First Impressions - Otherscape RPG (City of Mist Engine)

In this first impression, I'm not going to use my usual approach of going section by section, but rather discuss the significant changes that I see from Otherscape's predecessor, City of Mist*. These observations are based on having read the game through twice, along with Tokyo:Otherscape, and having run the game at Revelation this February. 

*I previously reviewed City of Mist here.

Once again, Son of Oak have delivered an extremely high quality package with glorious artwork and well written text they have taken the learnings from producing the City of Mist Starter Set and baked them into the core rulebook. As a result, you can run the game having read a minimal number of pages. I had all the quick reference pages printed out as a handy guide at the table.

Mechanically, the game shows the same roots as City of Mist, a love-child of Powered by the Apocalypse and FATE. However, it's now stepped a little further away from its original inspirations. The core mechanic remains rolling 2d6 and adding the power rating you get from your characters relevant tags to the result. A roll of ≦6 is a failure and a roll of ≧10 a complete success. In between, a roll of 7 to 9 means that you succeed but with a complication. Your power tags come from the three themes that define your character plus some extras you can draw on from your inventory and your crew theme.

Rather than the two theme types that City of Mist uses for characters, Otherscape has three. You have two that equate to the mythos and logos (called 'Self' in Otherscape) themes in the original game, but also a third one called 'noise' which is your cyberware and technology.

Both books are full-colour hardbacks with high quality artwork that evokes the setting that they are describing. Metro:Otherscape is 368-pages long and Tokyo:Otherscape is 320 pages long. A third book is included, the action database. This is a full colour 106-page softcover full of examples of the effects that you would use with different actions. The boxed set also came with status cards, dice and a GM screen in a large box, along with the trademark A3 double-sided dry-wipe character folios which instantly give you a feel for the game.

 

Having run Otherscape, there are a couple of things that stand out for me which are distinct improvements from the City of Mist. The most significant of these is the change from PbtA style moves to choosing the effect that you wish to achieve from the action you take. This was the standout change for me at the table, as you no longer have to search for the most appropriate move when you hit an edge case. Instead you have to ask yourself, "what am I trying to achieve from this action?", and then match that to one of twelve options (see the right of the image above). This works really clearly and quickly at the gaming table, albeit at the cost of extremely tailored moves.

I am pondering whether it will be possible to roll this back to City of Mist. Some of the discussions on the Discord forum for the game indicate that there may be some challenges with tailored moves used in theme progression that make this more difficult.

The other notable change addresses some of the perceived weaknesses in City of Mist where players overuse power tags. Otherscape makes it very clear that you cannot use tags again to face danger if they have already been used in the initial move that made the player vulnerable. Having recently reviewed the City of Mist core rules to produce an updated quick reference sheet, I was surprised to find that this is actually in them but not so explicitly or obvious as it is here. That may be on my own head, as I came to the game having use the starter set for quite some time.

I'm not certain about the need for the action database, but I did find myself referencing it when considering how I may tailor the response to certain player actions. Part of me felt that this should've been included the core rulebook, but I can see the case for splitting it out; the book would be massive if it was included. I don't think it'll be referenced as much, and I believe that there is a plan to create a digital version.

I loved the game in play, but it hasn't yet given me the same spark and passion that City of Mist does. I think this is a me-problem rather than a Son of Oak problem. I've never really been that much into Japanese cyberpunk, so the Tokyo book doesn't excite me the way I'd hoped. It is written really well, but it failed to give me the GM tingles. The core book, Metro:Otherscape, drew me in more. I wish the example Berlin setting was developed further. However, what's present is more than enough to run a generic myth-fuelled cyberpunk setting. I'm tempted enough to explore the forthcoming Cairo setting, but if that doesn't press my buttons, I suspect I'll be selling this off to someone else who loves it more.

Overall, Otherscape has rolled a 7-9 result for me, a 'yes-but'. That's more about my engagement with the setting than the mechanics, artwork or presentation. If you love Japanese-style cyberpunk and anime, then I wholeheartedly recommend this game. If you like the idea of a myth-fuelled cyberpunk setting then the core book will work for you too.

