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Message: <blockquote data-quote="trancejeremy" data-source="post: 2010119" data-attributes="member: 924">I'm a fairly big fan of post-apocalyptic settings. I really liked Gamma World when I was kid. And back then, one of my favorite series of novels was the Pelbar (sp?) Cycle by Paul O. Williams. Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, Mad Max, are favorite movies of mine.So I have an interest in RPGs based on them. Darwin's World had been around as an PDF for a while, but I'm not a huge fan of PDFs. But there's a print version of it, and I was able to get it on ebay for a pretty good price (3 of the books for $20). The core rule book is softcover, 128 pages, and retails for $19.95.The backstory quite honestly, irritates me for several reasons. It makes little sense, because supposedly the war that destroyed civilization was set around now. It's set in an alternate universe, where things were different after WW2. But somehow, tech was much more advanced. A lot more. I don't see how that is humanly possible, especially given that in the alternate universe, the US turned into an isolationalist country. Part of the reason the US is such a high tech country, is that we get the smart people from other countries to move here. And relatively free trade is also a big part of the development of technology - without competition, we'd probably still be using TRS-80s now. The author also has some really odd ideas about Americans, sort of like something out of Pravda (which today is essentially an anti-american version of the World Weekly News..."Godless, decadent, capitalist pig-dog" type stuff. Okay...)Still, the backstory is quite easy to ignore, as it only takes up 3 pages. Most of the book is full of rules or other crunchy sort of material.There are 5 new core classes introduced.  Only 3 are really suitable for players.  The Scav, the Guardian, and the Trader. There are two others, the Raider and the Thinker, but the former is for evil characters only (and they are quite nasty) and the latter is rather weak. Weaker than the NPC Expert class. Worse BAB progression, only 6 skill points per level. The Guardian is somewhat like a Fighter (as is the Raider, actually). The Scav is the most interesting (and unique) class, somewhat like a Rogue, but not nearly as sneaky or skillful and a bit tougher. I mostly bought the book to mine material from it but if I were going to play Darwin's World, I just don't think that's enough of a variety of core classes.  I'd probably use some of the non-magical core classes, like the Fighter and Rogue (well, just the Fighter and Rogue), maybe the Stalker from Sov. Stone, maybe some from Fading Suns (Martial Artist/Living Weapon).There's basically 2 choices for race: human or mutant (with 3 types of mutant). But the main modifier is the enviroment where they grew up: Background options. They generally work just like race does. The most glaring thing is that the ability modifiers violate one of the commonly accepted rules, that they should be in steps of 2, not + or - just 1. (But eh, easy enough to change yourself).About 10 pages are dedicated to mutants - their mutations and defects. Most people in the setting are mutants (there are various degrees, from 1st generation to 3rd generation). There are 3 types of mutation: minor, moderate, and major. They cost a number of points, from 1,2, or 3. Each mutant type gets a number of mutant points they must spend on beneficial powers and defects.There are several new skills, but they are put under the Craft and Knowledge skills. This is generally the way to go, but I thought some were perhaps more suited to be Profession skills. (ie, instead of Craft (Technician), Profession (Technician). Not a huge deal, though).There's only a few new feats (about 2 1/3 pages worth), mostly suited for a post apocalypse setting. So some of the feats are odd, like the one which lets a character be potent/fertile.There's about 45 pages of equipment. This is the main draw of the book (at least to me). There's lots of interesting stuff. Several types of weapons, some very fantastic (in terms of technology). Most are pretty much in line with Dragonstar damage values.The last 20 pages or so are dedicated to setting info. It's fairly sketchy, mostly several groups or organizations are described, and then in a chapter on prestige classes, most of these get prestige classes (oddly enough). There are also 'rumors', little nuggest about mysterious locations and people. Pretty neat. It seems like there was a wide variety of inspiration, references (seemingly) to things like Logan's Run and the old computer game Wasteland. I do dislike the idea that women are apparently really really scarce. I'm not sure that's even possible - without a decent percentage of women, there wouldn't be any continuing population. But I know at least one movie takes the opposite tack. (<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093171" target="_blank">Hell comes  to Frogtown, starring Rowdy Roddy Piper. </a>That - making potent men rare - is more likely, I think. Since with some technology, women can get pregnant, but not vice-versa (the Billy Crystal/Arnold S. movies notwithstanding...)Ultimately, I liked this book (backstory aside), but I was looking for something to use with my Dragonstar game. I'm not convinced this is a stand alone game. I don't quite think there are enough core classes*, and there is a lack of any sort of monster (there is a monster book for it, but most settings do contain a few just to get you started). On the other hand, you do get gear, lots of it - gizmos, guns, vehicles.  B for what I plan on using it for - stuff to borrow. But C- as a stand alone (or semi-stand alone) d20 setting, as it's not quite complete enough. So call it a C+ overall.* As an aside, I noticed that in Metal Gods, another Darwin's World book, the various NPC classes are used. Just about all of those except commoner would be better than the Thinker core class here.</blockquote>

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