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Last Fleet
The last of humanity are fleeing across space, pursued by the Corax, an implacable alien intelligence that destroyed their civilization. They’re outnumbered and outgunned. Supplies are running low. Corax doppelgangers undermine the fleet from within. The actions of a brave few souls are all that stands between humanity and extinction. Last Fleet is a tabletop roleplaying game where you play courageous pilots, officers, engineers, politicians and journalists struggling to hold the human race – and themselves – together under unbelievable pressure. The game focuses on action, intrigue and drama in this high\-stakes situation. You’ll fight space battles, search for enemy infiltrators, and navigate faction politics. You’ll strive against your own self\-doubt and sometimes crack under the stress. This book includes the full game rules and setting, 12 character playbooks, 2 quick start scenarios, and the alternate “Promethia Damned” setting, in which teleporting cities flee from the god of death. Additional material by Misha Bushyager, Joanna Piancastelli and Gav Thorpe. The book is a section\-sewn hardcover for readability and durability, and is beautifully illustrated throughout.
- GenresRole Playing Games
248 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 3, 2024
This is Battlestar Galactica the RPG. Of course, the default setting is different, but you don't need to change any mechanics to run this game as BSG, you just need to change the fluff.
The mechanics, which are Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), center around Pressure. Pressure is the main currency of the game. It represents physical and mental damage, and can be spent to improve die rolls. It's lost and spent in action scenes, and generally recovered in non-action scenes. If it gets too high, then characters reach a Breaking Point and must take special Breaking Point actions. Eventually the only possible Breaking Point actions remove the character from the game.
The twelve playbooks are all named after an astrological sign, and most line up with characters from the re-imagined BSG. In addition, you have to take at least one role move, like pilot, tactician, influencer, etc.
Things I especially like:
Being able to spend Pressure after rolling the dice to improve a roll. Too many systems have you spend before rolling, not knowing if it will actually help.
There's a section on teaching the game, and it's not bad. I like that it recognizes that the one reading the book is likely going to be the only one who has read the book.
Things I'm concerned about:
A lot of the moves put the bad choices that result from partial successes into the hands of the Gamemaster. I like how in most other PbtA games the choice of type of problem is the player's, and only the details are left up to the GM. I'm concerned that players will feel they don't have enough control, and that as a GM I will have too much work to do making all those choices.
There seem to be a very limited number of advances compared to other PbtA games. Only 6 to 8 depending on if you go by the book or the playbooks.
The push towards the end of a character's story through the Breaking Point part of the Pressure mechanic seems a bit extreme. While I said you can do BSG with this, I think you could only do a season or two's worth of stories before all your main characters have left the game.
Things I don't like:
There's no advice on ending a campaign. Do you just go until Pressure has removed all the characters from the game? Should the Fleet have a chance to permanently escape their pursuers? What options should you consider? Some discussion of possibilities and recommendations are needed here.
Conclusion:
Overall, my rating trusts the designer to know his game, and that my concerns won't have an impact on enjoyment of the game. If, after playing, it seems that my concerns do have a negative impact on the game, then I'll have to revise my rating.
Edit 1: so far so good after a single session. It was planned as a one-shot, but the players enjoyed it enough that we're going ahead and expanding it into a campaign.
Edit 2: forgot to mention a minor issue I had with the physical properties of the Deluxe Edition that I have. It has extensive foiling of all the text on the cover, which tends to start to rub off after only a single reading, let alone actual use in play. I don't think this is anything unusual about the foiling on this book. I've noticed it as a problem on other books that use foil text on the cover.
Edit 3: the campaign was a bust, in part due to the concerns I raised in "Things I'm concerned about", mainly the first one from what I recall. Unfortunately, I didn't think to update this review at the time, and am only coming back to it years later. I've adjusted my rating to reflect this.
The mechanics, which are Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA), center around Pressure. Pressure is the main currency of the game. It represents physical and mental damage, and can be spent to improve die rolls. It's lost and spent in action scenes, and generally recovered in non-action scenes. If it gets too high, then characters reach a Breaking Point and must take special Breaking Point actions. Eventually the only possible Breaking Point actions remove the character from the game.
The twelve playbooks are all named after an astrological sign, and most line up with characters from the re-imagined BSG. In addition, you have to take at least one role move, like pilot, tactician, influencer, etc.
Things I especially like:
Being able to spend Pressure after rolling the dice to improve a roll. Too many systems have you spend before rolling, not knowing if it will actually help.
There's a section on teaching the game, and it's not bad. I like that it recognizes that the one reading the book is likely going to be the only one who has read the book.
Things I'm concerned about:
A lot of the moves put the bad choices that result from partial successes into the hands of the Gamemaster. I like how in most other PbtA games the choice of type of problem is the player's, and only the details are left up to the GM. I'm concerned that players will feel they don't have enough control, and that as a GM I will have too much work to do making all those choices.
There seem to be a very limited number of advances compared to other PbtA games. Only 6 to 8 depending on if you go by the book or the playbooks.
The push towards the end of a character's story through the Breaking Point part of the Pressure mechanic seems a bit extreme. While I said you can do BSG with this, I think you could only do a season or two's worth of stories before all your main characters have left the game.
Things I don't like:
There's no advice on ending a campaign. Do you just go until Pressure has removed all the characters from the game? Should the Fleet have a chance to permanently escape their pursuers? What options should you consider? Some discussion of possibilities and recommendations are needed here.
Conclusion:
Overall, my rating trusts the designer to know his game, and that my concerns won't have an impact on enjoyment of the game. If, after playing, it seems that my concerns do have a negative impact on the game, then I'll have to revise my rating.
Edit 1: so far so good after a single session. It was planned as a one-shot, but the players enjoyed it enough that we're going ahead and expanding it into a campaign.
Edit 2: forgot to mention a minor issue I had with the physical properties of the Deluxe Edition that I have. It has extensive foiling of all the text on the cover, which tends to start to rub off after only a single reading, let alone actual use in play. I don't think this is anything unusual about the foiling on this book. I've noticed it as a problem on other books that use foil text on the cover.
Edit 3: the campaign was a bust, in part due to the concerns I raised in "Things I'm concerned about", mainly the first one from what I recall. Unfortunately, I didn't think to update this review at the time, and am only coming back to it years later. I've adjusted my rating to reflect this.
Displaying 1 of 1 review