Centauri Knights is a d20 setting-sourcebook for playing characters in the year 2150 on Osiris, a planet in the Alpha Centauri system. It was originally published as a BESM sourcebook and was a sequel of sorts to the adventure, “Red Planet, Blue Helmets” from another BESM book, Big Robots, Cool Starships.
The good news is that it’s a nice little setting that works well within its own context. Unlike some d20 games, this isn’t really a book that only requires the Player’s Handbook, but also the BESM d20 handbook. The bad news for those who own the original tri-stat version is that it’s pretty much a rehash with d20 material.
The first nineteen pages provide background information and ties it up with a timeline. The background is in clips or events that happen throughout the years from the discovery of Earth-sized planets in the Alpha Centauri system on September 19th, 2011 to the arrival of the UNPACFOR starships on Alpha Centauri in 2150. To put it shortly or to quote the book, “Centauri Knights is the story of Earth’s first interstellar colony on Alpha Centauri, the discovery of enigmatic alien ruins, and the struggle that ensured over their control.” It involves the colonist of the world coming under attack from terrorist known as the Eye of Re and being fought by the United Nations Peace in Alpha Centauri Force.
The bad news is that the enemies often have access to alien technology including xenomech or control over the ghost fog, a strange phenomenon of the world that only obeys the Fog Witches.
The more interesting part to me was the mechanics in chapter two. Characters are built using BEMS d20 rules and start of with 34+1d10 (or 40) points. There are several groups that characters can belong to ranging from Freecops and Ghost Jackals (think tomb robbers), to Guerrilla Terrorist and UNPACFOR Platoons. While new attributes, defects and skills are included; most are for flavor like organization ties or notes on how standard attributes work here. For example, Own a Big Mecha provides the GM some quick notes and “Special” Attributes for the most part are a no-no.
One thing that I would’ve liked to have seen in the Character Classes section, is how the standard BESM d20 classes fit, if at all, into this setting. Not a big deal as there are several new core classes here including Enforcer, Reporter, Soldier, Bureaucrat, and Technician. These cover the necessary of minimal classes of the setting, filling fairly traditional anime roles found in such favorites as Macross. Two prestige classes, the Fog Witch and the Info-War Operator are included. The former is a master of the ghost fog of the world. Their abilities focus on using ghost fog to do anything from creating force fields and gear, to project the ghost fog into different images and illusions. The latter, the Info-War Operator, is a hacker who masters technology through personal gear and agents.
Those wondering what the technology of the future brings only have to look through Chapter Three. Try a branvid for entertainment as it simulates sensory experiences or get a pet robot or even play with thinking artificial intelligence. Where appropriate game stats are needed, they’re usually provided. For example, a nanodoc acts as Healing Attribute Level 1 and is considered a personal Level 1 Item of Power. When vehicles are mentioned, they are broken down into game terms so we see that a GMC Dust Cat not only costs $2.6 million but also 114 mecha points. Very important when thinking about character mecha points as there are a few suits of armor like the Ocelot, Panther, M82 Merill, M84 Fox, and other vehicles. They do a good job of illustrating the material, but it’s more soft line than their usual anime style.
The good news for the GM is that not everything is for the good guys. There are many Osiran artifacts that have been dug up, many of them on par or more powerful than their terrain counterparts. For example, the Heavy Xenomech is 577 Mecha Points, way over any of the standard models.
Chapter Four, introduces the World of Centauri Knights in more detail. It includes mundane information on employment, like 73% of the people here work for CENCOR while 22% for smaller companies even as 4% are self-employed and 1% work for UNSAID or UNPACFOR. It provides details on Osiris, the fourth planet of Alpha Centauri, a world similar in size and mass to Earth with a breathable atmosphere but due to some ancient plague (nanoplague), is a desert world.
That isn’t to suggest that the world is completely devoid of live, as the dangerous Snail Bunny will prove. “If a snail was rat-sized, cut, and furry, it might look like this.” Nah, they’re not dangerous, but the Sharksquids and Crimson Leviathans on the other hand, could be.
Ed Northcott handles interior art and he does a fair job of bringing the setting to life. The full-page illustrations are probably not necessary but add a nice touch. Interior covers are not used. The layout is good and crisp if a little tight in some spots. Editing is fair with no major issues leaping out at me.
One of my biggest problems with the book is the price. For a normal d20 book, $19.95 is roughly a 96-112-page product. This is 80 pages. In addition, a good portion of this work has seen print before for the tri-stat system. Talking crazy here, but if it were me doing this book, I’d follow Fantasy Flight Games route, try and find a way to trim this book down to 64 pages and sell it for $14.95. How? Get rid of the index. Remove the full-page art. Get rid of the ad for the SRDs. Put the credits page with the table of contents. It’s a support game for BESM d20 and supplement pricing shouldn’t scar away the audience.
For those who want a lightly detailed setting of the far future, this book is for you. The book is good for those who want a quick science fiction setting for BESM d20 but won’t work for those looking for something to use with d20 Modern or standard d20 games.
