The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Moderator's Guide is the GM's background sourcebook for Blue Planet, detailing Poseidon, the Serpentis System, late 22d Century Earth, Luna, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. The Moderator¹s Guide incorporates material from v.1 and Archipelago. Unfortunately, it is somehow less than the sum of its parts.

The Moderator's Guide gets off to a promising star. The Forward (5 p.) includes a discussion of designing and running a Blue Planet campaign. Chapter 1 (140 p.) focuses on Poseidon and the settlements of the Pacifica Archipelago, the most densely settled area of Poseidon. Chapter 1 includes information on the Haven Cluster, New Hawai'i, the Northwest Territories, Prime Meridian, Westcape, and the Zion Islands. The description of each island group begins with a full-page topographic map that shows settlements and principal ocean currents. Following a description of each island group¹s geography and general history, there is a detailed discussion of the principal settlement and other settlements of note. For each settlement there are descriptions of its history, physical layout, demographics, government, economic base, and infrastructure. For the principal settlements, there are detailed maps and explanations of the significant features. The descriptions are also peppered with significant NPCs and "Access Denied" sidebars that detail plots and other ongoing events. These descriptions provide a GM with ample information for running adventures in all of the Pacifica Archipelago¹s prominent settlements.

While there is some new information included in this section and the NPC statistics have been converted to the Synergy System, most of the settlement descriptions come from v.1 and Archipelago. Which is unfortunate if you already own those books and because Archipelago is the best looking of all of the Blue Planet books. The Moderator's Guide only suffers in comparison. The design, layout, organization, and art of Archipelago are all superior to that in the Moderator's Guide. The descriptions in the Moderator's Guide are also harder to use as they sprawl across 140 pages with no discernible section breaks to distinguish where the description of one island cluster ends and another begins.

Chapter 2 (46 p.) deals with Poseidon's geography and features descriptions of oceanography, ecosystems, weather, and a field guide to notable flora and fauna. Most of these descriptions are from v.1 with additional field guide descriptions from Archipelago and Undercurrents.

Chapter 3 (29 p.)deals with Poseidon's enigmatic Aborigines and consolidates in one place information that was previously included in Access Denieds and other sources scattered throughout v.1, Archipelago, and Undercurrents. While it is convenient to have all of the information on Aborigines in one place, it unfortunately dispels much of the mystery and sense of discovery that made v.1 so enticing to read.

Chapter 4 (28 p.) deals with Earth and the rest of the Sol System including a new write-up on the space stations located at either entrance to the Wormhole linking the Sol and Serpentis systems. The Moderator's Guide concludes with one-page of Synergy quick reference tables and a two-page index.

What the Moderator's Guide does not have is any method for quickly generating NPC stats, such as the chart included on the Access Denied GM's screen. Also missing is any pregenerated scenario that might give a new GM a sense of how to run Blue Planet. Some scenarios are available in back issues of Undercurrents, available on-line at www.biohazardgames.com.

The Moderator's Guide is a great resource for Blue Planet GMs. It is marred only by its limited amount of new information and by the style and art used for both the Player's Guide and the Moderator's Guide. All of the v.1 materials featured a clean, sophisticated, and distinctive graphic style. The v.2 books feature pages laid out within a technological border, with vague distinctions between sections, and with art that is all too reminiscent of WEG's Star Wars modules. The unfortunate result is that Blue Planet now looks like any other roleplaying game.

So, should you buy the Moderator's Guide? If you are just encountering Blue Planet and do not have any of the other materials, absolutely yes. You can run Blue Planet with just the Player's Guide, but the Moderator's Guide includes all of the detailed background information that you will want to make your games come alive.

If you already have v.1 and are converting to v.2, you will probably want to pick-up the Moderator¹s Guide for its up-to-date and inclusive information. Alternatively, you could save $9 US and pick-up Archipelago instead with its superior art and more user-friendly design. If you already have v.1 and Archipelago you may want to give the Moderator¹s Guide a pass.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Blue Planet v.2 Moderator's Guide
Author: Jeff Barber, Greg Benage, Brian Breedlove, Sam Johnson, and Jason Werner Category: game Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games / Biohazard Games Line: Blue Planet Cost: $28 Page count: 254 ISBN: 1-887911-05-4 SKU: BP01 Capsule Review by Jeb Boyt on 10/08/00. Genre tags: Science fiction Space Espionage Post-apocalypse	The Moderator's Guide is the GM's background sourcebook for Blue Planet, detailing Poseidon, the Serpentis System, late 22d Century Earth, Luna, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. The Moderator¹s Guide incorporates material from v.1 and Archipelago. Unfortunately, it is somehow less than the sum of its parts. The Moderator's Guide gets off to a promising star. The Forward (5 p.) includes a discussion of designing and running a Blue Planet campaign. Chapter 1 (140 p.) focuses on Poseidon and the settlements of the Pacifica Archipelago, the most densely settled area of Poseidon. Chapter 1 includes information on the Haven Cluster, New Hawai'i, the Northwest Territories, Prime Meridian, Westcape, and the Zion Islands. The description of each island group begins with a full-page topographic map that shows settlements and principal ocean currents. Following a description of each island group¹s geography and general history, there is a detailed discussion of the principal settlement and other settlements of note. For each settlement there are descriptions of its history, physical layout, demographics, government, economic base, and infrastructure. For the principal settlements, there are detailed maps and explanations of the significant features. The descriptions are also peppered with significant NPCs and "Access Denied" sidebars that detail plots and other ongoing events. These descriptions provide a GM with ample information for running adventures in all of the Pacifica Archipelago¹s prominent settlements. While there is some new information included in this section and the NPC statistics have been converted to the Synergy System, most of the settlement descriptions come from v.1 and Archipelago. Which is unfortunate if you already own those books and because Archipelago is the best looking of all of the Blue Planet books. The Moderator's Guide only suffers in comparison. The design, layout, organization, and art of Archipelago are all superior to that in the Moderator's Guide. The descriptions in the Moderator's Guide are also harder to use as they sprawl across 140 pages with no discernible section breaks to distinguish where the description of one island cluster ends and another begins. Chapter 2 (46 p.) deals with Poseidon's geography and features descriptions of oceanography, ecosystems, weather, and a field guide to notable flora and fauna. Most of these descriptions are from v.1 with additional field guide descriptions from Archipelago and Undercurrents. Chapter 3 (29 p.)deals with Poseidon's enigmatic Aborigines and consolidates in one place information that was previously included in Access Denieds and other sources scattered throughout v.1, Archipelago, and Undercurrents. While it is convenient to have all of the information on Aborigines in one place, it unfortunately dispels much of the mystery and sense of discovery that made v.1 so enticing to read. Chapter 4 (28 p.) deals with Earth and the rest of the Sol System including a new write-up on the space stations located at either entrance to the Wormhole linking the Sol and Serpentis systems. The Moderator's Guide concludes with one-page of Synergy quick reference tables and a two-page index. What the Moderator's Guide does not have is any method for quickly generating NPC stats, such as the chart included on the Access Denied GM's screen. Also missing is any pregenerated scenario that might give a new GM a sense of how to run Blue Planet. Some scenarios are available in back issues of Undercurrents, available on-line at www.biohazardgames.com. The Moderator's Guide is a great resource for Blue Planet GMs. It is marred only by its limited amount of new information and by the style and art used for both the Player's Guide and the Moderator's Guide. All of the v.1 materials featured a clean, sophisticated, and distinctive graphic style. The v.2 books feature pages laid out within a technological border, with vague distinctions between sections, and with art that is all too reminiscent of WEG's Star Wars modules. The unfortunate result is that Blue Planet now looks like any other roleplaying game. So, should you buy the Moderator's Guide? If you are just encountering Blue Planet and do not have any of the other materials, absolutely yes. You can run Blue Planet with just the Player's Guide, but the Moderator's Guide includes all of the detailed background information that you will want to make your games come alive. If you already have v.1 and are converting to v.2, you will probably want to pick-up the Moderator¹s Guide for its up-to-date and inclusive information. Alternatively, you could save $9 US and pick-up Archipelago instead with its superior art and more user-friendly design. If you already have v.1 and Archipelago you may want to give the Moderator¹s Guide a pass. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Blue Planet v.2 Moderator's Guide