systemmastery – System Mastery

System Mastery 259 – Starfaring

Sold to us as the first ever sci-fi RPG (a claim we have learned is dubious), Starfaring is basically Tunnels & Trolls, but with some Star Trek jokes and moving the racism largely from the spell titles to the art. It’s still Ken St. Andre, it’s still like maybe half a game, and it’s still sort of important just because of the era (1977!)

Movie Mastery – War-Gods of the Deep

For a while in the 60’s there was a trend of Edgar Allan Poe stories getting turned into movies starring Vincent Price. Then the UK tried to get in on it and made a truly impressively boring film.

Expounded Universe 258 – Balls on Parade

Our heroes emerge from the unexpected ball bath covered in the winnings of victory, which of course are more balls. Then a bunch of ball-related stuff happens. Luckily Seinar breaks in for one chapter to … well sadly he just maintains that he is still heading towards the story from a distance, but at least he’s not doing a ball thing.

Expounded Universe 257 – Seed Partners Seek a Third

In an attempt to give Anakin some more depth, we introduce… more whines of his? I guess now he loves spaceships but hates spaceships. Anyway he’s still a kid, we can let that slide. Our heroes slowly explore the city of Middle Distance, while Seinar begins his own set of dastardly contingency plans.

System Mastery 257 – Mythic Roleplaying

Allow us to introducing our game… It’s finally here, the box set that sat on my shelf for four years while we waiting for GenCon to be a thing we were willing to do again, and it’s still not a live recording, because GenCon was a thing but they forgot to give us a room wired for recordings. What’s in this thing? How do you play it? How will our heroes get out of this one? Find out in today’s episode of System Mastery OOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRR a different funny title you came up with because I already did that gag in the recorded intro.

Expounded Universe 256 – Zonama Be Startin’ Somethin’

It’s weird to be reading a book that is ostensibly full of weird surprises and decisions that necessarily go nowhere after Attack of the Clones came along and changed them, yet still keep running into stuff that is somehow important all the way to the Yuuzhan Vong crisis. But let’s do it anyway! Today we finally land on Zonama Sekot and meet a couple very grumpy cult people. Also Raithe Seinar pouts a little but gets a cool new uniform and that cheers him up.

System Mastery 257 – Mythic Roleplaying

Apparently what we have here is often considered to be the first stab at a DM-less RPG system! It’s from 2003, and boy is it unusual. How does it handle GM-less play, or many of the other things it’s stated to handle (such as being an overlay over your current RPG!)? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out, isn’t it?

Movie Mastery – Warriors of Virtue

Trying to cash in on the Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers but having none of the charm and fun that made those work. With special guest James D’Amato!

Expounded Universe 255 – Anakin’s Got Crabs

Another episode about shifting pieces into place for a story to happen, but still there’s something here that’s working for us. Not sure if it’s the gay from space billionaire villain Raithe Sienar, the crazy polychaete alien Charza and his tidepool bioship, but something’s just clickin’ here.

Expounded Universe 254 – Tarkin What They’re Given Cause I’m Wormin For A Livin

Okay, so now we know the bad guy of the hour! Raithe Seinar, starship engineer and generally rich weirdo, is apparently the right man for this job! Meanwhile our heroes absorb some info on Vergere before getting on a worm’s tidepool spaceship. Honestly, respect for this guy’s willingness to go crazy with the aliens.