice systems, my only problem was that alternate powers were completely absent. I would think that no other Order would have explored their power more than the Upeo, stuck as they are beyond Earth and its luxuries of support. They would have been forced to innovate and investigate. I am disappointed that they are not here, though I imagine that is partly due to space concerns.

The next chapter is what I was most interested in, the extrasolar colonies. Khantze Lu Ge was interesting in that political concerns about testing weapons on Aberrants is preventing the war from having a quick end, but it is marred by the presence of said Aberrants in my personal opinion. I just don't like them. The information of Karoo is interesting as well, but seems to be little more than was in the Trinity Field Report: Extrasolar Colonies, sadly enough. Qinshui is well done also, and has some very nice bits, like the cooperation between the Upeo and the Qin as well as human activity in the Qin system and how the Aeon Trinity advises psions to act on Qinshui. I just wish that is had more space and information, and that I did not have to turn to the Alien Encounter series of adventures for the information I want. Far Nyumba, the moon of the gas giant Mgitu, is one of the better colonies that White Wolf has come up with. An interesting world already, it is made even more enticing by the alien artifacts discovered within Mgitu itself, and the life found there. The Quantum Mass Transferring device found on a floating station in Mgitu's atmosphere was very interesting indeed. Finally, at least among the "old" colonies, if Averiguas, which is probably my favorite colony solely because it is the most "science fiction-like" of all of them. It is the most "mundane" and barren, covered in little more life than lichen and imported beings from Earth. Combining that with the continually brewing conflict between rebels on Averiguas and the Brazilian government makes for a very enticing chronicle setting, especially with Norca trying to straddle the fence as best it can.

For the new colonies, we get Ruan's World, a small planet around a dim sun. This makes for a disturbingly odd environment. The almost perfect society that the teleporters have created there almost seems to reside in some surrealist painting. The other new planet, Eden, manages to be amazingly engaging despite the central role the Aberrants play in it. Settled by Aberrants and their cultists, the "novas" (as they call themselves) rule a god-kings, taking what they want an protecting and guiding the people. John R. Snead (the writer of this section) did a nice job of creating a very alien "benevolent despotism." On top of that, Eden sports a truly alien and interesting form of native life. Everything on the planet belongs to one of nine "mega-ogranisms." A very odd an intriguing idea, to say the least.

The last bit in the chapter deals with the lost ships, colony ships sent out before the Upeo appeared with the other Orders and after the Aberrants were expelled from Earth. Some have been found, and to varying results. Some are happy with the appearance of the psions, some think that they are simply weak Aberrants. I think the later bears some investigation, myself, but then I've always had problems with Trinity in that respect.

The chapter of storyteller information has rules on ship-to-ship combat for those looking for some detail and guidelines. It also has some basic facts about fusion drives and how to figure out speeds. There are a few pages on Aberrant activity in space, including a lengthy look at Yog-Death and Kali, the two Aberrants fighting each other for control over Khanzta Lu Ge. There is also a little bit more than a page looking at what role the Upeo played in the recent events on the homeworld of the Chromatics, and how Earth got there to free the captive and enslaved teleporters.

The technology chapter was a large surprise, actually. It contained some of the best examples of biotechnology yet to come from a Trinity book. I have been largely disappointed by it so far, but I definitely enjoyed what was given here, from the air filtration systems to the bioblimp. This is what I think biotechnology would be, bot biolaser guns.

The notables section was good as such sections always are in Trinity books. There is a nice look at the blunt and honest Proxy Atwan, as well as the major players in the Order and those who have left. Some other notables include Clarence Greaves, the first Upeo to be rescued from the Chromatics and who still calls for blood, and Hector Podkorny, the famous mad teleporter who went on a murder spree by teleporting the heads of his victims away.

The five templates are also interesting, continuing the Trinity tradition of variety and substance. I wouldn't mind playing any of them, and some I would actually really like to try. You can't ask for more from templates.

