Post originally by Dan Bayn at 2004-10-25 23:37:12
Converted from Phorums BB System

Ya know, this thing was a lot shorter than I remembered. I wrote it from my fevered playtest recollections; I meant it more as an Actual Play report than a thorough review, hence the lack of detail concerning the contents of the pdf.

Still, I'd like to apologize to those who felt it was inadequate as a review. You're not wrong.

To make amends, I'd like to provide a few more details. On the matter of rules, the game mechanic allows players to buy off failed rolls by making Sacrifices. These can be anything from injuries to psychotic episodes to weapon malfunctions. They can add successes, reduce target numbers, or provide whatever other kind of bonuses work in your system.

The Alien Threats are your Hollywood and TV type monsters...

- Hunters are your feral, nomadic, cyborg types. They track dangerous game across the universe, cloak themselves from mortal sight, and make blood sacrifices to Yog-Sothoth.

- Gatherers are liquid shape-shifters who harvest human organs as spare parts. (There's a preview on the website.)

- Breeders are your typical alien parasites. They gestate inside human hosts, consume their organs, then tear their way out to impregnate new victims!

- Tormentors, as seen on many Star Trek episodes, are those "superior" species who toy with human subjects out of curiosity, to prepare for invasion, or to see if we're worthy.

The Lovecraftian section covers...

- The Mi-Go, from brain cylinders to their city on Pluto.

- Azathoth as Idiot God, origin of the universe, and secret to zero-point energy.

- Yog-Sothoth as the Key to the Gate; he demands blood sacrifices from anyone who wishes to travel faster than light.

- Shub-Niggurath as the principle of self-organization that gives rise to galaxies, planets, and DNA.

The last section was the topic of the review: The adventure scenario called "Project Carcosa." It's meant to be run in 3-5 hours and pre-generated characters are provided.

Yes, I do self-reviews to raise awareness of my games, but I try to be honest in my assessments. In the future, maybe this kind of report would be better turned into an Actual Play post to the forums, rather than a playtest review.

L8r, --Dan

P.S. Concerning the ratings: I tried to rate myself relative to other products. As the game's author, I made a conscious choice not to include art. However, I know that most other products do, so I game myself a lower rating.