One of the things that I talked about as being a developing trend in role-playing games for 2018 has been science fiction as a rising genre. Kicked off by Gen Con's biggest selling game, Paizo's science fiction/fantasy role-playing game Starfinder, and hopefully buoyed by upcoming games like the new Alternity that is supposed to come out this year. But, it won't just be because of the big games that we'll see a surge in science fiction, no, the tiny games will be just as important as the big ones.
I thought about putting a bunch of SEO-inducing names of movies and science fiction franchises into the body of this review for the added traffic, but honestly Tiny Frontiers doesn't need the boost. Part of a line of "tiny" role-playing games put out by Gallant Knight Games, this book is the science fiction version of the rules debuted in Tiny Dungeons. I picked up my copy of Tiny Frontiers at this past Gen Con: a nice hardback with a bound-in book mark, a cute little GM's screen with some of the important random tables on it, and a set of special dice with a ringed planet in place of the six face.
I will say right off the bat: if you don't like rules lights games, you won't be interested in Tiny Frontiers in any form. This game is so light that it makes Original Dungeons & Dragons feel like Pathfinder in comparison. Yes, that is definitely hyperbole, but it cuts to the chase, not every game is intended for every gamer and that is okay.
The resolution mechanic of Tiny Frontiers is a unique twist on these mechanics. The basic task resolution roll is 2d6, and rather than totally the results of the dice, or any other sort of math, the roll is considered to be a success if either of the dice comes up with a 5 or 6. There are things that can lower the range of success to a 4 or greater, and times when you can roll "with advantage" and add a third die to the roll. Much like with Original Dungeon & Dragons, damage done is uniform, regardless of the weapon being used by a character.
This does, however, give a cinematic tone to play. Characters can be difficult to kill, but combats can be fast. In tone combat feels like something out of Star Wars or The Guardians of the Galaxy. There are no attributes, or even really skills, in Tiny Frontiers. Character creation is quick: you pick a race and a couple of traits for your character. Traits can give situational benefits or special abilities to characters.
This can require a GM who pays attention to what is happening, and is able to make rulings on the fly to keep play moving quickly. If trust is an issue with members of a gaming group, and you need rules to enforce the behavior of players and their characters, a game like Tiny Frontiers won't be for you. But these sorts of issues run deeper than any rule set should address anyway.
The real "meat" of Tiny Frontiers would be the micro-settings that make up the bulk of the book. Tiny Frontiers itself is "generic," in that it has no default setting and assumes that groups will most like use these rules to power their existing ideas. There are some small hints to an implied setting in the various races available to characters, but nothing is expressly spelled out. There are settings by Ryan Schoon, Elizabeth Chaipraditkul, Ben Woerner and Marie Brennan (among others) among the micro-settings.
None of these micro-settings are long, each is only about four pages long, so don't expect a lot in the way of added mechanics from them. Mostly the micro-settings are guidelines to using the game's rules with specific genres or concepts. Not surprisingly, transhumanism is addressed by a couple of the micro-settings, and many of them tend to be explorations of more philosophical aspects of science fiction. As someone whose expectations of science fiction were molded by the British New Wave writers, as well as the sympathetic science fiction writers who clustered around Harlan Ellison's groundbreaking Dangerous Visions anthology, I am more likely to enjoy science fiction that is more than just the square jawed rocketeers of old.
For me, I think that the simplicity and flexibility of the Tiny Frontiers ruleset would work well with a Metal Hurlant inspired game, but that is often where my mind goes with science fiction gaming. The lightness of the rules means that, for those inclined, you can as easily approach your own versions of Star Trek or Star Wars in your own Tiny Frontiers games.
I know that a revision of Tiny Frontiers is in the works, based no doubt off of the changes to the rules that have come about because of the second edition of Tiny Dungeons that Gallant Knight Games recently released. I haven't looked yet at Tiny Dungeons, I have a PDF languishing on my hard drive that I haven't had a chance yet to read, so I don't know what has changed in that game that could impact Tiny Frontiers. That will be something to see.
