Bulldogs!

[Turanil]

BULLDOGS! REVIEW

Bulldogs! "A New Breed of Sci-fi", is a d20 science fiction supplement by Galileo Games. It is a soft-cover book of 216 pages.

I have an interest in d20 sci-fi games, and as such I will make in this review some comparisons between Bulldogs! and the other games I have (that is: Dragonstar, d20 Star-Wars, Traveller 20, and Blood & Space). Note that I didn't playtest the game.

1) The quality of the book itself: Galileo Games appears to be a small publishing company, thus we can understand and forgive that Bulldogs! is but a soft-cover book (which cover is really too soft), with art just of average quality. On the other hand, the layout is clear and pleasant to read. I would say that Bulldogs!'s art and layout is better than that of Blood & Space, but slightly inferior to Dragonstar, and way under that of Star-Wars revised rulebook. Otherwise, where Blood & Space for example, conveys an ambiance of hard sci-fi, Bulldogs! conveys more an ambiance of pulp comic book.

2) The game: In my opinion, one of the strongest point of Bulldogs!, is that it's based on D&D 3.0 /3.5 rules, yet retains a sci-fi flavor. See, Traveller 20 and d20 Star-Wars may be based on the d20 system, they are nonetheless independent games not really compatible with D&D material (such as monster books, really useful to populate planets). On the other hand, Dragonstar may be a supplement for D&D, you may be appalled at elves, hobbits, druids, and sorcerers piloting starships and wielding laser guns. (Then, Blood & Space is an in-between case. It is a toolkit that may be added to D&D, but probably requires more work on the part of the GM to use.) Bulldogs! however, can really be the solution for who wants a true sci-fi game (not Tolkien in space), yet would like to still use his basic D&D stuff rather than buy another score of books (as is the case for Star-Wars). I see Bulldogs! as a good purchase if you want to be able to reuse your D&D books (monster manuals and psi supplements jump to mind).

3) The Content: Bulldogs! provides with sci-fi races, classes, skills, feats, equipment, starships combat and construction rules, and a basic description of a galactic setting with adventures ideas.

• RACES: 10 races are presented, from the human race belonging to this universe, to really weird species such as the slug-like Tetsuashans, plus a robot "specie" of course indispensable to a sci-fi setting. I must say that I don't find those races always so well designed in terms of game mechanics. For example, a specie of 3 feet tall humanoids gets the same +2 bonus to Strength and Constitution as a specie of 9 feet tall creatures from a heavy gravity world. Otherwise, these races were designed with fun and pulp comic-book flavor in mind (or so it seems), and remind of Star Wars weird species. In any case, if you don't like them, it's easy to create new races (at least their game mechanics) using a set of rules specifically designed for this purpose.
  
• CLASSES: 8 classes are presented. The fighter and rogue come directly from the SRD, but include a selection of sci-fi skills and feats. Then, you get 6 new core classes: the Bounty Hunter (inspired from the ranger), Engineer, Gunner (who operates a starship's armament), Medic, Space-Pilot, and Space-Pirate (an hybrid of fighter and rogue). On the overall these classes are good, although I find the engineer and medic lacking creativity (taking ideas from other OGC would have not hurt; use of Skill Enhancement is abused!). And to note, it seems there is a typo concerning the engineer's saving throws (IMO he should get high Will saves rather than high Fort saves). I think Bulldogs!'s base classes are slightly better than that of Blood & Space and Dragonstar, but less original and interesting than those of d20 Star-Wars (I cannot really compare with Traveller 20, which is somewhat apart).
  
• PRESTIGE CLASSES: There is 4 prestige classes: Assassin, Infocity-Acolyte, Mata-Hari, and Secret Agent. I am disappointed by these classes, despite they wield some interesting role-playing potential. Assassin comes from the SRD, but loses spells without compensation (it could have gotten 6 skill points per level instead of 4, for example). Infocity-Acolyte requires five Knowledge skills at 10 ranks each, that I find a restricting requirement, plus the class looks bland (despite being a great idea). Mata-Hari and Secret-Agent are better, but remain on the average side nonetheless (and a bit weak I think). Anyway, there is a free netbook of Dragonstar prestige classes out there, and once you get it, you probably have all you would need in terms of sci-fi prestige classes.
  
