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<blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010578" data-attributes="member: 1129"><p>The Sundered Reaches is a 128 page black and white campaign setting from Fast Forward Entertainment. Taking place on a Mars that is both familiar and unique, Fast forward tries to capture the glory days of John Carpenter and other pulp-science fiction tales.</p><p></p><p>The material starts off with an introduction by the authors and then an introduction to the setting, including two full page maps that provide overview of the eastern and western hemispheres. This Mars was ruled by the Lumari, a race of beings without equal that were basically gods with super science who made Mars a paradise but vanished without trace one day, plunging Mars into a dark age where the planet itself seeks to kill its inhabitants through horrid weather and terrible monsters.</p><p></p><p>It quickly moves into the mechanics of the world. To start with, there are nine new races. Unlike other settings, but having much to do with basic D&D, these races are also classes, and each one fills a specific niche on this world.</p><p></p><p>One thing that may trouble some is that Fast Forward went with uneven stat bonuses, a deviation from the d20 standard where most are done in ranks of 2. Because Mars is a high powered setting, characters start off at 4th level. In a similar vein, there is a different experience point table, an easier one, that Martians follow. This allows the characters to progress quickly. </p><p></p><p>Another unusual thing is that these races have ability minimums and equivalent classes.. Now the equivalent classes are an interesting twists because if an outsider from another setting comes to Mars, they will change into their equivalent class. So many of the core classes, Wizards, Rogues, Bards, Clerics, Barbarians, Rangers and Sorcerers will change, but Fighters, Paladins, Druids and Monks will be okay.</p><p></p><p>The races range from the Asperri, the City Builders, the creature on the cover, to the more exotic Lastuki, furry ice miners, or the fur covered Ralind, forest dwellers who keep the peace there. Each one is tied into its ecology and is named such, like the Parehal, Plains Farmers. This allows each race to fill it's niche and provide broad strokes for the readers to grasp onto. Because each race is also it's own class, with advancement from 4th to 20th level, it does limit the player's ability to customize his character.</p><p></p><p>Each race includes the advancement chart and the details that go along with it. For example, looking at the Orid Nar, the Desert Riders, we see that they gain Lumari Feats (feats unique to the setting) at 6th,12th and 18th level, as well as special modifications to their own abilities like a Paralyzing Spit.</p><p></p><p>One thing that disappoints is that the section on transported characters has no root cause. It can happen just for sheer variety, through the use of gates or in higher tech series, whatever the GM desires from physical crash landings to worm holes. A little unsatisfactory in a Ravenloft type of manner, going against the method Fast Forward used for their other setting, Dungeon World, but one that works.</p><p></p><p>Skills are covered and provide new uses for players native to Mars. With Appraise, you can guess about functions on the artifacts left by the superior Lumari people. More detailed are the new feats, many of which relate to the magic system and strangeness of the setting. Bloodburn allows a spontaneous caster to add his Charisma bonus in levels to his effective casting level but takes 1d6 points of damage per level increase while Defensive Rage negates the armor class penalty of a character in a rage. Some of the feats are specific Lumari feats like Great Regenreation where you add your Constitution modifier to the hit points you regenerate or Increased Spell Resistance that grants a +2 bonus to your SR.</p><p></p><p>Because the old rulers mastered Mars with no equals, their technology isn't easy to understand. A flowchart and quick rules to cover complexity, allow the GM to quickly determine what functions, if any, a party can learn to utilize from the old Lumari ruins.</p><p></p><p>Those looking for custom equipment may want to hunt down a Crystal Blade, an edge weapon so sharp that it's +3 and counts as Keen in addition to ignoring the first 10 points of hardness in anything it strikes or strap on some Wristblades so that if they ever lose their primary weapon, they have a quick backup. The equipment section provides local costs in a silver economy but fails to illustrate the new materials. What does a Crystal Sword look like? How does the lacquered wood armor or the parehla armor appear? No illustrations.</p><p></p><p>Now the interesting thing about Sundered Reach spellcasters is that they must pick a location for their hidden eye, a mystical device used to focus their spellcasting powers. This hidden eye must be protected because if it's damage, the caster must make a concentration check to cast spells and heaven help you if that part of your body is destroyed because then you can't cast spells until you attune that hidden eye to another part of your body, a lengthy process.</p><p></p><p>One of the things that makes Mars a harsh place is that magic doesn't last. Bonuses fade with time as the environment strips away the enchantments. The good news though is that if you can find any of the old Lumari material, those artifacts will last forever. This makes having a player choose to take item creation feats a double negative as they lose experience points in the first place for crafting the item and then the item itself fades away. </p><p></p><p>Those looking for specific Lumari devices get several examples with complexity ratings and an intented and alternative use. This allows the GM to surprise the players with strange devices and allows the players to get multiple uses out of the same items. A win-win situation.