Howdy!
I've tried to keep these reviews relatively short. Keeping in line with the theme of "Stellar Phenomena", each review contains what I liked and what I didn't about it, or what was Stellar and Not-So-Stellar, along with an Overall opinion at the end. The reviews are listed more or in order of release, but I've saved some standouts for the end. Without further ado, here are my reviews!
The Titan in the Helix by Xiombarg
Stellar: INSANELY COOL PREMISE! Rolling across the board and piecing it all together.
Not-So-Stellar: Some of the entries fell a bit flat for me. There could have been more meat on this titans bones.
Overall: The hook is so sick and I want to mine the tables for everything they've got! I'm inspired as fuck rn.
Stellar: Amazingly writing with great characters and NPC. Monster designs with evolution stages! The artwork is great touch too.
Not-So-Stellar: Couldn't get a read on Cleo & Clementine's motivations for being there. Why does the SWU want 5T3V3?
Overall: While there might be some tweaks I'd make here and there, the wealth of gameable content in such few pages makes for a excellent adventure I'm hyped to try out!
Liminal Void Quickstart Scenario 3: Storm over Europa by Binary Star Games
Stellar: The station described within is quite fleshed out and feels like a real place. It's all very tense and grounded.
Not-So-Stellar: For such an extreme environment, it
feels like this all takes place in relatively normal buildings. I'd
probably play up the frozen hellscape more if I ran it.
Overall: This is an excellent scenario with lots to do, but what sells it is the inter-connectivity of it all. This gets me itching to play Liminal Void and get off Europa!
Stellar: A hostile art exhibit is such a wild setting for an adventure... I dig it! The mosaic map here is also super pretty to look at.
Not-So-Stellar: I get there is a non-euclidean geometry puzzle here, but I couldn't figure out how exactly to piece it together.
Overall: It's abstract, but there's the making of a cool adventure here, especially with the location. Personally, I'd love to get trapped in a mad artist's galactic cube prison.
Rig Bastards by FNC Productions
Stellar: A water planet mining rig penal colony is
such a cool setting. The threat track with a clearly defined failure
state makes this a super exciting adventure.
Not-So-Stellar: While the prompt table is nice to have, the details on the lead-in mission are sparse and there could have easily been more variety as to why you were there.
Overall: The setting and presentation on display in Rig Bastards is so cool! My only wish is for more of it!
Knockout by KingDunnad
Stellar: A solid cast of characters makes determining the culprit of the crime all the more interesting.
Not-So-Stellar: there is a fair amount of explainer text which along with the the layout could definitely be streamlined.
Overall: Knockout poses an easy to run mystery in a great one-shot framework. Personally, I'd considerably raise the stakes to make this already compelling adventure even more exciting.
Stellar: Placing M-Epic in a real time and place is thrilling to the point of chills. It's such a cool concept!
Not-So-Stellar: As written, just having to stop the ritual feels a touch straightforward. I'd likely have to prep a fair deal in order to be able to run this as an investigation.
Overall: This is an incredibly punchy and succinct Delta Green adventure that leaves me wanting more! Fortunately, for the close-to-home setting, I know where to look.
Stellar: An epic space-faring adventure. Everything you need is statted out.
Not-So-Stellar: While there are a number of branching paths, the story feels fairly linear. I'd be a little unsure of where to take things if it went off-script.
Overall: This story rich traveller adventure was evocative and fun to read. The abridged version at the end however is probably what I'd reach for as a GM.
Stellar: pleasing layout and design. Nice map! Time management feels well balanced
Not-So-Stellar: Unfamiliar jargon and conflicting information left me scratching my head. I struggled to piece together priorities and motivations.
Overall: I fear for the people of Valus-Sys, the crisis in simulation here feels intense, almost overwhelming. I'm excited to learn more about the 5MW universe!
Not-So-Stellar: I'm not sure why one wouldn't just kill McCloud on sight. Also would have preferred a PDF version.
Overall: This is classic sci-fi monster horror. In the right hands it could be chilling, hilarious, or even both. The concept is simple but well executed! Great stuff.
Stellar: Looks cool! A wild mashup of Mork Borg and Alien! The ship and its inner workings are very well documented.
Not-So-Stellar: Tracking mixed time units (hours, minutes, and rounds) sounds like a headache, so I would have preferred just one. Didn't like that some of the text was hard to read.
Overall: Adding a spaceship repair mini-game to Mork Borg is a bold choice, but one that I think pays off for this one shot. Nice Job!
Not-So-Stellar: The MacGuffin you are sent to retrieve doesn't impress, which might be fine if the dungeon had more cool loot.
Overall: This is a fun sci-fi dungeon with a solid ticking clock, boss fight, and lots of fun. What's not to love!
Not-So-Stellar: Not having a map, even a basic one, is a hindrance. Combined with some wordy sections, running this without prep might be a hassle.
Overall: Zenith-47 is such a neat book. It's creative while remaining generic enough that I could really see running it in just about any sci-fi game. I'm impressed!Standout Submissions
Most Likely To Run
Storm of the Century by 1999 A.D.
Stellar: A wealth of fantastic tables wrapped in an absolutely CLEAN layout
Not-So-Stellar: Some incongruent results mean I'd probably end up picking and choosing from some tables.
Overall: Storm of the Century takes an intriguing hook and creates a killer adventure out of it with just a handful of tables. I'm damn excited to get the results to my table!
Most Ambitious
Escape Velocity by companionwolf
Not-So-Stellar: There could have been more details about the scenario, especially how the time loop plays out or iterates.
Best Adventure
Edge of Terminator by Staggered Amusement Machine
Stellar: A repair mission is a nice change of pace from the usual sci-fi fare. The technical details, timeline, and map set up a riveting simulation. The pre-gen characters with conflicting goals are a nice touch.
Not-So-Stellar: While I'm glad the map and key all fit on one page, the layout could be improved, especially as there's a lot of bold and underlined text.
Overall: The need to balance your time and resources to get the collector up and running makes for a thrilling and tense adventure scenario. I can only imagine the stress running it "in real time" would have on my players. This is awesome!Most Creative
Let there be light by RPGuPolaka
Not-so-stellar: There's a lot going on, which makes it hard to figure out how the aliens intercept the PCs. I'm not even sure what the PCs should be doing with regards to the asteroid mission.
Overall: It's terrific! For a tri-fold pamphlet, the level of creativity and game worthy content is simply outstanding. While it can feel a bit unfocused at times, I'd have no trouble running a compelling session of it in just about any system!Best Overall
Leviathan by Cats Have No Lord
Not-So-Stellar: There's some spooky looking (zalgo?) Hebrew text which I can't read or translate. I'm not sure how I'd present it to my players.
Overall: It's simple, but Leviathan comes together to form a genuinely horrifying scenario. This would be the perfect start to an epic Mothership campaign.
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