Author: Phil McGregor
Category: game
Company/Publisher: Phalanx Games Design
Cost: $7/book of $18 for set of three
Page count: 383
Capsule Review by Colin D. Speirs on 07/24/98.
Genre tags: none
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StarPlay Armageddon | ||||||||||
Author: Phil McGregor
Category: game Company/Publisher: Phalanx Games Design Cost: $7/book of $18 for set of three Page count: 383 Capsule Review by Colin D. Speirs on 07/24/98. Genre tags: none |
Armageddon is the setting, Starplay #2 is the system. The books are unusual in that they are not pre-printed but are available as PDF files, a kind of electronic file that will print as standard no matter what kind of machine is being used to read it. The author, Phil McGregor was a co-author of Space Opera and has written supplements for Chivalry and Sorcery, Aftermath and Shadowrun. There has been much discussion on the value of PDF as a format but that is the way that the game has been published. At present these files, about 8 MB in total, are only available by download or by email, but I understand that a CD version is being planned. In any case, despite its electronic transmission, the game is designed to be printed and to merely view it on a monitor is useless as there are over 380 pages of information. Once printed the game appears crisp and well laid out. Artwork is used to a minimum and is mostly freely available clipart with a few maps that look to have been created with Campaign Cartographer. The text is presented as a two column affair black on white. There is some use of coloured text but that prints out very well on a non-colour laserjet. The name of the setting, Armageddon comes in the first setting for the game, a post-apocalyptic Earth, wracked by war and strange circumstance. The three books detail the world after the Fall. There is a problem with the three book spread in that you really have to dive into all three books to get a good feeling of what is going on. Considering that the sample scenario uses the Armageddon setting it would have been sensible to have a summary of the background readily available in the first book, not just for the GM but also something they can hand to the players. The second book addresses this problem, but as it is possible that the first book might be the only one bought then at least the section labeled "Departure Prime", which tells of the transition to the future of a NATO convoy might be better moved as the introduction in the first book. However the information is there, and I reasonably readable form The first book details the system and starts the introduction to the 27th Millenium world. There appears to be a wee bit of confusion as the third book "There and Then" proclaims "Adventures in the 25th Millenium", but it should be the 27th since other information tells us that they have travelled 25,000 years into the future. If the GM chooses to keep the players in the dark about what is happening and s/he uses the campaign entry offered by the scenario in the first book, then the game will at first seem similar to Twilight:2000, with characters being ex-military or civilians making their way in a world where the infrastructure is collapsing and the soldiers of NATO are making a last big push against the Russo-Japanese Alliance. This war has seen the increase in use of ECM in the form of Electromagnetic Cloaking technology derived from German and American research in the first two World Wars. Unfortunately this is the technology of "The Philadelphia Experiment". When exposed to huge burst of energy, the fields cloaking the vessels open up a pathway to the future with the unfortunate result of stranding various groups of people stranded 25,000 years in the future. However in fact whole units and convoys are being propelled in time to the far future when the world is a different place, physically, politically and technologically, bearing a slight resemblance to the sort of world depicted in "Gamma World", "Davy" or "Heiro's Journey" but I do mean slight. This future Earth has various human nations (The Seven Domains), with primitive material technology, but some "magic", doomed in the face of the inexorable advance of the hideous Shadow Empire, its expansion won by it's Nightmare Legions of the Undead. However the humans themselves are unable to co-operate against the single enemy and also war against themselves. The system in the first book uses 2d6 for a 2-12 range for both statistics and skills. The skill of the character is adjusted by the difficulty (or ease) of the task and the player tries to roll that number or under. The system allows for a Critical Failure or Success, as well as an Automatic Success for some tasks. The Attributes are fairly standard, and include a LUCK attribute, and range from 2-12 again. These are assigned either by one of a variety of ways depending on the GM. Some secondary stats like Carrying Capacity and Hit points depend on the Primary Stats. The next big phase of Chargen is creating a