Excellent game with one of the best settings I've ever seen! I don't usually like Level-based system, but Blood and Doom only uses them for advancement purposes, there are no explosive Hit Points and almost no fixed abilities you get - you can pick yourself what you want to learn or become better at. The game really shines in its setting, though. The regions described in the Doomsayer's Codex are evocative and I absolutely can't stress enough how many adventure ideas, cool locations, NPCs, etc. are in there. But the absolute gem is the Doomsayer's Codex: The Twelve Pillars of Doom. THIS IS WHAT FANTASY CULTS SHOULD BE LIKE in a game that includes horror elements! It's amazingly cool and so many details are included that you can build entire campaigns on just one of these cults.

Some of the texts are written in a style that goes well beyond what we've come to expect from more pedestrian-written TTRPGs. The writing is, often, impressively imaginative. It's as if Jack Vance's and Fritz Leiber's brain child had written some of this. Even if you're not going to use the D10 dicepool system (cool system, by the way), you NEED to get this, honestly. Looking forward to the Kickstarter launch!

It's a must have if you're new and overwhelmed by the idea of solo play. It's great if you don't know where to start or if you found gm emulators/oracles to not work for you. It's much more theoretical than mechanical but does have enough actioanble steps to get you playing.

gettig better all the time.so nice ezy to comprehend.format getting better

I'm not particulary fond of D&D related product, in particulary when something so mithologically and epic is converted in another and repetive kind of Fantasy. But the product is well done and have a good graphic

I'm just about positive there's a terrific game buried in here under all the ... stuff ... but I'm not used to having to put this much effort into finding it. Every part of this game is a confused mess.

I've been gaming for decades and at this point I can pick up a new action resolution system in a couple of minutes. Not this time. I kept finding myself having to flip back and forth across the same handful of pages, mentally juggling the game's different metacurrencies, constantly running into terms that were crucial to understanding what I was reading but which wouldn't be discussed at all until pages later. I had to search around to find tutorials, and then COMPARE those tutorials to each other, just to get a grasp of the basic system.

It's probably very easy to learn if someone teaches it to you instead of you having to learn it for yourself. The system doesn't actually seem that complicated! The problem here starts and ends with BAD WRITING: a jumble of concepts presented in the wrong order. I felt like I wasn't reading a published game system, but the scattered notes and post-its of a gamemaster's homebrew system, typed up in random order. Where was the editor!?

This isn't even getting into how much fluff there is. Now, under most circumstances fluff is a good thing, particularly when a game is designed for narrative play (which a competent Star Trek game would need to be). In-universe quotes and documents are also a good thing, and make fantastic sidebars. But the book goes way overboard here; entire chapters are devoted to nothing but those sidebars! No actual text! Even the chapter on the UFP is written from an in-universe perspective, and assumes that you're already familiar enough with the setting that you only need an orientation on where in the established timeline the game is set.

If you could actually learn about the Star Trek universe from these sidebars, then maybe it could be salvageable. Paranoia XP pulled it off. But I read these things, and they're largely incomprehensible unless you not only know Star Trek but recognize the specific episodes they're referring to. This is not a world background chapter. This is trivia night. If you're not already familiar with the universe -- and yes, that's entirely possible, I know a few people who'd be happy to play an RPG of interstellar diplomacy and scientific discovery but who've never seen a single hour of Star Trek -- it's absolutely no help.

On top of everything else, the only way to get an actually readable copy of this book is to buy it on DriveThruRPG as a print-on-demand. The generally available book is printed in white text on black because that "looks more like an LCARS screen." Puts me in mind of an RPG called ... was it Secrets of Zir'an? ... where the game was perfectly fine but they chose to use a page background of glyphic text. Printing text on top of text. It was flavorful, sure, but it made the book unreadable and the game unplayable. The retail Star Trek Adventures books aren't that bad, but there have been so many reports of eyestrain that it's very clear the publisher put form over function.