• SKILLS & FEATS: There is a dozen new skills (or new uses of regular skills), plus 30 new feats. Some of them are good, some others not so good. For example, I like to get a System skill rather than a skill for using computers, plus another for using sensors, plus etc. (as is the case with T20 for instance). However, Astrogate, although a staple of sci-fi games, seems to be a waste of skill points (IMO: astrogation should only require a relevant computer software, and use of the System skill). When it comes to feats, some of them are interesting, like those for improving technological devices. Others could have been more thought out; two examples: Drink Alcohol could be geared toward all narcotic substances (not just alcohol), and maybe get a higher save bonus ; Maximize Effect states it can be used with "any technological device", and since energy weapons are obviously technological devices, it seems you could take this feat to do 8 points of damage with every shot rather than 1d8. This means the GM will have to evaluate these feats carefully before allowing them to players.
  
• GEAR - EQUIPMENT: There is 46 pages of sci-fi equipment and weapons. This should cover everything you may think of for a sci-fi adventurer. This part is a strong point of Bulldogs!.
  
• COMBAT: This useful, but too short (5 pages) chapter deals with a few combat rules concerning technological weapons, but also deals with radiation, low gravity, sci-fi traps, etc.
  
• STARSHIPS: There is 8 pages about starship construction (for comparison, T20 provides 56 pages on starship design), and 22 pages about starship combat. The rules are clear and easy to understand, contrary to some others that gave me a headache. However, aside from that, I can't say these rules are better; they are just different in their approach. In any case, I think GMs will have to throw in some house-rules, where starship construction is concerned (I especially think that starships get too few hit-points).
  
• SETTING & ADVENTURES: There is 10 pages of setting (a small galaxy) description, plus 10 pages of adventures ideas. For the setting, you get the basic idea, then will have to create your own setting by yourself. Since so many people love to create their own settings, I don’t see it as a bad point. If you like pre-generated settings, you can still use some Traveller pdf supplements, or go around on the Internet seek sci-fi homebrew worlds.

My conclusion: If you still don't have any d20 sci-fi game, but you are considering for buying one, Bulldogs! is certainly the answer. Dragonstar Starfarer's Handbook is hardcover and of better quality when it comes to art; but it is about hobbits piloting starfighters and wizards recording spells in notebooks, which may not please everyone (including me, as you can guess). Bulldogs! enables to forget about D&D while keeping most of its rules and books (plus it's easy to convert dwarves and elves, and have wizards record spells on computers in Bulldogs! if you would like that anyway). On the other hand, if you have endless money, and want to just forget about D&D, d20 Star-Wars is of much better quality (hardcover and full color, photos and fine art, etc.; with more thoroughly play-tested rules, written by renown game designers). Traveller 20 also makes for a much different feel, but it borders on complexity, and some of its rules I don't like (weak classes, too many skills, too many weapon feats, etc.). Thus, I see Bulldogs! as a cool and inexpensive add-on, that won't bring you too far from D&D in terms of games mechanics, but will let you experience something else.

Turanil

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Bulldogs! is a science fiction role-playing game set in a distant galaxy. Bulldogs! is not a typical sci-fi game. The emphasis here is not on the science, the emphasis is on the action. Bulldogs! is sci-fi that kicks ass. But don't just take our word for it. Read the review on Silven Crossroads.

Bulldogs! is a 216-page book that contains:

- 10 new character races.

- 6 new primary classes, including the Bounty Hunter, the Space Pilot, the Engineer, and the Space Pirate.

- New skills and feats appropriate for the science-fiction setting.

- Rules to create your own unique races, usable for any d20 game.

- 20 pages of new weapons.

- Starship combat rules.

 

[RaveN]

Good review, but a few comments I'd like to add.

Bulldogs! is set in a non-human dominated setting, although it does have human-ish type races. Pretty neat that and a distinction from SW and T20.

