Review of AM3: Bughunters

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You remember the ads, "The United Terran Security Council is looking for a few good men and women!" These media pieces warned that Earth's interests out in the colonies are under some kind of threat - alien hostiles, or something - a growing danger that humanity needed to deal with. Apparently, one settlement, or an outpost, has already been lost. You wanted to do your part but, you know, your better years were behind you, or you had a great job you didn't want to leave, or you were really just to chicken to enlist... or, whatever! Well, thanks to today's cloning technologies, the same body-and-mind duplicating processes that are banned here on Earth, you can be a hero after all! So, while a cloned version of you is sent off to protect the home world from danger, the real you can stay here, nice and safe, and draw a comfortable pension for your genetic contribution.

But that's not really you, is it. You remember all of these things, but you are the one that is the clone - the one that is not really a legal person. You have no rights in this outfit... nothing more than a slave soldier. While your donor continues to live the wonderful life that was yours, you are the forgotten mule on some godforsaken piece of dirt somewhere in space, risking your valueless neck as you face horror after horror to protect the oh-so-valuable assets of corporations and governments. At least you are not alone. Everyone else in your squad is a vat-grown soldier like yourself, with modified, enhanced DNA - perfect genetic soldiers, all with loving memories of the world they protect... the same world that doesn't want them back!

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That is the Bughunters setting. It is the Aliens and Starship Troopers movies in role-playing game form - but with a clone twist. The Isler Drive has taken humanity to the stars... and out there we ran into to things that are alien, ancient, and evil. You, soldier, are all that stands between a hostile universe and the extinction of the entire human race!

The Amazing Engine (the core game that powers this sci-fi, action and horror game) is a quirky, interesting rule system that I have always failed to love, and the Bughunters game was one of its best adaptations. This review will not be discussing these rules, for it is the setting that is the gem worth focusing this review upon. In this setting you will find a world that is a mix of utopian and dystopian visions.

It is the year 2130 and Earth now has one unified government able to feed its untold billions and stretch its industrial, corporate hand to stars that are dozens of light-years from Sol. Still, most of humanity is unemployed (or at least underemployed) and the wealth gap has only increased. Earth needs resources, and those with education and a strong work ethic can make their way off-world to colonies beyond our humble star (usually facilitated through stark corporate indenturement programs). Out there, extra-solar mining, agriculture and exotic pharmaceutical developments are building greater and greater riches for Earth's already wealthy elite. The corporate greed that has brought so many stars into humanity's grasp has finally touched, and awakened, a dark and long dormant threat to mankind.

What does Bughunters offer?

• Each player's character is as a sort of super soldier. They are faster, stronger, and sharper than an ordinary human. They call themselves Synners: the synthesized, genetic and mental clone of an Earth-bound donor. They are born into a purgatory state of legal, non-humanness. Full human cloning (anything beyond simple organ and tissue development) is outlawed in United Terra and its colony worlds; except through the Security Council, as a means of shoring up the fighting ranks of the UTRPF. By definition, clones are not legal people. If you are a clone, you are government property!

• Because of your legal status, and superior abilities, you are forbidden from returning to Earth. They tell you that you'll be able to settle on one of the colony worlds when your term of service is complete, but you've heared rumours that suggest otherwise.

• The characters are soldiers for the United Terra Reconnaissance and Peacekeeping Force (the UTRPF) formed by the Security Council of the United Terran government to deal with the growing alien threat.

• Your donor background is randomly generated and can influence your character's development, possibly giving your hero access to special perks. Still, most likely your donor will be from one of the billions of Earth's unemployed and underemployed caste (but, if you're really lucky...).

• You also roll to see if your character is accepted into any of the MSO (Military Service Occupation) roles that you apply for: something which having a more favourable donor background can help you with (but they're always looking for grunts, so it's not like you'll miss out on all the great alien-fighting action, if you can't get something better).

MSO offerings... AEROSPACE: Protocol Officer, Pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Doctor, Cook, and Gunner. MARINE: Squad Leader, Radio Operator, Medic, Scout, Heavy Weapons Expert, Demolitions Expert, and Grunt.

• The game offers all kinds of civilian and UTRPF standard-issue weapons (from assault riffles, small mortars, and motion-sensing repeating auto-lasers to body armor, e-suits and high-G exoskeletons). There are a varied array of field-ready medical equipment, as well as a standard troop surface transportation (the ATAPC) and the two-person ultralight "Hopper".

• The Bughunters star ships of the UTRPF employ an interesting modular format. Different sleeper, crew, and transport units are paired up with various bridge and drive modules to create uniquely configured, purpose-driven space craft. Everything from small scout craft to large troop transports can be created from this system of interchangeable modules. Each of the 16 different module types is mapped out.

• Stargate, a large space station in L-5 orbit is the off-world, UTRPF headquarters. It provides a port of call that is close to Earth: a point of training, resupply and recuperation. Each of its four sections is broadly mapped out.

• There is a lot of great advice for running a game in the Bughunters universe: adventure and horror elements mixed with the right levels of mood and pacing can create fulfilling campaigns or exciting one-shot scenarios. Various adversaries are presented (as well as a few possible allies).

• Five mini-adventures are outlined (each in three acts) and detailed in approximately one-page formats each.

• A space map listing the stars within 30 light-years of Earth is provided. Each star is also given its relative distance, above and below that of the Earth's sun.

The material in this book makes a great resource for a game of space marines against vicious aliens. With elements of Blade Runner, Babylon 5, and The Thing added to the space-soldiering mix, the adversary offerings and breadth of adventure seeds is sure to keep your players engaged and entertained over the course of many game sessions.

Wizards of the Coast now offers PDF versions of this game through their DriveThruRPG storefront. If you don't happen to like the Amazing Engine rules that power the Bughunters game, then port the setting over to your favourite system of choice. A good place to start is the 'd20 Modern' system (Wizard's DnD, 3rd edition game engine for modern and sci-fi adventuring — also available on the DriveThruRPG site). It gives a very condensed, two-and-a-half-page summary of the Bughunters universe in its 'd20 Future' supplement (where you can find worthy adversaries in the Xenobiology section). These can quickly get your team of PC clone soldiers travelling to dangerous regions of space where skulking, alien threats are emerging.

So, read this book, grab your dice and, in the words of Private Vasques... "LET'S ROCK!"