Finally, there's the elephant in the room. I don't care about the drama. What I care about is that the fandom insisted that a certain person not be involved in the book, and Modiphius not only still got that person involved but actively lied to its fans, listing that person under a pseudonym, and the person responsible showed absolutely no remorse. That's a level of contempt for your customers that's pretty much unforgivable, especially these days when there are people way worse than that guy still getting plenty of work in the RPG industry.

For all of these readability and usability issues, I'm awarding this book two stars. I want to be clear I'm not writing a negative review of the GAME SYSTEM. If you can find someone to teach it to you, so you only need to use the book for reference and browsing, you'll probably have a ball with it. But this book needs a new edition, pronto, with a new graphic designer, a new writer, and a new editor.

Personally didn't find whole lot here to add to my existing campaign. The intro campaing might be useful for someone just getting into it, but someone already familiar with the mechanics, you can just skip past this. The variable difficulty is nice, but never found that to be a problem with the core game (at least as far as I've played my campaigns). Co-op and PVP won't be something I'll use. Name generation tables are nice, but I usually just pull up ideas online. Enemy deployment variables, a great addition. So is the escalating battles. For someone just getting into 5P, this might be a good addition, or someone who's looking for extra challenge. Everyone else can possible just skip this.

I love this book and think it does not get the love it deserves. I like that it's self contained and designed for short but manageable campaigns with a real ending.I really like the atmosphere of the setting. The rules are simple yet perfectly set the tone. Lots of player agency in setting creation, not unlike what you can get from Beyond the Wall but with enough setting description that you are not lost. All in all I really like it. I am thinking of porting the rules to the Midnight setting which I love but really hate the 5e rules... Also you could easily use it for a 4th age middle earth campaign. Can't wait for the further books, especially the book of quests.

I am re-writing my review of this game, because my opinion of it has changed after a few campaigns. There were a few things I didn't really like after the first reading, but everything in it has grown on me.

My first RPG campaign was AD&D 1E, and that magical experience has never been replicated. Until now. Ivan has taken all that OSR magic, and put it in a streamlined solo game. I loved the uncompromising lethality of that system, and how surviving battles always made me feel like a grizzled fantasy veteran, and how I always felt like a new story was beginning when I rolled up a new character. Five Leagues and Parsecs improve on this concept by 1) Making character creation much faster, and 2) Brewing lethality into the system. I loved AD&D 1E, but to be honest, your campaign could really get screwed if one or more characters died at the wrong time because resurrection was so expensive, and getting new characters going could be tough. Starting a new campaign might very well mean the end of your game group! Lethality can be rough in 5XFY, but I've been able to recover from some near disasterous situations by thinking things through. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few TPWs as well, especially with the difficulty modifiers in the Trailblazer's Toolkit, but getting a new campaign going is fast and fun.

At first, I was put off that traditional D&D classes like Dwarf, Elf, and gnome were replaced with Dusklings and Preen. "Birdmen? pfft" thought I. After immersing myself in the setting, I now love them. The races feel simulaneously metal, OSR, AND refreshingly original.

I loved the combat from the start. This and Five Parsecs are my favorite game systems. They accomplish the holy grail of being streamlined, OSR, and something of Ivan's own creation all at once. Prior to playing Five Parsecs and Five Leagues, I played 4AD, Pathfinder / Mythic / DM Yourself, A Song Of Blades And Heroes / Lone Blade / A Song Of Deeds And Glory, Nemesis (board game), Rangers Of Shadow Deep, Gloomhaven (board game), and Ironsworn. All these games are excellent, and I have many great memories of them, but Five Leagues and Parsecs are my current favorites.

Ivan's music recommendations (included in the PDF) are excellent for gaming. These albums really bring out the flavor of Five Leagues. We used to listen to Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, etc. while gaming, but Ivan's playlist trumps even that.

The art and layout are excellent, and the PDF is very well organized.

I would even go so far as to say this is my favorite gaming product ever produced. If I could give it 6 or even 7 stars, I would. Five Leagues From The Borderlands is a real labor of love.