Also, Galileo (or a DM) should seriosly consider making a flow chart of the ship combat rules. While they seem to flow better than most others that I've seen and keep close to the standard d20 combat system, it takes at least a few reads to get a handle on. Even then some of the rules (like electronic jamming) are hidden in out of place passages.

 

[trancejeremy]

The spiritual successor to Star Frontiers

Bulldogs! is a d20 based Science Fiction RPG from Galileo Games, a very small RPG publisher (and also the co-founder of Indie Press Revolution, which also sells the game now).. It originally came out in about April of 2004, I believe. Maybe a bit earlier. I first heard of it in the ads forum over on RPG.net (boo!)

When I saw the post about Bulldogs!, I said to the author, "I already have half a dozen science-fiction d20 RPGs, what does Bulldogs! do that those don't?". I probably came off as a bit of a jerk, but I didn't mean to be like that, I just have a tact deficiency (or in d20 terms, a really low charisma score).

Still, I did have a basic point, there are a number of SF d20 RPGs, not to mention this summer's release of D20 Future. I don't exactly remember what his answer was, but I remember it impressed me.

So I put Bulldogs! near the top of my want list. But things went awry (my TV went kaput) and I had to use the money I was going to buy Bulldogs (and some other RPGs) to replace it. I did have enough for one new book and was thinking about getting Bulldogs!, but I went with d20 Future, mostly because it supposedly had Star Frontiers as a setting in it, and is something I am a huge fan of. Ultimately though, while it had some Star Frontiers material in d20 Future, there was very little (not really enough to play it using the rules) and not really Star Frontiers in terms of "feel". (And since I discovered I needed a new computer, I had to stop buying RPGs for the foreseeable future, so I never did get around to buying Bulldogs!, though I felt guilty about it.)


Getting to my point, I finally did get Bulldogs! and it is indeed quite different from the other d20 SF RPGs I have. The feel is very much like the original Star Frontiers, which was exactly what I was hoping for from d20 Future, but didn't get. Sort of a two fisted (or 3 fisted, given the Dralasites) science fiction game, full of action and adventure. But where Star Frontiers frankly didn't make much sense, this is coherently put together.

Background!
It's set in a small galaxy, far far away. (But apparently not a long time ago). There are no humans per se, but there is a race that is essentially human, Arsurbans, but somewhat more colorful (they can also be red, green, or blue skinned). The Galaxy is dominated by two empires. One run by a bunch of Snake people, one run by beings that are suspiciously similar to Drow, but without hair.

In between the two empires is a neutral zone, called "The Frontier". This was set up between the two empires because they realized that they were too evenly matched, and an all out war between the two would result in no empires. Half of a galaxy is better than none of a galaxy.

So, it's set up as something of a cold war situation. The Neutral Zone between the two is actually about the size of either empire, but is not united as a whole, but made up of little planets and governments. Also, there are a lot of megacorporations, or Pan-Galactic Corporations. Again, similar to Star Frontiers (they weren't prominent in the original boxed set, but were in the Knight Hawks expansion).
While the basic setting is explained up front, little tidbits of the setting are given every few pages or so in a little sidebar (okay, mid bar, as usually it's in the middle of the page). There are lot of little pieces of info that really help give you the feel for the setting, and also often give plot hooks for possible adventures.

Characters!
Bulldogs! uses the basic d20 rules, that is, essentially the D&D rules. Which is something of a double edged sword, especially these days. Many people prefer the d20 Modern/d20 Future rules for modern day/space games. This is one of those d20 books that is almost complete - pretty much everything is explained but character generation/advancement. So if you know d20 reasonably well, you really don't actually need the PHB with you.

It essentially re-uses (and reprints) 2 of the existing D&D PC classes, the Fighter and Rogue (most d20 based games do the same thing, as they are the 2 non-magical classes that don't suck), as well as the non-spell casting NPC classes for NPCs, while introducing 6 new PC classes. The Space Pirate, the Space Pilot, the Bounty Hunter, the Medic, the Engineer, and the Gunner.

They are sort of grouped into 2 groups of 4, one group of land based classes and one group of space based classes. Obviously, the space based classes are most useful on starships, but they are reasonably effective all-around (unlike say, the classes in Traveller 20).