character, including family background, education, previous jobs, and then on to careers, Civilian or Military. These provide opportunities to gain benefits or suffer misfortune and will remind older folk (like me) or Traveller or Space Opera. An example character generation is provided to help the newcomer to Starplay. One drawback is that the only professions on offer are those of the 20th/21st Century character propelled forward. If a player wanted to play one of the individuals of the 27th Millenium then no background or career information exists for them. The skills are slightly complicated, as each skill may be divided into specialities, and those specialities into sub specialities, but the chargen example and the subsequent skill use examples explain them easily enough. The game system is nice and simple, using a task resolution system where you try and throw under your skill level on 2d6 with modifications depending on how easy or hard that particular use of the skill is. The combat system maintains the same system and covers the range from swords to heavy machine guns and explosives. Faster characters have the advantage of having more phases to conduct actions in. There is even a Mass Battle System for those wishing to incorporate the big events in campaigns and the first book also contains an introductory scenario where a patrol, cut off from the main body by advancing Cossacks is in trouble. The second book, "Here and Now", details the strandees and the technology and resources they bring as well as some of the history of how they got there. Finding themselves in the role of William R. Fortschen's "The Lost Regt.", and enacting their hideous cross between "The Final Countdown" and "Empire of the Petal Throne" are military units, ships, at least one Zeppelin, some buildings and civilians from the 20th and first decade of the 21st Century who have thrown forward by the "transition effect". This effect is caused by tremendous releases of energy such as ground zero of a nuclear blast over a ECM protected field to ships caught in similar releases of energy in other times, e.g the USS Cyclops, lost in the "Bermuda Triangle" in WW1. All the best from military secret research conspiracy theory and fringe UFOlogy is here, amalgamated into an explanation which, if not plausible, is at least serviceable.
The various resources available to the main groups are gone into in some detail. The main groups are stranded in the "Confederacy of Equals" in what was once the Crimea and are the Joint Command of the Russian-Japanese force and their opponents in the Three-Way War, the Western Allies. The third major force is the Kampfgruppe Valkyrie, comprising of German forces of the first two World Wars, though the smaller WW1 Imperial German portion are suspicious of their Nazi descendants and would prefer to be counted as separate (Die Kaisertruen, the Kaiser's own). In addition he has listed the units comprising the various forces and described the assets that they have, e.g the KampfGruppe Valkyrie Service Battalion of the German contingent includes a Workshop and Maintenance Company, a Motorised Supply Company, Horsed Supply Company, Vetinary Platoon, Ordnance Platoon and Communications Company. As in all the rest of the book, there is enough detail to work with without getting bogged down in the sort of completeness that is so appealing to Tom Clancy fans . So you have the number of people available to each unit, and how well supplied they are, not an inventory of their entire stock down to the field kitchen. Most of the units transported even from the early 21st century are second-line units or first-line but with inferior equipment, so much of what they have is old stock, dating back as far as the Korean War, brought out of mothballs and thrown in one last pass of the dice to try and take out the opposition. In keeping with the need for the stranded people to manufacture as much high-tech equipment as possible to aid their new allies, the equipment list is more than a list of "toys" available to the stranded soldiers. All "high-tech" equipment is at a premium and the local economy will reflect this. In addition details are given of the time taken to produce local versions of generators, radios, firearms, medicines, artillery, vehicles, all the modern amenities. Not only does each piece of equipment require time, it will also require a minimum level of tools to be available and the list reflects this.
E.g. before you can build a "local" version of a man-portable radio, you need (D) level tools, which are power tools usually designed for a factory and which may have only a single purpose (e.g. a die-stamp will require different dies for different parts). The time taken (500 hours for a Morse version) seems overly high until you realise that this is the time taken for making a single example when you have no intention of making another. If you set up an operation for mass production then the time taken for the individual units would be decreased.
