review of rocketship empires

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PRODUCT SUMMARY

Name: Rocketship Empires 1936

Publisher: StoryART

Author: Edward Kann

Category: RPG

Cost: $8.99

Pages: 162

Year: 2007

Action, Alternate History, Horror, Mystery, Pulp,Science Fiction, War

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REVIEW SUMMARY

Capsule Review

Written Review

March 17, 2008

by: Frank Frey

Style: 5 (Excellent!)

Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

An excellent and innovative backgroundbook that presents a unique version ofan alternate history of Earth. Wellrealized and executed.

Frank Frey has written 4 reviews, with average style

of 4.00 and average substance of 4.00. The

reviewer's previous review was of Reign of Fire.

This review has been read 5381 times.

RATE IT!

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REVIEW OF ROCKETSHIP EMPIRES 1936

I first read about Rocketship Empires(RSE) on theExile Games Forums. The title intrigued mebecause I'm as much a historical miniatures gameras I am a roleplayer so I went to the website. Itdidn't take much to convince me to buy the PDFfor RSE as well as the one for The GunslingerBetty. After getting both books printed out, I settledin for an evening's read. I found that the more Iread the more I liked them.

First of all, I would like to point out that this is abackground/setting book only. RSE is not tied intoany particular RPG system although I dounderstand that it was originally designed for theD20 System. My own choice is Savage Worlds. Butno matter what your choice is the information inthe book is presented quite clearly with only a fewglitches.

The first half of the book is devoted to backgroundand character generation. In a nutshell, milleniaago a race of bloodthirsty savages burst out on thegalactic scene. They enslaved or destroyedcountless worlds and sentient beings. Finally, theother races of the galaxy rose up and in a longand brutal war managed to defeat this race andexile them to a small planet. The race washumanity and the planet of course was Earth. Inthe aftermath, the Martians arose and formed theirown empire called the Hegemony. They were thetop dogs for a long while but now there is a newenemy that they are fighting on their own frontiersand the Hegemony is losing.In desperation, theMartians have decided to unleash the ancientscourge of humanity on the galaxy. In 1919, theMartian Hegemony makes contact with thehumans and makes them an offer they can'trefuse. The author, Ed Kann, doesn't say what it isthat is out there or for that matter what it was thatmade humanity sally forth so many millenia ago. I

Review of Rocketship Empires 1936 - RPGnet http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13688.phtml

1 of 3 17/03/2013 12:42 AM

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like this because it gives the GM two very basicquestions on which to build a campaign.

The next chapters are more recent history from1919 to 1936. It covers the rise of the League ofNations as well as the starfaring powers( wouldyou believe the Kingdom of Holland as well as theKingdom of Spain are included in that group?) It isa well thought out alternate history.

There is a chapter on character archetypes. It isinteresting to note that there are no provisos foralien PC's. This is deliberate on the authors partand I have no problem with it as it re-inforces theterrible uniqueness of humanity. There are alsosections about incorporating psychic powers,magic, and Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.The next chapter consists of extensive equipmentlists that feature what is Hybrid Technology. This isa combination of human and Hegemony tech.

The second part of the book is all about starshipdesign and building. It is quite thorough provideseverything you need to design ships ranging fromSnubfighters all the way up to Starbattleships. Italso gives a great rationale for why so manystarships look like surface ships or aircraft fromthis time period. It's simple, the design paradigmsare what the humans are used to building andusing. It makes a lot of sense and adds some realpulp and anime flavor to the background.(Anyoneremember the old Starblazers/Space BattleshipYamato series?)There are also provisions forbuilding merchant vessels, explorers and whateverelse your player group may need to get around thegalaxy. There are a number of sample starships atthe back of the book ready for immediate use oncethe GM converts them into whatever systemthey're using.

All in all, this is one of the most innovativebackgrounds I've come across in a while. Itappeals to both the RPG player and the HistoricalMiniatures player side of me. I highly recommendit. Check out their website atwww.rocketshipempires.com You'll be glad youdid.

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2 of 3 17/03/2013 12:42 AM

Re: [RPG]: Rocketship Empires 1936, reviewed by

Frank Frey (5/5)

EdwardKann

March 20, 2008 [11:15 pm ]


Frank Frey (5/5)komradebob

March 18, 2008 [08:22 pm ]



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Frank Frey (5/5)WillyPete

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review of rocketship empires

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