</p><p></p><p>The Red Planet chapter provides details on the different areas of Mars, including the Living Crystal Cities of the Lumari but doesn't go into any real depth. For example, there are no maps of any of these cities. No starting or home point for characters to check in so to speak. One good thing about the setting is that if you've got a hankering for dungeon crawling or exploration, there are a ton of ruins to explore and take advantage of.</p><p></p><p>GMs wishing to spice up encounters for his Martian players will enjoy the new creatures. The most savage and strong of those would be the dragons of mars, creatures that don't resemble the standard D&D ones in almost any way but their power. The amphibian and arachnid dragons will add a new appreciation for the terms “Run Away” when the players encounter them, although the Dark Glider, a predator with a spiked tail that impales its victims and flies away with them or the desicant, a huge water stealing monster, won't let them get too assured of themselves when they do escape that dragon.</p><p></p><p>Those wondering what to do with the setting have several adventure nuggests, partially fleshed out ideas with suggestions on how to get a campaign started.</p><p></p><p>Interior art is a flashback to 2nd edition in many ways as the work is handled by Steve Bryant, Jim Holloway, Phil Renne and William W. Connors. Layout is standard two column with one inch borders on top and outside border. Editing is fair.</p><p></p><p>To get a four star rating, interior covers would have to be used. The black and white reproduction of the cover on the interior page, despite looking better than the actual cover in my opinion, does nothing for the book and needs to be removed. There would need to be some sort of starting base, home, or city for the characters, a common ground if you will. The licenses, OGL, would have to be reduced from three pages to one. The three pages of advertising removed. While it's good to have the brief introduction to the races and then the races themselves, this is repetitive and the races should stand on their own unless they're going to be written up in a Monster Manual format.</p><p></p><p>One of the problems Sundered Reaches faces is competition. While Oathbound by Bastion Press doesn't directly have the same elements of Pulp Science Fiction to it, there are many similarities. Each assumes the characters are powerful beings, Oathbound recommends 7th level while Sundered Reaches 4th. Oathbound has Prestige Races while Sundered Reaches has unique races that characters morph into. In such a contest, Oathbound, with it's largest size, greater detail, hardcover format, full color interior and on-line support, wins hands down. On the other end, there's Iron Lords of Jupiter in Dungeon 101, a full color mini-game, a direct competitor that adds on to d20 Modern and is very inexpensive. Not that this product is overpriced at 128 pages for $24.99, but many of these FFG products used to be hardcover for that price and this one is softcover.</p><p></p><p>Sundered Reaches is better than many Fast Forward's older products but needs more depth, detail and material to get the most out of it. Those looking for a science-fiction setting that want a campaign using the d20 fantasy rules may want to check it out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JoeGKushner, post: 2010578, member: 1129"] The Sundered Reaches is a 128 page black and white campaign setting from Fast Forward Entertainment. Taking place on a Mars that is both familiar and unique, Fast forward tries to capture the glory days of John Carpenter and other pulp-science fiction tales. The material starts off with an introduction by the authors and then an introduction to the setting, including two full page maps that provide overview of the eastern and western hemispheres. This Mars was ruled by the Lumari, a race of beings without equal that were basically gods with super science who made Mars a paradise but vanished without trace one day, plunging Mars into a dark age where the planet itself seeks to kill its inhabitants through horrid weather and terrible monsters. It quickly moves into the mechanics of the world. To start with, there are nine new races. Unlike other settings, but having much to do with basic D&D, these races are also classes, and each one fills a specific niche on this world. One thing that may trouble some is that Fast Forward went with uneven stat bonuses, a deviation from the d20 standard where most are done in ranks of 2. Because Mars is a high powered setting, characters start off at 4th level. In a similar vein, there is a different experience point table, an easier one, that Martians follow. This allows the characters to progress quickly. Another unusual thing is that these races have ability minimums and equivalent classes.. Now the equivalent classes are an interesting twists because if an outsider from another setting comes to Mars, they will change into their equivalent class. So many of the core classes, Wizards, Rogues, Bards, Clerics, Barbarians, Rangers and Sorcerers will change, but Fighters, Paladins, Druids and Monks will be okay. The races range from the Asperri, the City Builders, the creature on the cover, to the more exotic Lastuki, furry ice miners, or the fur covered Ralind, forest dwellers who keep the peace there. Each one is tied into its ecology and is named such, like the Parehal, Plains Farmers. This allows each race to fill it's niche and provide broad strokes for the readers to grasp onto. Because each race is also it's own class, with advancement from 4th to 20th level, it does limit the player's ability to customize his character. Each race includes the advancement chart and the details that go along with it. For example, looking at the Orid Nar, the Desert Riders, we see that they gain Lumari Feats (feats unique to the setting) at 6th,12th and 18th level, as well as special modifications to their own abilities like a Paralyzing Spit. One thing that disappoints is that the section on transported characters has no root cause. It can happen just for sheer variety, through the use of gates or in higher tech series, whatever the GM desires from physical crash landings to worm