The classes are all pretty much what they sound like. The only one that really needs explanation is the Space Pirate, which not unlike a Fighter/Rogue multi-class (and in fact, the text mentions it's sort of a combination of the two). But is different enough to justify its existence.

There's only a handful of prestige classes: The Assassin (basically the D&D one minus the magic), the Mata Hari (a seductive spy), Secret Agent and Infocity Acolyte (which is sort of a hacker).

Skills are largely the same as normal d20, though it adds the obvious new skills for a futuristic games: Pilot, Systems (for computers), Astrogate, etc
Same with Feats. Some new ones fitting a modern/SF setting, including several new item creation and item enhancing feats. The latter let an engineer (or someone else skilled) improve and customize a weapon or piece of gear.

Aliens!
Bulldogs! takes the Star Wars approach to aliens - that there are a whole bunch of different types of them, too many to count. 10 are included in the book, and there is a system to generate new ones with abilities that are balanced. The aliens are a mix of near human, humanoid, and some that are just plain alien.

I've always thought aliens should be alien. One of my favorite Science Fiction series is "Sector General" by the late James White. It's not exactly the deepest SF around, it's sort of like "Emergency!" only set in space - about a space hospital and an ambulance starship. They answer space emergency calls and often find weird, undiscovered species.

Rarely do you find weird aliens like in those books. Usually they are just like the ones on Star Trek - people with funny objects or fruit glued to their foreheads, or are animal-people of some sort.

Bulldogs! does indeed have some of those, but also has some of the truly alien sort. For instance, there is the Dolom, which is sort of a 3 legged , 3 armed, 3 eyed, er, thing. They remind me a lot of the Hudlar from the Sector General series. Another thing is sort of like a one eyed slug. And perhaps inspired by the classic "Hoka!", there is a race of teddy bears. Only these are amoral (if not evil) Teddy bears, not really impressionable ones. (Their background story is that their race was genetically engineered, but turned out to have been flawed, and overthrew their makers, which is plausible.)

But more importantly, the alien race creation rules make it easy to come up with very strange, very alien, aliens.

Basically, it divies up special abilities or advantages (and disadvantages) into 3 categories, I, II, and III. A standard race gets 5 points, and something from category I costs 1 point, II 2 points, III 3 points.
I was able to stat up races from Sector General and many of the ones from the Master of Orion series really quickly. So it's fast. Is it perfectly balanced? Well, I'm sure it could be abused, but it seems to work well enough.
Stuff!
There's a ton of gear, about 50 pages of the book is devoted to it. One of the most extensive lists of equipment I've seen in a SF game.

All sorts of ranged weapons. Gyrojets, projectiles, flechettes, lasers, blasters, disruptors, gauss/rail guns. Tons of melee weapons, too. There are no tech levels or anything, the culture in the Bulldogs! galaxy is fairly homogeneous

If you've seen a weapon in a movie or another SF game, then it probably has an analog here, if not by name then by function. Seems like pretty much everything from Star Frontiers is in here, including my beloved gyrojets (which are actually little rockets, not jets. But "gyrorock" sounds like a dance, not a weapon).


One of the cooler things about the book, is that there are a number of companies that make gear. Each company has specific qualities that affect the stuff (mostly weapons) that they make. Some companies make good weapons, some make lousy (but cheap) ones.
Bulldogs! uses the normal d20 combat system, but adds some new rules to handle things like automatic weapons and such. For the most part, it's a lot more streamlined than other versions I've seen. Basically, automatic weapons do an extra dice of damage. I like the rules from Deadlands d20 better (which were re-used in Dragonstar), where basically for every 5 points of the attack roll above the AC, another bullet hits, but this is quicker, which befits the style of Bulldogs!


Starships take up about 30 pages of the book, including 8 pages of rules on creating them. It's a fairly simple process, but fairly flexible, too, allowing designs from small craft to death star sized behemoths.

