Old Fezziwig
this is a low-flying panic attack
Cargo Commodities, Vol. 1, by Dave Woodrum, is a 6-page PDF that details sixteen different commodities that could be used as cargo in a science fiction game. The cover, by Woodrum, depicts several polyhedrons floating against a space backdrop. It gives the product a dated, retro feel, which may or may not appeal to people. For me, it did nothing. The interior art consists of one floating yellow gemstone, somewhat reminiscent of a rupee in one of Nintendo's Zelda games. On the whole, I feel like the art could have been left out, as it doesn't really add anything to the product, nor does it really relate to the text.
The general layout of the PDF is fine -- there's not too much white space and things are arranged logically. My main concerns rest in the ragged left margins (full justification is generally slicker and more professional looking, in my opinion), the lack of full carriage returns or indents after paragraphs (see page 3, under "The Format" and "Unit Price" for examples), the mixing of single column and two column pages (most of the PDF looks as though it was copied directly out of MS Word, and, although a two column format wouldn't necessarily change this, it would look a little bit more professional, in my opinion), and a lack of page numbers. The writing is competent, but plagued by missing punctuation, overly complex sentences, and some awkward phrasing ("urlamega ore is a popular cargo amongst freighters due to its lack of tedious precautions and its value").
In general, the idea behind the product is excellent. It's similar to something that Ronin Arts might release, and I think that's a good trend in PDF publishing for a publisher to latch onto. Small, tightly focused PDFs are far, far easier for me to use than longer ones, and the low prices make me far more likely to buy something on impulse. Content-wise, the inclusion of precautions -- whether or not something is illicit, radioactive, flammable, or perishable, to list some examples -- is a nice touch and makes a lot of sense for this product. It's information I can use right away and tells me something about what may happen during play if I use this item.
The quality of the commodities is largely indifferent. Some are nice (glagden milk or zyldan root, for instance), but most are unexciting. The value of shorter PDFs usually rests in their . Hopefully, something in it will spur the imagination. Unfortunately, the pedestrian quality of the commodities tends to undermine the product's utility as a GM's aide -- most of them are things that I feel that I could think up on the fly myself and aren't evocative enough for me to include them in a game. Also, the reliance on percentages to determine whether or not something ruins or is illicit doesn't work for me. I can understand the use of the percentages (it's intended to be generic, and percentage dice can be slipped into most systems somehow), but feel that they introduce a mechanic that's not really necessary -- if something spoils in three months after taking proper precautions, it spoils in three months. Similarly, the use of US dollars as prices is strange, as the introduction says that pricing "has been explained within the text of the product to allow ease of conversion," yet most sci-fi games I've had experience with don't use US dollars, and there's no information on how to convert these numbers to credits or anything like that. Finally, I would have liked to have seen a little bit more about each item's uses. For example, zyldan root is an effective cure-all, but the question remains, how effective. How is it used? Who uses it? This sort of information would really flesh the product out and could increase its usefulness.
On the whole, the product has some nice moments, but not enough. If you need some quick cargo for a freighter in a sci-fi game, it could be helpful in a pinch, but I couldn't help but think that I could, if necessary, create similar material for my campaigns on the fly.
The general layout of the PDF is fine -- there's not too much white space and things are arranged logically. My main concerns rest in the ragged left margins (full justification is generally slicker and more professional looking, in my opinion), the lack of full carriage returns or indents after paragraphs (see page 3, under "The Format" and "Unit Price" for examples), the mixing of single column and two column pages (most of the PDF looks as though it was copied directly out of MS Word, and, although a two column format wouldn't necessarily change this, it would look a little bit more professional, in my opinion), and a lack of page numbers. The writing is competent, but plagued by missing punctuation, overly complex sentences, and some awkward phrasing ("urlamega ore is a popular cargo amongst freighters due to its lack of tedious precautions and its value").
In general, the idea behind the product is excellent. It's similar to something that Ronin Arts might release, and I think that's a good trend in PDF publishing for a publisher to latch onto. Small, tightly focused PDFs are far, far easier for me to use than longer ones, and the low prices make me far more likely to buy something on impulse. Content-wise, the inclusion of precautions -- whether or not something is illicit, radioactive, flammable, or perishable, to list some examples -- is a nice touch and makes a lot of sense for this product. It's information I can use right away and tells me something about what may happen during play if I use this item.
The quality of the commodities is largely indifferent. Some are nice (glagden milk or zyldan root, for instance), but most are unexciting. The value of shorter PDFs usually rests in their . Hopefully, something in it will spur the imagination. Unfortunately, the pedestrian quality of the commodities tends to undermine the product's utility as a GM's aide -- most of them are things that I feel that I could think up on the fly myself and aren't evocative enough for me to include them in a game. Also, the reliance on percentages to determine whether or not something ruins or is illicit doesn't work for me. I can understand the use of the percentages (it's intended to be generic, and percentage dice can be slipped into most systems somehow), but feel that they introduce a mechanic that's not really necessary -- if something spoils in three months after taking proper precautions, it spoils in three months. Similarly, the use of US dollars as prices is strange, as the introduction says that pricing "has been explained within the text of the product to allow ease of conversion," yet most sci-fi games I've had experience with don't use US dollars, and there's no information on how to convert these numbers to credits or anything like that. Finally, I would have liked to have seen a little bit more about each item's uses. For example, zyldan root is an effective cure-all, but the question remains, how effective. How is it used? Who uses it? This sort of information would really flesh the product out and could increase its usefulness.
On the whole, the product has some nice moments, but not enough. If you need some quick cargo for a freighter in a sci-fi game, it could be helpful in a pinch, but I couldn't help but think that I could, if necessary, create similar material for my campaigns on the fly.
