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Eclipse Phase Second Edition
by Peter T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/23/2019 20:19:00

First off, I love the setting for Eclipse Phase. I was pointed out to me by a friend when first released, but I was on a Fantasy RPG kick at the time and didn't look at it. I wasn't until several years later another friend started up a campaign and I joined in and fell instantly in love with the setting. I went and bought everything I could get my hands on for the game in hardcopy and in PDF. I volunteered to run games at Conventions and have a few ideas I'd like to write up to publish.

That said, I was ready to HATE second edition.

Second Ed EP aimed to simplify a lot of the number crunching in the rules. For me, common math is easy, so I didn't see the need. For other folk I understand math might have got in the way of the play experience. Character generation was long and slow, and there were a lot of the changes in that area make it swift, also, to make 'resleeving' faster too.

I backed the KS, because this product, and these creators, absolutely deserve my support. I participated in the playtest, grumbled a bit, noted some good things, realised some of the changes in play that might happen because of changes in the rules. I didn't read the finished PDF immediately, but at Gen Con 2019 I got my hands on a print copy and purused it on the long flight home to Australia intersperced with binging some television.

I am solidly impressed.

Character generation is easy. You can start generation, finish, and play a short scenario in one session. A practical imposibility with first edition. Resleeving is a breeze too. The changes make for swift, exciting and sometimes heroic play, while maintaining a fair bit of grit.

One of our players was concerned his character build, heavy on cyberware and mods, was 'crippled' under the new rules; Quickly exhausting his resources in a fight compared to the old system. However, fights don't really last that long, and effects were minimal. He still outclasses the entire rest of the Squad, though I anticipate his heavy investment in a single body to be a liability in the long run, as being prepared to cut and run from a body is a necessity some times.

Playing an Async character, the changes to the Psi rules are a fantastic opportunity for roleplay. I love them. I look forward to playing out stuff in our campaign.

Overall, this edition is even sexier, with lovely artwork throughout.

I'll always recommend EP to someone looking at a Transhumanist RPG, and this new edition with its lighter character generation goes a very long way to making this game accessible to all.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase Second Edition
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Eclipse Phase Second Edition
by Adrian S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/21/2019 23:39:48

Eclipse Phase earns a place as a truly distinct RPG for those seeking the space between sci-fi, horror, cyberpunk, suspese, and conspiracy theory-crafting. It manifests as a deeply mature work of writing that seriously considers the implications of unimpeded technological discovery and evolution divorced from the perceived shackles of ethics, morals, and 'the common good' that plunges humanity into near extinction. The political, religious, philosophical, and technological themes are all-pervasive, and represent a game that frames threats as existential; challenging the player-characters to become immersed in a game that asks difficult questions without providing clear answers. In short, this is a game where personal truth (with a lower-case 't') is far more likely than any universal Truth - and even then it can morph, mutate, or be forcibly altered into something very different in the span of only a few game sessions.

Within this futuristic setting 95% of the human population have been destroyed, and the remainder have embraced (to varying degrees) transhumanity - that humanity is more than a fleshy form, and consciousness is a valuable asset that can be saved, restored from back-up, and even beamed across light-years to be re-sleeved into new forms. Experimentation on the natural world has 'uplifted' species to sapient levels; to the point these creatures are autonomous, self-determing life forms who need reassurance of their status and place in the expanding galaxy. Earth is a dangerous wasteland, its' near orbit littered with failed attempts to escape and the frozen remains of those doomed to never leave - the rest of humanity has spread across the solar system. Political strucutres are diverse, from the autocratic repressive regime of the Jovians (whose increasingly isolationalist totalitarianism outlook threatens internal obselecence) to the values-driven democratic socialist clades (and every possible permutation in between and beyond).

Society is constructed from uploaded and saved sapients, effectively immortal, and able to edit memories, and tailor their forms for every environment but bearing a great psychological and emotional cost. Humanity, though, is presented at its' self-destructive, cannibalistic best - even the threat of species-level extinction fails to act as a deterrant for perpetuating class divides, a death-grip on capitalist structures and intellectual property, and imposing scarcity economics.

It should be noted that the lion's share of this book is dedicated to setting. Whilst the mechanics (a percentile system) are well-detailed, described, and implemented, it is the incredible attention to a believable habitat for the human race that is most compelling.
The authors are obviously well-aware that the philosophical themes, sheer scope and diversity, and choice position it as a possibly confronting purchase. Mitigating this are the highly practical advice sections that delineate portions of the game, present the essentials, and then offer ways to purposefully grapple with the concepts at the table. The writers exercise excellent judgment in the topics covered, and this section is placed about halfway through the book - roughly about the time my head was full of racing, competing ideas that defied immediate attempts to fashion them into usable ideas. In that state of excited creativity, I was presented with sections that grounded my ideas, provided focus, and helped me to pare down the core elements of interest. Once completed, I was ready to dive into the rest of the book.

