The new post-apoc game from the folks who did the very awesome Stars Without Number.

How does it stack up to Mutant Future, the other great retro post-apoc game?

I have it though atm im still reading through it so im not sure how usefull my info will be, if you have SWN i'd get a copy if only for the extra background setting info as it pertains to how earth fell and the different faction remants that are trying to rebuild whilst warring with each other.

Not sure how it compares to Mutant Future as i dont currently have a copy but i'd imagine the rules are similar enoug that you could mix both for a really gonzo post apocalyptic game set on a fallen earth thats also tied into the SWN universe(not that you couldnt run the same campaign without Mutant Future).

Im sure The creator himself will pop in eventually to shed a better light on the differences and similarities.

I've only had the time for a quick skim so far - I'm waiting for my hardback - but that mutation system... looks great.

It's a few table of madlibs-esque sentences. You roll on the chart to get a basic concept, and then roll on the sub-charts for any variables given.

So let's demonstrate.

"You have a [Shape] [Body Part]."

And I get from the Shape table... "Chitinous"... and Body Part... "One or two arms".

So now my mutation is "You have a pair of chitinous arms". As far as I can tell, this one is purely cosmetic, but there's a lot of variety and there are a lot of Mutant Future-esque "special power" mutations that you can develop. You probably could convert from that, but this is so much more versatile.

Other than that, there's a large section of GM quick-generation tools at the back, systems for growing/developing/decaying enclaves, gear degradation and construction, and monsters. There's a pre-designed wasteland, as well.

It seems like a much more "serious" take on the apocalypse than MF; there's no gonzo wierdness here. The few psychics are utterly mad, or trained by the utterly mad, so they're not PC's; the four new classes seem like specialised Experts.

I have it. The sandbox tools that it includes makes it much more useful than Mutant Future IMHO. Not to mention that it includes a fully fleshed out campaign setting, the Bone Lands.

I want it but I am poor. Le sigh.
Moving sucks,

Quote from: Piestrio;564642The new post-apoc game from the folks who did the very awesome Stars Without Number.

How does it stack up to Mutant Future, the other great retro post-apoc game?

I'm in no position to speak on the aesthetic merits, though I do think Mutant Future is an excellent game. I can note, though, that there's one very big mechanical difference between the two games, despite both of them being OSR. MF follows the Gamma World pattern of Lots Of Hit Dice for PCs and NPCs alike, whereas OD follows the D&D pattern of most people having one hit die and dying the first time somebody stabs them with a scrapmetal spear. As a consequence, while MF is a great source of gadget ideas and monsters, you can't use the damage dice and stats straight across without adjusting for that hit die gap.

MF also goes further in embracing the somewhat gonzo flavor of Gamma World, whereas OD is slightly grittier. MF uses a gold standard for trade, whereas OD defaults to strict barter with food supplies as the general currency. This is not to say that MF's got the wrong idea, however, as a lot of groups just don't want to deal with barter, in which case OD provides an alternate token currency to represent claims on an enclave's food supplies.

MF has a lot of crunchybits content- lots of gear, lots of monsters. OD spends its page budget more on GM tools for building adventures/enclaves/organizations. Honestly, if you were interested in both, I'd just grab them both, use whatever system you liked best, and mine the other for the good stuff it has in it.

Sounds quite interesting!

RPGPundit

Thanks for the reply!

I'll definitely be moving this up my "to-buy" list

To sweeten the deal, Kevin has posted a FREE 45-page adventure for Other Dust to DriveThruRPG. Here is a link:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/104238/Grandfather%27s-Rain?affiliate_id=323031

I have only skimmed it but it has two fleshed out villages, random encounter and loot tables, an overland map, a multi-level dungeon and more. Good God, when does the man sleep??'

To sweeten the deal, Kevin has posted a FREE adventure to DriveThruRPG called Grandfather's Rain. I have just skimmed it but it has two towns, an overland map, a multilevel dungeon, loot and encounter tables, etc.

When does the man sleep?

Horrible title.

Between "Other Dust" and "An Echo, Resounding," I think this guy needs a marketing intervention. Neither of these is as bad as Shadows of Estrogen, but still...

Quote from: FASERIP;566550Horrible title.

Between "Other Dust" and "An Echo, Resounding," I think this guy needs a marketing intervention. Neither of these is as bad as Shadows of Estrogen, but still...

Oh I dunno, Stars Without Number is a fucking awesome name for an Space RPG. Red Tide, Skyward Steel, Hard Light and The Crimson Pandect are all pretty good titles too.

Quote from: FASERIP;566550Horrible title.

Between "Other Dust" and "An Echo, Resounding," I think this guy needs a marketing intervention. Neither of these is as bad as Shadows of Estrogen, but still...

"Other Dust" is a pain to track on Google, but I wouldn't change it. It's an allusive tie-in to the Dust nanite swarms on Earth, the post-apoc trope of everything being covered with a thick layer of dust, the traditional funeral liturgy and Genesis 2:7. If the biggest post-apoc IP in the world can swing it on "Fallout", I'll stick with "Other Dust".

"An Echo, Resounding" is the product of layout laziness. I needed more Asian flavor and I couldn't decide how to organize my interior chapters, so I just ripped off Ryokan and used two of his poems as flavor subheads for the book sections.

Introduction / The Wind Gives Me
Domain Play in a Campaign / Enough Fallen Leaves
Creating Campaign Regions / To Make a Fire

Domain Management / In A Light Snow, Three Thousand Realms
Mass Combat / In These Realms, Light Snow Falls

It saved me the aggravation of deciding how to arrange things. Once I did that, I continued to make life easy for myself by ripping off another of his poems for the title. Since it was a book about conquest, rule, and creating domains, the Buddhist imagery was amusing:

Our life in this world
to what shall I compare it?
Its like an echo,
resounding through the mountains
and off into the empty sky.

Yeah, I could've done named both more conventionally, but there are roughly 40K permutations of Assonance and Assonance or Nouns of Nouns out there already. It's more entertaining to do things allusively, and anybody in this business for anything but entertainment is going to be cruelly disappointed.

Quote from: SineNomine;566667It's more entertaining to do things allusively, and anybody in this business for anything but entertainment is going to be cruelly disappointed.

Spoken by someone who knows.  But you seems to have a pretty good track record with releasing quality material over different genres on a consistent basis (moreso than some "pro" companies).  It must not too much of a financial black hole either, otherwise it would be no can do.  I wonder if you have made a greater return than if you had written for a project that pays, like say Kobold Quarterly or even a Paizo product.  

I myself have thrown some ducets you way for the digital bits of RT and AER (both superior products IMO).

Looking forward to you secret fantasy project.

Quote from: SineNomine;566667Yeah, I could've done named both more conventionally, but there are roughly 40K permutations of Assonance and Assonance or Nouns of Nouns out there already.

'Mutant Future' is neither of those and you can actually deduce its genre from that title.

QuoteIt's more entertaining to do things allusively, and anybody in this business for anything but entertainment is going to be cruelly disappointed.

If you want people to check out your games, then you'll want something to catch their attention, no?

'Other Dust' is dull. That shit about the nanite swarms sure sounds nifty, but I wouldn't know that from just skimming the internets, because I (generic consumer 'I') might think the game as unimaginative as its title.