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Hell’s Kitchen is the second campaign sourcebook for the Battlelords of the 23rd Century sci fi RPG published by SSDC Inc.

It’s a 94 page book filled with black and white art of decent quality, with some works being decidedly above average.

Hell’s Kitchen (referred to in the rest of this review as HK) is the companion book to the No Man’s Land campaign book. In fact, the region of space HK covers is directly adjacent to the region covered in NML. Pages 6 and 7 of HK are the Sector maps for both regions placed side by side in a two page spread that gives players and GM’s a complete view of what the fringe of known space looks like. The back cover of HK warns that in order to use this supplement to it’s fullest potential, it is imperative to have access to the NML book.

Hell’s Kitchen, like No Man’s Land before it, is a must have book for any Battlelords GM. It’s packed to the gills with story ideas, plot hooks and a few useful rules expansions. I’ll take it section by section.

The first major section of HK is a discussion on Arachnid invasion tactics. The Arachnids are a mysterious high tech alien race that the Galactic Alliance has been in conflict with off and on for years. The article is fascinating and provides GM’s with a mind to introduce a massive conflict in their game with a solid starting point. Also discussed in this section are the Xarians, an alien race that seems to be in league with the arachnids but which trades openly with the Alliance. There’s a lot of opportunity for PC’s of all types to get involved with them and in so doing, allow the GM to run a game centered more on intrigue.

The next section discusses the Motaran Rift and shade worlds. The rift is an 100 light year area of space just within the Xarian confederacy where the laws of time and space cease to operate normally. There are many story ideas offered up on ways to use it in a Battlelords game. Everything from beings who inhabit the rift to secret Arachnid staging areas are touched on. It makes for fun reading and is sure to get a GM’s creative juices flowing.

Shade worlds are planets can occasionally be seen with the naked eye from space, but can be physically reached in our dimension. They appear to be related somehow to the Rift phenomena, and are also a source of tremendous inspiration to any players or GM’s.

The Major Group Encounters section introduces two new groups that PC’s may run across in the course of a game, particularly one set on the fringe. These are: -The Krakeds, an insectoid race whose expansion threatens to start a conflict with the Alliance. -Mutants, just as you might think. Beings who, due to environment or tampering, have been mutated in some way.

The Krakeds offer a more organized pool of NPC’s for PC’s to interact with, but the ability to create roving gangs of mutants is a welcome addition to the repertoire of any GM as well.

The next section, Rules Expansion, is what I consider to be the most frustrating part of the book. Readers of my other Battlelords product reviews will know that my biggest problem with the entire game line has been the absolute lack of any rules for building starships and conducting combat with said ships.

This section contains guidelines on “picking up a good horse”, the average cost to maintain a ship, passing through customs when landing on a world, rules for alert status on a ship, and guidelines for various freighter types. But they still have NO SHIP RULES!!! Either to build them or fight with them. The only hint at any sort of ship design system is found in this section. It consists of a short section describing a few different ship types. An example would be:

“ Warship: Personal warships are designed for low intensity combat situations. Many have limited cargo capability (1-10 boxes). Warships are affordable for established mercenary units, and are the most prevalent vessels found operating in space. Maintains up to five heavy weapon systems. Hull threshold: 6KP” (kilo points. Each KP is the equivalent of 1000 regular damage points)

Right, you may be thinking, what’s the problem, seems like there’s enough there to get you going…

The problem is, nowhere in the product line are any starship weapon systems described. Light, medium, heavy or otherwise. Starship shields are mentioned to exist, but aren’t described anywhere. We don’t know what kind of crew compliment is needed, we have no idea how combat is supposed to be handled, we have no idea what kind of hull structure there is, or what happens when the ships threshold is exceeded. Most importantly, what the hell are the PC’s going to be doing during all this?

It’s great that the supplement touches on issues that would affect starships, but SSDC would be well advised to hustle and put out some rules so we can fully enjoy the full scope of their products.