Starship combat is essentially the same as the d20 system, with starships having hit points and hardness, and ships weapons doing damage (quite a lot, in larger weapons case). The damage that starships can suffer is detailed very well.
There's a fairly short but useful GM section that contains ideas for different campaign types. 8 Sample campaign ideas, with a few plot hooks for each.

Looks!
The layout is very nice. Better than the vast majority of RPG books I own. The only complaint is that perhaps the outer margin is too big. Usually companies do this to pad the book's page count and so to allow them to charge more. However, in that case, the opposite seems to be true - the book is priced far below what it should be (216 pages with some color for $25? That's almost crazy cheap these days)

The art is somewhat retro looking, but I liked it quite a bit. The illustration for each race is in full color, which is a really nice touch.

It's got a 5 page, detailed index, and it's got the chapter name in the outer margins. So it's an absolute breeze. The editing is also excellent, I think I noticed only 1 problem, and that was a superfluous -.

Thoughts!
I really like this book. I like it a lot. The only real problem with the book I found is really just a nitpick of mine. A few times it mentions space is really cold, and has rules for it being really cold. While it is cold, space is actually a near vacuum, and so works kinda like a giant thermos - you don't lose much heat, since nothing carries it away, other than what you radiate as energy. A fairly common misperception. (Really, the only realistic space game/supplement is the one for Cyberpunk 2020, so no biggie. )


I own or have read almost every d20 Science Fiction game on the market, and this is as good as any of them, far better than most. It's amazing that it came from such a small company, the production quality is better than that of anything not from Wizards of the Coast. (It might not beat Mongoose's art, but it does beat their editing.)
So, it's a definite A. It might not be the literal torch bearer for Star Frontiers, but it sure feels like the spiritual successor. That's just about the highest honor I can give to a SF RPG, as when it comes to them, I have two great loves, Star Frontiers (obviously) and the original Traveller. I was gravely disappointed with Traveller 20, almost Hulk-Smash angry with how bad it was, and rather disappointed with d20 Future. This goes a lot way to restoring my faith in SF d20.

Unfortunately, it does probably suffer by being late to the d20 show. And from the close release of d20 Future. Still, much of the book can be adapted to d20 Future quite easily - the setting, the races (and the rules for creating them), the equipment, the prestige classes (with a bit of tweaking). So really, given the fairly cheap price of it, it's worth buying just for the equipment and race creation rules


So anyway, in care you are wondering how compatible it is with other d20 SF rpgs, I would say it's pretty much completely compatible with Fading Suns d20 and Blood & Space 1st Edition (both of which are excellent), and the Pinnacle d20 products (which are of varying quality).

The races and equipment and such are compatible with any normal d20 product, including D&D and d20 Modern. Classes, too,other than the lack of magic, which makes it pretty much compatible with Dragonstar

It's probably not too compatible with Traveller 20 or Star Wars d20, since they use different hit point systems, though the races should still work (and the race building system would be especially useful for Star Wars). (And about the only thing Traveller 20 is compatible with is a headache.)

 

[Turanil]

I would like to add a clarification to my review:

Something that I wasn't really aware of, when I wrote my review, was the meaning of "Pulp Adventures". Now that I grasp the concept better, I can say that Bulldogs! is almost perfect for D&D "pulp" adventures in space. That is, that kind of retro science-fiction where starships are piloted like World-War II airplanes (even if they have a modern look), and you land on a planet with your laser gun in hand to fight some crime lord who crossed you on your way to fortune and glory. As such, the illustrations and character classes of that book convey the good feel.

On the other hand, if you wanted a hard sci-fi game, you should better go d20 Future. But Bulldogs! is much easier (D&D like classes), and let you use much of your D&D books (which is a good thing IMO) from monster books, to the Xpanded Psionics Handbook for those who would like supernatural powers apprpriate to sci-fi setting.

 

[Centurion]

Great review and one that makes me very interested in the product. I was not however able to find it at any of my usual on-line RPG sellers. The link to their homepage also doen't appear to work. Could you tell me where I could find a copy of this book? Thanks!

