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I am not sure what else I need in a “player supplement” after already having GC 1 and 2, perhaps the third book will surprise me with things I haven’t thought of. Quickly flipping through it, it appears this book sticks to the more professional look and flow as the second GC, which is definitely a good thing.
The Book Itself
Galactic Underground 3 is a 104 page black and white soft cover. The cover has a nice piece of art showing a mega-city landscape from a bird’s eye view. The cover reminds me of several city scenes from Blade Runner. The interior art is the usual Battlelords look, which has some of my favorite black and white pieces in RPGs.
Chapter Breakdown
Chapter One: Life in the Flexsteel Jungle (Pages 5-25)
Chapter one begins with some of the normal life situations a PC may encounter on a day to day basis and rules for them. These rules cover taxes that could be imposed on the PC, dealing with customs when travelling between planets, and the cost and laws for weapon permits. The ideas on armor and weapon permits could be very useful in my games and the customs rules give me ideas and remind me that travel is not always easy for the PCs. However taxes is a bit much for me as a GM. Sure there are a lot of GMs out there I could see wanting everything under the sun mapped out or somewhere in the rules, and Battlelords is definitely a game that covers a lot of aspects many games gloss over, but worrying about what the Alliance is taxing my players on an annual basis just doesn’t come to my mind as fun or a part of the game I should bother with.
The next section has several pages of NPC write-ups that cover several different people not already covered in the core. These write-ups range from Starship Captain to Customs Agent to your local Burger Flipper. This is the type of information I like to see for a GM, which makes me think of something odd. The Galactic Underground books claim to be “Player Supplements”, yet besides the new races most of the information I like is more useful for the GM than it truly is for the players.
Next is a section on the Top 50 Companies of the Battlelords’ setting. These range from Teledyne Syndicates, a once small starship drive company that is now entangled in nearly everything, at number one to Magnedyne Systems Incorp., makers of gauss rifles and surface-to-orbit slug throwers at number 50. Each company has a paragraph or two to give the GM just enough to run with if he decides to use the company in his campaigns.
The chapter finishes up with a short story entitled “A Soldier’s Retirement”. As with most Battlelords’ fluff, it does a great job of bringing out the setting. The story is well written but I am starting to get the feeling Battlelords spends too much time on the squadron military based stories and not enough time bringing out other aspects of the setting such as diplomacy or just the oddities of the daily life when compared to modern times. Don’t get me wrong, there are some of these things in Battlelords’ supplements, it’s just that I am starting to get a true impression that the authors are very much military buffs.
Chapter Two: The Galactic Armed Forces (Pages 27-35)
This chapter is a smaller chapter and covers the different branches of the Alliance Military. There are lists of what skills a PC gets for going through Basic Training, which appears to be the same no matter what branch, and lists for each different branch. The main branches are the Marines, Stormtroopers, Reconnaissance, Navy, and Flight Corp. There are also two “gray area” branches known as Galactic Control and Galactic X which are the intelligence branches of the military. There are good descriptions on what each branch covers, what skills they get for training and how long the training takes for a PC to accomplish and learn these abilities. Each branch section gives the “Official Line” which describes the branch in a recruiter’s pitch style and then is followed with a section called the “Real Story” where things are described in a more eyes-wide open realistic sense.
Graffiti Wall (Pages 36-37)
After being disappointed that the Graffiti Wall was missing from GC2, it is back in this volume and makes me smile. There is a lot of good in-game humor on the wall and it helps to pull you into the setting even though it’s humorous. I do however notice that this graffiti wall looks a little barer than the others, as if it was hurried.
Chapter Three: The Media (Pages 39-41)
Chapter three is only three pages long. It covers the freedom of press in the setting and has the top channels broadcasted. The chapter starts by talking of how the military gets all the glory, and I have to say I was completely agreeing and happy to see a section that would be devoted to the journalists of the setting. However it doesn’t seem the author fully agreed, the section doesn’t really have much and three pages are almost a why bother. While the information on how media is censored by the Alliance and what channels are popular is nice to have, I can’t help but get the feeling this chapter was a waste of an opportunity to help expand on the non-military and more mundane side of the Battlelords’ setting.
Chapter Four: I Was Just Growing Up (Pages 43-73)
Chapter four is the bulk of the book and probably the most useful. While this volume does not add any new races, it does have “I Was Just Growing Up” tables specialized for each of the races in the main Battlelords’ setting. This means each race’s table now will often affect abilities, cultural aspects, and quirks specific to the race instead of being general results. The tables in the core were already a fun aspect of the game, these make them even better. Now if my Mazian could just roll a 1 on his table so he can be a genetically created “Super Mazian!”
Chapter Five: Fortune Tables (Pages 75-79)
Chapter five continues the idea behind chapter four in adding new tables to the ones in the core. This time they have added new Fortune Charts that cover Company Men, Jack-of-All-Trades, Scientists, Scout, Security, and Spacefarer. Now this is again heading in the direction I would like to see more of. These tables cover several non-military aspects a PC could model his character after, or even add a mundane background to a military PC making them seem more real instead of everyone being gung-ho gun bunnies. I am starting too really like the idea of eventually seeing a supplement that is called “Citizens!” or something or another, that covers detailed fluff and crunch of non-military aspects of the setting.
Chapter Six: Matrix Expansion (Pages 85-97)
This is the last chapter of the book and expands upon the Matrices that can be cast by the Ikrini, Jezzadeic and Sye-Men. As of the books I have reviewed so far we have not yet encountered the Sye-Men. This chapter gives new Matrices ranging from any of the levels one through nine along with advancement charts.
Appendix & Index (Pages 98-104)
The book finishes with an appendix that has charts for the availability of weapons, armor and equipment and what tech level they are available at. After the appendix, is a one page index and then a page sized ad for SSDC’s website.
Overall
I am glad the third volume didn’t go back to the chaotic layout of the first and stuck with a more natural flowing theme like the second. It makes for much easier reading. This book brought out a want in me I didn’t realize was there, I am starting to yearn for the non-military side of the setting and with bits and pieces here and there I crave more. The media chapter is a prime example of a wasted opportunity. For the most part it’s the new Growing Up and Fortune tables that justify the low cost of this book. I would buy it just for those, any of the other information if you find useful is a bonus in my opinion. Now that I have finished the GCs and a new revised version of Battlelords is in the works I believe I would rather see all three of the GCs combined into one larger sourcebook with similar add-ons laid out together in chapters. I think I could appreciate all of the information more if it were together instead of spread across three smaller sourcebooks.
Ratings
Style is getting a 3. The basic look of Battlelords as done by SSDC is what I would consider industry standard. However their prices seem to be somewhat lower than most of what you see, so there is that.
Substance is getting a 3 also. At the same time the $15 price tag is nice for the physical book, I don’t feel like there is near enough material I would actually use and would feel a bit disappointed. The tables are the best part and probably the only part that would get much use from me.
Note: The next review in the series will be for No Man’s Land.
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