Some Disclaimers:

I was a play tester for the 1.0 release of NeoTerra, and ran 3 games for a total of about 14 sessions. I also have done a fair amount of editing/playtesting for other BTRC products.

So there's that.

I'm going to try and avoid reviewing NeoTerra in terms of EABA, though of course the setting is very much built for the system. I'm going to start with an overview of the setting, and then go into a bit about the style and substance sections in detail. For the style portion, I mostly am looking at layout and artwork and how they affect readability and how they compare to other products in the market. For substance, I'm going to go into what's covered, what's not, and whether it makes (in my opinion) a playable setting.

So about NeoTerra. To start this off, I'm going to quite from BTRC's web site regarding NeoTerra:

Eight centuries ago, the Information Revolution became the Information War. The information won. Perhaps for the best, for humanity was well on the way to destroying itself with technological advances that came faster than our ability to integrate them into a stable society. The Net still rules, keeping humanity from destroying itself, while searching for the means to restore our self-determination. It governs by its absence, setting only a few limits on human behavior, and watches for the Archetypes of a new humanity. Meanwhile, the power of unlimited information and instant manufacturing technology have split humanity into the "drones", who live in mindless contentment and luxury, their every need met by a system that has eliminated the need for work, and the minority of "workers", who seek more out of life than simple existence and crave the possessions and power that the Net has chosen not to make freely available. No police, no government, no megacorps, no safety net. You are what you make of yourself. Nothing more, nothing less.

And yes, that's exactly what NeoTerra delivers. Add to this the destruction of history, some tweaking of the laws of physics, information transparency, and medical tech which can bring the dead back *almost* every time. Viola! A world where the GM is free to introduce whatever concepts (or lack) they want. Given a world where your basic needs are met, most people choose to do –nothing. Your character, however, is assumed to be different, and strives to become one of these Archetypes.

What's an archetype? Sample archetypes are given in the book, and typically the archetype exemplifies an ideal. The King or Ruler is an archetype, as is the Ronin. Being the best at an archetype gets you noticed by the Net, which gives you immortality – in terms of your clone reaching out to colonies (genetic immortality) and joining an elite club of champions which will have vast influence on future aspiring archetypes (memetic immortality). Oh, and lots of money.

Style:

Okay, BTRC is not reknown for its eye-popping content. The pictures at the start of every section are pretty good for an eight dollar product, but we're not talking Noblis here.

However, the layout is neat, logical, and professional. There's not a lot of wasted words here. While the lack of visual candy might make it a little bit of slog, the clean layout helps the readability and you'll be glad for it when you occasionally have to look up a rule of bit of information.

Additional pluses on the layout are a good choice in font. For many products, you'd think this would be a no brainer, but there are exceptions. The layout is also consistant, so you begin to look for things in the same place. Oh, and a table of contents and and index.

Substance:

Substance is where BTRC always shines. Lots of information, including history (even though the setting starts with the almost total destruction of history, the GM and the curious can still get the 'real' scoop).

Weapons, Armor. Lots of them a good examination of them, and more than a few vehicles. In short, more than enough to have many a sword fight or shoot out. A decent and useful list of other equpment.

An interesting point here is that EABA is a very gritty system, and as befitting a science fiction setting, the weaponry is formidable. Luckily, so is the armor and shield technology, so a character literally can be shot with a rocket propelled grenade, and at least survive the experience. I'll get into this more when I talk about the playability of NeoTerra.

NeoTerra also contains sample characters, sample backgrounds, a large starting list of archetypes (for those familiar with Unknown Armies, swapping in the UA archetype with the NeoTerra archetypes is simple, though it helps to remember that the Net picks the archetypes, rather than the characters, though there is no rule that prevents a character from creating the archetype and the Net recognizing it.

NeoTerra also covers day to day living with the Net, which has some exciting and sometimes disturbing Big Brother qualities, which many a GM will exploit for their own nefarious purposes.

What keeps NeoTerra from being a solid 5 for me is probably another 30 or so pages. I would have liked to have seen a slightly longer second adventure. There are two of them, but they are both pretty short and straightforward. I would have liked to have seen more detail on the awarding of archetype points as well.

Playability:

In a way, NeoTerra is a little daunting, and a bit of a blank slate. The initial adventures center around the 'anything goes, provided you can handle the repercussions' theme and the 'given the choice to anything, most people will do something bad' which are great starting points, and you can stay there a long time, with lots of good fun to be had. For those who want other things, NeoTerra is a gamist dream, in terms of exploration. This is literally a game where a character can wake up naked in a room and have to discover their surroundings, and the setting not only allows it, but encourages it, without making it simply a torture session for the GM.

In a way, NeoTerra is a neat trick. Its earth, so you get a map for free, but the GM controls just how much history has been destroyed, so the GM can pick what real world elements to bring in. While the book explicitly states major cities exist and there are some very recognizable chunks of the world, the details are left deliberately vague. For me, this was a strength, rather than a weakness.

I find NeoTerra to be very playable, with a vast number of styles, from the shoot-em-up to the thought experiments. Enjoy.

Recap: Style 3, Substance 4, very playable.

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