 

[tensen]

You can purchase the product here:

Indie Press Revolution

 

[GameWyrd]

Bulldogs! is a Sci-Fi RPG which uses the d20 fantasy core set. From the outset this puts Bulldogs! at odds with d20 Future. Bulldogs! hit the shelves first but that's little assistance when you compare the size and relative new appearance of Galileo Games to that of Wizards of the Coast. It's fair to say that some gamers will be disappointed that Bulldogs! does not (could not) use d20 Future. It's also fair to say that the fact Bulldogs! uses d20 fantasy - the most commonly distributed and widely played d20 version - is an advantage.

Bulldogs! is one of those d20 roleplaying games which strains against the d20 licensing rules. You can just feel how much Galileo Games wants to produce a solid and stand alone product. But they can't. There are no character generation rules here and Bulldogs! isn't allowed to include them. In fact the Sci-Fi game's introduction worried me. I was beginning to worry that the Emperor was wearing no clothes. There's no name for the galaxy in which the game is set. There is a clumsy paragraph about it. You know what; I might never have noticed if it hadn't been pointed out to me. Instead we have paragraphs about the name Bulldogs! It comes from a favourite Beatles song - we have lyrics from the song. The first gaming group called their characters the Bulldogs. I just don't care. I certainly don't care at the start of the book. To be honest (and harsh - to be honest, I'm often harsh) in the early pages of the book I was beginning to suspect there was going to be very little meat to the setting. I could wind up in the nightmare situation of having purchased a write up of some gaming group's campaign.

My fears were unfounded. Does Bulldogs! have meat? It has enough meat. The campaign setting is broad enough for the flavour of the game. Bulldogs! is an action game. Bulldogs! is about space fights, about fighter craft ducking and dog fighting around asteroids, about bounty hunting aliens, exotic gravity weapons and shoot outs with robot mercenaries. The unnamed galaxy is small and with hyperspace it is perfectly possible to cross it numerous times in the course of an adventure. There are places to hide in this galaxy but in Bulldogs! you're likely to be found by trouble.

There's a stand off in the galaxy. Two powerful empires tried and failed to destroy each other. There's now a cold war like situation where the super powers face each other over a neutral zone. The neutral zone itself, the galactic currency, calendar and truce were all arranged and codified in a treaty. Both sides grudgingly respect this. Two sides and one truce - which is the evil empire. Which side is side of good? There's no clear side of good. Oh no, not in Bulldogs! The republic founded by the snake-like Saldrallans is perhaps the less sinister. The Saladrallans do not insist on being the dominant race - but that's because that's the practical thing to do. It's easier to stay in control if you don't force the issue. For the Saladrallans the end always justifies the means. On the other side of the frontier there is the Devalkamanchan Republic. Here we have religious zealots who are determined never to be weak. Thankfully the current thinking, among the current rulers at least, is that breaking the treaty and attacking the Saldrallans would weaken the Devalkamanchan. These religious zealots do insist on being the prime race in their "republic". They believe their twin gods defeat and slay the gods of any race they conquer.

There are no humans. There's a race which is human-like and in terms of d20 stats is human but there are no humans. The Arsubaran replace mankind in the galaxy but are more interesting. Arsubaran come in many colours; red, blue or green.

Bulldogs! scores a hit with the race section. The black and white book flicks to colour for great illustrations of the PC suitable in the book. The sampling is just a small fraction of all the races in the galaxy. Let's put the best bit first; Bulldogs! contains rules for creating your own alien race. This is just perfect. It's something that both players and GMs will want to do, it encourages and promotes the idea that there are very many races in the Universe, not just those listed in the main rule book and makes life easier for everyone. There are 13 pages for the point based alien creation rules. They work well. Whereas we might expect to see entire supplements dedicated to this the rules here are surprisingly versatile and will produce a wealth of different types of alien race. They should all be suitable for PCs. Another success here is that the aliens here aren't StarTrek-esq. StarTrek aliens, all too often, are humanoids with quirks. In fact I think there's been plot to explain why. If we go back to the start of the race section in Bulldogs! we find that the "Human" aliens, the Arsuburan, get the mutli-coloured ball rolling. The Dolom come from a high-gravity planet. Their face can swivel through 360 degrees (I imagine 'head' is a better word than 'face' but I might be wrong) and have three trunk like legs and three tentacle like arms. Hacragorkan are space orcs, okay, that's my summary but Bulldogs! describes them as brutish and fond of a good fight. They're green, a little slow and strong. Yeah, I think I'm right to call them space orcs. The Ken Reeg insist they are a race but many people suspect they're genetically modified Arsubaran, give or take a few hundred years. These lot are your gamblers, lawyers and rogues. You can play a robot and all that power versus lack of healing which that entails. The Ryjyllians are lion/feline-humanoid aliens; dexterous but not that wise. As touched on earlier, Saldrallans are snake-humanoid aliens with a nasty bite. The Templars are the Devalkmanchans and the evolutionary union of two similar humanoid races. The Tetsuashan are genderless slugs! Urseminites are cute ewok-like aliens, created by genetics and gone horribly wrong. Urseminites are absolute bastards who are only out for themselves.

