System Mastery

By System Mastery Entertainment

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Beating dead horses, 1d6 damage at a time

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System Mastery 214 – Mystic...

11.30.2021

Heck yeah, one of those weird games so little known I couldn’t GIS the cover and had to take a picture of our copy! Mystic Forces is a 2000 RPG […]

System Mastery episodes:

02.11.2020 Supplement Spectacular 2! – System Mastery 167 A fun side effect of doing what we do is that listeners send us stuff. All the time. We have just tons of books. Jef’s room is basically two used […]
01.29.2020 Dream Park – System Mastery 166 This has been on Jon’s to-get list for most of the time we’ve made the show, and who should suddenly show up with a copy of the thing but our […]
01.15.2020 Toon – System Mastery 165 Time to tackle some more Steve Jackson stuff. No GURPS still (somehow we still don’t have a copy) but I do have Toon so here we go! Play as a […]
01.01.2020 Glyphs: RPG Blueprint (Part 2) – System Mastery 164 This thing is huge and bizarre and we have come back to finish it because you are not prepared… for more Glyphs.
12.18.2019 Glyphs: RPG Blueprint (Part 1) – System Mastery 163 Let’s finish off the year with something wild, what do you say? How about a game that uses a flicked token carom style mechanic for all random resolution? This thing […]
12.04.2019 Star Thugs – System Mastery 162 Time for some sci-fi! This game takes all the futuristic space convention you love and just DUMPS on it, haha yeah rad, fuck Star Trek! Anyhow come along won’t you? […]
11.20.2019 Quest of the Ancients – System Mastery 161 Have you missed the good old fashioned heartbreaker game paradigm? Well fret no longer friend, because this one has it all! Elves! Dwarves! Saracens for some reason! This reprint of […]
11.06.2019 Godlike – System Mastery 160 Superheroes! World War 2! Greg Stolze? What’s not to like? Well, there’s plenty to like, such as the fascinating superpower design system and the fairly fun dice mechanics. But could […]
10.23.2019 Dark Realms – System Mastery 159 We didn’t know it when we started, but there’s a theme to this year’s Ween episodes beyond just leftover horror games floating around the library. And that theme is “Oops […]
10.09.2019 Chill – System Mastery 158 It’s a nice day for something! Welcome back to our October content. This year the theme is a little looser since we’ve reviewed enough White Wolf games for two lifetimes […]
09.25.2019 Space Master – System Mastery 157 Well, we had to take a look at a Role Master game eventually, and this one chose us. This 1985 RPG is deeply, deeply mathy, and features a fantastic story […]
09.10.2019 Eoris Essence (Part 2) – System Mastery 156 Well, after last week with Jef failing to figure out what the heck any of this is using just the rule book, can Jon save the day? Will his comprehensive […]
08.27.2019 Eoris Essence (Part 1) – System Mastery 155 A lavish box set full of tomes of full color wonder! A comprehensive vision of an exciting and vast universe! But System Mastery! Could it be… completely impossible to read? […]
08.14.2019 WWE: Know Your Role – System Mastery 154 (live!) Live from GenCon 2019, it’s System Mastery! We’re covering the greatest entertainment to come out of the squared circle in 2005, actual wrestling! Wait… no, probably some video game! Or […]
08.02.2019 Amethyst Foundations – System Mastery 153 Did you know there were licensed RPGs using the 4th edition D&D engine? Well here’s one now! It has lots of fancy elves, a bunch of tech-based classes, and so […]
07.17.2019 Snarfquest D20 – System Mastery 152 Sometimes we get a book and we aren’t sure the exact percentage of RPG that’s going to be in there, so we end up reviewing like, a show synopsis or […]
07.03.2019 D&Dizzle: Dragons in the Hood – System Mastery 151 In retrospect we probably should have saved this for episode 175. Anyhow this is a short comedy game mixing Dungeons and Dragons with hip-hop flavor pulled from the 80s and […]
06.19.2019 Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition – System Mastery 150 Happy episode 150! Still can’t believe it’s gone on this long. Here’s D&D 5e. It’s a game.
06.04.2019 Kobolds Ate My Baby – System Mastery 149 Every once in a while we’ve both got so much else going on that we have to rely on what we call “The Emergency Stack”, a collection of books short […]
05.21.2019 Recon – System Mastery 148 Well, so we can probably do a whole hour of laughy laughs on the … wait, Vietnam War? Is that right? Okay then. Recon is from 1982, and it is […]
05.08.2019 Fading Suns – System Mastery 147 Sorta 40k, sorta Vampire, maybe a little Dune in there? Anyway it’s a space RPG where there’s a church that’s basically Catholicism through a greasy mirror and a bunch of […]
04.24.2019 Of Gods and Men – System Mastery 146 Hey who wants an old-fashioned case of the Heartbreakers? Because that’s what we’ve got right here. And it’s a doozy! In that it’s one of those small-batch ones that you […]
