Frontier Justice is an incredibly well-researched supplement, providing a valuable investment not only for Blue Planet GMs, but GMs of any game system.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

I’m of a mixed mind when it comes to Frontier Justice. It’s meant to be the sourcebook for “Crime and Law Enforcement” for Blue Planet — and it does that. In fact, it does that with a copious amount of detail and information. Multiple criminal and law enforcement organizations are given a history, culture, scope of affairs, and individual character; the process of committing a wide variety of crimes (and then solving them) is gone over with a figurative pair of tweezers; and, finally, an entire adventure is presented.

So, without a doubt, Frontier Justice accomplishes what it sets out to do.

But after finishing Frontier Justice I felt a reservation, and it took me awhile to nail down exactly what it was. For a long time I thought that the book simply lacked – for want of a better word — excitement. But, upon reflection, I think my problem actually stems from the fact that Frontier Justice is so busy presenting the copious research and creative effort undertaken by its creative team, that it forgets to do so form the viewpoint of a game supplement.

Certainly there is more than enough information here for any GM who wants to get his players intimately involved with either side of the law, but the GM is – to a certain extent – left adrift in this sea of information without a compass or rudder.

Then again, I may just be paranoid.

On the other hand, the wealth of research which has gone into Frontier Justice pays huge dividends – making this a valuable supplement not only for Blue Planet GMs, but GMs of any game system (regardless of genre or time period).

Finally, I should make a note of the adventure – which provides the interesting opportunity of playing both or either side of the story (either the criminals committing the crime or the law enforcement agents trying to solve it).

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Writers: Greg Benage, Catten Ely, Jason Werner
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Line: Blue Planet
Price: $23.95
ISBN: 1-887911-44-8
Production Code: BP05
Page Count: 128

As I discussed in my review of John Tynes’ Power Kill, this was a time frame in which I was beginning to wrap my head around the concept of what I would later call “game structures” (and what I would not refer to more specifically as campaign structures and scenario structures). The thing I was trying to put my finger on in this review of Frontier Justice is the same thing: A ton of valuable information, but lacking the structure that would bring all of that material meaningfully to the game table. (If you want to see the difference, check out how Kenneth Hite’s Nights Black Agents does more than just inundate you with espionage facts — it packs the entire spy thriller and vampire horror genres into structures that make it shockingly easy to fully realize them at the gaming table.)

But, as I said all those years ago, don’t let that overly detract you from Frontier Justice. There’s a TON of really cool reference material here for running crime-based campaigns. (Which is something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently.)

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

JUNE 13-15, 2025
Poznań, Poland

I’ll be appearing at Pyrkon in June to help celebrate the Polish language release of So You Want to Be a Game Master!

Friday 06/13
14:00-15:00 – Meeting Justin Alexander

Saturday 06/14
13:00-13:30 – Autograph Session w/Justin Alexander, the Alexandrian
16:00-17:00 – Let’s Cook a Book!

Sunday 06/15
11:00-12:00 – Three Clues to Success
13:00-14:00 – Book Signing @ Black Monk Games Booth

This will be my first convention appearance in Europe since 2019, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back again. So I hope to see you there!

It’s time for the thrilling finale!

The villain gives a little monologue, the initiative dice roll, and now it’s time for an epic—

Oh. Never mind. The PCs already killed him.

It turns out it’s quite difficult to keep a single target alive when five highly trained killing machines (i.e., the PCs) are highly motivated to simultaneously release all of their death-dealing abilities on them. (Particularly if your stat blocks are simulating reality and/or you want that same stat block to function as Not a Boss™ in other situations.) So this is a systemic problem that you’ll find in a lot of different RPGs.

There are various solutions to this – mechanical, structural, and otherwise – but here’s one that works surprisingly well:

Have the boss show up AFTER the fight starts.

In other words, the PCs get into a fight with a bunch of the bad guy’s minions, and then two or three rounds later the bad guy shows up:

• The door is slammed open dramatically!
• The summoning ritual completes and the demon materializes!
• They teleport in with reinforcements!
• A helicopter swoops down from the sky and they jump into the middle of the melee!
• They were invisible the whole time and suddenly reveal themselves!
• A car with blackout windows drives through the wall of the warehouse and the vampire lord leaps out!

