[Review] Spirit of the Century

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Well, it's about darn time! Thanks for reviewing this game here (and at RPGNet). I'm always wary about buying Indie games when they are reviewed by friends, acquaintances, or associates of the publisher -- which is where a screaming, large, majority of overtly positive Indie RPG reviews seem to come from (unfortunately it took me a long while and several hundred wasted dollars to catch on). Seeing somebody who I'm reasonably certain has no ties to SotC (or to the game's creators, the community in which the game was created, etc) reviewing it has finally sold me on the game.

James, I just wanted to say that your post brought a big smile to my face. I know exactly what you are talking about. It is very hard (and seems to be getting harder and harder) to find truly independent reviews. Psion, Chris Richeson, and a few others are the only ones that really influence my buying habits.

 

[Zoatebix]

James, I just wanted to say that your post brought a big smile to my face. I know exactly what you are talking about. It is very hard (and seems to be getting harder and harder) to find truly independent reviews. Psion, Chris Richeson, and a few others are the only ones that really influence my buying habits.

I agree. I'd add Berin Kinsman to the list if he'd write reviews more often.

 

[jdrakeh]

(shrug) I thought about mentioning it when you had a thread querying about pulp games, but you explicitly said you didn't want it because it puts players in non-traditional roles.

Yeah, for the purpose of that thread, the mention would have been inappropriate (as it wasn't the kind of game that I was looking for). Thank you for not posting about SotC therein

 

[TarionzCousin]

Some folks are trying to make Spirit of the Century their new "go-to" game for all sorts of campaigns, and I don't think it's that generic, but it works for a lot of different types of games.

So I'd say it's highly recommended.

Does anyone know if Evil Hat is planning on expanding the system into other genres: space travel, fantasy, Mexican soap opera...?

Psion: great review.

 

[SteveC]

Does anyone know if Evil Hat is planning on expanding the system into other genres: space travel, fantasy, Mexican soap opera...?

Psion: great review.

Well they are currently working on a Dresden Files RPG (which looks very sweet), but the underlying engine beneath Spirit of the Century is FATE, which is a more generic game system. The full release for FATE 3.0 would handle all of those genres, I'd expect. As to when that will be available, I really don't know.

--Steve

 

[Crothian]

When will we get a review of Spirit of the Season?

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

1) As to other genres: The folks at Cubicle 7 are doing Starblazer Adventures. Some guys did a pretty amazing Traveler hack for SotC.

2) In the interest of completeness, Crothian is, of course, on my list of go-to reviewers.

 

[Psion]

When will we get a review of Spirit of the Season?

Your keyboard broke?

I might fire one off once my hardcopy arrives. The biggest thing (for me) is the spellcraft and companion rules, both of which deserve inclusion in any SotC game, though the characters are pretty interesting themselves.

 

[Psion]

Does anyone know if Evil Hat is planning on expanding the system into other genres: space travel, fantasy, Mexican soap opera...?

Well they are currently working on a Dresden Files RPG (which looks very sweet), but the underlying engine beneath Spirit of the Century is FATE, which is a more generic game system. The full release for FATE 3.0 would handle all of those genres, I'd expect. As to when that will be available, I really don't know.

In addition to this, the aformentioned Starblazer Adventures and Spirit of the Far Future (Traveller hack), there's talk of a conversion of Adamant's D20 Mars book on the FATE list, and a few other alluded to products in the Evil Hat blogs.

 

[Crothian]

Your keyboard broke?

First I have Game Night I'm working on now. And then I want to do Freeport, Arcane Quater, and Demon Hunters RPG. My break from reviews is pretty much over.

I might fire one off once my hardcopy arrives. The biggest thing (for me) is the spellcraft and companion rules, both of which deserve inclusion in any SotC game, though the characters are pretty interesting themselves.

I have my copy and it is pretty funny. I'm not that up on SotC rules but the T&J rules looked really solid for it.