Tiny Frontiers is a fun, simple game for people who or looking for a simple rules system with which to bring their ideas to life, or for people who want a pickup game that fills the space of a night or two when they can't get their regular gaming on. Don't mistake simplicity for being incomplete, because everything that you're going to need to play is in this slim volume. There is the potential for a lot of great gaming in this small package.
I thought about putting a bunch of SEO-inducing names of movies and science fiction franchises into the body of this review for the added traffic, but honestly Tiny Frontiers doesn't need the boost. Part of a line of "tiny" role-playing games put out by Gallant Knight Games, this book is the science fiction version of the rules debuted in Tiny Dungeons. I picked up my copy of Tiny Frontiers at this past Gen Con: a nice hardback with a bound-in book mark, a cute little GM's screen with some of the important random tables on it, and a set of special dice with a ringed planet in place of the six face.
I will say right off the bat: if you don't like rules lights games, you won't be interested in Tiny Frontiers in any form. This game is so light that it makes Original Dungeons & Dragons feel like Pathfinder in comparison. Yes, that is definitely hyperbole, but it cuts to the chase, not every game is intended for every gamer and that is okay.
The resolution mechanic of Tiny Frontiers is a unique twist on these mechanics. The basic task resolution roll is 2d6, and rather than totally the results of the dice, or any other sort of math, the roll is considered to be a success if either of the dice comes up with a 5 or 6. There are things that can lower the range of success to a 4 or greater, and times when you can roll "with advantage" and add a third die to the roll. Much like with Original Dungeon & Dragons, damage done is uniform, regardless of the weapon being used by a character.
This does, however, give a cinematic tone to play. Characters can be difficult to kill, but combats can be fast. In tone combat feels like something out of Star Wars or The Guardians of the Galaxy. There are no attributes, or even really skills, in Tiny Frontiers. Character creation is quick: you pick a race and a couple of traits for your character. Traits can give situational benefits or special abilities to characters.
This can require a GM who pays attention to what is happening, and is able to make rulings on the fly to keep play moving quickly. If trust is an issue with members of a gaming group, and you need rules to enforce the behavior of players and their characters, a game like Tiny Frontiers won't be for you. But these sorts of issues run deeper than any rule set should address anyway.
The real "meat" of Tiny Frontiers would be the micro-settings that make up the bulk of the book. Tiny Frontiers itself is "generic," in that it has no default setting and assumes that groups will most like use these rules to power their existing ideas. There are some small hints to an implied setting in the various races available to characters, but nothing is expressly spelled out. There are settings by Ryan Schoon, Elizabeth Chaipraditkul, Ben Woerner and Marie Brennan (among others) among the micro-settings.
None of these micro-settings are long, each is only about four pages long, so don't expect a lot in the way of added mechanics from them. Mostly the micro-settings are guidelines to using the game's rules with specific genres or concepts. Not surprisingly, transhumanism is addressed by a couple of the micro-settings, and many of them tend to be explorations of more philosophical aspects of science fiction. As someone whose expectations of science fiction were molded by the British New Wave writers, as well as the sympathetic science fiction writers who clustered around Harlan Ellison's groundbreaking Dangerous Visions anthology, I am more likely to enjoy science fiction that is more than just the square jawed rocketeers of old.
For me, I think that the simplicity and flexibility of the Tiny Frontiers ruleset would work well with a Metal Hurlant inspired game, but that is often where my mind goes with science fiction gaming. The lightness of the rules means that, for those inclined, you can as easily approach your own versions of Star Trek or Star Wars in your own Tiny Frontiers games.
I know that a revision of Tiny Frontiers is in the works, based no doubt off of the changes to the rules that have come about because of the second edition of Tiny Dungeons that Gallant Knight Games recently released. I haven't looked yet at Tiny Dungeons, I have a PDF languishing on my hard drive that I haven't had a chance yet to read, so I don't know what has changed in that game that could impact Tiny Frontiers. That will be something to see.
Tiny Frontiers is a fun, simple game for people who or looking for a simple rules system with which to bring their ideas to life, or for people who want a pickup game that fills the space of a night or two when they can't get their regular gaming on. Don't mistake simplicity for being incomplete, because everything that you're going to need to play is in this slim volume. There is the potential for a lot of great gaming in this small package.
