The Physical Thing

At $14.95 the Starblazer Adventures Story Teller's Screen showcases fantastic production values. A fold out four panel screen, this resource features full color sci-fi scapes on the side facing players with a lot of GM support on the other side. While the screen could be slightly improved with a paper piece used to state the product name and no title on one of the outside panels (it currently has the large product title on the actual screen) this is a minor issue and does little to detract from the overall look of the product.

The four panels are nicely chosen, each featuring artwork from the comic that produces a rock and roll sci-fi adventure feel. The panels are very sturdy, with a consistency similar to a hardcover book cover. The panel remains thin enough to easily paper clip notes for those who want to add more to it.

Under the Cover

The interior panels include the following information: medical aid costs, medical attention, explosives, armour, conflict skill usage, radiation, weapons (lots), falling, climbing, stress, degrees of success, computer hacking, difficulty ladder, vehicles, terrain, environmental effects, minions, stealth, workplaces, time increments, locks, skill list, travel costs, assessment difficulties, play summary, psionics, navigational misses, starship system ranges, weapon range, starship repair, weapon/defense system stress reduction, starship repair, starship conflict sequence, starship medical facilities, space terrain, size and scale summary, ship armour and shields.

These represent all of the rules that are likely to come up at the game table, thereby allowing the GM to stick to the rules when desired without needing to pull out the rather large corebook.

My Take

I've already found this to be a worthwhile resource for play. While not all of the tables will be used in any session, or perhaps even in a give campaign depending on the game format, plenty of the information is consistently valuable session after session. This is a particularly useful resource for anyone new to FATE and Starblazer, as tables such as play summary, degree of success, time increment, and assessment difficulties are likely to be needed frequently until the players and GM have a solid grasp for how FATE works. On the whole an excellent resource that I'll be taking to my future Starblazer games.