GAME CONCEPT SUMMARY
In a future Earth, a group of psychics, called Psibers, blast off into space to seek a better life. The group is kidnapped and brought to a planet called Ceybrodin, where the Psibers are meant to serve as hosts for a dying alien race called the Cey.
The Psibers are able to thwart the Cey's plans and in the process take over the planet and all of the Cey's technology, including giant robots and ships that allow that have wormhole-like technology.
Now the Psibers find themselves increasingly in contact with their ancestors, the humans, and as the Psibers continually reach out to other species in the universe. The PCs are on the front line of these scenarios as the Psibertroopers.
GRAPHIC DESIGN & ARTWORK
One of "Dead Night of Space: Psibertroopers" biggest failings is its presentation. It features excessively large text, wide columns and seemingly thoughtless layouts.
Just opening the book, you are smacked with endless columns of gray text, that's only infrequently broken up by sub-headings, artwork and breakout boxes. It's that layout that makes "DNOS" especially difficult to read.
Some things that could have helped the look of the book were more frequent use of sub-headings, particularly on each breakout box. As they stand now, the boxes jump straight into the subject matter, leaving the reader to guessing as to why he's even going through it.
Breakout boxes should present important game information or further specify something that was presented in the primary text, and for the most part, "DNOS:P" does neither.
For example, on Page 36 is a lengthy box that should have been labeled "The Psiber Council," where upon it would explain something that was refered to in the primary text. Instead, it discusses, among other things, the makeup of the council, what makes Psibers happy, the court system, social groupings (but not political parties), prison planets, the tax system and what we as "21st-century folks" would think about it.
I can only imagine how difficult it would be to try to find a specific reference in a specific box in the middle of a lengthy combat.
Aside from the boxes, the layout is generally lifeless without any real structure. Sometimes text is in italics, sometimes its not. Sometimes the text is reverse type, sometimes its not. Sometimes the layout contains two columns per page, sometimes its one. Sometimes there's a gray screen, sometimes there's a pink screen and sometimes there's a magenta screen.
The interior art is equally unappealling, with a flat, sketchy, poorly rendered look that contains no backgrounds. The interior artist provided the cover illustration to much better effect, simply by adding some computer coloring. He should have been pushed to do interiors in the same manner.
Additionally, there is so little art that one is left to guess what some things in the "DNOS:P" universe looks like. While RPGs are games of the imagination, every gamer will tell you that he's inspired by what he sees as much as what he reads.
All these problems add up to make a product that looks like third-rate publication that is unlikely to have any shelf appeal.
(Out of a need of disclosure, I should mention that when I first heard of the Psibertroopers project, I sought to pick up some freelance art and graphic design work from Final Sword Productions, but it never panned out.)
D6 SYSTEM (CHAPTER 1, SECTION 2 & 3)
The "Dead Night of Space: Psibertroopers" game is based on the d6 System, a game system developed in the 1980s and an obvious father to the d20 system used in current Dungeons & Dragons-based games.
As a system, it's fun, cinematic and lends itself well to those just learning how to play an RPG.
"Psibertroopers" makes good use of the flexible system, by allowing PCs to choose their adventure type, whether it be high-intensity space combat and Mecha wars or the in-depth character driven story.
As for criticism, I don't have much simply because its got proven appeal, and Final Sword, knowing they were using something good, didn't tweak it, except by adding the Chesspiece Goon System ...
Actually, let me take that last statement back, I don't know if the Chesspiece Goon system is a Final Sword Productions invention. No matter, I do like the concept of it.
Essentially, the system is used when PCs encounter or battle low-level NPCs and is meant to reduce the number of rolls the GM makes in such a combat. The system gives you a number for several stats and skills, which represents an average roll for that NPC. That number is then reused throughout the combat until the chesspiece drops.
Each Chesspiece Goon is assigned a level, from Pawns to Rooks, that represents his skill-level and toughness.
The system was well thought-out and a worthy addition to the d6 System and role-playing games in general because it makes the GM's job a little easier, and that's always welcome.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (CHAPTERS 1 & 2)
Almost half of the 90-page "Dead Night of Space: Psibertroopers" book lends itself to background information, and it couldn't be any more long and tedious than it already is.
The narrative style is rambling, clunky and choppy, with the writers bouncing back and forth between the reality of our world (telling the reader what would be "fun" to do was particularlly annoying) and the fictional world they create (telling us about how liberal certain people are without giving the reader any examples. After all, how liberal is liberal?).
The writers also present a section labeled "Terms and definitions" in which they generally avoid defining anything. For example, the definition/discussion of "Fleet" meanders through a variety of topics including the Roman Army, "jump-capable ships" (whatever they are), what happens to errant fleet officers, and a passage about the people who designed the power structure and policies of the fleet. They only take two or three sentences to tell us what Fleet was, the rest is rambling thoughts and theories. Instead, such discussions should have been reserved for the Game Master's section of the book, and a simple, precise and unbiased definition should have been presented here.
Speaking of bias, the writers fail to understand that source books should remain unbiased, giving the GMs and players their own chance to form opinions on the material. Instead, the writers constantly interject their own muddled musings into the background material, leaving it cluttered with opinion and impossible to pull any useful source material from the text.
Sourcebook material should be written similar to a history book, where the readers are presented the facts and must determine the reasons on their own. Sure, history books favor the winners, produce theories on who did what and why, but they always do it with an air of authority, and only after the "facts" have been presented.
THE INNER & OUTER DARKS (CHAPTER 3)
Once you slog through the background information, you finally get to the meat of the game. The Inner and Outer Darks, a sort of re-writing of the Jedi Force rules from the old Star Wars game created by West End Games. It's in this chapter, and all that follow it that "Dead Night of Space: Psibertroopers" finally hits its stride.
These rules are clearly presented, precisely and described with just enough flare that you get the hang of how the powers operate.
The Inner Dark is a sort of visible life essence that only Psibers can see. The Outer Dark is the Jedi-like skills of the Psibertroopers.
The Outer Dark is neatly divided into four categories that makes the powers easy to understand, and presented more clearly than any previous "Star Wars" game.
GAMING INFORMATION (CHAPTERS 4 & 5)
The good writing continues in the following chapters where a few additional plot threads are spelled out, including ones that I thought were pretty cool. These chapters probably should have been presented earlier in the book, perhaps as a combined chapter featuring the D6 overview and the Chesspiece system.
The weapons and mecha write ups are pretty standard fare, but have some neat ideas too, including a substitute for lightsabers.
SUGGESTIONS
-- Expand information on weapons, ships, mechas and planets. Variety is the spice of life.
-- Bring more aliens into the system. They make great villains.
-- Re-write and edit the background chapters to make them more structured.
-- Robots are very briefly mentioned, and they ought to be "statted".
-- Develop Earth, Fleet and the Federation into usable, playable concepts. Right now they are just a foggy idea. Give us "hard facts," i.e. "Group X believes that all Psibers are in league with the devil and seek to destroy the subrace. Group Y is a union of capitalists who have banned together to expand trade deeper into space. They do this by ... "
-- Spruce up the layout and artwork.
-- Hire an editor to notice this kind of stuff before publication.
CONCLUSION
Tear out about half the book, and you'll find a good game.
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