The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Galactic Races is a somewhat unheralded book for Dragonstar, Fantasy Flight Games' d20 game of space fantasy. When I first checked their web upon hearing this product was out, FFG didn't have any info about it on their web page. Usually that's a bad sign. Eventually they added some info, but only the same info that is on the back of the book. Again, not a good sign

It's 64 pages, softcover, and priced at a somewhat pricey $15 (though that's becoming more of a standard, unfortunately, which is why I rarely buy new RPG books these days. I did buy this new, though, as I've pestered my local store to carry Dragonstar stuff).

The book basically consists of 2 parts - one section with new PC races, and one section full of templates. The races section takes up the bult of the book (about 50 pages) and include the following:

Centaurs - I really wonder how these get into a spacesuit (especially since there is a picture of a Centaur in one). This is an odd choice to include as a spacefaring PC race. As the original Rogue's Gallery sort of pointed out, being basically a horse makes it difficult to partipate in anything but outdoor adventures. I also imagine they have a lot more trouble dealing with falls than bipeds and those that are less massive (think about it.). The entry in Galactic Races goes into this a bit, but mostly focuses on the psychology of centaurs, not their physical problems.

Derro - really grumpy dwarves. These are one of those races that I never really understand in normal D&D, and I understand their inclusion here even less. Oooh, they're like dwarves, only edgier. Wow!

Doppels - These are essentially Dopplegangers whose abilities have been toned down. They still seem a bit powerful for a 0 ECL race. This one I like. Silly name, though.

Elem - Sort of like the Genasi, which are elementally tinged humans. Elem, elemental? Get it? Not exactly an original name. Okay, if redundant.

Eleti - Intelligent skeletons. You can now make Skeletor! Curse you, He-man!

Ith-Kon - Sort of like Mind Flayers, only toned down a bit. They sort of look like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama. No idea if they like anchovies.

Kobolds - This are given a fairly good personality makeover. Rather than being evil, they're just annoying. Almost like all the short races from Krynn. Sort of a combination of kender, gully dwarves, and tinker gnomes wrapped up into one.

Lizardfolk - These were a character race in the Spelljammer setting. However, these aren't really like those at all, closer to the standard 3rd edition Lizardfolk. They have a fairly high level equivalent, at 2. Mostly because they are strong and get a fairly big AC bonus, I guess. But given they have trouble wearing most armor, I would think that would be negated somewhat.

Oruk - Oh my. Half-ogre, half-orc. Oh my. They're really strong, but are surprisingly bright, too (no intelligence penalty). The picture makes them look like they have shrunken, tiny head on a huge, bear like body.

Pershala - Cat people! This will make Bud Bundy happy, I guess.

Pevishan - magical human looking people. Short lived.

Quasta - weird, bird-cyclops thing with detached eyes. I guess these are somewhat like Beholders, only with wings, and friendlier.

Sathoni - Plant person. Not sure what they look like, the illustration is downright creepy (see below).

Siarran - Hippies with 4 arms. I tend to share Eric Cartman's view on hippies. So I don't like this much. Space hippies, a la the original Star Trek, are even worse. (Not as bad as Spock's singing, though). I also have problems with 4 armed humanoids, at least, really human looking ones. I mean, there is a reason that we (humans) only have 2 arms. You really wouldn't expect a race of people to be like us, except, wow, 4 arms. Apparently they have these great big ships, and they follow the Grateful Eleti around the galaxy. (Actually, they seem a bit more like Roma in their mannerisms, and I have no problems with them. But Hippie-ish Roma)

Tarn Idoun - living ioun stone people with detached limbs.

Ulb - Intelligent slime. Sort of like the Dralasite from Star Frontiers, at least physically. Personality wise, they're a bit different - they are extremely pious and somewhat mellow. (Dralasites were sort of like philosphers who liked really really bad jokes, especially puns. More my sort of blobs than the Ulb, but the Ulb aren't bad)

Each race gets about 3 or 4 pages of description and game stats. The description has entries on personality, physical description, religion, relations with other races, alignment, languages, names, and adventurers, which each entry usually being a few paragraphs (some, like languages tend to only be a couple sentences.

