Fluid Mechanics sets itself a goal and then goes and seals the deal.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one surprised when Fantasy Flight Games started releasing hardcover supplements for their critically acclaimed Blue Planet game. Although I was initially skeptical, I now applaud them for taking the risk: The extra couple of bucks the hardcover format tags onto the cost for these supplements is more than compensated for by the durability which the hardcover offers.

The unavoidable question, of course, is whether or not the content wedged into the pages between those hard covers is worth the price tag. To start answering that question, let’s take a look at the first Blue Planet supplement: Fluid Mechanics: Technology in the World of Blue Planet.

ASSESSMENT

Arguably the first thing which distinguishes one science fiction setting from another is the technology which is available in that setting – in fact, technology can be considered the defining quality of any given science fiction world. Fluid Mechanics is designed to give Blue Planet players a wealth of technological tools, developing the hard science which provides one of the foundations for the creative depth of the Blue Planet setting.

Unlike the “techbooks” for many games, Fluid Mechanics does not limit itself to simply providing a textual warehouse of disconnected technical gadgets, instead distinguishing itself by presenting a cohesive, integrated view of the technical reality of the Blue Planet world. As a result, even if a gadget is not specifically addressed within Fluid Mechanics, the book will leave the GM with a firm sense of whether or not such a device could exist within the scope of the setting.

Another strength is the technical art which accompanies the text – illustrating the technology which is being described. I would have liked to have, perhaps, seen a bit more of it – but, when it is present, it is crisp, clear, and informative.

Given the strength of the technical art, it is surprising to note that the book’s sole true weakness lies within some of the “atmosphere” art (art which is not specifically connected to a technical description). At times, this can be extremely weak.

CONCLUSION

Fluid Mechanics sets itself a goal and then goes out and does it with great panache. If you’re running a Blue Planet campaign, then this book should definitely be on your “To Buy” list.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Writers: Jeffrey Barber, Greg Benage, Greg Porter, Brian Schoner, Jason Werner
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Price: $23.95
ISBN: 1-887911-11-1
Production Code: BP03
Page Count: 128

Reading this today, it probably seems weird to open a review by questioning the wisdom of publishing a hardcover RPG supplement. At the time, though, this was a surprisingly controversial decision. With very few exceptions, RPG supplements were simply NOT hardcover books. There were certainly exceptions, but it was completely unprecedented for an entire line of RPG products to feature hardcovers. Even D&D wasn’t doing that!

There were, in fact, people who were really angry about this. They felt that RPG publishers were somehow ripping them off by charging premium prices for hardcovers. In reality, the hardcovers were generally only a few bucks more expensive than comparable softcovers of the time, but it wasn’t unusual to see someone ranting about how they would rather pay less for a softcover book.

The reality was that RPGs were becoming unprofitable to print, but fans were, in fact, extremely resistant to publishers increasing prices. (Nothing has really changed: People, of course, never like to see prices go up, but RPGs with print runs of a few thousand copies are frequently having their cover price compared to books with print runs of tens or hundreds of thousands of copies.)

The watershed moment for hardcover RPG supplements came when John Nephew, the founder of Atlas Games, posted a detailed breakdown of the design and production budget for Ars Magica supplements on the RPGNet forums. What it boiled down to was simple: It cost a little bit more to print a hardcover book, but the perceived/actual value of the hardcover meant that gamers were willing to pay a price high enough that publishers could actually afford to CREATE the book. Therefore, all future Ars Magica supplements would be hardcover books. It wasn’t long before the rest of the industry followed Atlas’ lead.

Even Wizards of the Coast was eventually dragged along: 3rd Party OGL publishers followed the same economic logic and began publishing hardcover books while Wizards was still publishing softcover B&W books. This contributed to the 3.5 Edition reboot of the game, which also allowed Wizards to reboot the D&D supplement line in more profitable (and competitive!) hardcovers.

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

Go to Red Company of Magi

AREA 11 – LANDING

Stairs curve up and down from this landing. Upon a wooden perch next to the staircase leading up, a clockwork raven sits.

CLOCKWORK RAVEN: Obsidian feathers and ruby eyes. It will turn its head to follow motion and cry out, “Who goes there?” if someone approaches the staircase leading up, but it’s a simple mechanical oddity. It cannot fly nor think.

AREA 12 – UPPER HALL

Two suits of decorative armor bearing the Vladaam heraldic crest on their chests stand at one end of this hall, flanking a door.