Recommended.

Edit: One thing that I forgot to mention above is the status cards and how tiers are now managed. It is far less fiddly and much more intuitive than City of Mist. I do suspect that it may mean that characters are a little more fragile, but I'm not certain, and it will work both ways. 

5 April 2025

First impressions - Traveller - Deepnight Revelation Core Box Set (some spoilers)

Deepnight Revelation is an epic campaign for Traveller, presented as a core box set with a further six hardback books that expand the detail available plus one adjacent adventure module as part of the Great Rift set's supporting material. 

TL;DR: Deepnight Revelation is a grand, sprawling epic space-exploration campaign, the likes of which Traveller hasn't seen before. It provides the start and end of the journey, plus the mechanics to run the steps in between. However, there will be a significant amount of work for the Referee to do for that journey, unless they purchase the expanded material. Highly recommended.

The box set is presented with a picture of a former Imperial Star Cruiser approaching a singularity, represented with a version of the striking image of a black hole that scientists have recently achieved. Inside the box are four perfect-bound full-colour soft-back books and a double-sided poster map which shows an outline of the journey of exploration on one side and a layout of the Deepnight Revelation on the reverse.The box has a ribbon to allow you to lift the books out of the box easily, and there is space for additional material to fit inside. I've added the Great Rift adventure that links to this campaign - Deepnight Endeavour - into the box. Illustration and layout is good and there are a refreshing lack of typos.

Deepnight Revelation is a truly epic campaign, with the characters embarked on a voyage of exploration that will take them the best part of ten-years to reach their destination. They'll travel along the edge of the Great Rift, beyond Charted Space and into places the Imperium has not reached, then they will find a way to cross the Rift, before proceeding to their ultimate destination, a unique and unusual gravitational source at the edge of the spiral arm. The route chosen avoids crossing other potential hostile polities such as the Solomani Confederation and the Aslan Hierate. This is a voyage of discovery and exploration the likes of which we haven't really seen in Traveller before. The campaign has links to the Ancients, but it goes much further back than that, with an Entity that has existed from the early days of the galaxy at the heart of the story.

I do feel that there are echoes of MegaTraveller's Arrival Vengeance in style, which is a good thing, but this is something different. Obviously, in concept there are also echoes of Star Trek - The Original Series, but only in the sense that this is a long duration voyage into the unknown. If anything, the Deepnight Revelation is going much further than the Enterprise ever did, in a manner that's far more exposed. There are no subspace communications in Traveller and no-easy way to call for help or rescue. This is a journey far beyond the frontier, and it is entirely possible that the Third Imperium will never find out the fate of the ship if things go wrong*.

*Followers of canon will also know that there are a series of events coming in the timeline which mean that the Third Imperium will likely have changed significantly by the time the ship makes its way back with the coming of the Rebellion and Virus.

The Deepnight Revelation is a decommissioned Element Class Cruiser, converted for use on a long duration scientific voyage. Deckplans, ship details and more are all provided.

The first book, Deepnight Legacy, is a prequel to the campaign and gives a reason for a group of Travellers to be recruited or seek employment with the Deepnight Corporation. You could also use the Great Rift Adventure 2 - Deepnight Endeavour as a gateway to the campaign. The book is 32-pages long, and presents a scenario where the characters are part of an emergency mission responding to a supply starship that is overdue returning from a mission to a refuelling station in the Great Rift. They take one of the sister rift haulers of the missing ship and jump nearly 20 light years into the emptiness of the Rift to a planet orbiting a lonely brown dwarf failed star. 

The adventure is presented is a sandbox investigation which has strong horror themes. There is a useful but basic map but it would have been nice to have a world or region map to go alongside the base map.  There are statistics and deckplans for the Rift Hauler. There are also a number of NPCs to interact with and find out what is going on.

If the Travellers are successful then they will gain some insight into the threat that the Entity presents and its location, information that will make them natural recruits for the Deepnight Revelation expedition. 