04.09.2019 Bliss Stage – System Mastery 145 Straight from one bleak future to the next, only this time it’s kids. Why it’s almost as dystopic as the movie Kids! Basically the future is dream robots that put […]
03.26.2019 Cyborg Commando – System Mastery 144 So a decade or so after D&D, Gary Gygax had a brand new idea. What if cyborgs with dustbuster crotches defended the world from giant bugs made of erectile tissue? […]
03.14.2019 Cadillacs and Dinosaurs – System Mastery 143 With Jef still recovering in the hospital, Jon turns to fan-favorite guest Claire to join in and help review this RPG based on a comic book. It promises two things […]
02.27.2019 Unknown Armies (2nd edition) – System Mastery 142 You want true power and to really know the truth? You have to really really want it in Greg Stolze’s Unknown Armies, a game of obsession, power, and the power […]
02.13.2019 Tenchi Muyo! RPG and Resource Book – System Mastery 141 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 […]
01.29.2019 Leystorm: The Dominion – System Mastery 140 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 […]
01.16.2019 Maelstrom Storytelling – System Mastery 139 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 […]
01.04.2019 Expounded Universe 66 – Hestizo Cuts Loose We’re back from Christmas vacation, and what are we returning to? All these damned zombies, bein’ gross and eatin’ eyeballs. The action heats up as Hestizo finally does some fighting, […]
01.01.2019 Systems Failure – System Mastery 138 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 […]
12.21.2018 Expounded Universe 65 – So Many Poop Jokes Hey the last thing we’re making this year, so we made sure to load it up with fresh buttered poop humor, just for your holidays. Hestizo and Tulkh make discoveries […]
12.19.2018 Kult – System Mastery 137 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 […]
12.12.2018 Expounded Universe 64 – Forever 21 Eye Spiders I have to be honest here, I’m sick and pretty well wiped out on Nyquil, so I only vaguely remember what we even talked about in this episode. I remember […]
12.07.2018 Expounded Universe 63 – Blackmail Airmail Oh sweet, new characters! And we’re starting to learn stuff about the official zombie rules in this universe. Pretty good ones! Can anyone survive?
12.05.2018 The World of Species – System Mastery 136 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 […]
11.28.2018 Expounded Universe 62 – 28 Parsecs Later Whoa, zombies have entered the building! They’re coming in! Hold on, is that a quote from a horror movie or something? I should ask Jon. In the meantime, here’s some […]
11.21.2018 Age of Ruin – System Mastery 135 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 […]
11.13.2018 Expounded Universe 61 – It Means Red Yet more characters! Today we’re meeting the snooty Lieutenant Norch, the surprisingly forward Captain Ansgar, and the stoic badass of the olden years, Rojo Trace. Will any of them meet […]
11.09.2018 Expounded Universe 60 – Fried Pickles It’s like reading a whole new book as none of these chapters seem to be about the same people as the last series! Let’s meet such Star Wars luminaries as […]
11.09.2018 Expounded Universe 60 – Fried Pickles It’s like reading a whole new book as none of these chapters seem to be about the same people as the last series! Let’s meet such Star Wars luminaries as […]
11.06.2018 Renegade Legion: Legionnaire – System Mastery 134 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 […]
11.06.2018 Renegade Legion: Legionnaire – System Mastery 134 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 […]
10.30.2018 Expounded Universe 59 – Prelude to a Sith Let’s do the time warp again! In Red Harvest, the narrative takes place nearly 3,500 years before the Battle of Yavin IV. Will we see beloved fan characters like Party […]
10.30.2018 Expounded Universe 59 – Prelude to a Sith Let’s do the time warp again! In Red Harvest, the narrative takes place nearly 3,500 years before the Battle of Yavin IV. Will we see beloved fan characters like Party […]
10.26.2018 Expounded Universe 58 – How Ya Doin We sit down to try and piece apart what happened in this book, and really come to an agreement as to thesis and tone and so on. No, just kidding. […]
10.23.2018 Nightbane – System Mastery 133 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 […]
10.23.2018 Nightbane – System Mastery 133 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 […]
10.11.2018 Expounded Universe 57 – Kiss My Wookiee And with hungry hearts, we close this chapter of Expounded Universe. Seriously, we must have been starving, this episode is pretty food heavy. The climax has come, and you know […]
10.11.2018 Expounded Universe 57 – Kiss My Wookiee And with hungry hearts, we close this chapter of Expounded Universe. Seriously, we must have been starving, this episode is pretty food heavy. The climax has come, and you know […]