GM Background: These suits of animated armor (helmed horror, MM 2024, p. XXX) used to stand at the Front Entrance where the pearl golems now stand. They were created several decades ago by Flambara of Ossyr when the Company of Red Magi was first founded, but their magic has severely decayed. They’ll falsely challenge even legitimate members of the guild, but can be easily be talked out of their challenges.

AREA 13 – ARCHMAGE CRETAI

A blue rug with arcane sigils stitched into it with silver thread fills the floor between a bookcase, a worktable of alchemical equipment, and a comfortable bed.

MEDUSA OF THE RINGS: On the worktable, almost directly opposite the door, there is a porcelain bust of a medusa’s ehad. The porcelain snakes framing her face are animate – writhing and twisting to look at anyone in the room.

• Rings: Eight of the snakes have beautifully crafted rings threaded onto them. Four are magical: ring of climbing, ring of jumping, ring of protection, ring of sustenance. Four are nonmagical, but very beautiful: a fire opal carved to resemble a basilisk (460 gp); a ring of jagged orange quartz (10 gp); a ring of black metal set with three opals (150 gp); a ring of goldleaf wood (2,500 gp; a pale ivory laced with veins that glitter like gold).

WORKTABLE: Cretai has a pair of goggles of minute seeing. He is attempting to modify the goggles alchemically to produce goggles of true seeing (without needing the arcane puissance to cast a true seeing spell), but his efforts have so far come to naught.

• A Guidance from Renn Sadar to the Archmage Cretai
• DM Background: Cretai acts as an agent for Renn Sadar (Ptolus, p. XX). Sadar funnels research abandoned by the Inverted Pyramid as being too dark or too dangerous to the Red Company of Magi through Cretai; Cretai sees to it that the secrets of the Red Company (and also the Vladaams) are fed back to Renn Sadar.

BOOKCASE: Contains lore concerning the Ethereal Plane. Offers a +4 bonus to any related Intelligence checks.

• Search – DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation): To find an everfull purse hidden in a hollow book.

Ring of Climbing (Uncommon): This ring grants the wearer a climbing speed equal to their normal speed.

Everfull Purse (Rare): This leather belt pouch has the power turn a single gold coin into many overnight. If a single gold piece is placed in the everfull purse at sunset, it will be replaced at sunrise by 25 gold pieces. The purse has no effect if more than one gold piece is left within, or if anything other than gold is placed with in.

AREA 14 – ARCHMAGE VERACK

This room is dominated by a luxurious red-and-gold rug depicting two dragons chasing each others’ tails in orbit around a blazing sunburst. Bookshelves line one wall of the room and a writing desk is positioned under the window.

BOOKS: A detailed and esoteric collection of dragon lore, notably including Lore of the Wyrmhoards in the Mountains of the East, granting advantage to any appropriate knowledge-based Intelligence checks.

WRITING DESK: Empty except for some blank sheets of paper and well-stoppered vials of ink. In one drawer there is a polished silver mirror with a single large crack running through it; the crack is blackened as if it had been caused by an intense flame, but the rest of the mirror is unharmed.

• DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana): This sort of mirror is used for scrying
• DC 22 Intelligence (Arcana): This sort of damage would be caused by a scrying spell encountering an overwhelming defense against scrying or an intense source of power.

SEARCH – DC 10 Intelligence (Investigate): There’s a definite layer of dust, a staleness to the sheets, and a general sense of disuse about the room. No one has been living in this room for at least several weeks.

SEARCH – DC 20 Intelligence (Investigate): There’s a hidden compartment under the rug containing:

• +1 dragon rifle
• mithril shirt
• scroll of ray of enfeeblement
• scroll of slay living
• scroll of shocking grasp
• longsword in a scabbard of black leather with a dragon head of copper at its tip (see below)

SCABBARD – DC 10 Intelligence (Investigate) / DC 24 Wisdom (Perception): The scabbard is longer than the sword it holds. The tip is false and contains a ring of dragonform.

Ring of Dragonform (Rare): Fashioned from copper, this full finger ring is fashioned like a dragon’s claw. Once per day, the wearer may use an action to transform into either a young copper dragon (if the wearer is good) or young red dragon (if the wearer is evil). (A neutral wearer may choose which dragon form they are most akin to, but thereafter can only choose that form when using the ring.) This effect functions as a true polymorph spell.

GM Background: Verack is currently in the Imperial capital city of Trolone engaged in various arcane research.

AREA 15 – BALCONY

The doors from this balcony are arcane locked and have alarms on them (mental alarm, triggered to either Guildmaster Arzan or, for the door to Area 14, the Archmage Verack).