Equipment described, apart from the ships or buildings that people travelled to the future in, both military and civilian, include Power Generating systems (including Windmills and Hydro), Electrical and Electronic equipment, Mechanical tools and instruments, from an Alarm clock to a Gestetner type duplicator, Medicines and even Uniforms and Cooking Equipment. This depth may not be to everyone's taste, but if a carburettor becomes an irreplaceable part then that might be motivation to raid behind enemy lines to salvage valuable spare parts and I find it all useful as a way of thinking how the units would conduct themselves, as an army rather than as a bandit band, because that road would lead to their extinction once the ammo ran out. The vehicles described start in each section with the "imported vehicles", from WW2 half-tracks to modern times "Hummers". Absolutely top-of the range 21st century equipment is missing as the war had destroyed much of the first-line military units and the transportees were from reserve or second-line units or hastily thrown together remnants of other formations. In all forms of equipment there is a division between that which has travelled forward in time, and include a mix of all that used from WW1 to the late 1990s, early 2000s and that which is made locally by the people from the past. For example the new vehicles that are being produced locally range from Hang-gliders to bi-planes, from a Steam Gig to a Patrol craft as heavily armed as it can be made. In weapons the locally made equivalents make use of the fact that it is in fact easier to make automatic weapons than turn of the 19th/20th Century bolt-action rifles. Those rifles require a high standard of manufacture whereas a Sten Gun can be made (and was during WW2) by blacksmiths). Ammunition is another matter, as it requires more care to manufacture within the accepted tolerances to prevent jamming, and also a propellant that won't foul the barrel. (see "Rebel in Time" by Harry Harrison for how a Sten Gun could be made during the American Civil War). To maintain consistent Weapons and Vehicles, Mr. McGregor has used "Guns, Guns, Guns" (3G^3) and "Vehicle Design System" by Greg Porter of BTRC. I am not familiar with either of these but those that I have spoken to that are speak highly of them. Whilst he has used the system to create the weapons, apparently there is some difference in the way the BTRC system (CORPS) operates and Starplay. Where there are some differences a conversion guide is supplied to help any 3G^3 owners wishing to convert their favourite firearms. The last quarter of the book consists of Character Statistics and profiles of the Leaders of the various factions, some campaign and scenario ideas, a selection of NPCs, this is useful as they could be used as pre-generated characters (though they would be higher powered than normal starting characters) with complete backgrounds and finally a bibliography which covers non-fiction and gaming resources as well as fiction that might inspire or give hints to prospective Armageddon GMs. The third book, "There and Then" looks at the geography and history of the 27th millennia, including what will have survived from our own time, the new technologies of the time (from the latest in toilet technology [sponge on a stick] to magic and new species including the artificially constructed creatures that are the far future's version of Terminators). There is a Cosmology for the Religion of the Far Future, which may refer to the war of the early 21st Century or to other events as remote fom us as it is to them. The history of the various nations is also given, including historical reasons for rivalries and the attitudes of the societies on some key issues, like the role of women in the society or their stance on religion. As with all sections of this game a wealth of detail is given, right down to the various national flags. Principally the world has changed for climactic and geological reasons. The time that the characters find themself in is a warm period midway between between Ice Ages and consequently the sea level is lower. Some tectonic activity has taken place, Crete is the home of an active volcano and Sea Volcanoes march their way to the mainland of what used to be Greece. There is evidence of impact by meteors, deliberate or not is not clear. The book stresses just how much will have changed in such a time, after all look how far we have come since Stonehenge, about 5,000 years ago, so the works of 20th Century man are gone, skyscrapers reduced to rubble and buried under vegetation, tunnels collapsed and only large cuts in the land and the mounds of fallen cities mark our time on the world, though the Pyramids are still there, though much scoured and reduced. Of course the characters may find otherwise and find some remnants of "modern man's" passing. Add to this are areas protected by "God-shields", a form of stasis that protects certain high-tech sites, higher than our own time, and there are goodies are out there to be found. There is no trace of the records of our time. Computer disks have rotted, paper was gone within decades of its creation, the only things that may have survived would be worked stone, glass or possible some metals. It is not only "humans" that people this world of the far future, there are other races, genetically engineered and which are basically "Armageddon" Elves, Dwarves, Mermen and the Dead. This might put some GMs off as they seem so standard, but just to write them of as the same old cliches would be to make a mistake, as a lot of thought has gone into these races First of all he has divided the description of the Races into Facts known by all, Facts known almost solely to the race itself and "Deep" knowledge, which is background scientific and technical knowledge that even the race itself has forgotten. For example, the "Elves", The Silent Ones, are "openly" much like standard elves, with the exception that they are able to grant their magical ability by the implanting of a sliver of bone from the skull of a "Magic" wielding Silent One into a human. The Silent Ones have castes with each cast having areas that