Some Stuffs I Bought at GC

[thebitterguy]

My two big purchases at GC were Damnation Decade and Helios Rising. Big is literal in the case of that second book. 540 pages.

Damnation Decade is a d20 Modern supplement based around roleplaying in the world of dystopian SF films of the '70s, or at least the world that leads to those worlds. It's nearly perfect (the cybernetics rules? Called "Bionics". Schwing!) except for it fails the Justin Test. What is that test? Have something going on north of the 49th Parallel.

I mean, not only does it ignore it, it actually says that the melting of the ice caps caused all of Canada to turn into a large marshland. The Fuck?

Okay, yes, hard to have a dystopia when there's Canada, right? We always go and fuck things up by being 'a good place'. But what a cop-out.

Feh. Other than that (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?) the book is very good.

Helios Rising is a Dawning Star sourcebook (the third release, although it was scheduled for later in the series). I've yet to penetrate very deep into, but since I liked Operation Quick Launch so much, it should be good.

Also got Operation Dead Drop, which showed how Otherworlds Creations killed d20 Modern.

Comments

[doc-mystery.livejournal.com]

Also got Operation Dead Drop, which showed how Otherworlds Creations killed d20 Modern.

'splain please! I'm most curious as I've found no on-line reviews.

::B::

[thebitterguy]

It's just part of their Trifecta of Really Crappy d20 Modern materials. It was a module where the PCs must infiltrate Iraq, rescut hostages, fight Al Qaeda and assassinate Saddam Hussein before he launches a nuclear missle at Isreal.
They also released an overpriced GM's screen and Solid!, the worst RPG book ever.

[caias.livejournal.com]

Um, try reading F.A.T.A.L, Synnabar, and a lot of other books before you call Solid! the worst book there, Jandt...

Don't like something, great. But blaming it for killing d20 Modern is, well, stupid.

[thebitterguy]

A) Justin, not Fred.

B) It's a joke. Three shitty products won't kill d20 Modern, they will, however, suck.

I never had high expectations for FATAL, Synnibar, or Senzar. Hell, Senzar does a better job doing Heavy Metal roleplaying than SOLID did Blaxploitation.

[caias.livejournal.com]

A) I'm aware. I tend to call people I disagree with by the last names of other people. One of my odd habits

B) What's your problem with Solid!, anyway?

[thebitterguy]

This is my review.

I love Blaxploitation. I was really, really looking forward to Solid. What I got was not the book I wanted.

[waiwode.livejournal.com]

The review: Wow. How does "bustin' caps" help us celebrate Blaxploitation films like Black Belt Jones, or Truck Turner? This seems far more closely linked to the 80's then to the era of funk.

Me rambling: I don't remember who posted the idea first, but I think one of the neatest ideas for using the Blaxploitation genre had to be Call of Cthulhu: Harlem '72.

First, it gives you some of the noir hooks ... for instance in noir and in early 70s Harlem many men are veterans of a "great war" and are suitably disenfranchised with the system. The Man, if you will.

Second, and unlike most CoC games -- the thing you're saving isn't vast and barely comprehensible like the world or mankind. It's your neighbourhood. Your street.

Third. The Man is definitely trying to put you down. For the count. Their evil goes way beyond rent control. The Man is playing for your Soul, and baby, if you don't got Soul, what do you got?

I've never done anything with it, but it's always been bubbling away in the crock-pot I call my brain.

Doug.