Note: This means that opening the door to Area 14 will effectively NOT trigger an alarm because Verack is too far away to receive it.

AREA 16 – ALIASTER’S SCULPTURES

Glass doors look out onto the balcony (Area 15), in addition to the double doors of oak leading to Area 12 and the small side door to the Apprentice Laboratory (Area 17). There are five pieces of sculpture on marble plinths located around the perimeter of the hall.

BALCONY DOORS: These doors are arcane locked and has an alarm on them (mental alarm, triggered to Guildmaster Arzan).

SCULPTURES: Each sculpture is marked with Aliaster’s arcane sigil. One of the sculptures is signed with the name “Aliaster.” (All of these sculptures were, of course, created by Aliaster Vladaam.)

Aliaster’s Arcane Sigil

SCULPTURE 1: A beautiful, nude maiden has been half exposed from an unfinished chunk of marble which is still half unhewn and rough. Her hair, which hangs down over her face (obscuring her visage entirely), is of elfin gold (flexible and pliant) and possessed of an enchantment which causes it to stir slightly as if caught in the breeze.

Every few minutes, the “breeze” picks up, causing the hair to sweep aside and reveal – for only the briefest of moments – the hideous, demonic, skull-like visage of the maiden’s face.

SCULPTURE 2: A massive, muscular arm thrusts up from the surface of the plinth. If anyone draws near, the arm will reach out plaintively towards them.

SCULPTURE 3: A simple bust of white stone, depicting the thoughtful visage of a beautiful woman. The plinth is labeled “Flambara, the Eternal Flame of My Heart.” (Use Philippe Faraut’s Guardian as a visual reference.)

SCULPTURE 4: Another simple bust of white stone, this one labeled “Nulara Aretari.” (Use Philippe Faraut’s Child of Senegal for visual reference.)

SCULPTURE 5: A sculpture of an ent sitting upon a rotting log, looking down in enigmatic thought upon the splayed body of a dead dryad. The ent’s leaves are enchanted so that they sway gently in an unseen wind.

AREA 17 – APPRENTICE LABORATORY

Multiple tables filled with a chaotic assortment of equipment and tools fill the walls and center of this room.

APPRENTICE WORK: The apprentices are currently being instructed on feather tokens. There is a completed anchor feather token and partially finished anchor feather token, bird feather token, and whip feather token.

There’s approximately 4,000 gp worth of miscellaneous equipment. Of particular note are two vials of universal solvent.

DM Background: This laboratory is used by the Vladaam Mages and Researchers. The Archmages and Guildmaster instruct them here or them crank out minor magical items according to the Guild’s needs.

AREA 18 – ARCHMAGES IMOGEN & ALDWYCK

A utilitarian chamber with two modest beds against opposite walls, flanking a pair of matching worktables. Next to one of the worktables is the partially constructed form of an iron statue. Its head lies on the table next to it.

FIRST WORKTABLE – IRON STATUE: This is actually a partially completed iron golem. Aldwyck is attempting to complete it in order to impress the other Archmages, but he’s bitten off more than he’s actually capable of.

• Iron Head: The head will blink and turn to look at anyone approaching the table. It will attempt to form words, but can say nothing.
• On the Table: An incomplete iron golem manual. It includes a copy of the cloudkill spell and would have a market value of 6,000 gp.

SECOND WORKTABLE: A +2 battleaxe of dwarven make lies on the table. The enchantments on it, however, have been dissected and splayed out using ethereal pinions – glowing beams of blue energy stretch tautly between the pinions and the waraxe.

• Removing Pinions: Removing the pinions without disrupting the axe’s enchantments requires a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check. Proficiency with Smith’s Tools grants a +5 bonus on this check. On a failure, the battleaxe is destroyed (rendering it a mundane weapon). Tool proficiency
• Battleaxe: The battleaxe originates from the forges of Dwarvenhearth.

SEARCH – DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): There’s a polished silver mirror worth 1,000 gp under the pillows on one of the beds.

• DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana): This is a scrying

DM Background: Imogen and Aldwyck are lovers. They are also the two newest archmages among the Red Magi.

AREA 19 – APPRENTICE BUNKS & DINING HALL

This room serves as basically a boarding house for all of the Vladaam Mages and Vladaam Researchers in the guild.

The walls of this chamber are lined with bunk beds that are four high. A large table and rickety-looking chairs fill the middle of the room. The table is covered in dirty dishes in various phases of filth and vaguely organic growth.