However the bad guy makes their dramatic appearance, this has three effects.

First, it’s a cool and memorable moment. This really shouldn’t be undervalued.

Second, the PCs will already be engaged with other bad guys. Their tactical positions may be far muddier than they were at the beginning of the fight. They are likely to have already blasted some of their most powerful combat options. In other words, it will be much more difficult for the PCs to focus their fire on a target that appears in the middle of the fight than one that’s available when the fight begins.

Third, even if they do wipe out the boss nigh-instantaneously, you’ll have pulled off an important bit of legerdemain: Yes, the boss died in two rounds. But that didn’t happen until the fourth or fifth round of the fight. So it will, no matter how illogically, feel like a big, satisfying fight instead of a curb-stomping.

Another variant here is to have the bad guys retreat to wherever the boss is, drawing the PCs after them in pursuit. This inverts the dynamic while expanding the encounter’s theater of operations and giving it a more epic scope.

It should also be noted that this whole dynamic can often organically arise if you’re using adversary rosters (either because the PCs are pulled into a running fight that takes them to the boss or because the boss is drawn to them).

You shouldn’t do this every time, of course, or it will become predictable and trite. (Although with enough variation in the boss’ dramatic entrance you can cover your tracks quite a bit.) But it’s definitely something to keep in your toolbox.

First Colony is a supplement which every Blue Planet GM should want to own.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

First Colony is the sourcebook for the city of Haven, the surging metropolis which is at the heart of the colonization and exploitation of Poseidon in Fantasy Flight Games’ Blue Planet.

There is nothing revolutionary here: As city sourcebooks go, this is precisely what you expect. The geography is covered, important locations described, the major political structures discussed, and influential NPCs introduced. In addition there are four adventure scenarios set within the city.

Sometimes, though, you don’t need to be revolutionary in order to be good. In fact, most of the time it isn’t even remotely necessary. First Colony delivers the goods by not only providing a broad overview of the city, but in giving that overview depth. Despite its somewhat short length (made even shorter by the inclusion of the adventures), First Colony gets it done.

WHAT YOU GET

The Argos Island Cluster, on which Haven is located, is the first thing covered by the book. This coverage is relatively brief, but since there is little of interest there beyond Haven itself, this is hardly a fault.

Haven itself is then systematically detailed by breaking it into districts, and then describing the major features within each district. Once you have a firm grasp on the city’s existing geography, First Colony moves onto Haven’s society, starting with a history of the island’s colonization, and then moving onto its politics, commercial make-up, and culture. Throughout this description of the city, NPCs are liberally sprinkled. By the time you are finished, First Colony has given you a complete top-to-bottom view of Poseidon’s capital.

The four adventures which are included are more than adequate. I’m not, however, remotely sold on the idea of including adventures within a sourcebook like this. I would have vastly preferred to see the 50 or so pages used on these adventures used to give even more description of Haven.

CONCLUSION

Like Fluid Mechanics, the first Blue Planet supplement, First Colony is a book which every Blue Planet GM should want to own. And, when it comes to supplements, that’s high praise.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Writers: Greg Benage, Brian Breedlove, Catten Ely
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Price: $23.95
ISBN: 1-887911-32-4
Production Code: BP04
Page Count: 128

My thinking about urban sourcebooks has evolved quite a bit since 2001, and I wonder what my opinion of First Colony would be if I revisited it today. Re-reading my review I got a bit of whiplash, as my initial thought on seeing that the book included four adventures was, “Great! Love to see that!” only for my past self to say, “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.” Quickly thumbing through my copy, I wonder if the setting details are, in fact, a little lighter and lacking in concrete detail, which could certainly explain why my past self might have thought it better to fully deliver sourcebook utility instead of including adventures.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Are your dungeons missing something? It’s time to bring the liminal spaces of your world to life with corridor themes!

Subscribe Now!