System Mastery

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/system-mastery-actual-play-love-dread.mp3 Vacations can’t stop us, and neither can federal holidays.  Step right up and listen to our first full-length Actual Play episode, featuring the doomy tale of the Valentine’s Day killer assaulting… well I’m not actually sure what city this ended up being after all the arguing.  We combine amazing RPG Dread (not to be reviewed by the likes of us) and ridiculous Jenga ripoff Love Jenga (LOVE COMMUNICATION) to form one terrifying night of high school romance gone horribly wrong.  Special guests include Arian, Devin, and Sydney.  Thanks team! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/system-mastery-72-everway.mp3 What’s in this box?  Who drew a big circle on the cover?  What’s up with the grey swirly mist situation in the background?  In Everway, players make characters by telling each other stories about little picture cards with questions on the back.  A faux tarot deck is also involved.  It’s a bizarre, beautiful, isolated gem  that was too weird to evolve any further in the gaming world, and we got a copy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/system-mastery-71-rifts-part-2.mp3 Well, here we are.  We put Rifts in the rearview.  We still love this dumb game.  In today’s episode, we finish our discussion of the core book.  RCCs, OCCs, psionics, magic, and the crazy world of Rifts Earth.  Don’t forget to check out the bonus content over on our Patreon if you haven’t already joined that train. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/system-mastery-70-rifts-part-1.mp3 We hope you’re as ready for this as we are.  After 70 episodes, it’s time to review the game that somehow started both of us down the path that ultimately led to System Mastery existing at all.  Rifts was the first game for both teenage Jef and teenage Jon, and somehow we grew into almost functional adults anyway!  We can’t even begin to cram everything crazy about this book into one episode, so watch this space in two weeks for Part 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/system-mastery-69-gurps-discworld.mp3 Today is good day for somebody else to die!  We almost like Discworld TOO much, so we start by trying our hardest to review GURPS Lite.  After that, it’s a visit to the back of the Great Turtle in this licensed game that was actually written in part by the source that’s being licensed!  It’s Discworld, it’s powered by GURPS, and also there’s some music with rocks in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/system-mastery-68-bunnies-burrows.mp3 This game has achieved a sort of fame because the name implies that it might be sort of friendly and cuddly.  It’s been referenced in other games as the RPG you should seek out if you’re looking for an easy time.  Like the training wheels of games.  Well let me tell you now, what they called training wheels in 1976 is what we’d call “not punching your kid for falling off the bike” now.  This game may only be 39 pages long, but 39 is also the number of minutes you can expect your rabbit to live.  It’s Bunnies & Burrows, and nature is red in tooth and saving throw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/system-mastery-67-seventh-sea.mp3 No really, it’s genuine this time!  An actual review of the first edition of the famous swashbuckling RPG 7th Sea.  An interesting blend of very familiar mechanics, curious ideas for character creation, and not-Europe world building created by famous RPG advice dingus John Wick.  This game has a hell of a following.  The 2nd edition was recently the most well-funded RPG kickstarter to date!  But before we dig into the new, let’s take apart the old in today’s (real, actual) review of 7th Sea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/system-mastery-66-7th-sea.mp3 April Fools!  This is really more about an hour of digressions.  People keep asking what the point is, so here’s the point of that.  Actually have you ever seen the movie “The Point?”  That was weird, right?  Just that wobbly 70s line-art cartoon style you see in stuff like Pink Panther and occasional sex-ed cartoons, and a bunch of stuff designed to encourage you to think for yourself.  Sorta boring, honestly.  So yeah, the basic concept behind the April Fools joke was… y’know what I’ve noticed over the past few years is more people complaining about April Fools then people actually doing any April Fool’s thing.  I assume that’s more about the rise of meme-language.  Not that many people actually legitimately hate April Fool’s but anyone will share any image that has a minion in it.  That seems reasonable.  Hey, look at this clip.  Okay, I think that about wraps it up. While there’s certainly reams of dirt to dish on the author of 7th Sea, there’s no getting around his raw talent for game design.  Jon Wick’s 7th Sea is a swashbuckling adventure game that more or less hits all the notes we want to see in a game.  Heck, even the entry for the seduction knack leaves “the opposite sex” out of there.  But are there cracks in the polish?  With the recent amazing success of the new 7th Sea Kickstarter, we find the original edition right in our crosshairs.  Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/system-mastery-65-the-great-war-of-magellan.mp3 So… this one didn’t really have any art assets large enough to use for the rotating display thing.  Please enjoy a fine Magellanic Penguin.  It’s as relevant as anything else would have been.  This game is about a big war in space between the evilloids and the goodites.  It was written by a fellow who starred in the 70s Battlestar Galactica.  There’s a surprising amount of information about agriculture.  Have a good time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/system-mastery-64-dragonball-z.mp3 It took us a long time to get to this book because we were gathering power.  This week we present our in-depth analysis of this RPG about gathering balls.  It’s Dragonball Z, the Anime Adventure Game, also available as a wall scroll or plastic maquette! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices