

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

Mar 5, 2014 • 1h 3min
System Mastery 14 – Street Fighter
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.
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Feb 17, 2014 • 59min
System Mastery 13 – Urban Arcana
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.
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Feb 7, 2014 • 1h 2min
System Mastery 12 – D20 Modern
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.
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Jan 22, 2014 • 1h 58min
System Mastery 11 – Haven: City of Violence
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!
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Jan 10, 2014 • 1h 8min
System Mastery 10 – Exalted
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/systemmastery10.mp3
Seriously, just look at that. It’s ridiculous. That’s the cover of one of the supplements. They wanted you to buy that book. They didn’t want you to hide it a featureless brown paper bag and try to smokescreen the purchase with a Snickers bar and one of those Bic lighters. Anyway, this week we read and discussed Exalted, the White Wolf anime demigod simulator. Can you wear a maxi pad instead of any sort of pants in this game? Probably!
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Dec 17, 2013 • 1h 7min
System Mastery 9 – Legend of the Five Rings
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/systemmastery9.mp3
Guest host Brian joins us to discuss Legend of the Five Rings, a game of swords, sorcery, swords, etiquette, and swords. It’s one of those katana things. We dig into the vast array of clans and the tiny array of classes that make up this surprisingly good Asian-themed RPG.
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Nov 20, 2013 • 1h 2min
System Mastery 8 – Skyrealms of Jorune
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/systemmastery81.mp3
We dug pretty deep to find this game, a sci-fi/fantasy far-future romp on a distant planet where all the magic is colored orbs and there are three different sizes of humans! Come with us as we grapple to understand the deepest reserve in history of sci-fi fantasy names, dig into a graph-derived combat system that we still don’t quite get, and for some reason spend a lot of time talking about breakfast cereal mascots. We understand the writer of this game is a fantastic guy, so apologies to him in advance!
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Nov 8, 2013 • 60min
System Mastery 7 – Everquest D20
Guest Russ joins the hosts to discuss Everquest D20, showcasing gameplay mechanics, character creation intricacies, attack delays, glitches, bard mechanics, mesmerization, and nostalgic exploration of early MMO days. The conversation delves into unique races, class improvements, and the allure of creative problem-solving in tabletop RPGs.

Oct 24, 2013 • 54min
System Mastery 6 – Ghostbusters RPG
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/systemmastery61.mp3
Is Slimer the Judas of the Ghostbusters franchise? We delve into the long-gone Ghostbusters RPG, and apparently hit our heads on the bottom. This RPG is tiny and weird and unfinished, but definitely worth a look. Enjoy!
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Oct 8, 2013 • 2h 3min
Episode 5 – Orpheus
https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/systemmastery5.mp3
The mild, heartwarming scares continue with our first Horrortoberfest podcast of October! Orpheus is a weird, weird outlier from the Old World of Darkness family. Get some friends together to play as sexy secret agent ghosts or the world’s worst bicycle messengers.
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