All that said, it’s important to remember that this is the only real gripe I have with the game in general and this supplement in particular.

The next four sections of the book describes in detail the various subsectors in this area of the rim. They are: The Gyran Republic, The Ivory Coast, The Xarian Confederacy and Hell’s Kitchen proper. Each of these subsectors has a heading for each planetary system found within it. Like in the No Man’s Land supplement, this section is loaded with story ideas and glimpses into what’s really going on. This is also why you need the NML book in order to fully use this book. The definitions of the various planet codes are found in NML.

Each planetary system is described in a short text, giving said world a flavor of it’s own. Also included in each planets description are it’s defenses, services offered, population level and any structure of note. At the end of each sector, one can find the stock index, a breakdown of what planets have which resources in plenty, and which they have a need of. It makes it easy to figure out what trade routes PC’s might be interested in, should they feel like trying their hand at trade or smuggling.

Of particular note is Mulligan’s Rock, a privately owned asteroid where all manner of legal and extra legal activity takes place. A full ten pages are dedicated to it’s description, and boy, Mos Eisley’s got nothin’ on this place. A GM could run many, many campaigns with Mulligan’s Rock as the focus. It also makes for an ideal place to use as a base of operations for PC’s on the rim.

The final section of the book, before the index, is a five page rumor mill. All sorts of strange events and reports are listed here as possible plot hooks. Again, no GM will have trouble coming up with ideas after looking over this section.

As with No Man’s Land, I consider Hell’s Kitchen to be a must have for any Battlelords GM. Furthermore, it’s of great value to anyone who runs any sci fi game, as the setting and ideas found herein are easily adaptable to any other game. It’s just an all around good product that’s worth looking into.

Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen Capsule Review by Alex Hanna on 30/09/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Hugely useful, even for another sci fi game. Product: Hell's Kitchen Author: Lawrence R. Sims, Ben Pierce, Doug Nelson, Geoff Wheeler Category: RPG Company/Publisher: SSDC Inc. Line: Battlelords Cost: $11.95 US Page count: 94 Year published: 1995 ISBN: SKU: ODS 801B Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Alex Hanna on 30/09/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction	Hell’s Kitchen is the second campaign sourcebook for the Battlelords of the 23rd Century sci fi RPG published by SSDC Inc. It’s a 94 page book filled with black and white art of decent quality, with some works being decidedly above average. Hell’s Kitchen (referred to in the rest of this review as HK) is the companion book to the No Man’s Land campaign book. In fact, the region of space HK covers is directly adjacent to the region covered in NML. Pages 6 and 7 of HK are the Sector maps for both regions placed side by side in a two page spread that gives players and GM’s a complete view of what the fringe of known space looks like. The back cover of HK warns that in order to use this supplement to it’s fullest potential, it is imperative to have access to the NML book. Hell’s Kitchen, like No Man’s Land before it, is a must have book for any Battlelords GM. It’s packed to the gills with story ideas, plot hooks and a few useful rules expansions. I’ll take it section by section. The first major section of HK is a discussion on Arachnid invasion tactics. The Arachnids are a mysterious high tech alien race that the Galactic Alliance has been in conflict with off and on for years. The article is fascinating and provides GM’s with a mind to introduce a massive conflict in their game with a solid starting point. Also discussed in this section are the Xarians, an alien race that seems to be in league with the arachnids but which trades openly with the Alliance. There’s a lot of opportunity for PC’s of all types to get involved with them and in so doing, allow the GM to run a game centered more on intrigue. The next section discusses the Motaran Rift and shade worlds. The rift is an 100 light year area of space just within the Xarian confederacy where the laws of time and space cease to operate normally. There are many story ideas offered up on ways to use it in a Battlelords game. Everything from beings who inhabit the rift to secret Arachnid staging areas are touched on. It makes for fun reading and is sure to get a GM’s creative juices flowing. Shade worlds are planets can occasionally be seen with the naked eye from space, but can be physically reached in our dimension. They appear to be related somehow to the Rift phenomena, and are also a source of tremendous inspiration to any players or GM’s. The Major Group Encounters section introduces two new groups that PC’s may run across in the course of a game, particularly one set on the fringe. These are: -The Krakeds, an insectoid race whose expansion threatens to start a conflict with the Alliance. -Mutants, just as you might think. Beings who, due to environment or tampering, have been mutated in some way. The Krakeds offer a more organized pool of NPC’s for PC’s to interact with, but the ability to create roving gangs of mutants is a welcome addition to the repertoire of any GM as well. The next section, Rules Expansion, is what I consider to be the most frustrating part of the book. Readers of my other Battlelords product reviews will know that my biggest problem with the entire game line has been the absolute lack of any rules for building starships and conducting combat with said ships. This section contains guidelines on “picking up a good horse”, the average cost to maintain a ship, passing through customs when landing on a world, rules for alert status on a ship, and guidelines for various freighter types. But they still have NO SHIP RULES!!! Either to build them or fight with them. The only hint at any sort of ship design system is found in this section. It consists of a short section describing a few different ship types. An example would be: “ Warship: Personal warships are designed for low intensity combat situations. Many have limited cargo capability (1-10 boxes). Warships are affordable for established mercenary units, and are the most prevalent vessels found operating in space. Maintains up to five heavy weapon systems. Hull threshold: 6KP” (kilo points. Each KP is the equivalent of 1000 regular damage points) Right, you may be thinking, what’s the problem, seems like there’s enough there to get you going… The problem is, nowhere in the product line are any starship weapon systems described. Light, medium, heavy or otherwise. Starship shields are mentioned to exist, but aren’t described anywhere. We don’t know what kind of crew compliment is needed, we have no idea how combat is supposed to be handled, we have no idea what kind of hull structure there is, or what happens when the ships threshold is exceeded. Most importantly, what the hell are the PC’s going to be doing during all this? It’s great that the supplement touches on issues that would affect starships, but SSDC would be well advised to hustle and put out some rules so we can fully enjoy the full scope of their products. All that said, it’s important to remember that this is the only real gripe I have with the game in general and this supplement in particular. The next four sections of the book describes in detail the various subsectors in this area of the rim. They are: The Gyran Republic, The Ivory Coast, The Xarian Confederacy and Hell’s Kitchen proper. Each of these subsectors has a heading for each planetary system found within it. Like in the No Man’s Land supplement, this section is loaded with story ideas and glimpses into what’s really going on. This is also why you need the NML book in order to fully use this book. The definitions of the various planet codes are found in NML. Each planetary system is described in a short text, giving said world a flavor of it’s own. Also included in each planets description are it’s defenses, services offered, population level and any structure of note. At the end of each sector, one can find the stock index, a breakdown of what planets have which resources in plenty, and which they have a need of. It makes it easy to figure out what trade routes PC’s might be interested in, should they feel like trying their hand at trade or smuggling. Of particular note is Mulligan’s Rock, a privately owned asteroid where all manner of legal and extra legal activity takes place. A full ten pages are dedicated to it’s description, and boy, Mos Eisley’s got nothin’ on this place. A GM could run many, many campaigns with Mulligan’s Rock as the focus. It also makes for an ideal place to use as a base of operations for PC’s on the rim. The final section of the book, before the index, is a five page rumor mill. All sorts of strange events and reports are listed here as possible plot hooks. Again, no GM will have trouble coming up with ideas after looking over this section. As with No Man’s Land, I consider Hell’s Kitchen to be a must have for any Battlelords GM. Furthermore, it’s of great value to anyone who runs any sci fi game, as the setting and ideas found herein are easily adaptable to any other game. It’s just an all around good product that’s worth looking into.

Hell's Kitchen