System Mastery

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/system-mastery-225-marvel-multiverse-rpg.mp3 Reviewing a playtest?  That doesn’t seem right!  Well, it certainly isn’t in our usual bag of tricks, but hey, this is a rare situation where someone writing a modern game ASKED for our opinion (sort of, they asked for opinions in general) and we can be constructive and nice!  Will we?  Maybe!  Also this is our THIRD review of a Marvel game (with a fourth on the horizon) and so you’ll just have to forgive us not putting a bunch of Excelsiors and No-Prizes and stuff in the writeup.  Except shoot we just did.Last thing.  We didn’t mention one thing during the review that we both wanted to, which is that the game has a rule stating that you never accidentally kill anyone, you can always choose to knock them out instead.  This is progressive and laudable, but has the funny side effect of turning all the game’s sermons about how “real Marvel heroes would never use guns” into an even sillier thing to bother with.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/system-mastery-224-fiasco-classic.mp3 Mea culpa time (Jef version):  This is one of those games where I knew exactly what it was and have been recommending it for years for any RP session that needs to be about spiraling into failure… but I’ve never read it til now.  So hey, were all my recommendations justified?  Let’s find out, shall we?    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/system-mastery-223-tephra.mp3 Ooh, a steampunk one!  You can tell because of the brown and the gear and the goggles and all.  Oh, I guess it also says steampunk on there, in retrospect I suppose that was a dead giveaway.  Anyhow Tephra is definitely drifting in the fantasy direction on the old -punk continuum, with neat races and a whole fantastical path to airshippery, plus it’s all D12 based, which is always fun.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/system-mastery-222-umlaut.mp3 Uh oh, every once in a while a time comes in which we are commanded to rock, and that time has come again.  We’re discussing a game in which every play takes the reins of an entire metal band, and seeks fortune, glory, and thrown up horns from loyal fans.  Is this Sabbath?  Or is it Winger?  Listen along and let’s find out.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/system-mastery-221-santas-soldiers.mp3 Happy Christmas in July in March!  It’s time for some holiday cheer, because we were looking for a different game but ended up with this one (it’s explained in the show).  Suit up as an agent in Santa’s elf army and go forth to do battle with a bunch of holiday monsters.  Or at least hear us talk about it!    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/system-mastery-220-the-secret-fire.mp3 This is a pretty bog-standard “Recapture the D&D I remember when I was 11” moonshot game, where the lessons learned about what D&D used to be like seem to be that it was awful but we loved it.  Does it promise to be all about player empowerment and then immediately strip almost any tools they might have used away from them?  You’ll have to listen to find out, but it’d be weird if I asked that question and the answer was no, wouldn’t it.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/system-mastery-219-the-lawnmower-man-rpg.mp3 How often do we get to do theme weeks?  This is great!  We have the Lawnmower Man RPG, which is set immediately after the events of the movie, as the Southern Gothic horror gives way to … troop team simulation as described by the company that made Phoenix Command.  What?  Why?  How?  Anyway, here’s a whole review for your ears!    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/system-mastery-218-silver-age-sentinels.mp3 Oh boy another supers game!  You know how we love those!  SIlver Age Sentinels is from the Big Eyes, Small Mouth folks, so you better believe it shares the insane customizability, tri-stat system, and more with that anime simulator.  But how does it do as a superhero engine?  Well, let’s all find out together. Announcement Mastery Solo But Not Alone 2Grab a ton (101!) solo RPGs for yourself for only 10 bucks while supporting a vital cause at the same time.  Help people in real need by joining Jasper’s Game Day in their needed efforts preventing suicide.  It’s a win win and it can be yours to support or just get games you want at https://itch.io/b/1227/solo-but-not-alone-2.  Act fast, this fundraising event will end March 2022!    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/system-mastery-217-conspiracy-x.mp3 What if everything you thought you knew was actually all evidence of a secret conspiracy?  Deja Vu?  Real psychic powers.  Men in Black?  Lizard people in black.  That’s the premise of Conpiracy X, a late 90s secret agents vs. everything game with a surprisingly complex combat engine.  Oh man.  Surprisingly complex. Announcement Mastery Solo But Not Alone 2Grab a ton (101!) solo RPGs for yourself for only 10 bucks while supporting a vital cause at the same time.  Help people in real need by joining Jasper’s Game Day in their needed efforts preventing suicide.  It’s a win win and it can be yours to support or just get games you want at https://itch.io/b/1227/solo-but-not-alone-2.  Act fast, this fundraising event will end March 2022!    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/system-mastery-216-psychosis-ship-of-fools-1.mp3 Post-Show PS:  Turns out there is at least one more of these, Jef’s on-air googling failed to turn up Psychosis: Solitary Confinement.  Cool?  Cool. Well, when the name of the mental disorder is right there in the title you know you’re in for something at least a little iffy.  Luckily this is so far removed from reality regarding how far everyone is removed from reality that it mostly comes out okay in the wash.  It’s a game where you never quite know what’s going on, and the entire story is a spoiler alert.  From the decade that brought you Steal My Sunshine, it’s Psychosis: Ship of Fools.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/system-mastery-215-blue-rose-2.mp3 Let’s dispense with the obvious question first.  This is the OGL version.  Now before that gets too depressing, note that this is one of the most modified OGL games we’ve come across, going so far as to do that one thing everyone always says you should do with D&D stats (not get rid of them, the other thing).  It’s got some good ideas!  But do we like it?  Well, let’s find out.  You know, again. Announcement Mastery! Roar to Heaven is an anime inspired sci-fi AP podcast where the heroes fight an invading angel army with battlesuits powered by music!  They’re currently kickstarting to pay their staff and cast, and your support will help!  Plus also definitely listen to their cool show.  Links to follow:Show Page: https://www.peachgardengames.com/about-roar-to-heaven Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peachgardengames/roar-to-heavenItch.io Link for Those With Understandable Kickstarter Concerns: https://pe