The writing style is mature, thoughtful, and thought-provoking, but at the same time accessible. The authors acknowledge the work of others as inspiration, and fans of Takeshi Kovacs, The Expanse, and even Ghost in the Shell will find enough touchstones to easily digest the content. As mentioned, the content sequencing and structure is a highlight, and it is clear the developers tried to predict how readers would use the book, in what order ideas should be presented, and when the reader was likely to need a short rest to collate. Artwork is uniformally evocative of the universe presented, and has a gritty, yet tasteful approach that complements the text.

Overall, I cannot praise this book more, and will add a physical copy to my shelves. Even if you do not intend to play this game, but it for the setting and you'll not be disappointed. I have no experience with the First Edition upon which to base comparative reviews, but as my entry point to Eclipse Phase this has given me a lot to think about, plenty of inspiration, and a desire to read more.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Eclipse Phase Second Edition
by Arokha S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/19/2019 09:46:51

Very impressed with this much better book layout than 1E. The two-page spread idea (where most rule topics are broken down into a single two-page spread) is great, and is much better than the 1E book I had the displeasure of digging around in to write a wiki for.

The faster/simplified sleeve stats make resleeving much easier, and was one of my biggest complaints about 1E... in a setting that expects you to resleeve often, why make it so complicated? 2E resolved that almost entirely.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Eclipse Phase Second Edition
by Nathaniel J. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/13/2019 14:15:24

An excellent second edtion. Eclipse Phase 2E remains an extremely crunchy game. What it has over 1E is a much simplfied system for resleaving, and streamlined rules. It also is explicitly political and hates fascists! A+



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Eclipse Phase Second Edition
by Lachlan H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/11/2019 17:44:00

The second edition of Eclipse Phase gets it right. The simplified resleeving (and therefore actually as common as the setting would have you believe), the skills that make sense, the improved and more accessible character creation...

I have been playing all through the playtest, and the mechanics are well polished and work wonderfully.

As for the rest of the book, the two-page spreads are so intuitive to navigate and just make sense. Notable examples for me include the history of the Fall timeline, gear categories, and combat pages.

The condensed System Gazeteer makes it easier to look up & grok locations on the fly, and make planning sessions easier, a huge improvement on the design of 1E. The setting information, including where we are and transhuman culture, are succinct and make it incredibly easy to on-board new players.

There's so much more good to say about 2E, but i'll leave that for another time.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Eclipse Phase: Infamy
by Charles R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/07/2019 23:56:45

Great background into the World of Eclipse Phase. Loved that the story was not focused on trying to recreate the dynamics of a score of fight scenes or from the perspective of a tight knit group of Hero Operatives. 'Infamy' has a base human, believable narrative about a character who could be any of us. The story combines the truth's of human nature (and our many failings) with the complexities of becoming transhuman. For a newcomer to the world of Eclipse Phase more visuals would be good too, hey and who doesnt want to see Pivo in all his glory (High five x8 !)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Infamy
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Eclipse Phase: Morph Recognition Cards (first edition)
by Stephen M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/26/2019 09:15:25

Does what it says. Morph selection is easier, or you could roll a d100. really just nice to look at :)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Morph Recognition Cards (first edition)
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Eclipse Phase: Rimward
by Stephen M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/26/2019 08:38:05

This book is seriously near perfect. It gives exactly what you expect and want, all new worlds and ways to kill your characters and drive them insane. Imagine if Stargate was run by corporations and had much more alien planets, that's what this is.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Rimward
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Eclipse Phase: All Sample Characters (first edition)
by Stephen M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/26/2019 08:03:23

It is what it says. All sample characters from the 1st edition books with their stats and pics. great stuff!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: All Sample Characters (first edition)
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Eclipse Phase (first edition)
by Eric H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/27/2019 20:16:32

I purchased the hardcover copy of this rulebook. I will not be discussing the actual content of the book (i.e. the Eclipse Phase RPG) since I am already familiar with it through the widely-available digital publication. I wanted a physical copy of the rulebook, because I find physical rulebooks far more ergonomic (while playing the game) than digital copies.

The condition of the book is excellent, having only recieved a tiny dent to the edge of the front cover during shipment. The pages were printed cleanly and exactly on good quality paper, which feels like actual paper to the touch. Compare this to a National Geographic magazine, which feels smooth and like plastic. The pages had a slight tendency to curl sinusoidally from the spine to the right edge of the book when it was first delivered, but that has begun to smooth out after a few days of use.

The printing made the colors slightly less vivid in comparison to the digital copy, which is by no means a bad thing and is certainly not a publishing flaw. I attribute matte-ness of the book's colors to the fact that it is not a computer screen, and thus not projecting the image directly into my eyes. The one flaw in printing that I have found is the section of sample characters, which was printed slightly too high on the page. The top few millimeters of the character's archetype title are cut off by the top of the page, and there is a 2mm line of brighter red at the very bottom edge of the page. I don't intend to complain or ask for any reimbursement, due to the fantastic customer serivice of the DriveThruRPG team.

