

System Mastery
Jef Aldrich and Jon Taylor
Jef and Jon review old roleplaying games
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 30, 2020 • 1h 45min
System Mastery 190 – Interstitial – Our Hearts Intertwined
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/system-mastery-190-interstitial-our-hearts-intertwined.mp3
Have you not gotten your fill of Kingdom Hearts yet? Of course not, no one has. Not until someone bursts Nomura like a pinata and eats all the ideas that come spilling forth will anyone be satiated. But in the meantime, why not check out this game definitely not modeled after it at all (for legal purposes). It’s also our first foray into talking about PBTA (now you know why the episode is almost two hours long)!
This week’s Announcement Masteries
Would you like to learn all about musical artists that have and still are making strong statements in politics and the LGBT community? Check out This Review Kills Fascists, a youtube show conveniently located at youtube.com/thisreviewkillsfascists!
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Dec 16, 2020 • 1h 40min
System Mastery 189 – New Gods of Mankind
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/system-mastery-189-new-gods-of-mankind.mp3
Now here’s some good old fashioned back to basics shit. Got to be, right? Name like that? Shirtless axe dude on the cover? Well, color us surprised because this thing is basically the top down part of Actraiser as an RPG. Neat ideas abound, but can it get to the desired double “would play?”
This week’s Announcement Masteries
Julian Kay (Alien Rope Burn): Blogs, columns, and roleplaying games par excellence! Check out their excellent work and especially support that Patreon!
Check ARBco’s work out over at https://linktr.ee/juliankay
UnPlaytested Podcast and Stream: Unplaytested is the show about games that have never been played before… because they never EXISTED before! On every episode of the Unplaytested podcast, Alex and Lara will roll a random result off a big list of your ludicrous suggestions for RPGs, and spend an hour figuring out how to actually turn that into a playable game. They stream the resulting games too!
Visit them at Unplaytested.com, Twitch.tv/unplaytested, or follow them on twitter at @unplaytested
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Dec 2, 2020 • 1h 15min
System Mastery 188 – Star Crossed
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/system-mastery-188-star-crossed.mp3
Oh my, a game about the uncertain moments at the precipice of romance or disaster? Neat! Star Crossed is a 2018 game by Alex Roberts that creates tension and titillation through the use of some sort of well-recognized wooden brick tower. It’s not out of print or anything! We’re trying something relatively new here.
This week’s Announcement Masteries
Sail!: SAIL! is a new roleplaying game by Cas Swanson. SAIL! let’s players take on the role of dashing swashbucklers as they sail the high seas and fight an evil Empire.
Check SAIL! out over at https://calevmir.itch.io/sail-rpg
SuperIdols! RPG: Welcome to the world of SuperIdols! RPG, where superpowers exist but only among the musically-inclined — especially those with dreams of pop star fame and glory. Join GM ErynCerise and a table of queer, gender-diverse players as they play teen idols aiming to master their powers, find their identities as artists, and make a name for themselves.
Check out superidolsrpg.wordpress.com for more details.
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Nov 18, 2020 • 1h 22min
System Mastery 187 – Marvel Universe Roleplaying
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/system-mastery-187-marvel-universe-roleplaying.mp3
Out of the four Marvel RPGs that have happened over the years, this is one of them. Specifically, the 2003 diceless one made, inexplicably, by Marvel Comics themselves? Anyhow, it’s certainly got us talking a great deal, so you know that’s always good.
This week’s Announcement Masteries
Inspiration Point: A fun and friendly podcast about RPG design and gameplay, table attitudes, friendship, and more. Check out their show today or their brand new Patreon!
BOLT RPG: BOLT is a fast and tense action RPG built for hacking! Check it out now, it’s available for pre-order on Metal Weave Games for 35 USD or 10 USD!
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Nov 3, 2020 • 1h 9min
System Mastery 186 – Supermegatopia
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/system-mastery-186-supermegatopia.mp3
There’s nothing quite so exciting to find as a unique blend RPG. Here we see a blend of comedy, furry stuff, light breast expansion and pregnancy fetishes, and superheroes. I bet you didn’t know you were missing that unique swirl of content! Well, anyway, you shouldn’t.
This week’s Announcement Masteries
“Dinoplex: Cataclysm” is available now for $3.00 on DriveThruRPG and Itch.io. Take your players on a dinosaur vacation in space they’ll never forget!
Einar Másson: Instagram @emassonart, Twitter @einarmasson, E-mail emassonart@gmail.com. Prices range from about $50.00USD for a simple avatar to $150.00 USD for a full-figure full-color portrait to about $300.00 USD for more complicated stuff.
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Oct 21, 2020 • 1h 30min
System Mastery 185 – Teens In Space
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/system-mastery-185-teens-in-space.mp3
Ween or Treatween! Wait, what? This game is new! How the heck did that happen? Well, Jef’s supply of alien books isn’t low, but neither of us wanted to read something in Phoenix Command style rules and end the season mad, so we called an audible. Ever wonder what we think about much more modern game design? Well, this teen-focused sci-fi adventure is a great place to come find out!
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Oct 7, 2020 • 1h 22min
System Mastery 184 – Men In Black
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/system-mastery-184-mib.mp3
Oh no, are your pumpkins ablaze? Have you written out your list of mischief targets exclusively for the eyes of Ol’ Weeny? Well, get ready, because this October, it’s all new, all different IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU WEEEEEEEEEEN adventures. We’re doing alien games. Pretty simple. And we’re starting with this one. This licensed one from the 90s. You know what’s about to happen.
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Sep 23, 2020 • 1h 19min
Rifts World Book 3: England – System Mastery 183
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/system-mastery-183-rifts-world-book-3-england-1.mp3
Ooh look, a supplement! People love it when we do the supplements, right? We sort of needed a break for a bit while Jef navigates some medical shenanigans, so we tried to keep it light. And failed, this episode is huge. Oh well! More millennium trees for the rest of you!
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Sep 9, 2020 • 1h 17min
Itras By – System Mastery 182
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/system-mastery-182-itras-by.mp3[/audio]
Check out this wild game! No, literally, go check it out! This is a wild read of improv-driven story focused diceless gaming set in a surrealism-infused Norwegian dream city in the 1920s. It’s neat! Come on by for a rare System Mastery win.
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Aug 25, 2020 • 1h 18min
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 1st Edition – System Mastery 181
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/system-mastery-181-warhammer-fantasy-roleplaying-1st-edition.mp3
Small but vicious dog, right? You remember that? It’s that joke that’s in here? Anyhow hi there, how ya doin’? Wanna talk about a 1989 game that seems like it mysteriously sat unread on a shelf since 1977? WHFRP 1st edition can do that!
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