holes. A little unsatisfactory in a Ravenloft type of manner, going against the method Fast Forward used for their other setting, Dungeon World, but one that works. Skills are covered and provide new uses for players native to Mars. With Appraise, you can guess about functions on the artifacts left by the superior Lumari people. More detailed are the new feats, many of which relate to the magic system and strangeness of the setting. Bloodburn allows a spontaneous caster to add his Charisma bonus in levels to his effective casting level but takes 1d6 points of damage per level increase while Defensive Rage negates the armor class penalty of a character in a rage. Some of the feats are specific Lumari feats like Great Regenreation where you add your Constitution modifier to the hit points you regenerate or Increased Spell Resistance that grants a +2 bonus to your SR. Because the old rulers mastered Mars with no equals, their technology isn't easy to understand. A flowchart and quick rules to cover complexity, allow the GM to quickly determine what functions, if any, a party can learn to utilize from the old Lumari ruins. Those looking for custom equipment may want to hunt down a Crystal Blade, an edge weapon so sharp that it's +3 and counts as Keen in addition to ignoring the first 10 points of hardness in anything it strikes or strap on some Wristblades so that if they ever lose their primary weapon, they have a quick backup. The equipment section provides local costs in a silver economy but fails to illustrate the new materials. What does a Crystal Sword look like? How does the lacquered wood armor or the parehla armor appear? No illustrations. Now the interesting thing about Sundered Reach spellcasters is that they must pick a location for their hidden eye, a mystical device used to focus their spellcasting powers. This hidden eye must be protected because if it's damage, the caster must make a concentration check to cast spells and heaven help you if that part of your body is destroyed because then you can't cast spells until you attune that hidden eye to another part of your body, a lengthy process. One of the things that makes Mars a harsh place is that magic doesn't last. Bonuses fade with time as the environment strips away the enchantments. The good news though is that if you can find any of the old Lumari material, those artifacts will last forever. This makes having a player choose to take item creation feats a double negative as they lose experience points in the first place for crafting the item and then the item itself fades away. Those looking for specific Lumari devices get several examples with complexity ratings and an intented and alternative use. This allows the GM to surprise the players with strange devices and allows the players to get multiple uses out of the same items. A win-win situation. The Red Planet chapter provides details on the different areas of Mars, including the Living Crystal Cities of the Lumari but doesn't go into any real depth. For example, there are no maps of any of these cities. No starting or home point for characters to check in so to speak. One good thing about the setting is that if you've got a hankering for dungeon crawling or exploration, there are a ton of ruins to explore and take advantage of. GMs wishing to spice up encounters for his Martian players will enjoy the new creatures. The most savage and strong of those would be the dragons of mars, creatures that don't resemble the standard D&D ones in almost any way but their power. The amphibian and arachnid dragons will add a new appreciation for the terms “Run Away” when the players encounter them, although the Dark Glider, a predator with a spiked tail that impales its victims and flies away with them or the desicant, a huge water stealing monster, won't let them get too assured of themselves when they do escape that dragon. Those wondering what to do with the setting have several adventure nuggests, partially fleshed out ideas with suggestions on how to get a campaign started. Interior art is a flashback to 2nd edition in many ways as the work is handled by Steve Bryant, Jim Holloway, Phil Renne and William W. Connors. Layout is standard two column with one inch borders on top and outside border. Editing is fair. To get a four star rating, interior covers would have to be used. The black and white reproduction of the cover on the interior page, despite looking better than the actual cover in my opinion, does nothing for the book and needs to be removed. There would need to be some sort of starting base, home, or city for the characters, a common ground if you will. The licenses, OGL, would have to be reduced from three pages to one. The three pages of advertising removed. While it's good to have the brief introduction to the races and then the races themselves, this is repetitive and the races should stand on their own unless they're going to be written up in a Monster Manual format. One of the problems Sundered Reaches faces is competition. While Oathbound by Bastion Press doesn't directly have the same elements of Pulp Science Fiction to it, there are many similarities. Each assumes the characters are powerful beings, Oathbound recommends 7th level while Sundered Reaches 4th. Oathbound has Prestige Races while Sundered Reaches has unique races that characters morph into. In such a contest, Oathbound, with it's largest size, greater detail, hardcover format, full color interior and on-line support, wins hands down. On the other end, there's Iron Lords of Jupiter in Dungeon 101, a full color mini-game, a direct competitor that adds on to d20 Modern and is very inexpensive. Not that this product is overpriced at 128 pages for $24.99, but many of these FFG products used to be hardcover for that price and this one is softcover. Sundered Reaches is better than many Fast Forward's older products but needs more depth, detail and material to get the most out of it. Those looking for a science-fiction setting that want a campaign using the d20 fantasy rules may want to check it out. [/QUOTE]
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