When I first ordered this book, I mis-typed my area code. When the original book was mailed to me, it seems to have gotten lost in the mail as a result. When I contacted DriveThruRPG about this (after reading their FAQ and following their issue reporting procedure), they immediately contacted their publishing house and sent me a duplicate hardcover rulebook, free of charge! That kind of unthinking generosity earned them a maximum-score review, and a potential return customer should I need another hard-to-find RPG rulebook. Thank you DriveThruRPG!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase (first edition)
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Eclipse Phase: Sunward: The Inner System
by Jason C. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/14/2018 12:03:51

With the recent adaptation of Altered Carbon on Netflix, I thought it was time to take a look back at one of the most well-established transhuman-cyberpunk roleplaying games, Eclipse Phase. Sunward is a supplement that focuses on what I would consider the most common settings for Eclipse Phase: the Solar System from Mars (terraformed and under the control of a shady consortium) in to the surface of the Sun itself (colonized by people who have put their minds into highly alien and well protected bodies capable of withstanding the environment there).

Most of the book is taken up by a systemless description of this setting, though the organization of the book is top tier, and inclines it back towards the core action of the game. The typical Eclipse Phase game is based around a secretive troubleshooting/human defense organization called the Firewall, about midway between a secret vigilante group and a hacktivist syndicate. In Sunward, each chapter head acts as a mini-table of contents for that chapter and is pitched as "things a Firewall agent might want to consider when operating in this environment". Sometimes it's about typical threats or environmental dangers, sometimes it's about "unofficial" rumors, sometimes it's about the "secret history" of the world which Firewall navigates and discovers.

The remainder of the book includes new bodies for characters to use in different environments, some new threats and equipment stats, and, as is usual for Eclipse Phase, several sample characters who operate in the setting being described.

The typical criticism of Eclipse Phase was "wow, but the system doesn't do much, and what am I supposed to do with this?!" It's clear the creators of the game took this criticism to heart when working on supplements, because Sunward is very carefully aimed directly at the bullseye of what Firewall and the actions of the PCs are expected to be. They're expected to be scientific and espionage operatives infiltrating or exploring hositile environments to puzzle out the truthg of the chaos that a ultra-high-tech war left on humanity, and interacting with the human and near-human entities that form the blurred line of the transhuman sf experience. (The system is still kind of a wet noodle, so if I said we should improve this supplement it would be in that area. Also, I think for the bodies which the PCs might inhabit when (say) travelling to the Sun or Mercury, it would make more sense to have them on single-page pullouts, or cards, so as to easily distribute and keep them separate from the "minds" of the player characters on the core character sheet.)

Sunward is a great example of what a supplement should be. It enhances the understanding of the corebook, is easy to tell how it should be used, and has form factors and is structured in a way as to make it easily accessible. It gets my highest marks because of these traits.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Sunward: The Inner System
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Eclipse Phase First Edition: Everything Electronic [BUNDLE]
by A customer [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/29/2018 20:49:17

I really love this game; it's an excellent RPG, a well put together and thought out setting, and every book is just so lovely to look at :)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase First Edition: Everything Electronic [BUNDLE]
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Eclipse Phase: Scott Fox - Infinite & Indivisible
by Adrian S. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 05/09/2018 21:39:59

This is seriously incredible. I'm always on the lookout for orchestral music either to use in-game, or as inspiration for writing games. This soundtrack achieves both with hgh production values, crisp audio, and a variation in style and tone that does not feel forced. From 'Eclipse Phase Overture' that mixes an ominous yet epic mood (and gives the sense of dark majesty for a subtley dangerous galaxy), to 'Lagrange Point 1' with it's synth minimalism that slowly builds in strangeness, to the low tension of 'Pandora Gate', and oddly (yet satisfyingly) upbat 'Sunward', the CD does represent a fine range of tracks that are flexible enough to be used in almost any science fiction setting (although I can see uses for some of the tracks in Shadowrun, and World of Darkness games). Definitely worth the cover price, and a great addition to your audio library.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Scott Fox - Infinite & Indivisible
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Eclipse Phase: Wormwood Craters
by Judy N. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/03/2018 18:24:17

This is a thing of beauty right here... I laughed so hard a damn near wet myself. Some enterprising soul out there needs to run an adventure based off this masterpiece.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Wormwood Craters
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Eclipse Phase: Scott Fox - Infinite & Indivisible
by Brad F. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/08/2018 12:41:34

Very atmospheric and sinister. Perfect for a futuristic campaign but I also can use it for my Pathfinder campaign. Excellent value!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Eclipse Phase: Scott Fox - Infinite & Indivisible
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