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/system-mastery-214-mystic-forces.mp3 Heck yeah, one of those weird games so little known I couldn’t GIS the cover and had to take a picture of our copy!  Mystic Forces is a 2000 RPG about light vs. darkness featuring some very unique ideas (though Jon has some ideas as to where a lot of them are coming from), and a world that doesn’t have elves, dwarves, or even humans.  Are they contained in a probably somewhat too complicated engine?  Well yeah, obviously.    

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/system-mastery-213-the-book-of-vile-darkness.mp3 Just because Ween is over doesn’t mean we can’t stay spooky!  Or at least one would hope.  This is more evil by way of edge than anything else.  Jef sought out a list of historically terrible supplements for us to look at in the future, and this one just kept floating to the top.  Evil races, prestige classes, and so, so many terrible spells.  Dare you enter this edgelord realm?  

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/system-mastery-212-outbreak-undead-1.mp3 Okay so maybe it’s November, and maybe we forgot when October started this year, but that won’t stop us from delivering our yearly load of horror ween stuff!  Here’s Outbreak Undead.  It’s 460 pages long and is a fairly generic zombie horror survival type thing.  Announcement Mastery Looking for game and fantasy editing?  Or just need a short form RPG or adventure in a variety of genres?  Go support ATypicalFaux.com, today’s Announcement Mastery Sponsor.  Jordan is a multi-published editor with a proven track record and a desire to work on your RPG (while designing his own!) Website: ATypicalFaux.com Games available at: https://atypicalfaux.itch.io/  

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/system-mastery-212-all-flesh-must-be-eaten.mp3 Behold our triumph, the ZombieWeen!  It’s alive!  Well, sort of alive.  This ‘Ween around we’ll be focusing on zombie RPGs, investigating games about surviving short infestations and full-blown apocalypses.  This time, it’s All Flesh Must Be Eaten, which means it’s also our first time talking about the Unisystem Engine in eight years.  Should all flesh must be eaten?  Should all zombies be in your head?  In your head?  Zombie (Ween). Announcement Mastery Crimson Gold Agonies!in the world of 197X, superheroes fight against the two imperial powers; they are champions of the Third World and heralds of an alternative path for democracy and socialism — the Heroes of the Cybernetic International! Check out this new AP and a whole completed series of additional AP podcasting that rotates games as needed to tell the best story possible with the Crimson Gold Agonies actual Play! Links: Show | Twitter | Showrunner Twi

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/system-mastery-210-amber-diceless.mp3 Oh geez, this one is gonna get us some letters.  Lemme just warn you in advance if you’re as hot on this property as everyone on the internet seems to be for Moorcock stuff, you might wanna just go check out a Movie Mastery or something.  Otherwise, welcome to Amber Diceless, a game that has rules it would probably just be better off without. Announcement Mastery Eventide!Available today on DrivethruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/359061/Eventide How and why the world as we know it came to be changed forever has long been forgotten. It’s been hundreds – maybe even thousands – of years since anyone even spoke of the Cataclysm or the time that came before, and the memories of that world that once was, faded into dust. To the people inhabiting the world of Eventide, this isn’t a post-cataclysmic world, it’s just the world that is. And the world that always was, as far back as anyone living in it can remember.

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/system-mastery-209-supplement-spectacular-3.mp3 Well how about one of these?  It’s only the third one in 209 episodes, so I hope they sort of feel special by now!  It’s Supplement Spectacular, where we dig through our surprisingly ample library of followup books to games you’d never think would have them, and talk about how those games expand and change.  This week, it’s Chill: Voodoo and A.C.E. Supers, so you’re getting a little horror and a little superhero stuff.  Together at last!  

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/system-mastery-208-mutant-chronicles-4.mp3 This takes a while, but on the bright side we really find out some new fun and not so fun stuff about the game in the process. Good on ya for being patrons, you’re learning stuff no one else will. Unless they… read the game, I guess? Or just find someone else doing this. We can’t be the only ones.  

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/system-mastery-208-pokemon-jr..mp3 Desperately trying to hit a book deadline, we found ourselves in need of something fairly small, so we finally broke the tiny sheet of glass in front of the smaller RPG we have, the Pokemon Jr. Adventure Game: Pokemon Emergency.  60 pages long and smaller than a checkbook, this is a tiny little thing.  But it has a rich history, and there’s a lot to talk about, so as always, we found a way.  

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/system-mastery-206-ork.mp3 Comedy roleplaying game anyone?  Maybe one that’s got a bunch of jokes about how dumb orks are and how they have special blood that keeps them from ever being smart (yikes factor: some yikes).  Well grab a big rock and use it to murder a different big rock because Ork am game about mindless violence.