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| The complete package... |
This week saw one of the last zines that I'd backed as part of the Kickstarter ZineQuest 3 promotion back in February. It was certainly the prettiest, both in terms of initial presentation and in the quality of the material. Dying Hard on Hardlight Station is 32-pages long, staple-bound, printed on decent weight paper and uses a pallet of predominantly black, red and white. It is beautifully illustrated and feels like a quality product. It has good, clear layout which is well organised and easy to reference at the table. The second zine - Nirvana on Fire - is shorter at 12-pages, but of similar production values. This one doesn't have nice illustrations but is well laid out again. Obviously, there are minor spoilers below but I try to keep them to a minimum.
TL;DR: Dying Hard on Hardlight Station has excellent production values, with a location that can serve equally as a campaign hub or a one-shot. Although the package I got here would be a three-shot. You'll see why in the review. Good stuff.
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| Carefully packaged. |
Dying Hard on Hardlight Station throws the characters into a hot mess of two different plotlines converging over Christmas. As you may suspect, it does a riff on a certain action film in names used and a vague similarity in part of the plot.
The zine discusses how to use this as the basis for a campaign or a one-shot. For the longer form, it suggests that Hardlight Station is used as an operational hub for the characters to stage out of, and +to just throw in the other scenarios when it feels appropriate.
The first plotline involves an operation by the Black Shield Mercenary Corporation against one of the tenants at Hardlight Station. The second plot involves what's been going on at the tenant, HealthTek. They've been carrying out research that is best not disturbed as they try to help survivors of a mission to Tau Sigma 7. Naturally, carnage ensues as these two plots intersect.
Characters can play the survivors from Tau Sigma, should the GM feel it's appropriate.
In fact, you can play the entire Tau Sigma adventure, as it was unlocked as a stretch goal in the funding campaign. 'The Horror on Tau Sigma 7' is a brutal alien style horror story - the characters will try and recover a rare metal sample from a dig site in an impact crater. it's likely to go wrong, badly, and would be a great set-up with some disposable characters.
Hardlight Station itself has an overall image, but the detail of locations isn't mapped out. There are references for what each sector is like, with useful random tables and hooks to drive interaction. There's more than enough to support a fun theatre of the mind game.
The package included sound files that can be used to add to the fun, plus a Warden's Screen of key references for the scenario. I'm not certain if these are Kickstarter extras or not.
Nirvana on Fire sees the characters visiting a Zen colony orbiting the moon Bodhisattva 2a, with a mission to help restore the power systems on the colony. In return for this, they get the rights to salvage the abandoned terraforming tower at the top of the space elevator. Unfortunately, the AI that controlled the terraforming may not be amenable to this approach. The adventure is in outline form, with less detail than Dying Hard on Hardlight Station. There's enough for a good session or two of play. It's very much a sandbox, but less dangerous than 'The Horror on Tau Sigma 7'!
The back page has a random generator for Mothership plots, which looks like it will be helpful for inspiration.
Overall, both of these zines are excellent. They also show a credible way to link dangerous scenarios into a campaign, recognising that you don't need all (or indeed any) of the characters to survive so long as the repercussions of previous encounters have a clear impact on the future plot.
11 December 2021
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