ghost-angel Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I also had a chance to look over the small portion of completed manuscript. The set up provided so far is a fairly standard issue Cyberpunk Dystopia. Governmental Collapse, Mega-Corporations Rule, Social Unrest, Persona Freedoms Stripped In Lieu Of The Bottom Line. Classic stuff, in this case classic stuff is a good thing. Chapter One as I've read deals with trying to 'set up the mood' - it goes over issues of Government types, Social aspects (Freedoms vs Rights), Religious influence, Social Dynamics, Ethics and Morality and lastly Entertainment. All of this is done in a very generic "here's kind of what each of these are and the polar extremes" - but it's unconnected to the setting at this point. This entire section should either be deleted (it serves no purpose to lecture gamers on Governmental Types and Polar Extremes in a Setting Book) - or moved to a point After the full setting is explained, and connected specifically to Setting Examples. Chapter Two is Character Creation. The setting works to set up two levels, Normal and Gifted (50+ point characters and 350 point characters). Without too much middle ground between the two. I would probably have set up the levels as Standard Heroic and Standard Superheroic and then picked one as the default level for most campaigns. But it's good to see a setting look at both aspects and power levels within it's boundries. A whole bunch of Package Deals are provided here, an always appreciated and helpful tool when setting up a campaign. There are nineteen of them - I hope by the time the book is finalized they're either alphabetized or an organizational theme is presented to unify groupings of them. The one element introduced here that I really think will help set the mood of the setting up is a Compassion stat - which measures your Soul or Humanity level. What drops or raises this will hopefully be a part of entire Campaign Themes - but it's changed enough from what I have on hand that I can't say much more with certainty beyond that it should be a major mechanical part of Campaigns with this setting and help it stand out quite nicely. The other Chapters with any info just contain Vehicle and Cybernetics write-ups. I don't review powers - they'll either work as written when you sit down to game, or won't and you'll change them. Powers are Powers in my opinion. I can't wait to get some solid information and history of the setting with some specifics to really sink my teeth into. Looking forward to progress reports - Hero needs a solid Cyberpunk offering, and I think these guys can provide it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation Sounds interesting but I have one question and I hope it's not taken the wrong way. In Chapter 1 where political systems, ethics, etc are addressed does it seem like the author's personal political feelings/values are being preached or is it a fairly neutral description*? *I understand its very rare to have a discussion about those subjects that is totally neutral but there are degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted February 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation No, he's not preaching his POV. It reads a lot like a summation of my High School Government Civics class though. It just needs more connection to the setting specifically, in fact I think it needs to be moved to come after setting history and description. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcan Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation I haven't seen the actual draft copy yet, but I've been talking to The_Patriot about the setting. The intent is for normals to also be 350 points, but not allowed to purchase powers. "Super skills" might be allowed, depending on GM interpretation (I haven't heard anything official from The_Patriot on the subject), and most of the points spent on gear - much like in a standard Superheroic game. Much of it is still in process, I am under the impression that little is fully 'set in stone' right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted February 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation Yeah, it's really nebulous at the moment. The Point Guidelines I have list Normal as 0-350 Points are Gifted as 350+ Points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Patriot Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation Yeah, it's really nebulous at the moment. The Point Guidelines I have list Normal as 0-350 Points are Gifted as 350+ Points. The points allowed for Gifted at the start of any game is 350 points. The world isn't geared for higher starting point totals. Normals get the flexibity over what their total points are while Gifted are stuck at 350. That is, of course, if a GM decides to change it. In that case, the points max is upped for Normals as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation what does the phrase"inceptum terminus"mean btw/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Patriot Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation what does the phrase"inceptum terminus"mean btw/ It's Latin for Beginning and Ending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Re: Inceptum Terminus: Chronicles of the New Confederation thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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