BUNK BEDS: A total of twenty-four berths in six stacks of four-high bunk beds.

TREASURE: Secreted under mattresses, lying around on small side tables, kicked into a corner.

• large steel shield +1
• a fancy cloak of silver wolf fur (110 gp)
• ivory and silver carving service (310 gp)
• ornamental silver inkpot with blue quartz gems (100 gp)
• silver locket with platinum filigree depicting a rose (90 gp)
• pouch containing 199 pp
• potion of levitate (cursed; the possessor must eat twice as much as normal for a fortnight)
• a violet spinel (600 gp)

AREA 20 – LIBRARY & ARCANE CIRCLE

The library is well-stocked with arcane lore. Studies in this library benefit from a +2 bonus to Intelligence (Arcana) checks.

BOOKS: In addition to a copy of Hate of the Cobra, the library contains copies of the following chaos lorebooks:

• Lore of the Demon Court
• Mouth of the Void
• The Writhing Obelisk
• The Earthbound Demons
• The Magi of Chaos
• Book of the Elder Brood: Akop

ARCANE CIRCLE: Spells cast within the arcane circle are treated as if they had been cast with a spell slot one level higher than the one used by their caster.

AREA 21 – REAR BALCONY

This area is surprisingly poorly guarded.

AREA 22 – ARCHMAGE TIANT

This room dances to the tune of the many multi-colored magical flames which fill it: A huge pit of blue fire that shifts to purple and then to red and then to yellow and back around again fills the center of the chamber. Candle-less candelabras jut out from the wall, while other flames go cavorting around and through the jumbled cascade of magicl equipment, books, and haphazard worktables.

IRON LADDER: Leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling about 20 feet up.

WORKTABLES – DC 20 Wisdom (Perception): To notice that the top of one of the worktables has a concealed key hole (DC 22 Dexterity (thieves’ tools)). If unlocked, the tabletop can be lifted to reveal a hidden storage chamber containing:

• Liquid Pain (12 doses) and Letter from Gattara to Tiant
• GM Background: Tiant and Gattara are occasional lovers.

WORKTABLE – DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana): To recognize that Tiant is currently creating a staff of fire. Unusually, he appears to be hollowing out the core of the staff and inscribing it with alchemical sigils linked by arcane runes.

• GM Background: Tiant plans to fill the hollow core of the staff of fire with liquid pain, resulting in a +2 effective caster level for the spells inside the staff.

SEARCH – DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation): To detect a section of the wall brimming with magical potential. Pressing firmly against this magical potential causes a section of the wall to transform into a large, comfortable bed. Pressing the wall above the bed’s headboard causes the bed to re-merge with the wall.

AREA 23 – TOWER ROOF

A large apparatus of contorted metal and brass tubing has been erected on the roof.

APPARATUS – DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana): This is an etheric monitoring device. It maintains a connection with the Ethereal Plane and can be used to peer or scry into that plane.

AREA 24 – BASEMENT

A mummified corpse has been shackled to a wooden table in the corner of the basement. The rest of the room is piled high with an assortment of junk.

JUNK:

• a chest with a broken lid
• decayed clothing
• a jar of dead flies
• an alchemist’s kit (useless from age)
• a small ivory figurine that has been defaced past recognition
• wicker baskets with ripped out bottoms

MUMMY: The mummified corpse, however, is an actual mummy. Once part of some experiment, it was secured and then discarded down here with the rest of the junk.

Go to Part 13D: Red Magi Handouts

SPOILERS FOR DRAGON HEIST

Anne asks:

I want to run Dragon Heist for my group. Everyone is exited and we’ve already created characters, but I’ve just discovered that two of my players already know the Cassalanters’ secret. It’s not their fault, but I’m really frustrated. Is there anything I can do?

This is a really tough position to be put in, and it’s definitely something you have to think about when running a published campaign. Particularly when it comes to Wizards of the Coast’s official D&D adventures, a lot of this stuff just kind of leaks into the meme-sphere. Your players may not even realize they’ve been spoiled until they’re actually playing the adventure. For example, the secret identity of the big bad guy in Storm King’s Thunder is spoiled in a Magic the Gathering expansion. I’m currently facing similar concerns for running Descent Into Avernus, which are further complicated because (a) the title of the adventure is a spoiler in itself and (b) there are questions about how much Baldur’s Gate 3 spoils things.

Assuming that you don’t want to swap adventures or drop the players who are spoiled, there are, broadly speaking, three approaches to handling this.

First, talk to the spoiled player and ask them to be discrete and not spoil the experience for others. If you’ve got a really good player who’s willing to be responsible about this, particularly if they tend to play from the Author stance (and, therefore, immersion in their character’s POV is of less importance to them), this can work.

In my experience, though, this is still a diminished experience. It’s like working together to solve a crossword puzzle with someone who’s already solved it: At best, they can sit back and not participate in those elements of the campaign. (Which, in some cases, can be a tell in its own right and still ruin the experience for the other players!)

Second, change the spoiled element or give it a twist to surprise the player. For example:

• Change the Cassalanters’ name (and perhaps a few other pertinent details) so the PCs don’t recognize them.
• The Cassalanters are innocent! The story they tell (i.e., diabolists have cursed their children and they’re trying to lift the curse) is true. Take all the Asmodean elements and shift them to a different noble family. (Maybe the Gralhunds?)
• Since the twist won’t work, simply don’t have the Cassalanters approach the PCs as potential allies. They’ll be open villains when they appear, no different than Xanathar and his minions, and therefore the players’ knowing that they’re diabolists won’t be a problem.

(Can you think of other options for working around a Cassalanter spoiler?)

Making these changes will often mean choosing tradeoffs. For example, making the Cassalanters innocent victims means losing the “It was the parents!” twist. Obviously, you should try to choose tradeoffs that you can live with, and you should also look for ways to not only mitigate the damage, but also create cool new opportunities. (If you’d still like a big twist reveal for the cultists’ identity, for example, maybe it’s Renaer who’s the Asmodean cult leader?)

Something to consider here is whether or not the player knows that they’re spoiled. For example, they might know that the Cassalanters are diabolists because they’ve encountered them in a different adventure, but they might simultaneously have no idea that the Cassalanters are part of the Dragon Heist campaign. If that’s the case, then you might be able to get away with just quietly changing the Cassalanters’ names.

If a player knows that they’re spoiled, on the other hand, and you’re completely altering or removing the spoiled element, then it may be a good idea to tell the player what you’re doing (so that they don’t have to walk on eggshells or worry about it). If you’re twisting their expectations, on the other hand, that twist will likely be at least partly based on subverting the players’ meta-knowledge, so you wouldn’t want to double the spoiler by warning them that it’s coming.

Either way, though, you’ll likely want to combine this with Option #1, warning them not to discuss the spoilers with the other players, even if they’re no longer true for the current campaign.

The third option, however, is to turn the spoiled players into co-conspirators. Since the players know the spoilers, frame things so that their CHARACTERS also know the spoiler, but have a reason not to share it with the other PCs. (At least, not immediately.)

In this case, for example, what if the spoiled players’ characters were actually members of the Asmodean cult, sworn to secrecy? When the Cassalanters approach the group and ask for help (still under false pretenses), it’s at least in part because the cult members are part of the group and can vouch for them. (Note that, depending on how much the spoiled players know, you might still be able to keep some surprises – e.g., the true nature of the ritual the Cassalanters are planning – in reserve, or create new twists that are uniquely possible with the new framing.)

The great thing about this approach is that it once again unifies the player and character experiences, so that the player can enjoy the immersive experience of their character’s POV; the puzzle-solving aspects of game play; and the dramatic satisfaction of surprise and payoff.

In this particular case, of course, it’s also creating potential inter-party antagonism between the PCs, which can be problematic. (And some groups may be uncomfortable with any hidden knowledge, even if the knowledge isn’t inimical to the other PCs’ interests.) A full breakdown of how to handle these concerns is a discussion for another time, but a few things I would think about for this specific scenario are:

• Noting that it doesn’t immediately make the PCs antagonistic with each other. Even when the Cassalanters approach the group, the group’s interests can still remained aligned.
• If/when conflict does arise, making sure it remains clear that the diabolist PCs always have the choice to swap their allegiance. (This would be another strong reason to keep the true nature of the ritual hidden from them, in my opinion.)
• Set up replacement characters in the supporting cast that the diabolist players can easily step into if a rift in the party forces the diabolist characters out. (And making sure the players of the diabolist characters are aware that this is a possible outcome.)

Generally speaking, I’ve found that it’s usually possible to set up this sort of dynamic in a way that’s fun and thrilling for everyone. But it’s also useful to remember that there are other ways to set up motivated hidden knowledge that doesn’t create party strife. For example, I ran a campaign where one of the PCs had access to secret lore through their clan… but the clan’s beliefs also meant that they were honor-bound to keep it a secret. When circumstances and trust resulted in them finally entrusting their fellow PCs with the secrets, it was just a cool moment; nobody felt betrayed or at odds.

Go to Ask the Alexandrian #1

The year is 2199. From its scientific foundations and technological detail to a beautifully developed future history, this game never stops delivering on the promises of its rich, evocative setting. Complemented with a robust dice pool system and some innovative character creation mechanics, Blue Planet deserves a place on every gamer’s shelves.

Review Originally Published in Games Unplugged (February 2001)
Republished on RPGNet May 22nd, 2001

The colony world of Poseidon, the titular setting of the Blue Planet Roleplaying Game, is a wondrous place: From the metropolis of Haven to the floating city of Dyfedd to the corporate town of Simushir and beyond, humanity has left its indelible mark upon the planet. But beneath the waves of this ocean world lurk mysteries which are only beginning to come to light – enigmas which may hold the key to mankind understanding the nature of the universe… and themselves.

Unlike many games which have two core rulebooks, the Blue Planet Moderator’s Guide has absolutely no rules content. Instead, its 250 pages are spent detailing Poseidon to an exceptional level of detail.

(The Player’s Guide – which contains the entire Blue Planet rule system – was previously reviewed.)

FUTURE HISTORY

Humanity’s rapid technological progress of the past century continues unabated into the next. (In addition to the technological wonders which await us, the creators have also taken the time to discuss the dead ends which we pursue – small touches like this give the entire background of the game a sense of reality which many SF settings lack.) As always, the political landscape changes – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Then, in 2075, an astonishing discovery is made: While studying the Oort Cloud, astronomers discover a wormhole beyond the orbit of Pluto. Although it takes more than a year for scientists to realize what they’ve found, and another three before they confirm their suspicions, a new era of humanity is opened up: On the other side of the wormhole is Poseidon: an earth-like planet. A colonization mission is sent, and plans are made to follow up with regular resupply missions.

But then mankind’s technological pace meets with disaster: In 2090, a genetically engineered parasitic fungus designed to attack rice crops begins to rapidly mutate – spreading to the rice itself and, then, to wheat crops. As the so-called Fischer Virus spreads around the globe, famine is inevitable. This disaster, which lasts until 2120, causes massive social and political upheaval: Billions die; the UN is replaced by the GEO (Global Ecology Organization); several multinational corporations become nation-states in their own right; and the colonization effort is abandoned.

And then, finally, in 2165, it’s time for mankind to return to the stars – and, more specifically, Poseidon. They discover, upon their return, that the colonists they left behind – who slowly lost their advanced technology in the interim – have gone native and developed unique cultures of their own. At this point, it seems that a slow development of Poseidon will now be inevitable and natural… until Long John is discovered. Long John, a xenosilicate unique to Poseidon, is discovered to possess the keys to advanced molecular and (more importantly) genetic engineering – perhaps even unlocking, at long last, the secret of immortality. A latter-day gold rush is launched, and Poseidon is transformed, in short order, into a political and economic hotbed of competing interests – commercial, political, and social.

The current year is 2199: Natives fight with Incorporate City-States. Incorporate City-States struggle for independence from the GEO. Earth still struggles to fully recover from the long years of the Blight. And through it all, beneath all of this frontier conflict, lies a mystery beneath the waves…

Poseidon is home to a wide diversity and variety – but it is all fully justified by the setting’s future history. This is a smart game: Every element – from the believable, yet alien ecology to the technological landscape of the future – is fully justified and then used to its utmost. The detail of the book provides not only a depth, but also a clarity of understanding, to a rich and evocative setting – one which is not only fascinating to experience, but which also instantly begins sparking adventure ideas. I’ve often said that details are the key difference between a good idea and a great game world, and Blue Planet proves that maxim true.

It is ironic that this rich detail is also directly afflicted (one might say blighted) by the only serious flaw in the entire package: The table of contents – which lists only the four chapter headings for the entire book – is woefully inadequate for a book of this scope and depth.

But small glitches like that are scarce on the ground when it comes to Blue Planet, and its clear that – when it comes to rich, rewarding science fiction settings – you will be hard pressed to find one better.

Grade: A-

Writers: Jeffrey Barber, Greg Benage, Allan Grohe, John Snead, Jason Werner
Publisher: Biohazard Games (Fantasy Flight Games)
Price: $27.95
Page Count: 255
ISBN: 1-887911-05-4
Product Code: BP01

Read my review of the Blue Planet Player’s Guide!

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

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