Most also have some "Racial Feats" listed, which are feats that only that race can take. Usually they involve some sort of racial ability or power. (A couple of the races have the same feat, but it's repeated in each section)

The last 10 pages or so are full of templates for races that have been adapted to certain types of planets or enviroments. Low G, High G, amphibious, desert, artic, night-adapted, primative, advanced, space hardened. These templates tend to be self-balancing - they add a couple points to one stat, but remove a couple from another. They add an ability, but also add a weakness. This is good from a gaming point of view, but I'm not sure it makes sense in some cases. For instance, I think high-g people would be stronger and tougher, but also more dextrous, as falls and things would be more dangerous. Evolution would tend to make those on high g worlds better physically in all aspects, I would think, but the jury seems to be out on it.

Good points: 16 new races for Dragonstar, which info on how they fit into the Dragonstar universe. The templates are quite useful in modifying races. The race names are open content, so other people can use them (the stats had to be, but FFG also made the names open, which is nice).

Bad points: Most of the new races aren't that interesting, at least to me. Some are recycled from Mythic Races. The artwork is often poor, leaving you to wonder just what they really do look like. I mean, the picture of a kobold looks like a really bad Mage Knight figure that was microwaved for about 20 seconds - hard to tell just what it's supposed to be.

Some of the descriptions of the races are incomplete. For instance, the plant race doesn't really say what they look like, just that they vary greatly in appearance, and mostly focuses on the fact that they change color according to season. So, are they basically human looking, only with leaves for hair, or are they like walking palm trees, or are they like the thing from Little Shop of Horrors? The only thing that makes me think they are humanoid is the picture, but it's weird in that it has some metal thing sticking out of their chest, and what looks like giant spoons over her ears. WTF? Actually, this is common for most the illustrations in the book - many creatures seem to have metal bits protruding from their flesh. Why? I don't know. While Cyberware is the obvious guess, most look too retro and low tech to be that. Body art? Like really intense body piercing? That would be my guess.

Also, most books I've seen that introduce new races will have a chart similar to one on the PHB, which lists the age ranges and height and weight ranges. This doesn't have one. This is especially a problem for the weirder and non-humanoid races. The general information on age, height, and weight is generally included in the descriptive text, but it's a pain having to scan it all to dig it out.

Another problematic thing, at least in my experience, is that none of the races which have a level equivalent get any extra hit points (with the exception of the Ulb). This is a problem, I think, because those character have much fewer hit points than the other PCs (at least potentially). This is aggravated by Dragonstar's high tech weaponry which does a lot of damage. I had lots of Drow die in my DS game before I realized that perhaps I should get them bonus hp.

(This is really nitpicky, but the names of some of the races are unoriginal. Oruk? Pershan - cats - purring. Ulb - almost blob spelled backwards. Elem = half-elemental. Doppel = half-doppelganger. Descriptive, I guess)

To sum up, I have somewhat mixed feelings on the book. The best aspect is that is contains a fair amount of information on how various races fit into the Dragonstar universe. I had always wondered just how Kobolds fit in Dragonstar (since they are really distant cousins of the Dragons). Now I know! So that's a major plus.

On the other hand, there's not a huge amount of new content, especially if you have Mythic Races (which I don't, but apparently some races originally appear in that). So, I think it deserves a C, or 3 on the scale here. (Though the art is horrible, getting a 1)

(Note: I usually like to wait a couple weeks after getting a book before reviewing it, so I can read it several times and perhaps actually use some of it in a game. But I've read it four times already.)