All in all, Stellar Frontiers was a good book. It was a very good book expanding on the Trinity universe. The only major problems lie in that it had so little space with which to deal with entire worlds. I feel like the colonies got shortchanged because of that. I understand space limitations, however, so I cannot complain too much. The artwork was okay, overall. Foss was bad as usual, but Jeff Rebner stepped in to do some very nice work. I found the book almost entirely useful, despite my misgivings about some basic assumptions of the setting. Andrew Bates and his team manage to pump out great book after great book once again.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Stellar Frontiers
Author: John R. Snead and Admiral Greg Stolze Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Trinity Cost: $19.95 Page count: 140 ISBN: 1-56504-763-X SKU: WW9005 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 08/09/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Space	As I am sure those you who have read my other Trinity reviews know, I am not a lover of the line as a whole. I certainly adore elements of it, but other things annoy me to no end. However, the game is powerful enough to keep pulling me back in and getting me to spend my money on it when I know I should be saving it. I bought Stellar Frontiers because I wanted to see how White Wolf had done with their extrasolar colonies. I was curious as to just how well they had fleshed them out and still remained reasonable. Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised. As with all Trinity books (and, I expect, Aberrant books as well), it starts off with a nice and pretty color section of "in character" information. What is common or uncommon knowledge about the Upeo wa Macho, the teleporting Psi Order. We are treated to a nice look at the internal structure of the order, as well as the internal friction it holds as well. Not every teleporter was entirely pleased with their Proxy's decision to leave Earth en mass, nor were they pleased by her apparently willingness to destroy the powers of other teleporters to enforce her ban on Earth visits. Apparently Proxies have the power to erase the powers of a psion, at least one within their Order. Quite an unexpected development. The color section also gives us a tour of the colonies, as well as two new worlds. The recent developments on Far Nyumba (the discovery of more alien artifacts) and the continued aggression between all sides of Averguas' governmental conflict (mirroring the United States' centuries old reach for freedom) create very dynamic and interesting settings on which to set a chronicle. The new colonies of Ruan's World and Eden are also very interesting. The first is the Upeo's own small colony while the latter is a planet colonized and ruled by Aberrants, who apparently manage to rule as god-kings with a surprisingly benevolent hand. I think that Andrew Bates is definitely steering Trinity towards a direction that shows the Aberrants as the people they are, not the monsters that the Aeon Trinity paints them as to unify humanity. This creates a very interesting "A what cost unity?" chronicle, I think. I liked Eden a lot, despite my dislike for Aberrants themselves, and I think that it makes for a great place to give players a bit of culture shock. The opening fiction is really rather good, and it manages to show how much of a sacrifice was made when the Upeo jumped off of Earth, both from within and without of the Order. The first chapter in the black and white section is about the Order itself, the Upeo wa Macho inside and out. There is a clear and concise look at internal organizations as well as those who call for Proxy Atwan's resignation, which is something surprising and very interesting. Just what would happen if a Proxy stepped down? We also get news on what the Upeo do secretly, just because they have returned does not mean they have made everything public. Finally, there is a relations section, how the Order relates to the other powers in the Trinity world. A nice section, all it seems to miss is a discussion of how the rest of the world looks at the Upeo now that they have returned. Chapter two explains Teleportation, which has some very nice and interesting abilities. The three modes are Translocation (teleporting the self), Transmassion (teleporting other things), and Warping (changing spatial relations and distances). Very interesting and with nice systems, my only problem was that alternate powers were completely absent. I would think that no other Order would have explored their power more than the Upeo, stuck as they are beyond Earth and its luxuries of support. They would have been forced to innovate and investigate. I am disappointed that they are not here, though I imagine that is partly due to space concerns. The next chapter is what I was most interested in, the extrasolar colonies. Khantze Lu Ge was interesting in that political concerns about testing weapons on Aberrants is preventing the