The Campaign Guide is 112-pages long and provides the key elements to set up the campaign (unsurprisingly). It starts with guidance on how to integrate existing Travellers into the mission and the roles that they could take. I do think that an opportunity was missed here to provide some guidance on troupe play more explicitly. There is a get out clause to bring the existing Travellers into key roles, by having them part of a Special Advisory Group because of prior experience.

The guide follows this section with an outline of the whole voyage, starting with the opening journey to Marshalling Point Demnan, a journey of 30 months or so. This is a previously established base of forward operations, and the last chance for crew members who change their minds to turn back. 

The guide then gives some key background information for referees on the mission and the nature of the Deepnight Entity, including the risk of infection and the threats that will be faced as it develops. After this, there are eighteen pages of background about the ship itself, including isometric deckplans (the poster map has a more traditional top down view). This is followed by a discussion of the crew and the Travellers' role in it. The ship, a decommissioned Element Class cruiser, does retain her spinal particle accelerator for scientific purposes, but other weapons have been reduced.

The crew section includes departments, operational structures, ranks, quick crew member creation (skills and naming) and, interestingly, factions. Broadly, the crew is split into three factions; the Imperial faction (do what's best for the Third Imperium), the Deepnight Loyalists (do what's best for the company) and the Researchers (science, baby!). Other factions can develop over time; the glory hounds, the disaffected, and potentially mutineers. The chapter ends with a set of six NPCs with short biographies; all a pretty interesting and can add in extra threads to the campaign.

There is an understandably large section (25 pages) on the craft and equipment carried by the Deepnight Revelation, especially as once the ship passes Point Demnan, that's all they have. Details are given ranging from Scout Ships to ground and grab vehicles, from crew uniforms to armoured exploration suits, and from translators through guns to nuclear demolitions charges.

After this, the book has a section on the preparation for the voyage (in which the players get a choice to outfit and supply the ship, and flavour how the crew is). This includes setting the initial Crew Effectiveness Index, the related modifier to that index, and the related departmental effectiveness. There's also a morale rating. These are explained in more detail in the Referee's Handbook, but in summary are used to abstract resolution of tasks at a ship or departmental level.

The penultimate chapter covers the initial stretch of the voyage with opportunities for diplomacy and getting the crew into the right place. Travel is planned in reaches, and this one is outlined in detail. The initial journey takes them to Tobia and then on to Point Demnan. This example section gives a good idea of how the campaign should play out. There are deliberate vague points and the Referee is encouraged to map only as necessary.

The final chapter discusses the expansions of the book - broadly the key things that should happen in areas of space but you need to buy the extra books to flesh these out, before describing two space dwelling creatures; Leviathans and Leachers, both adapted to life in space.

The third book, the Referee's Handbook, is 96-pages long guidance document for the campaign. It covers how to handle large scale resolution, including setting up a resolution cycle for each reach. This is effectively objectives and a set of orders for each stage of the reach. There's detailed guidance on how to resolve this, with some suggestions for events and points of interest. Missions within a reach get broken down into stages and are resolved as needed. This give opportunity to zoom in and out as things happen. Incidents can, especially if the ship has been flying for a long time without major maintenance, result in a crisis which could prove catastrophic. This encourages the players to think of when to replenish and maintain. The ship has been modified and carries the equipment to overhaul itself, but this is a time consuming process. Supplies are critical, and a simple system is given to manage this. Similarly, maintenance has a simple set of mechanics to manage.

There is a large section on using the Crew and Departmental Effectiveness Indexes, forming teams, impact on morale, and how Travellers can rise or fall in esteem. The latter could be very important if factional squabbles develop. Fatigue is also addressed; like the ship, the crew need rest and recovery beyond what they can get from the ship itself. This can be mitigated by taking time to give people reduced duties, success on missions, or seeing wonders, along with wholesale rest and recuperation on a planetary surface. 

There's guidance on using different aspects of star systems in making interesting environments. The book does recommend using the quick system generation rules from the Great Rift campaign, but you can get by with the guidance in this book and the core rules. As this predates the release of the World Builder's Handbook, there is no reference to that volume. 