Ongoing review located here: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653977-Raiders-of-the-Serpent-Sea-Third-Party-5E-Review

so far best book ever and love the ranger class in it and can't wait to use in my next game

Ran this for my friends recently, had a lot of fun. Love the world and the plot hooks especially as a fan of Greek Mythology

An excellent collection of high quality content which also makes it easier to introduce new players into the game remotely. I love having all of the extra content available as I only own a physical copy of the Core Rulebook.

Homeworld Revelations is a great example of a corebook that delivers pretty much everything. Modiphius clearly took all the lessons they learned from developing Star Trek Adventures and refined it into Homeworld. The rules are rock solid, if a bit intimidating to new players. That said, I hope that enthusiasm will help get over that hump, and the fact that there’s a Quickstart product out for free will allow for people to get their feet wet in the system without being overwhelmed.

It delivers on all the important bits of a licensed franchise: it explores the setting in a way that gives insight to how the world works, without talking down to the reader, nor leaving them in the dark. There’s a host of inspiration, as seen in the dozens of plot seeds scattered around the setting chapters, making sure that GMs have something that could spark a campaign.

With clean, readable layout, and beautiful artwork, it is slightly marred by the minor oversight of not having a Starship sheet. That said, this is easily something that I’m sure Modiphius can address by uploading it on their website as a downloadable PDF once it’s available.

Overall, if you’re looking for a solid Space Opera offering what won’t ask you to buy dozens of books for a complete experience, then Homeworld is a good bet. Definitely something I’m glad to have in my library.

Great book. Fulfills my game mastering requirements!

The Rules Booklet

This 56 page booklet contains a streamlined and far less intimidating version of the Fallout 2d20 rules. In fact, it makes for a useful handout to players if you already have the core book and don't want to burden players with having to consume the entire tome.

In it you'll get a quick primer on what RPGs are and how gameplay is handled, Character Creation rules, the Mechanics of the 2d20 system, Combat Rules and finally Reference lists for Perks and Equipment in the game.

It's all very well laid out, and the colors and callout boxes make it that the rules are easy to read while vividly illustrated.

The Adventure

Once Upon A Time in the Wasteland is the adventure that comes with the starter set, and is a 60-page booklet that contains a small campaign of three Quests. Designed to teach the game as they play, each adventure is broken down into three main acts, and has a good spread of different challenges and situations.

While the starter set has pregenerated characters, the adventures here don't require them, and so players can make their own characters.

The three adventures each open with an summary of events, an introduction to the section and Quest goals to help prepare the GM to run the game.

The GM is led through with the usual "read this to your players" boxes while also getting advice along the way to conduct things like handling encounters and what rolls might be needed. It's the kind of hand-holding I like given that this is an introductory product and many GMs who might be getting into this might be more used to the computer games as opposed to TTRPGs.

Enemy encounters also introduce the relevant stat blocks right in the encounter to minimize page flipping

While I won't go through the exact specifics of the adventures in an effort to avoid spoiling it for those who will be playing through it, I do find that the storyline is pretty solid, with all the hallmarks of a good Fallout yarn. Those who want fights will get enough set piece battles to have it stay interesting, while those who are there to explore will have a section dedicated towards the surviving the wasteland. Of course, those who also prefer to role play will find themselves talking to all manner of people throughout the adventure and there are more than a few key decisions that stand to change the fate of the wasteland in dramatic ways.

Pregenerated Characters

The starter set also contains six characters to start with, with each one featuring an Origin from the game: Vault Dweller, Survivor, Brotherhood Initiate, Ghoul, Super Mutant and a Mr. Handy robot. It's quite the mix, admittedly, and I don't imagine that this is a "normal" composition of characters in a Fallout game, but at least every one of them is represented.

Each of these pregens are also given their own Biography. These are pretty well done and I would gladly play any of the characters given the interesting nature of their histories.

Conclusion

The Fallout Starter Set is a solid investment to get people playing in the Wasteland. The condensed rules and the accompanying adventure provides the perfect onramp to build up familiarity and confidence with the often intimidating nature of the full 2d20 system through play rather than study.

The art and layout of the books and sheets make them easy to use, and having the starter set makes it more likely for play groups to dip their toes into the irradiated groundwater of the Wasteland.