war from having a quick end, but it is marred by the presence of said Aberrants in my personal opinion. I just don't like them. The information of Karoo is interesting as well, but seems to be little more than was in the Trinity Field Report: Extrasolar Colonies, sadly enough. Qinshui is well done also, and has some very nice bits, like the cooperation between the Upeo and the Qin as well as human activity in the Qin system and how the Aeon Trinity advises psions to act on Qinshui. I just wish that is had more space and information, and that I did not have to turn to the Alien Encounter series of adventures for the information I want. Far Nyumba, the moon of the gas giant Mgitu, is one of the better colonies that White Wolf has come up with. An interesting world already, it is made even more enticing by the alien artifacts discovered within Mgitu itself, and the life found there. The Quantum Mass Transferring device found on a floating station in Mgitu's atmosphere was very interesting indeed. Finally, at least among the "old" colonies, if Averiguas, which is probably my favorite colony solely because it is the most "science fiction-like" of all of them. It is the most "mundane" and barren, covered in little more life than lichen and imported beings from Earth. Combining that with the continually brewing conflict between rebels on Averiguas and the Brazilian government makes for a very enticing chronicle setting, especially with Norca trying to straddle the fence as best it can. For the new colonies, we get Ruan's World, a small planet around a dim sun. This makes for a disturbingly odd environment. The almost perfect society that the teleporters have created there almost seems to reside in some surrealist painting. The other new planet, Eden, manages to be amazingly engaging despite the central role the Aberrants play in it. Settled by Aberrants and their cultists, the "novas" (as they call themselves) rule a god-kings, taking what they want an protecting and guiding the people. John R. Snead (the writer of this section) did a nice job of creating a very alien "benevolent despotism." On top of that, Eden sports a truly alien and interesting form of native life. Everything on the planet belongs to one of nine "mega-ogranisms." A very odd an intriguing idea, to say the least. The last bit in the chapter deals with the lost ships, colony ships sent out before the Upeo appeared with the other Orders and after the Aberrants were expelled from Earth. Some have been found, and to varying results. Some are happy with the appearance of the psions, some think that they are simply weak Aberrants. I think the later bears some investigation, myself, but then I've always had problems with Trinity in that respect. The chapter of storyteller information has rules on ship-to-ship combat for those looking for some detail and guidelines. It also has some basic facts about fusion drives and how to figure out speeds. There are a few pages on Aberrant activity in space, including a lengthy look at Yog-Death and Kali, the two Aberrants fighting each other for control over Khanzta Lu Ge. There is also a little bit more than a page looking at what role the Upeo played in the recent events on the homeworld of the Chromatics, and how Earth got there to free the captive and enslaved teleporters. The technology chapter was a large surprise, actually. It contained some of the best examples of biotechnology yet to come from a Trinity book. I have been largely disappointed by it so far, but I definitely enjoyed what was given here, from the air filtration systems to the bioblimp. This is what I think biotechnology would be, bot biolaser guns. The notables section was good as such sections always are in Trinity books. There is a nice look at the blunt and honest Proxy Atwan, as well as the major players in the Order and those who have left. Some other notables include Clarence Greaves, the first Upeo to be rescued from the Chromatics and who still calls for blood, and Hector Podkorny, the famous mad teleporter who went on a murder spree by teleporting the heads of his victims away. The five templates are also interesting, continuing the Trinity tradition of variety and substance. I wouldn't mind playing any of them, and some I would actually really like to try. You can't ask for more from templates. All in all, Stellar Frontiers was a good book. It was a very good book expanding on the Trinity universe. The only major problems lie in that it had so little space with which to deal with entire worlds. I feel like the colonies got shortchanged because of that. I understand space limitations, however, so I cannot complain too much. The artwork was okay, overall. Foss was bad as usual, but Jeff Rebner stepped in to do some very nice work. I found the book almost entirely useful, despite my misgivings about some basic assumptions of the setting. Andrew Bates and his team manage to pump out great book after great book once again. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)