World Tree by Bard Bloom & Victoria Borah Bloom

NOTE: World Tree was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Padwolf Publishing.


Normally, Luke Reviews only puts out reviews of novels, collections, anthologies, etc. However, Luke Reviews has been known to read a Role Playing Game book from time to time. When Padwolf Publishing sent me a copy of World Tree, along with Bard Bloom’s novel A Marriage of Insects, which is set in the World Tree game setting, I was quite curious to dive in.

World Tree presents players with a setting taking place entirely on a gigantic tree populated with anthropomorphic animals of all kinds. Players set out on adventures throughout the land, exploring cultures and dangers. Initially, I must admit I thought, anthropomorphic animals, this sounds like a kids game. However, when you read through the book, you find that, far from simply a children’s RPG, World Tree is a complex game. Complex not in its rules of play, which are actually quite easy to pick up, but in the complex, fully developed setting. Beyond just the world of the World Tree, the cultures, each generally simply the different species of anthropomorphized animal, are given a lot of space in the book to be fleshed out, and vignettes are thrown in throughout the volume that add to the cultural and historical setting immensely.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to the action junky looking for hard and fast, non-stop fights, although I think you could gear this game that way if you so chose. Instead, I would lead those who are looking for strongly story-driven games, that find their true richness outside of the fighting aspect, to World Tree. For those looking for a well developed fantasy setting that isn’t a D&D book, give World Tree a try.

Starblazer Adventures by Chris Birch & Stuart Newman with David Donachie & Douglas Nicol

NOTE: Starblazer Adventures was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Cubicle Seven Entertainment.


In an effort to explore deeper into the genre, I took a look at the roleplaying game 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars. I wanted to keep that up by taking another look into science fiction roleplaying, with Starblazer Adventures, based on the British space opera comic.

In the future, humans are reaching out into the stars, finding intrigue, exotics, war, and greed. Flying through space, adventure is everywhere in a large universe full of planets, aliens, and dangers.

Starblazer Adventures is a huge book. At first glance, it can seem daunting. But when you dig into it, it is proven otherwise. The first 30 pages give you enough information to start throwing together an adventure to explore the cosmos. So what do the other 700 pages contain? All of the detail that turns this into an incredible setting worth having adventures in. The basic rules are given expansions, more fully fleshed out, but even more importantly the setting comes alive.

Starblazer Adventures isn’t overburdened with a complex rules system, but uses the FATE system seen in games such as Spirit of the Century. The system allows for more storytelling and less number crunching. However, each of the simple items you use to play are given huge amounts of potential and adaptability. Huge chapters detail attributes and skills your character can have, with amazing variety, and plenty of description that gives you an idea of just how far you might push your new traits. Small rules variations are given so you can control not just a player, but a spaceship, or even an entire space-faring system. Hosts of planets, each with detail on a large array of features, coupled with a large assortment of aliens and humans, spaceships, machines, traps and androids, give this one huge play potential.

The beauty of Starblazer Adventures is that with just this one book, you are given enormous information to set up and play. It would take years to play out all of the material contained within. Set up both for those who want to create their own settings and for those who want to use the hundreds provided, this system is perfect for gamers of all types. No supplements are needed, and very little looking up of rules during gameplay. For the price, you will be hard-pressed to find a book that gives you as much quantity and quality. There are very few new systems that are as self-contained yet adaptable as Starblazer Adventures. If you can only get one game book this year, make it this one.

9/10

3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars by Gregor Hutton

NOTE: 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Cubicle Seven Entertainment.

Frequently the target of both adoration and derision, with die-hards on both sides, there is one thing that no one can deny:  Dungeons & Dragons, and the roleplaying game explosion it caused, revolutionized the science fiction and fantasy genre.  Ever since, roleplaying games have been a pivotal aspect of the genre.  Wanting to explore this side of the genre a bit, I took a look at Chaosium’s Basic RolePlaying, one popular game system.  However, I didn’t get to delve too much more into it, as prices can be prohibitively high at times.  But that means it is even more important that you know what you are getting, and that it is worth it, before you lay down all your hard-earned cash.  So Luke Reviews will be featuring a number of Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s titles, giving you a broad range of genres and choices.  I started off 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars, a military science fiction game.

In the world of the far future, humanity has moved past Earth, and is continually expanding.  However, this also means running into aliens.  These non-humans may not be friendly, so to save time and protect the species, groups of soldiers are sent out to take over the planets and clear them for human life.  It is up to you to protect the species while you move up (and down) in the ranks, gaining greater and greater responsibility.

With the stereotype (that once again was created by Dungeons & Dragons, its influence continues) of fantasy roleplaying games, I was excited to get the chance to look at a thoroughly military science fiction one.  The core rule book for 3:16 is very short, making it an easy one day read, and one go through is all you need to get started.  The rules system is very simple, in a way that lets you get into the game, but doesn’t prohibit more advanced play.  Without constant referencing of stats, you can get into the gist of the story.  The book has all you need to play, and includes a sample mission that helps to clarify any of the rules that may not have quite clicked for you. 

It isn’t perfect.  The story is very simple (and while I can understand the author suggesting just giving in to the violence of the setting, it still felt like it could have been given a little more depth), and it occasionally felt like Warhammer 40,000-lite.  Seeing that Hutton pulled inspiration from Warhammer 40,000 didn’t surprise me one bit.  It also would have been nice to have a couple of ready-made scenarios or missions in the book, letting you test-drive the setting before creating your own.

However, at the very small size, you get all of the rules without a huge price.  And when you are looking for a game that you can jump right into and can be explained quickly, it is an excellent choice.  It won’t have the most depth you have ever gotten out of a roleplaying game, but if you want some high-octane action and violence without the need to think too deeply, this game is perfect for you.  Fans of military science fiction, and those who enjoy Warhammer 40,000, should give this book a look.

7/10

Basic RolePlaying Quick-Start Edition

After reading the reviews section of the latest issue of Black Gate on role playing games, I was left a bit flummoxed. On the one hand, role playing games have such a stigma attached to them, that even accepting-of-all-fiction me was a little wary, but on the other hand, it sounded like it could be fun. So, pushing aside any embarrassment, I went to Chaosium’s website, and printed out their free download of Basic RolePlaying Quick-Start Edition, a PDF copy of their $11 booklet. I had only small gaps of time to read, so the 50 page rulebook made good reading that I could set down and pick back up again.

The idea behind the Basic RolePlaying (here on out called BRP) system is that, using an easy to learn game mechanics system, you can play any type of game you like. The included short adventures gave a breath of this, with games taking place in the stereotypical fantasy settings, but also in post-apocalyptic environments, 1600s France, World War II, even a bank heist. The rules system (based almost entirely on percentages) was a very easy to learn system, requiring almost no memorization or searching for rules. I played a couple of test games with my girlfriend, and found the free adventures a little quick and a touch to simple, although I would imagine that is partly because they were free. The scenarios you pay for were exponentially longer than these 1-2 page things. However, despite their shortcomings, even they were fun to play around with a bit.

I think that, to get the full effect of BRP, I will need to pick up some other adventures from their website, and possibly a copy of the complete core rulebook, Basic RolePlaying. However, with limited funds, and the great expense of the core rulebook, it may be a little while before that happens. Until then, we will see what adventures may come my way, but I will make sure to keep an open mind towards role playing, and to look for BRP games. They were very easy to pick up for this brand-new beginner, and had enough to them to make me come back for more.