[Eclipse Phase] A review and discussion

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:06 am

I just picked up the PDF (and waiting on the book) of this new transhuman/horror/cyberpunk/thingie RPG from Catalyst Game Labs. I haven't even delved into the rules yet, as I'm still currently working my way through the opening fiction and intro fluff/fiction chapter.

But so far, the review goes like this (and I'll be adding to this as I read more). This may be exactly the sci-fi/techpunk game I've been looking for. Definitely more than SR4, likely more than Cthulutech, and maybe even more so than Alpha Omega (a game I lament never getting a chance to run). The fluff is solid, and leaves a whole wealth of opportunities available. I can't comment knowingly on how "hard" the fluff material is in relation to space habitats and such...but from a layman's perspective it feels really damn well developed and thought out. That's the initial thoughts for now, and I'll come back for more later. Now if only I could afford time for another group, or possibly convince my SR4 group to give up a flagging/failing campaign for something fresh like this.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:49 pm

We [that is to say, Paul and I] are anxiously awaiting this, and we'll chime in with our opinions as soon as we've seen a copy.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:09 pm

I've been looking for a lot of transhumanist fiction lately, so I'll definitely have a look at this.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:15 pm

Going through the website, it looks as if they made a role playing game of Ghost in the Shell. Complete with existential threats!

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:35 pm

I have long since stopped buying books for which I have no use, because I have neither the time nor the people to play anything with, but from what I read about the game, it looks good

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:23 pm

DV8 wrote:Going through the website, it looks as if they made a role playing game of Ghost in the Shell. Complete with existential threats!

I'll guess that's a compliment? Or backhanded maybe, considering the horror and awfulness that is anime. Consider me clueless.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:26 pm

Percentile system. I'm not ultimately thrilled with that, but I can understand why it was used. I'm still devouring the intro chapters, so we'll see how well the mechanics actually work out now. One fantastic thing though is resleeving. Since you can move consciousness/essence/soul/whatever from body to body (sleeve to sleeve), physical stats can easily change frequently for characters. Much of the game seems ideally suited for online play, especially with the ability for characters to pull almost any knowledge at their fingertips through the wireless mesh.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:44 am

A crisis of the meaning of 'self' and 'soul' when memories can be fabricated, brains backed up and copied, bodies exchanged like clothes, set against the backdrop of dystopic future where everyone and everything is connected to the net and cybercrime extends to the hacking of people.

Stand Alone Complex was utterly *fantastic* if you've only seen the movies Deev btw

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:30 am

Jeff Hauze wrote:
DV8 wrote:Going through the website, it looks as if they made a role playing game of Ghost in the Shell. Complete with existential threats!
I'll guess that's a compliment? Or backhanded maybe, considering the horror and awfulness that is anime. Consider me clueless.

No, it's a compliment. Anime is pretty shit, by and large, but there are some gems out there, and GitS is definitely one of them. There are big differences between GitS and EP, but it deals with the same transhuman subject matter, the philosophy of which I adore.

Kai wrote:Stand Alone Complex was utterly *fantastic* if you've only seen the movies Deev btw

Seen it all.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:05 am

I've been busy the last few days, and have yet to get much further, but I'm finally closing on finishing the intro chapter. Then off to delve into the rules itself.

One huge compliment I will give is the level of detail on life in space, how culture changes, and actual technical details on habitats. I have no idea how accurate it is, because I'm only an intro-level hard sci fi geek. But for me, the setting seems to have just the right mix of "here's enough info for all you cinematic types to go OHHH and understand how shit works" and "here's the crunchy bits for you fucking Abortion Engines". That's a big selling point for me. I can't say I'm intimately familiar with what the fuck is different between a donut shape habitat, a soda can version, or a giant spoke design. Now I understand the differences enough to say "Hey, I get that. Sweet."

That's a nice change of pace from a lot of sci fi games that I've encountered in the past. It reminds me of everything I love about recent SR and most specifically Ctech material. Lots and lots of world/fluff details, and an almost gearhead mentality towards the fluff. But keep the rules light and the game moving fast. Gearhead fluff, cinematic system (or at least I'm hoping so). That may not work for a lot of folks, but it definitely fits into what I want from my game systems currently.

Edit: The TITANs make for a phenomenal boogeyman. Especially when you get little passages that truly remind you of kickass things like Ubyr from Earthdawn, or a variety of Cthulu terrors (like the bhole), or various other sci-fi/fantasy horrors. The little glimpses they've offered on them so far in the book have been really brilliantly handled and written.

Edit 2: The following passage is one fucking awesome visual.

Mercury’s largest surface settlement is a city-scaled solar-satellite-powered mobile mass driver that crawls along the cool side of the planet, flinging apartment building sized ingots of extracted metal into space.

Edit 3: As is this description of good ol' Terra.

Even from orbit, Earth shows deep scars. Breaks in the sooty cloud cover created by orbital bombardment during the Fall reveal continents ravaged by coastal flooding, desertification, and radical temperature shifts. The only known detonation
of an antimatter bomb within a planetary atmosphere, centered on what was the Chicago-waukee Metroplex in North America, left a crater over 200 kilometers wide wherein most matter was instantly vaporized. Craters left by mass driver bombardment
dot the surface as well. Mass die-offs of lynchpin species like honey bees and krill destroyed entire ecosystems, leaving vast swathes of barren land and sea
inhabited by only the most adaptable species. Most of Europe is sub-artic; much of Africa and North America, desert. Ironically, transhumanity’s deployment of nuclear weapons against TITAN surface installations arrested the effects of global warming
by creating a nuclear winter. Nuclear attacks against Earth have ceased, but the Lunar mass drivers still occasionally hurl captured asteroids at suspected surface works created by remaining TITAN war machines. In any case, the damage from humanity’s
warming of the globe was already done. The patterns of life on Earth, and the very face of the planet, have been irrevocably rewritten.

AtemHutlrt · Post by **AtemHutlrt** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:44 pm

I are want to play Eclipse Phase now please.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:44 am

It keeps getting better the further I read into it. I've finally polished off the massive near 100 page fluff/intro chapter, made my way through character creation, and have started to look at some of the lovely things like mental hacks, psi abilities, and resleeving (switching to a new body, or morph as they're called). The character gen system is a bit more regimented than I'm normally down with, but it does seem to have a lot of options. I'm never exactly keen on a percentile based system, but it seems to work out okay so far. 13 or so options for morph types in the core book along, plus roughly 10 or so possible factions to start from, and plenty of room to create your own. The material offered is substantial value for the money in my mind. And the PDF and the artwork is so PRETTY. I couldn't be happier with it, especially since the game screams out for being run online. Of course, now I'd actually just have to find actual people and time to pull of a game.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:43 pm

Well if there's a reason to get the book, I'm still racking up credit with Catalyst over here, I'd be willing to give the game a shot