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The Book Itself
Mindjammer is a 196 paged perfect bound soft cover. The cover depicts three starships preparing to jump through a 3-space gate. The interior is all black and white with the exception of four maps located on the inside of the front and back covers.
Chapter Breakdown
Introduction (Pages 2-3)
The Introduction gives a quick glimpse into what Mindjammer is. The Commonality centered around old Earth is spreading to the stars. Its mission is to absorb all the colonies that were once out of reach, and to continue to expand its control. So far this has been successful due to the power of the Mindscape. The mindscape is a form of interstellar internet that uses implants, memories, and a futuristic Wi-fi to connect all members of the Commonality. The average citizen has learned to rely on this connection to the point it is a part of their brain functions and integrated into their daily habits. The titular Mindjammers are starships that are affectively the amplifying towers for the Mindscape’s “Wi-Fi.”
Chapter One: Characters (Pages 4-11)
The character chapter gives information on Mindjammer specific character options. For the most part this is just descriptions of races not in the core book. Making a PC for Mindjammer follows the core book almost entirely. The racial descriptions are:
- Humans - Humans now live for centuries at a time. They were once restricted to 500 year life spans, but due to the expansion most places have lifted this ban.
- Hominids - Hominids are subspecies derived originally from humans. This section lists two examples the Javawayn, which are low gravity dwarfs who are known for manufacturing starship parts; and the Chembu, which are water-world natives who are known for their abilities as “genurgists” or Genetic Engineers.
- Synthetics - Synthetics covers several types of life forms. This includes Mechanicals such as robots, Eidolons which are robots with dead people’s minds, and other synthetic life such as AI Starships.
- Xenomorphs - Xenomorphs are animals that have been uplifted. They have a stat called Genotype Divergence that determines how close they are to the original animal (closer to 1) or how close they are to human (closer to 100).
- Aliens - Three example alien races are given. The Hooyow which is a race of primitive insectoid warriors, the Lowhigh or space gypsies, and the Venu which are described as a human race; however, they are very alien in their culture to other human races. The Venu are also the first race to successfully fight off the Commonality.
Besides the racial write-ups there is also a list of new careers to add to the one in the core book. This list includes things like Traders, Armed Forces, and Communication Officers.
Chapter Two: Skills and Powers (Pages 12-19)
Mindjammer characters who are linked to the Mindscape have the advantage of being able to use skill chips and search the Mindscape’s database of information. Skill chips are basically a stunt that provides +2 to a skill. There are also rules for tagging the Mindscape giving the PC data on a subject they would not normally have.
The section finishes with setting modifications to certain skills, more stunts, and rules for Genurgy, Technopsi, and True Psionics. As said before Genurgy is basically genetic engineering, Technopsi is using the Mindscape to create pseudo-psionic abilities, and True Psionics are just that real psionics. I find that I really like the idea of technopsi. Using the Mindscape as a form of psionic like abilities is new idea to me and seems extremely interesting.
Chapter Three: Gear (Pages 20-34)
If the exhaustive lists and write-ups of gear were not enough for you in the core book, this chapter adds even more. Specifically it goes into more detail on the setting specific gear. It talks about the lack of computers and how Mindjammer society has moved beyond them; it also covers the current methods of transportation and communication in Mindjammer. There are also new lists of armor, weapons, vehicles, you name it. I like that some of the basics are also repeated; this allows me to not have to have both this book and the core just to decide on what equipment I need.
Chapter Four: Starships and Space Travel (Pages 35-51)
This chapter is similar to the skills and powers section only it is for starships. There are descriptions of 2-space which is basically the same idea as hyperspace. Ships are outfitted with planning engines to access 2-space. There is also 3-space which is a new discovery and so far required star gates to enter and exit. The rest of the chapter covers setting specific rules to add to the core book to build ships and modifies ship operation rules. There are also several write-ups for Commonality ships and Venu ships.
Chapter Five: The New Commonality Era (Pages 52-62)
Chapter Five starts us into a more detailed description of the setting. It describes the history of Earth and where the Commonality is headed in its endeavors. There is a one page timeline, and scenario hooks throughout the chapter. We learn the Commonality has been unstoppable until they met the Venu who has fought them tooth and nail. The Venu have started waves of dissension in the Fringe worlds. This mentality is spreading at a rapid rate.