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System Mastery

What's System Mastery about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

System Mastery episodes:

Supplement Spectacular 2! – System Mastery 167

Dream Park – System Mastery 166

Toon – System Mastery 165

Glyphs: RPG Blueprint (Part 2) – System Mastery 164

Glyphs: RPG Blueprint (Part 1) – System Mastery 163

Star Thugs – System Mastery 162

Quest of the Ancients – System Mastery 161

Godlike – System Mastery 160

Dark Realms – System Mastery 159

Chill – System Mastery 158

Space Master – System Mastery 157

Eoris Essence (Part 2) – System Mastery 156

Eoris Essence (Part 1) – System Mastery 155

WWE: Know Your Role – System Mastery 154 (live!)

Amethyst Foundations – System Mastery 153

Snarfquest D20 – System Mastery 152

D&Dizzle: Dragons in the Hood – System Mastery 151

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition – System Mastery 150

Kobolds Ate My Baby – System Mastery 149

Recon – System Mastery 148

Fading Suns – System Mastery 147

Of Gods and Men – System Mastery 146

Bliss Stage – System Mastery 145

Cyborg Commando – System Mastery 144

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs – System Mastery 143

Unknown Armies (2nd edition) – System Mastery 142

Tenchi Muyo! RPG and Resource Book – System Mastery 141

Leystorm: The Dominion – System Mastery 140

Maelstrom Storytelling – System Mastery 139

Expounded Universe 66 – Hestizo Cuts Loose

Systems Failure – System Mastery 138

Expounded Universe 65 – So Many Poop Jokes

Kult – System Mastery 137

Expounded Universe 64 – Forever 21 Eye Spiders

Expounded Universe 63 – Blackmail Airmail

The World of Species – System Mastery 136

Expounded Universe 62 – 28 Parsecs Later

Age of Ruin – System Mastery 135

Expounded Universe 61 – It Means Red

Expounded Universe 60 – Fried Pickles

Expounded Universe 60 – Fried Pickles

Renegade Legion: Legionnaire – System Mastery 134

Renegade Legion: Legionnaire – System Mastery 134

Expounded Universe 59 – Prelude to a Sith

Expounded Universe 59 – Prelude to a Sith

Expounded Universe 58 – How Ya Doin

Nightbane – System Mastery 133

Nightbane – System Mastery 133

Expounded Universe 57 – Kiss My Wookiee

Expounded Universe 57 – Kiss My Wookiee

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