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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2011439" data-attributes="member: 172">Centauri Knights d20Centauri Knights d20 is a science fiction / mecha setting for Guardians of Order's BESM d20 game and d20 Mecha supplement. The book is written by David Pulver (who has written contributed to several other titles by GoO, as well as many GURPS products, primarily SF releated) with additional writing by Kenneth Peters. The setting was originally released for GoO's BESM Tri-stat system in 2001.The book does require some version of BESM d20 and D20 Mecha to utilize.A First LookCentauri Knights d20 is an 80-page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $19.95.The cover has a "brushed metal" border on the front and white on the back (apparently meant to depict a "datapad"). The front cover illustration by Ed Northcott shows a sort of collage, with character illos from within the book overlooking a base at a barren exploration site on the planet Osiris, with a shot of a space scene in the backdrop.The interior is black and white, and also illustrated by Ed Northcott. The interior illustrations are nicely done, if a little sketchy and cartoonish for my taste, however they seem to avoid some of the more extreme caricatures common in some anime that I personally find bothersome.Maps are by Jeff Mackintosh and are crisp and clear, if a little plain.A Deeper Look(This section contains some spoilers)Centauri Knights is set in the Alpha Centauri system in the year 2150. The (well developed) background goes that in the 21st century, Earth discovers a habitable planet in orbit of Alpha Centauri A and sends a cyborg-piloted relativistic-speed ship to investigate. When they arrive, they discover two things: the supposedly inhabitable planet (which they call Osiris) mysteriously lacked life though it had a breathable atmosphere (though the atmosphere is full of nano-robot clouds), and a space station belonging to some long extinct race defended by hostile ancient warbots.Eventually colonists and explorers uncover ruins of the ancient race that destroyed themselves and their world in an ancient war.Over the next century, more settlers are sent to Alpha Centauri and more discoveries are made. And the political situation evolves. While colonists try to create an Earthlike world out of Osiris, there is a faction (Selket) that feels that they should be re-awakening the previously existing ecosphere instead of introducing an Earthlike one. And the Eye of Re, a splinter of Selket  with terrorist tendencies and a great deal of proficiency with native technology. Including the ability to get that nano-fog I was talking about a second ago to respond to their commands.Put it all together, and what do you have? A distant, lightly populated frontier region, with power-suited enforcers, cyborg colonists, nano-machince mastering "fog witches", ancient high-tech acheological sites, and fierce robotic remnants of an ancient war.Overall, this backdrop seems a little "hard" for the norm in anime-style SF. Nanotech apocalypses and realistic space transit seems to be more the stuff of recent US SF literature than anime. That said, the resulting setting seems to have hints of series like Bubblegum Crisis plopped into a frontier like setting like Trigun.Mechanically, the book relies on BESM d20 and D20 Mecha. Character generation includes guidelines for which attributes and specialties are appropriate for Alpha Centauri characters, and new classes.The new classes are enforcer, reporter, soldier, bureacrat, and technician, all built using the BESM d20 attributes and progression technique. The selection seems a little limited, and you would think some explorer or scientist class would be appropriate. It also doesn't specify which, if any, of the BESM d20 classes would be appropriate. Clearly many BESM d20 classes would not be appropriate, but adding adventurer would help broaden the repertoire.Prestige classes include the fog witch and the info-war operator. The fog witch is the only means of using magic in the setting. They actually manipulate nanomachines in the "ghost fog" which drifts around the planet Osiris.Equipment includes a variety of vehicles statted out in D20 Mecha statistics, including power suits (all Bubblegum Crisis/Starship Troopers size/style; no GOLDAR here...), ground vehicles, air vehicles, spacecraft, robots, and cyborg bodies for the early colonists. There are also a variety of alien artifacts, primarily robots, but also including mecha/hardsuits called "xenopanzers." Other equipment includes staples of modern life, such as miniaturized manufacturing equipment and interfaces.Twenty pages are devoted to setting details, including solar system, world, and space station maps, organizations, creatures, and a little secret history for the GM. If you imagine that is not much room for that much detail, you are right. Some of the detail is a little sparse, and it could use a few more specifics in terms of significant NPCs, adventure seeds, and potential developments.ConclusionsCentauri Knights is an interesting hardsuit/SF style setting with a touch of mystery and a background that sounds very plausible. The BESM d20 and D20 Mecha makes a solid baseline and Centauri Knights shows an interesting example of how the system can be crafted to support a more specific setting.The setting seems like it could use more support, as the depth of information available in a book of this book is a little short of what a GM might want to generate adventures. That said, what is here is densely packed. The book would make a good basis for a short campaign.Overall Grade: B- -Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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