Bounty Hunter, Engineer, Fighter, Gunner, Medic, Rogue, Space Pilot and Space Pirate; here we have the classes. Many of these look like fighter variants (Bounty Hunter and Space Pirate) but this is an acceptable legacy from D&D d20 (Barbarian and Ranger/Paladin).

Assassin, Infocity Acolyte, Mata Hari and Secret Agent are the prestige classes. The Mata Hari are social manipulators extraordinaire and the Infocity Acolyte is a risk. The Infocity Acolyte is plugged into a computer the size of a planet from which they can get answers to almost any knowledge based questions. GMs could proceed with maximum caution.

Bulldogs! is thorough with Sci-Fi RPG suitable skills and feats. As a style of play Bulldog! lends itself well to the feat model. This game is all about heroics and dramatic actions.

There's plenty of gear; 50 pages or so. The gear chapter gets straight to the point by listing different types of ammunition. The ammunition includes such items as bolt rounds, mag rounds and minirockets. In the course of a Bulldogs! game there will be many explosions. It's not all combat though, the Sci-Fi game has basic items like hammers and poles (two RPG standards!) as well as infrared goggles, jump packs, spacer outfits and other hi-tech trappings.

The combat section is updated to handle all the extra twists and turns the genre provides. For example, I pointed out the jump packs in the Gear chapter and so the Combat chapter has rules for attackers diving down from overhead.

There's combat and then there's spaceship combat. Bulldogs! has rules for the latter as well. In addition, Bulldogs! has rules for creating your own spaceship. As with the alien races this is the way to go; the emphasis is on creating your own, this helps forge a cosmopolitan galaxy and makes it easy to fulfil that classic fantasy of Sci-Fi RPG - the design of the perfect PC spaceship. By providing some pre-made spacecraft Bulldogs! makes life easy and comfortable too. Busy GMs don't have to start from scratch and can take these spaceships off the shelf, these spaceships are likely to be common in the galaxy now and GMs have something to compare their own constructs against.

The last chapter in the Sci-Fi RPG is devoted to actually running the game. This is a useful section to have. Here have campaign ideas, plot considerations, the possible role of the military, colonies and party balance.

Bulldogs! finishes with a hefty index and precise character sheet.

Bulldogs! really turns things around. The introduction really had me worried; chunky, clunky and in danger of slipping into amateur enthusiasm. It's perhaps suitable that by the end of the book that enthusiasm was transferred over to me. I do enjoy my political RPGs and the twist in the tale is that I can see Bulldogs! being easy to treat in this way. Any Cold War situation is already soaked in tension and politics. Create a frontier planet, which is naturally right in the middle of the Cold War, it is the Iron Curtain, and any drama you set there will be rich with political possibilities. Running an action game in Bulldogs! should be as easy as falling off a space log. It's Bulldogs! long term lastability which holds for the greatest concern. Action games will rocket players up through the character levels. GMs will have to set a careful pace and then cope with increased escalation of threat and danger. At high levels there are no obvious threats to the players without threatening to turn the Cold War into a Hot War and that means messing around with the tension that keeps Bulldogs! interesting.

This Bulldogs! was first posted at GameWyrd.