These landed yesterday but I didn't have a chance to give them a good look until this evening...mini-review follows :)
Arrived, from Canada, well-wrapped & packaged in 7 working days, so that's pretty good. Visually this is an attractive ruleset - nicely spiral bound & with a protective clear acetate coversheet. The paper they are printed on is very heavy - almost card really - and nicely glossy. They're full colour and beautifully presented in a suitably Eldritch 'feel'. There are nice photos and drawings throughout which add nicely to the quality of these rules.
They weigh in at 74 pages + game playsheets & rosters [all photocopiable] - rules are presented like this:
Game Rules [Basic & Advanced]
Threshold & Lurkers [Playing as Threshold & Playing as Lurkers]
Weapons, Skills & Magic
Scenarios [Game Sequence, Basic Scenarios, Quest Scenarios & an Example of Play]
Log Sheets
The rules themselves are great - and if you, like me, have enjoyed reading / playing the free demo set or the Beta VUK cultist v cultist rules, you will love these - very well-written with good gameplay and [on reading at least] seem nicely balanced - weapons are not uber-powerful and Lurkers seem to be powerful enough to be a challenge whilst not being overblown.
Threshold [ie secret government agents] are presented in Character [you], Agents & Civilians - supported by Special Agents [Antiquarian, Brute, Demolitionist, Kung Fu Expert, Medic, Sniper, Spiritualist & Squad Leader] who can be brought in for a limited period of time.
Lurkers include Humans [Cultist, Cult Leader, High Priest, Maniac], Humanoids [Ghoul, Fishman, Missing Link, Serpentman & Night Gaunt], Beasts [Daemonic Hound, Werewolf, Formless Thing], Undead [Zombie, Mummy, Blasphemous Construct, Conglomerate] & Daemons [Dark Puppeteer, Scrawny One, Winged Nightmare, Night Stalker & Godling]. Weapons range from clubs to .30 MG & Dynamite.
The scenarios are well-presented with nicely atmospheric variety - and the campaign rules system will allow for nice variety in future scenarios as Map Pieces [as treasure] allow for Threshold players to determine the choice of scenario played.
The example of game play is useful too - again, well-written and takes you through a good example of play - not just filler.
Overall - totally recommended: this has everything in one place that I've been looking for in Cthulhu gaming - with some good support from the design team on their website too.
[I'll take a couple of quick pics later to illustrate the look of the book - batteries on charge at the moment]
sounds cool :) :D
Nice overview Nik. Look forward to the pics.
Here we go - have deliberately kept these small & a bit blurry :)
They should give an idea though...oh, and they get better with further reading too 8)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41164.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41165.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41168.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41169.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41170.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41171.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41172.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f175/nikharwood/STA41173.jpg)
And now you can get a nice 18th century variant...for free...hmm - time to dig out the SYW bits box ;) :)
http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.com/2011/06/strange-aeons-18th-century-mod-version.html
OMG Nik, I can`t believe I have missed this thread until now :o
What you described sounds totally and utterly awesome.
It`s been ages since you originally wrote this thread so, I can now ask - tell me tell me tell me all about it? What are your thoughts on the game now that you`ve had time to tackle it all properly?
Six
Six mate - try & keep up ;) ;D
They're lovely - if you want to know more, have a look here at some batreps:
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2566.0
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2594.0
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2699.0
http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2696.0
'bout time I gave 'em another run-out to be honest...
QuoteSix mate - try & keep up
I`m totally chastised :o :D #-o 8-} *and even slaps own wrist to be extra sure.*
WOW... Batreps look so cooooooooooool 8)