| From: | Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | "Cyberpirates" Review |
| Date: | Sat, 6 Dec 1997 18:40:55 EST |
Corporation during the first week of December, 1997.
Scales of 1 to 10, 10 being the best. I will admit now that I am somewhat
biased, as the book introduces material that I have been waiting on for more
than 2 years actively (took you guys long enough!!!). If I hadn't have cared
for the rules of Ships and Nautical Engagement, I would have burned the Rules
Integration section of my review intensely.
Please also note that the following is my purely "GM Professional" POV...my
"Player POV" considers this book just outright awesome.......
Quality- 8.9
By quality, I am referring to the general appearance of the book overall. The
few color stills were excellent, appearing more as oil paintings, and thus
more "themish" for the concept of Pirates. Again, there was a sense of good
organization, similar to that put forward by the Rigger 2 book during the
month of November.
Content- 9.2
The book works well with the given schematics of the SR universe as a whole,
and indicates to this reader that SR is truly a "genre" universe, and not
merely limited to corporate break-ins and the occasional yakuza slur game.
With the introduction of the Cyberpirates and the Rigger 2 in so short a
period, the Rigger Archetype has moved completely into the lead as to the most
"lethal" of all the SR Archetypes, surpassing even the Initiated Magician in
sheer overwhelming firepower.
Rule highlights include specific stats for "Ships" which is a class beginning
at the 100 Tonnes limit and going from there. Hull, Bulwark, Sonar,
Cavitation, and Thermoclines are all well integrated, for the purposes of game
mechanics. Lacking areas, IMHO, is where the existing Vehicle Class weapons,
such as the Autocannon and AAM can do damage to vehicles. The only outlines,
as found on page 166 of the text, indicate that not even the largest
previously existing weaponry has any effect what so ever....only to be counter
ruled on page 178 under the entry for the Vulkan Delphin RQ7, which uses
torpedos that use similar rules to AVM's, performing 4LN damage (which is a
readily convertable formula).
An occasional pencil or ink highlight would have been nice in the new vehicle
section.
Depth- 7.8
Cyberpirates does a remarkable job of bringing the Caribean League, the
Phillipines and West Africa to more vibrant color. Additional mentionings of
Madagascar seem to be tossed in more for flavor than for any other reason. An
obviously well developed sense of compassion went into the book, that is very
obvious throughout, with many of the previous mistakes found in SR sourcebooks
being corrected (it even has an index).
New Material- 9.5
Ships Stats, New Skills, Skill Explanations, New Gear, New Critters, New
Totems, New Spirits, New Cyberware....the book has nearly everything one could
ask for, given the limitations any sourcebook possesses. Outlines for spirit
interaction with vehicles is covered enough to make things performable for
even a GM of mid-level experience. Admittedly, the book is NOT for a
beginning GM, as it introduces the concept of themes beyond the conts view of
life (cont is slang for continental, landlovers, btw).
Rule Integrations- 8.1
Cyberpirates works well with the majority of SR material, as long as one stays
completely away from better details on magical activity, most notably, that of
Sorcery and the effects of certain pre-existing vehicle oriented magic (such
as Wrecker and Vehicle Mask). Wrecker, as it currently stands, would be
almost completely ineffective against Ships (not Boats mind you). The rule
indicates of Hull and Bulwark would indicate a reinforcement category that
goes beyond the spells ability to perform correctly. Vehicle Mask would work
well, IF, one directly considered the Hull attribute of a Ship the same as a
Body attribute of a more standard Vehicle.
Given the recent admission of Rigger 2 to the SR gaming array, it was also
upsetting to see "non-ship" class vehicle entries in the back of Cyberpirates
that didn't have equivalent write-ups. No Design Point costs, or indications
of major accessories (most people take for granted a submarine has water seal
I would think). Additionally, it would have been nice to have an expanded
vehicle design section for maritime and submaritime craft. Ideas for new
engines have become evident to Mike (Airwisp) and myself within 2 days of
aquiring the first book. Utilizing some of the Design Mechanics as found in
R2 will prove eventful, to put things mildly.
Overall Rating (by the math)- 8.7