We also learn more detail on how the Mindscape works and of a phenomenon called Chronodisplacement, where a person connected to the Mindscape has moved to an area not yet synchronized with the newest updates. We also learn of thoughtcasts which are basically snapshots of a person’s mind, which can reside on the Mindscape. Fictionals are also areas on the Mindscape that are not true. These can be for entertainment, but occasionally they are described or misinterpreted as true fact. The chapter finishes with Culture stat write-ups of the major cultures.
Chapter Six: Worlds and Cultures (Pages 63-85)
This chapter goes into detail about each major group of the setting from the Commonality to the Venu. We get glimpses into the average lives of its citizens, its technology levels, its type of government, and other normal aspects of their cultures and environments. To be honest I am not sure why this chapter and the last were not combined together. They both seem to cover similar content that would have proven more useful together instead of separated. I do like the rules for how cultures attack each other, and try to overpower or replace each other with their own. Of course these rules follow the same mechanics as virtually everything in FATE using composure stress and FATE rolls.
Chapter Seven: The Darridine Rim (Pages 86-127)
Okay now this is the chapter that makes the book for me. It is a complete write-up of an entire sector of the setting. Each of its planets get statted-out with a quick blurb of what it is like in words. All of the distances have been pre-figured, maps of each planet provided, and everything you could need to know about the planet is in the write-ups. Planets of all types are written up here, and can provide hours and hours of gameplay. I like this better than the core where only got a small paragraph for each planet. In Mindjammer, they each have two or three pages including the stat write-up.
Chapter Eight: Escape From Venu, Chapter Nine: Mind’s Eye, Chapter Ten: The First Casualty, Chapter Eleven: The Black Zone (Pages 128-191)
The last four chapter are each adventures for Mindjammer. The first, Escape From Venu, is an adventure where the princess has been kidnapped and it’s up to the party to sneak or blast their way into a Venu station to rescue her. I find that the adventure gives everything a GM could want for the sessions, but without writing it out as having to follow the book. Actually its quite the contrary, the book leaves lots of open room and decisions that could lead well outside the plot.
Mind’s Eye leads the characters to a science outpost that has lost communication with the Commonality. The outpost was researching psionics in animals when the head scientist started to “lose it” and began talking to an unknown entity. The players are sent to discover what has happened to the outpost. I like how C7 has laid out their adventures here. I feel like I have all the ideas, write-ups, and possibilities at my disposal, but not overwhelmed with too much information or a railroad plotline.
The First Casualty sees the PCs back at home base to rest and relax when ships of refuges start to show. A nearby planet has been invaded and the base is in chaos. The PCs have lots to handle before the Venu turn in their direction. This adventure has lots of intrigue and mystery the players have to deal with. Again the adventure sticks to the C7 standards. I also feel this adventure, assuming they are played in order, is where the feel of the campaign being Epic starts to truly shine.
The Black Zone is the finishing adventure and is Epic in scale. The PCs have been sent to halt, slow-down, observe, or do whatever they can to the invasion of the nearby planet. The adventure gives everything a GM could need and leaves it in his hands to go with the ideas the PCs come up with. This adventure seems like a great epic ending to the four adventures here, I would love to play through them all.
Appendices & Index (Pages 192-196)
The book finishes with 2 appendices and an index. The first appendix is a list of all the modified skills and stunts. The second is a glossary of setting terms. The index is one page, and while I did not use it, it looks sparse for a book this size.
Overall
Mindjammer is an awesome setting. I really like the Mindscape idea and how it permeates throughout all of the Commonality. It is an interesting idea on how the Commonality holds together over so much area. I wish that the basic setting in the core book had been written out to this extent. At the same time I hope more setting books like this are made for SBA. The planet write-ups and stats really make the book for me; as well as the adventures. The way everything is presented in this book is to my liking and is easy to absorb and use.
RatingsStyle is getting a 3. As neat of a book this is, the black and white art and the layout seems average for the industry.
Substance is getting a 5. Like the core this book is packed with ideas and information. This one book has as much data for the setting as a lot of games try to put in 3 or 4 books. The four adventures really take it over the top on substance.
