Review of Spaceship Compendium: Ships of Terra Nova

I am of fan of DP9’s Jovian Chronicles and have begun to explore their Gear Krieg as well. When I was offered this book in a trade on rpg.net’s sales/auction/trade board, I could not resist. My favorite Jovian Chronicles supplement is “Ships of the Fleet, vol. 1” and I figured this would be similar. I love the ships, their diagrams and deck plans. Since Heavy Gear and JC share DP9’s Silhouette system, I was sure to be on familiar ground, I mean space, I mean deck plates. To my disappointment I was wrong, but when I finished reading the entire book, I appreciated it for its own charm and usefulness anyway.

The book begins with a short chapter on Terra Nova and the organizations that call it home. Right away there is some of the “in character” fiction DP9 does so well, providing depth by running parallel to the rules text they are imbedded in, and it appears again throughout the book. Gateships and gatedrive technology and history are covered next. In the Heavy Gear universe, it seems spatial discontinuities exist, that when bombarded with rare particles, open warp gates to other points in the universe. Gatedrives exploit this phenomenon and open gates for themselves and/or other vessels as well. As usual DP9’s writers go out of their way to add the depth of history to their science and assist in the suspension of disbelief.

The next two chapters get into the ships that populate this part of the Heavy Gear campaign, as well as smaller vehicles and a utility gear (read mecha). The drawings are too small and too few to provide much detail, and what schematic detail there is, isn’t satisfying. Each entry receives sections on history, service, capabilities and current deployments/missions, aside from the Silhouette rules data. The colorful details do begin to make up for the lack of ship detail and I can say I have chosen favorites among the vessels provided. Two orbital stations, one training and one offensive, are also detailed and begging for the reader to visit.

Most of the rest of the book, about one third, is dedicated to space support facilities. Terra Nova is divided into Northern and Southern political entities. Both of their major spaceports and military space services are detailed, again with the depth of background that makes them appealing to visit. Equipment, specific personalities and things like ground vehicles receive equally enticing treatment.

This last section also provides the most information on the Black Talon program, which is only hinted at in previous sections. Black Talon is a combined North/South effort to defend Terra Nova and her assets from the forces of the Earth Concord and its colonies (of which Terra Nova and others are former members). The elite forces and espionage missions these forces conduct are an attractive seed for many adventures, even when exported from a strict Heavy Gear campaign.

If you use Silhouette and your gaming takes you off planet, don’t hesitate to add this to your library. If you don't use DP9’s house system, you may still find it well worth your money, so take a look first and judge if it’s worth your dollars new, used or never. Jovian Chronicles players could use this book as a resource to take their campaigns out of the solar system, by adding gatedrive technology and new ships to their game world.

This review appears in Alarums & Excursions #318 (see review archive) and appears here with permission.