System Mastery

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/system-mastery-141-tenchi-muyo-resource-book-and-rpg.mp3 It’s a Tri-Stat game!  We’ve done a few of these already so you already know the basics. Weird combat system where the attacker and the defender have very little to do with each other?  Check.  A million point buy options?  Check?  Balance basically a fig leaf?  Check.  So what are we left to...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/system-mastery-140-leystorm-the-dominion.mp3 In a grim future where everyone is lopsided and has dreads, can a few awful chumps win a mighty rebellion against Darth Emperor of Mankind?  This mid-90s science fantasy game answers your questions and more!  Questions like “What the hell is this?”  and “Ainsley?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/system-mastery-139-maelstrom-storytelling.mp3 1997, a dark year indeed.  Bad Batman movies and stuff.  Seriously, it was not a good scene, unless you were crazy for middling swing music.  But hey, this book came out, and it wasn’t terrible!  It’s Maelstrom Storytelling, and while it’s a little funky and the art is not art, it’s at least a neat conc...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/System-Mastery-138-Systems-Failure.mp3 We’re back from our very needed rest and relaxation, and working harder than ever to fill your ears with reviews of roleplaying games.  This time we’re talking the Y2K bug RPG Systems Failure, a Palladium Game with some fun twists! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/System-Mastery-137-Kult.mp3 We’ve seen a lot of requests for this game, and now we understand why.  Come along, won’t you, on the game preachers in the 80s wished actually existed so they had something to condemn beyond nerds doing math about elves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/system-mastery-137-the-world-of-species.mp3 The World of Species!  Finally an RPG with a glossy photo of a young Alfred Molina in it!  This Masterbook licensed setting is rife with information about the sex-sci-fi thriller that appears to have all been pulled from the trailer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/system-mastery-135-age-of-ruin.mp3 1990 seems to be a downer year for RPGs as far as we can tell, but just you wait, someone’s gonna pop in any second and say that’s the year the greatest game of all time came out.  Anyhow, Age of Ruin is one of those “You either live long enough to die a dumbshit or die a grimfuck early” type post-apoc slogs.  Wit...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/system-mastery-134-renegade-legion-legionnaire.mp3 It’s Romans. In. Spaaaaaaace on today’s episode of System Mastery.  Thrill at the game designed to be compatible with a bunch of other games!  Marvel at page after page of legion construction flowchart!  If you’re a fan of the game, ready your emails about the stuff we forgot to mention (hint, Edge...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/system-mastery-133-nightbane.mp3 OLD WEEN to you all!  We’re covering the very weird Palladium title Nightbane this ween’s eve, so ready yourself for one piece of beautiful Brom art and 200 pages of … well, sloppy editing and fun ideas, basically. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/system-mastery-132-beyond-the-supernatural.mp3 It’s Ween again, my friends!  Joyous Ween to you all!  But sadly this year White Ween was simply out of the question.  So we searched far and wide for a suitable replacement, and settled on a company that we already had two horror books from!  Surprising indeed!  Come along with us, won’t you, on a tou...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/system-mastery-131-with-great-power.mp3 Join us and our new friends the Bay City Informanauts on a tour through With Great Power, a game of superheroic discussions, mostly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/system-mastery-130-marauder-21071.mp3 A game that dares to ask the question “What if Bubblegum Crisis?”  Seriously, that’s the question.  The answer, surprisingly, is “No one gets the mech suits, everyone is a dirty cop shooting at a dirty punk, and the smug must flow.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/system-mastery-129-tekumel-empire-of-the-petal-throne.mp3 We felt a little dirty doing a “new” book last episode, so here’s our course correction.  The 1975 version of Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne, with all acute accents left pointedly missing from all accompanying text because I am lazy (plus come on in the book you can literally tell he wa...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/system-mastery-128-shadowrun-5e-live.mp3 We went to GenCon and we made this show and now we hope you enjoy this show we made at GenCon.  Next time we talk about Shadowrun we’ll try to find something older.  Special guest Gannon Reedy of NeoScum is here to talk Shadowrun and what his group does with it.  Find NeoScum on the One Shot Podcast network!...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/system-mastery-127-justifiers.mp3 Have you ever wanted to explore space but it’s just ever so slightly too difficult for you?  Exactly the range of too difficult where it’d suddenly be possible if you were like one-third albatross?  Well, have we ever got the hot 80s sci-fi game for you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/system-mastery-126-deadearth.mp3 Often considered in the top ten worst RPGs ever made, there’s a lot of weird choices in here.  A lot of bad, weird choices.  Thrill at the majesty of a D1000 table with maybe 500 ideas on it with us as we tackle the grim dystopia of deadEarth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/system-mastery-125-dd-4th-edition.mp3 It’s high time that someone on the internet had an opinion about this edition of this game, and you know what, it might as well be us.  Please enjoy this review of the famous 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons.  The game that killed imagination.  Oh and happy 125 episodes of the show! Learn more about your ad...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/who-buys-this-cheap-shit-1-the-travails-of-simple-men.mp3 Ugh we ate Oreos so nasty that we had to tell someone about it, and guess what, you’re someone.  Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/system-mastery-124-albedo-platinum-catalyst1.mp3 Behold a galaxy of unchecked exploration and progress, as made by very fussy little animals that don’t like to be touched.  It’s sort of like if the Wind in the Willows was about space, and also Mr. Toad wasn’t there because he was too excitable.  Also, Jef’s back! Learn more about your ad choices. V...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/system-mastery-123-mekton-zeta1.mp3 Longtime friend of the show and fan-favorite guest Claire comes by to discuss Mekton Zeta with Jon, who knows nothing whatsoever about your precious animes.  This episode sadly concludes Jef’s paternity leave, so we’re afraid he’ll be back next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/system-mastery-122-7thirteen.mp3 It’s another week of special guests with friend of the show, Quinn, stopping by to help discuss this inscrutable book with an unhealthy obsession with the numbers 7 and 13. There are 12 hours of existence and factions fight for control and your characters will definitely somehow interact with this setting, probably....

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/system-mastery-121-dragon-lines.mp3 While Jef is too occupied with baby to do the time consuming prep on the show, we are kicking off the first of our guest appearance series. Joining me to talk about fantasy China is Josette from the Swallows of the South podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/system-mastery-120-book-of-erotic-fantasy.mp3 It’s the Supplement Spectacular again!  Or, it was going to be before a child was born into this world who ate all of Jef’s time.  Luckily (for you, not for him), he got most of the way through The Book of Erotic Fantasy, one of those things that seem like the sad logical outgrowth of the OGL being mine...

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/system-mastery-119-the-xro-dinn-chronicles.mp3 The Xro Dinn Chronicles is, for lack of a better description, the unholy combination of Ninjas & Superspies, Babylon 5, and the sort of mindset that led to the Winchester mansion.  Loopy rules that terminate nowhere, downright crazy stories, and so much more await you. Learn more about your ad choices....

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/system-mastery-118-wild-skies-europa-tempest.mp3 Sail the skies in heavily armored airships and nimble fighter planes as a variety of sexy little animals.  It’s the early 1930s and Europe is embroiled in really weird battles all over the place.  Look, there’s a chance this game might still be in print.  But we didn’t hate it and besides, what are y...