System Mastery

Latest Episodes:

System Mastery 227 – Wizards & Gunslingers Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/system-mastery-227-wizards-gunslingers.mp3Ooh, it’s one of those cowboys and also a different thing games! You know, like cowboys and ninjas, or cowboys and dinosaurs, or cowboys and the slow crushing onset of modernity… this one is wizards though. It’s mostly percentile, it’s written very strangely, and more details can be yours if the PRICE IS RIGHT (the episode is free).

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System Mastery 226 – Star Munchkin May 18, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/system-mastery-226-star-munchkin.mp3

Uh oh, someone better stop us before we get to level 10. It’s Star Munchkin, the RPG! Did you know there were RPGs of these games? You should have guessed. Munchkin has the same marketing team as KISS. It’s obviously a comedy game, secretly (seriously, it’s amazing how hard they work to hide it) an OGL game, and generally all about space.

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System Mastery 225 – Marvel Multiverse RPG Playtest May 06, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/system-mastery-225-marvel-multiverse-rpg.mp3

Reviewing a playtest? That doesn’t seem right! Well, it certainly isn’t in our usual bag of tricks, but hey, this is a rare situation where someone writing a modern game ASKED for our opinion (sort of, they asked for opinions in general) and we can be constructive and nice! Will we? Maybe! Also this is our THIRD review of a Marvel game (with a fourth on the horizon) and so you’ll just have to forgive us not putting a bunch of Excelsiors and No-Prizes and stuff in the writeup. Except shoot we just did.
Last thing. We didn’t mention one thing during the review that we both wanted to, which is that the game has a rule stating that you never accidentally kill anyone, you can always choose to knock them out instead. This is progressive and laudable, but has the funny side effect of turning all the game’s sermons about how “real Marvel heroes would never use guns” into an even sillier thing to bother with.

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System Mastery 224 – Fiasco Classic Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/system-mastery-224-fiasco-classic.mp3

Mea culpa time (Jef version): This is one of those games where I knew exactly what it was and have been recommending it for years for any RP session that needs to be about spiraling into failure… but I’ve never read it til now. So hey, were all my recommendations justified? Let’s find out, shall we?

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System Mastery 223 – Tephra Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/system-mastery-223-tephra.mp3

Ooh, a steampunk one! You can tell because of the brown and the gear and the goggles and all. Oh, I guess it also says steampunk on there, in retrospect I suppose that was a dead giveaway. Anyhow Tephra is definitely drifting in the fantasy direction on the old -punk continuum, with neat races and a whole fantastical path to airshippery, plus it’s all D12 based, which is always fun.

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System Mastery 222 – Umlaut: Game of Metal Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/system-mastery-222-umlaut.mp3

Uh oh, every once in a while a time comes in which we are commanded to rock, and that time has come again. We’re discussing a game in which every play takes the reins of an entire metal band, and seeks fortune, glory, and thrown up horns from loyal fans. Is this Sabbath? Or is it Winger? Listen along and let’s find out.

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System Mastery 221 – Santa’s Soldiers Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/system-mastery-221-santas-soldiers.mp3

Happy Christmas in July in March! It’s time for some holiday cheer, because we were looking for a different game but ended up with this one (it’s explained in the show). Suit up as an agent in Santa’s elf army and go forth to do battle with a bunch of holiday monsters. Or at least hear us talk about it!

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System Mastery 220 – The Secret Fire Feb 23, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/system-mastery-220-the-secret-fire.mp3

This is a pretty bog-standard “Recapture the D&D I remember when I was 11” moonshot game, where the lessons learned about what D&D used to be like seem to be that it was awful but we loved it. Does it promise to be all about player empowerment and then immediately strip almost any tools they might have used away from them? You’ll have to listen to find out, but it’d be weird if I asked that question and the answer was no, wouldn’t it.

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System Mastery 219 – The Lawnmower Man RPG Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/system-mastery-219-the-lawnmower-man-rpg.mp3

How often do we get to do theme weeks? This is great! We have the Lawnmower Man RPG, which is set immediately after the events of the movie, as the Southern Gothic horror gives way to … troop team simulation as described by the company that made Phoenix Command. What? Why? How? Anyway, here’s a whole review for your ears!

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System Mastery 218 – Silver Age Sentinels Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

https://systemmastery.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/system-mastery-218-silver-age-sentinels.mp3

Oh boy another supers game! You know how we love those! SIlver Age Sentinels is from the Big Eyes, Small Mouth folks, so you better believe it shares the insane customizability, tri-stat system, and more with that anime simulator. But how does it do as a superhero engine? Well, let’s all find out together.

Announcement Mastery

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