they seem "born" for, Combat, Craft, Mental and Mixed Hidden is the knowledge of the proportions of each type and the inheritance of caste from which parent. Unknown to all are certain facts about blood types and organ rejection, as well as the secret of the Silent One's Adept abilities. The Dead Warriors, one of the vile hordes of the Shadow Empire, are another species, though they seem to be able to convert others into their kind. Worse from our perspective is the fact that the Warriors, of either sex, can use members of the other races as incubators for the next generation of their kind. Those creatures of the future are divided into what the book claims are four categories but I seem to count five The Magic of the future is supposed to be Psionics enhanced by bio-engineered computer enhancements and mechanical devices. Magic users are divided into Adepts, who possess abilities and Mages, who cast spells. Many races are born with Adept abilities that seem to be inborn spells in some cases. The magic system is again consistent with the general system and some rare magic items based on "modern" magic are included. The technology of the Seven Domains is superficially primitive but contains many leftovers of what appears to have been a high level of bio-genetic science before the "Fall", whatever it was, happened. Such things as plants that extract metal from seawater or produce a natural fibreglass resin and dream-stones that record thoughts survived, as well as the races themselves, and other creatures, Lizard men and Centaurs. More primitive are nails of bronze, but the wood that produces the material being nailed together may be one of the bio-engineered plants. The completeness of the ideas in "Armageddon can be seen in the details that are given. This is not a "how-to" book but the system gives you a wealth of detail to help the GM paint a picture of the game-world. You get the origin of candle making materials, clothing styles right down to the underwear, local building materials, methods and styles, the science of metallurgy as practised in the Seven Domains and even how they make fire. I said earlier that there was a feeling of Professor M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel about the "Armageddon" game world and that goes beyond the scarcity of metal and the hideous "Dead Warriors". For example, many of the creatures and substances are given names in the local language which seems as arcane as any Tsolyani phrase, so that the local version of a Rickshaw is a "Nhaa'koh L'yesha" (Foot Cart) or the leaf-shaped short sword is a "Espaa't'oh". Unfortunately there is no grammar or script given of this language but I get the feeling that groups are going to use the English names or their own home-grown ones. Another Tekumel like feature are some of the "magic items", which like the "Eyes" of Tekumel these Orbs and Rods are in fact artifacts of a higher technology level. Summary So your average character will be an early 21st NATO Soldier or Conscript swept into a magical world with some remnants of an older technology as well, though much of that technology is based on principles more advanced that we have now. The presentation is very clear throughout, well-laid out, and each book has a comphrehensive contents page and an accurate index. There are a few misspellings and glitches ("There and Then" page 94, the heading for the short bow overwrite the lst line of the preceding weapon), but very few and one advantage of the transmission format is that updates can be sent to registered owners. Atmosphere is added by the inclusion of newspaper pages detailing various stages in the War and world events, as well as newssheets from the stranded armies. Enough detail and depth of detail is provided so that if you didn't want to run the system but liked the setting then it could be converted easily enough, though to date the system seems workable and flexible. What I saw I liked, though the setting is fairly specific and may not be to everyone's taste, it could be adapted for an after the fall game in our time, perhaps the last remnants of high-tech armies in a 21st Century reverting to barbarism and a lower standard of technology/ It is not the most rules light system out there, but it is far from the most complex. However the 2d6 spread of probabilities may not be to everyone's taste though as I said the system isn't hard and it's always up to the GM how much you actually use. The whole game is well worth $18 American and the author has licensed you to have two copies in print and in use at any one time, but now comes the only major drawback, because that is just the fee to own the files, which are PDF files totalling about 8 Meg to download. Once you have them you have three books totalling 380 sides to print and bind. Unfortunately PDF using the Adobe Reader doesn't support printing first odds then evens sides, which is the simplest way to copy the documents at least as double sided. There are other PDF readers out there and one of them may do so. This means that you may find yourself spending twice as much on printing costs as you did aquiring the file in the first place. And your printing may have to forego the colour photographs. However I am told that Hyperbooks is working on a CD version which will include files that contain only odd numbers on one and even on the other. This will allow those of us without duplex printing to print one side then the other to get double sided copies without then photocopying the prints. If demand is great enough there will also be downloadable versions of these files. But in a time of print almost obscured by coloured backgrounds on the page it is nice to get a well-presented system with black text on a white background and no tricks of style over content. I consider my money well-spent and I look forward to the SF and Fantasy worldbooks when they come out. 7/10 (if it had been bought pre-printed at, say $30, it would have been 8/10) Any questions about the game, mail me at edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk
Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
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