Galactic Races
Galactic Races Capsule Review by Jeremy Reaban on 16/01/03 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average) 16 races for use in the Dragonstar d20 setting. Product: Galactic Races Author: lots of people Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Line: Dragonstar, d20 Cost: $14.95 US Page count: 64 Year published: 2003 ISBN: 1-58994-078-4 SKU: DS05 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Jeremy Reaban on 16/01/03 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Horror Far Future Space	Galactic Races is a somewhat unheralded book for Dragonstar, Fantasy Flight Games' d20 game of space fantasy. When I first checked their web upon hearing this product was out, FFG didn't have any info about it on their web page. Usually that's a bad sign. Eventually they added some info, but only the same info that is on the back of the book. Again, not a good sign It's 64 pages, softcover, and priced at a somewhat pricey $15 (though that's becoming more of a standard, unfortunately, which is why I rarely buy new RPG books these days. I did buy this new, though, as I've pestered my local store to carry Dragonstar stuff). The book basically consists of 2 parts - one section with new PC races, and one section full of templates. The races section takes up the bult of the book (about 50 pages) and include the following: Centaurs - I really wonder how these get into a spacesuit (especially since there is a picture of a Centaur in one). This is an odd choice to include as a spacefaring PC race. As the original Rogue's Gallery sort of pointed out, being basically a horse makes it difficult to partipate in anything but outdoor adventures. I also imagine they have a lot more trouble dealing with falls than bipeds and those that are less massive (think about it.). The entry in Galactic Races goes into this a bit, but mostly focuses on the psychology of centaurs, not their physical problems. Derro - really grumpy dwarves. These are one of those races that I never really understand in normal D&D, and I understand their inclusion here even less. Oooh, they're like dwarves, only edgier. Wow! Doppels - These are essentially Dopplegangers whose abilities have been toned down. They still seem a bit powerful for a 0 ECL race. This one I like. Silly name, though. Elem - Sort of like the Genasi, which are elementally tinged humans. Elem, elemental? Get it? Not exactly an original name. Okay, if redundant. Eleti - Intelligent skeletons. You can now make Skeletor! Curse you, He-man! Ith-Kon - Sort of like Mind Flayers, only toned down a bit. They sort of look like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama. No idea if they like anchovies. Kobolds - This are given a fairly good personality makeover. Rather than being evil, they're just annoying. Almost like all the short races from Krynn. Sort of a combination of kender, gully dwarves, and tinker gnomes wrapped up into one. Lizardfolk - These were a character race in the Spelljammer setting. However, these aren't really like those at all, closer to the standard 3rd edition Lizardfolk. They have a fairly high level equivalent, at 2. Mostly because they are strong and get a fairly big AC bonus, I guess. But given they have trouble wearing most armor, I would think that would be negated somewhat. Oruk - Oh my. Half-ogre, half-orc. Oh my. They're really strong, but are surprisingly bright, too (no intelligence penalty). The picture makes them look like they have shrunken, tiny head on a huge, bear like body. Pershala - Cat people! This will make Bud Bundy happy, I guess. Pevishan - magical human looking people. Short lived. Quasta - weird, bird-cyclops thing with detached eyes. I guess these are somewhat like Beholders, only with wings, and friendlier. Sathoni - Plant person. Not sure what they look like, the illustration is downright creepy (see below). Siarran - Hippies with 4 arms. I tend to share Eric Cartman's view on hippies. So I don't like this much. Space hippies, a la the original Star Trek, are even worse. (Not as bad as Spock's singing, though). I also have problems with 4 armed humanoids, at least, really human looking ones. I mean, there is a reason that we (humans) only have 2 arms. You really wouldn't expect a race of people to be like us, except, wow, 4 arms. Apparently they have these great big ships, and they follow the Grateful Eleti around the galaxy. (Actually, they seem a bit more like Roma in their mannerisms, and I have no problems with them. But Hippie-ish Roma) Tarn Idoun - living ioun stone people with detached limbs. Ulb - Intelligent slime. Sort of like the Dralasite from Star Frontiers, at least physically. Personality wise, they're a bit different - they are extremely pious and somewhat mellow. (Dralasites were sort of like philosphers