The book then discusses how shipboard life will typically work, with watches, duty stations, security, in-system operations and deep space operations, plus small craft and planetary operations. After this, there is a chapter on exploration; how to survey systems and plot your routes, plus how to carry out planetary exploration with surveys and expeditions. Science and research is covered with a route to research and make breakthroughs. These chapters are followed by one that talks about the types of world that can be found and the related ecosystems. The book concludes with some brief guidance on contact with aliens. This is fleshed out some more in the final book and also in the expansions, several of which deal with first contact situations.

Terminus Point (72-pages) is the epic conclusion to the campaign and dives back into detail. The book has more detail on the Deepnight Entity and the place that it resides. This includes the challenging final deep space transit to Terminus Point, and what they find. The conclusion is epic and deadly, but there are many ways that the Travellers could succeed. If they fail, they ultimately will put the rest of the galaxy, not just Charted Space, at risk. I'm not going to say any more as it would be a huge spoiler, but I do think that the journey will have been worth it; there will be moments of awe and terror and chances for heroism and cowardice. 

In conclusion, Deepnight Revelation is a grand, sprawling epic space-exploration campaign, the likes of which Traveller hasn't seen before. It provides the start and end of the journey, plus the mechanics to run the steps in between. However, there will be a significant amount of work for the Referee to do for that journey, unless they purchase the expanded material. I was impressed enough to start picking up the additional material, as this is more my kind of campaign than Pirates of Drinax, fantastic though that is. 

Highly recommended.

5 April 2025

Books in March 2025

March was a very focussed reading month, with a lot of science-fiction and a lot of the Traveller roleplaying game. I read 2,900 pages and twelve books, bringing me to 34 books in the year, and a total of 8,424 pages. The reading streak is at 814 days.

I'll start with the roleplaying books. I worked my way through the epic Traveller Deepnight Revelation campaign, which comprised four shorter books. This is very much a taster for the campaign; there's enough here to run it and give you a good understanding of what is going to happen, but there's a fair bit of work for the referee. The start and finish of a truly epic campaign are covered in detail, and the mechanics are given for developing the road trip between. I suspect that most referees will be tempted to pick up the extra books that Mongoose have written that flesh out the journey between; I know I will.

I also worked my way through three books which will support my next campaign; Mongoose's Bounty Hunter, and Moon Toad's The Bounty Hunter Handbook and The Jägermeister Adventure. The latter two complement each other well. The Mongoose book is shinier & glossier, feeling more like The Mandalorian with lightweight mercenary tickets. The Moon Toad book is gritty, detailed & realistic, feeling like a procedural TV series, and edges it in my preference. I've detailed The Jägermeister Adventure elsewhere.

I also finished Conflict by David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts. This was a good overview of how conflicts have developed since 1945. I enjoyed the book, but found the difference between the chapters written by Petraeus and Roberts jarring. Petraeus' sections were much more detailed but lost the big picture and key themes that are throughout the rest of the book.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud was an interesting read. I found it more like a thought experiment in a first contact situation. It also cleverly threaded three different perspectives together. I did find it hard going in parts, but it came to decent conclusion.

Caimh McDonnell's A Man with One of Those Faces was an enjoyable crime romp, with a sharp wit and use of language set in Dublin. A case of mistaken identity spirals out of control. Recommended and I'll be reading the next book.

I read Max Barry's Providence which follows the crew of an AI-controlled space warship in a ware with an alien species. The quirk is that the ship is so automated that the crew are almost there for PR purposes. We get to find out their quirks, and how things play out when everything goes sideways. I enjoyed this.

Finally, after a gap of perhaps 40 years, I returned to Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World series, with The Anvil of Ice. This is slow-paced but well written fantasy novel about a young thrall who becomes a Smith capable of wending magic into that which he creates. We follow the start of his journey, as he is apprenticed to a dark and mysterious Master Smith, and then his story when he leaves. I really enjoyed revisiting this, and look forward to reading the next!

3 April 2025