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To mix things up a bit, I’m going to discuss Who Shouldn’t Get This before I actually get into the book’s contents. If you don’t like randomly rolling things on tables, you probably won’t like BotA. There’s no reason to stick with things as written, and the book really works better as an idea generator, but there are a lot of tables to generate things on and at least a few groups that balk at the idea of random tables. Broad rough sketches for an apocalypse, types of mutations, and an adventure generator are the main randomized elements, but there are other smaller ones scattered here and there. Also, the book leans more towards “gonzo” apocalyptic settings as a default, but there’s no reason to actually use all or even some of the gonzo weird elements presented (and in fact you probably shouldn’t use everything). Make no mistake, there’s a lot of good material here, but the book is heavily geared towards those GMs that want to build a devastated world rather than have one handed to them. Enough of this though, what’s in the freaking book?
Chapter 1: Your Own Private Apocalypse. Here’s where you decide how the world ends by rolling on tables. When did the disaster strike, what form did it take, how long ago was it, all that sort of stuff is covered here. There’s actually a surprising depth and variety covered here, and entries for things I’d never really considered before. First things first, you roll to see –when- the world ended. Dates range from 1945 all the way to the far future. Then you roll to see what kind of doomsday occurred. It’s not complete of course, and it leans more towards “classic” end of the world scenarios (WW3, AI revolt, zombies, Cthulhu, etc.), but it’s got a good variety. How recent the end was, the number of sentient species running around now, what resources are left, the current level of technology, the size of civilizations that are active, and the presence of man-controlled supernatural powers, all of these are up for a random roll. While GMs can just take a straight reading and go with whatever comes up (like a Biblical Apocalypse that started in the 40’s, has been running for centuries now, and results in a world with future tech that is crawling with angels, demons, and their Wyrd children), I think it works equally well for GMs wanting a starting point to work out settings of their own. “But how can I roll up a 17th Century doomsday created by time-travelling Italian necromancers if the tables won’t let me?!?!” Like I said, it works well for GMs wanting a starting point to work out settings of their own; if you get ideas for things the table doesn’t cover just to find its gaps, it’s still doing part of its job I’d say. Finishing up the chapter are some notes and guidelines for fleshing your settings out. Nothing earth shattering, but I think it’s worth pointing out that there’s actually more than just tables in this chapter.
Chapter 2: Heavy Metal Heroes. Character creation is basically the same as that used in BoL, only interpreted and expanded for a post-apocalyptic setting. Not all careers are suitable for all games of course, but there’s a pretty good basic offering to be had, with Gangers, Cowboys, Airmen, Minstrels, and more. Given BoL existing career system, it’s pretty easy to create mundane careers on the fly. “Magical” careers are covered as well. Instead of an Alchemist, you might play a Mek (and get to use BoL rules for making Devices and Creations) or a Juicer (and make BoL-style potions). Options for psychic Wyrds and BoL-style Sorcerers are also included, along with faith-powered Priests.
“But can I play a mutant plant?” Yes. Yes you can. By picking various Boons and Flaws, you can create mutant plants, mutant humanoids, mutant animals, aliens, bots, super-soldiers, vampires, and more. I found the section covering these various “Genotypes” (to use the book’s terminology) to be a good starting point, but I suspect GMs will quickly want to houserule and expand on the material provided; a simple enough prospective, given the mechanically light nature of BoL. A little attention is paid to languages, starting equipment (dependent on the setting’s resource level), and coming up with names. Nine sample characters are included, ranging from a psychic human, a samurai mushroom, a robot, a rock-n-roll soldier, a genie, and others. Honestly, this is one of the most gonzo elements of the book, but I think it helps to showcase just how versatile BotA is.
Chapter 3: The Ways of the Changed World. There’s something for everyone here. Starting with rules for Archeotech, we have some fairly broad guidelines on the various ancient stuff characters might find, how they can (roughly) identify it, fix it, power it, and so on. Some light rules for firearms are next, covering cover, rapid fire, jams, exceptional rolls, and Ammo Checks. Ammo Checks reflect the idea that ammunition is scare and BoL mechanics don’t put up with bean counting. In a nutshell, if you roll a certain kind of doubles (two 5s for example) on an attack roll, you’re out of ammo; the more exotic and rare the weapon, the more kinds of doubles there are that will cause your gun to run out of ammo (like a Rare weapon running out if double 5s, 4s, or 3s are rolled). Mutations are also included here, along with tables upon tables of determining what kind of mutation you have. This isn’t like rolling up random pre-made oddities in other games, but more of a building experience; you randomize where the mutant organ is, what type of mutation it is, if it helps or hinders, and so on. And yes, you can create mutants with horribly destructive psychic powers and grotesque features, although symbiotic twins are trickier. Nanozones are covered as well, and are various destructive nanotech colonies; you’ve got your standard “Gray Goo gone bad”, your “construction nanites gone amok”, and self-aware nanite colonies. Psychic powers are detailed next; basically they’re a variant of BoL magic, but with less Flaws or extra sources of power. Radiation rules are covered, including options for more than just the classic “atomic fallout” style of radiation. Vehicles are presented as well, introducing new ways to (loosely) measure range, and allowing for battles between jet fighters and cybertanks. Mechs and spacecraft are not covered, but the rules are light enough that I think someone who really wanted them could easily improvise something.
Now one thing that’s very important to keep in mind with this chapter is that there is little in the way of pre-made stuff. There’s a sample vehicle here (and six others later) to show how vehicles are built in BotA (and between the light mechanics and options for customization, it’s pretty quick and fun), but beyond that and a few statted nanozones there is little pre-made for the GM. I’m not saying this to bash the book, but I want people to have a good idea what they’re in for.
Chapter 4: Guns, Gasmasks, and Other Gear. BotA differs from most other games in that characters may be required to discard gear between adventures. This reflects the idea that equipment breaks down, runs out of power, and so on. It’s an optional rule, but an interesting one. Gear is broken down into Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Unique items, to tie it into the Alchemy mechanics of BoL that Meks and Juicers use when doing their work. Yes Virginia-bot, you can create evil robot Santa-based cybernetics. Anyway, we have weapons, cyberware “Augmenteks”, specialists for hire, mundane gear, riding beasts, vehicles, armor, and more. Want a chainmail bikini? It’s in there. Want a psionic link option for your car? No problem. It’s not an endless list of goodies, but there’s enough to get the ideas flowing and there’s a few original bits and pieces that made me think of entirely new campaigns.
Chapter 5: Flora, Fauna, and Other Foes. A short chapter, it covers the big basics like radioactive zombies, mutant horrors, murderous robots, Killer Klowns, alien Predators, Eddie from the Iron Maiden album covers, something called a Delta Dawg that looks like a cross between a jester and a Chihuahua, and a few other odds and ends. Like I said, the basics. Okay, in all seriousness this chapter is really quite good, but it’s short. While it has several pre-made entries that made me giggle, it relies on random tables for generating most things, and I really wish it more entries covering a wider range of apocalyptic types.
Chapter 6: Aftermath Adventure Generator. More randomizer tables, in this case for generating adventure ideas. Not bad by any stretch, but a bit obvious in places, and really only useful for someone who’s using every idea in the book. Those wanting a Mad Max style gritty adventure will have to do some work on their own I’m afraid.
Finishing up the book are an authorial afterword, an extensive amount of collected tables, an index of gear, and several pages of character sheets.
Style: I’m going with a really, really high 4. The editing is awful, art is recycled with several pieces used multiple times in the same book, and the whole thing can feel cluttered at times. Now, when I say the editing is awful, I don’t mean in the sense that rules are dropped (at least not that I noticed), but in the sense that some tables aren’t properly numbered, and that sentences contain word fragments, and so on. But BotA also does one very brilliant thing: it uses old vintage style sci-fi pulp art paintings heavily throughout, giving it a level of depth and gonzo retro-coolness that nobody else comes close to matching. The other art is also quite good, consisting of line art that I found more interesting than that used in BoL (without any pixilation either!). The writing is also fun and clever in subtle little ways, like sneaking in references to Iron Maiden or Predator. Between the pulp paintings and the Easter eggs, this book feels fun and inspiring! I really want to give it a 5 for Style, but I just can't past those flaws. If it beefed up its editing and was a little less reliant on recycling its own art, I’d give it a 5 easily.
Substance: A very high 4, with a big catch. BotA is not a fully developed setting, but a true “toy box” or “idea mine”. This is one of those books that GMs will pick up, read, and start having ideas to work on. And that’s the catch, because in order to actually use BotA GMs will have to do quite a bit of work. There’s several examples of characters, monsters, robots, and more, but not really enough for a one-shot campaign (unless you just want to run a game around a zombie apocalypse I guess). But it wasn’t designed to be a cohesive all-encompassing setting, so I don’t think giving it a low substance is exactly fair either. As is, it feels like it needs a few more examples of just about everything: more vehicles, more monsters, maybe something on creating your own weapons and gear, and so on. I know that you can’t cram everything into one book, and maybe I’m just being greedy and lazy, but I do think it’s just a bit sparse in a few places and that holds me back from giving it a 5.
Conclusion: As a post-apocalyptic expansion for BoL, BotA is simply superb and really surpasses BoL on almost every front. It can easily handle everything from low-gonzo post-apocalyptic settings like Jericho or Jeremiah to the madness of Gamma World and Rifts (although Rifts will feel –very- different under BoL/BotA rules). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the BoL system or simply wants to idea mine some post-apocalyptic goodness.
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