who liked really really bad jokes, especially puns. More my sort of blobs than the Ulb, but the Ulb aren't bad) Each race gets about 3 or 4 pages of description and game stats. The description has entries on personality, physical description, religion, relations with other races, alignment, languages, names, and adventurers, which each entry usually being a few paragraphs (some, like languages tend to only be a couple sentences. Most also have some "Racial Feats" listed, which are feats that only that race can take. Usually they involve some sort of racial ability or power. (A couple of the races have the same feat, but it's repeated in each section) The last 10 pages or so are full of templates for races that have been adapted to certain types of planets or enviroments. Low G, High G, amphibious, desert, artic, night-adapted, primative, advanced, space hardened. These templates tend to be self-balancing - they add a couple points to one stat, but remove a couple from another. They add an ability, but also add a weakness. This is good from a gaming point of view, but I'm not sure it makes sense in some cases. For instance, I think high-g people would be stronger and tougher, but also more dextrous, as falls and things would be more dangerous. Evolution would tend to make those on high g worlds better physically in all aspects, I would think, but the jury seems to be out on it. Good points: 16 new races for Dragonstar, which info on how they fit into the Dragonstar universe. The templates are quite useful in modifying races. The race names are open content, so other people can use them (the stats had to be, but FFG also made the names open, which is nice). Bad points: Most of the new races aren't that interesting, at least to me. Some are recycled from Mythic Races. The artwork is often poor, leaving you to wonder just what they really do look like. I mean, the picture of a kobold looks like a really bad Mage Knight figure that was microwaved for about 20 seconds - hard to tell just what it's supposed to be. Some of the descriptions of the races are incomplete. For instance, the plant race doesn't really say what they look like, just that they vary greatly in appearance, and mostly focuses on the fact that they change color according to season. So, are they basically human looking, only with leaves for hair, or are they like walking palm trees, or are they like the thing from Little Shop of Horrors? The only thing that makes me think they are humanoid is the picture, but it's weird in that it has some metal thing sticking out of their chest, and what looks like giant spoons over her ears. WTF? Actually, this is common for most the illustrations in the book - many creatures seem to have metal bits protruding from their flesh. Why? I don't know. While Cyberware is the obvious guess, most look too retro and low tech to be that. Body art? Like really intense body piercing? That would be my guess. Also, most books I've seen that introduce new races will have a chart similar to one on the PHB, which lists the age ranges and height and weight ranges. This doesn't have one. This is especially a problem for the weirder and non-humanoid races. The general information on age, height, and weight is generally included in the descriptive text, but it's a pain having to scan it all to dig it out. Another problematic thing, at least in my experience, is that none of the races which have a level equivalent get any extra hit points (with the exception of the Ulb). This is a problem, I think, because those character have much fewer hit points than the other PCs (at least potentially). This is aggravated by Dragonstar's high tech weaponry which does a lot of damage. I had lots of Drow die in my DS game before I realized that perhaps I should get them bonus hp. (This is really nitpicky, but the names of some of the races are unoriginal. Oruk? Pershan - cats - purring. Ulb - almost blob spelled backwards. Elem = half-elemental. Doppel = half-doppelganger. Descriptive, I guess) To sum up, I have somewhat mixed feelings on the book. The best aspect is that is contains a fair amount of information on how various races fit into the Dragonstar universe. I had always wondered just how Kobolds fit in Dragonstar (since they are really distant cousins of the Dragons). Now I know! So that's a major plus. On the other hand, there's not a huge amount of new content, especially if you have Mythic Races (which I don't, but apparently some races originally appear in that). So, I think it deserves a C, or 3 on the scale here. (Though the art is horrible, getting a 1) (Note: I usually like to wait a couple weeks after getting a book before reviewing it, so I can read it several times and perhaps actually use some of it in a game. But I've read it four times already.)