System Mastery

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/systemmastery20.mp3 Episode 20 – Cthulutech It might just be because we like 75% of the brazenly lifted source material, but Cthulhutech passes our review gauntlet and comes up looking pretty fun.  We discuss the many variations on giant robot and giant monster robot you can play as, discuss the latest iteration of merits and flaws, and hash out the concept of poker dice in our latest episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/systemmastery19.mp3 SystemMastery 19 – Furry Pirates This week, we take hold of a book with a bifurcated design sensibility.  Will we actually discover “Swashbuckling Adventures in the Furry Age of Piracy”?  Or will we find that the furries appear to have been added to this book late during development?  Is this a case of Type 1 or Type 2 Furabetes?  What social rank must a male furry be at before he is expected to wear a wig (unless he is a Puritan)?  We struggle to answer all these questions in our 19th episode.  Special thanks to Ryan for the suggestion.  Never suggest anything again, Ryan (keep suggesting things). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/systemmastery18.mp3 SystemMastery 18 – Big Eyes, Small Mouth We sit down for a rousing discussion about the many varieties of anime, and the game that tries to let you play them all.  Big Eyes, Small Mouth is a charming attempt to capture the entirety of a diverse range of shows into a single ruleset.  There are a few glaring errors, but that’s what new editions are for, we guess. In the meantime, let’s make fun of an old book and a bunch of TV shows! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/systemmastery171.mp3 SystemMastery 17 – Don’t Look Back:  Terror is Never Far Behind Don’t Look Back is a mid-90s Horror RPG, featuring hilarious send-ups of your favorite 80s horror film tropes!  Oh no wait, that’s just the cover.  The actual text appears to be a middle school math book with some surprisingly opinionated digressions about what constitutes a “techno-nerd.”  With a name like this, we didn’t really expect a realism heartbreaker of a game.  Dig in with us as we discuss the first RPG we’ve seen to use absolute values (note, the math kind, not the moral kind) on this week’s System Mastery Podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/systemmastery16.mp3 In today’s installment of System Mastery we seek to determine if one dad could beat up another dad, assuming the dads were Susano-O and Papa Legba. We’re reviewing Scion, a White Wolf game of thoroughly modern godlings in a modern world, battling titans to stop hell on Earth or some damn thing. Special guest host Claire joins us in our discussion of a stereotype battle to determine if this book’s Japanese gods of anime could be more offensive than its bloody bloody blood bloods of Mesoamerica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/systemmastery15.mp3 This week, we test the very limits of what defines an RPG, with a game that removes a core element to the concept.  There are seven characters in this game.  There is no character creation in this book.  There is however a lot of high adventure, archaeology, and … light sexual abuse of a student.  We review Indiana Jones, the 1984 RPG from well-remembered developer TSR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/systemmastery14.mp3 Editors Note: Before pressing record on this podcast, I had to press Forward, Down, and Down-Forward.  We take a look at the 1993 White Wolf storytelling classic, Street Fighter.  A grim parade of cheap stereotypes, or a surprisingly charming fighting system?  Can’t it be both? System Mastery is always looking for suggestions.  If you have a specific old RPG you think we should discuss, love it or hate it, let us know in the comments below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/systemmastery13.mp3 The worst thing about this book is right there in the picture.  Someone really had a …fascination with drow, and their apparent immediate abandonment of spider-themed fetish gear for spider-themed raver gear.  The best thing about this book?  Nearly everything else!  Join us for a surprise example of a D20 product we didn’t hate in today’s review of D20 Modern:  Urban Arcana. System Mastery is always looking for suggestions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/systemmastery12.mp3 Seriously, another edgy urban game with no magic or sci-fi elements at all?  Well, almost.  D20 Modern wants to be every game for everyone, as long as it’s not D&D.  We discuss Stat Heroes, the most boring feats ever, and a crazy wealth system in today’s episode.  Tune in next time as we do our first expansion review, as well.  We’ll be tackling the crazy awesome or awesome crazy D20 Modern: Urban Arcana, the one with the gnoll pimp. System Mastery is always looking for suggestions.  If you have a specific old RPG you think we should discuss, love it or hate it, let us know in the comments below, find us at https://www.facebook.com/systemmastery, or email us at SystemMastery@gmail.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/systemmastery11.mp3 Delivered straight to your grim, gritty earholes, System Mastery brings you a review of Haven:  City of Violence.  This “hyperkinetic action simulator” boasts a three-line deep Wikipedia page that tells of it’s glorious record as “the first game to be optioned for a movie before the game was complete!”  They probably should have just stopped writing at that point.  We talk racism, sexism, Sepultura, wicked sweet wrestling moves, and more in this ultra-realistic 11th episode.  Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices