Product Review
First
Things First…
The Fluid Mechanics sourcebook is
a techno lover’s bible. It gives you loads more
vehicles, weapons and technology to use in your Blue
Planet V2 games. It is well put together with lots
of good pictures to go with the new gear. This is
not just a catalogue of weaponry, methods of transport
and gear though. It gives you information on how technology
has become an essential part of Poseidon’s day-to-day
running, ranging from the bustling streets of the
biggest colonies to the smallest settlements on the
tiniest islands.
Content…
The book is broken down into four
chapters and an introduction. The Introduction is
used to explain how the information in the rest of
the book has been laid out. Each item in each section
has a list to accompany it. This will tell you everything
from its weight to its durability.
Chapter one is about Hardware, which
is quite a broad subject and has been broken down
in to lots of subcategories. The first of these are
pretty standard with, info on things like life-support
equipment, generators and materials. Then comes the
armour section, which has three new types of armour.
These range from heavy battle-suits to bulletproof
vests, which could prove useful if your characters
keep getting badly shot-up in firefights.
The computer and communication section
tells you how computers can be used in your game and
what different software is available. The espionage
equipment section is good if you want to get your
players involved in a sneaky James Bond style game,
where stealth can be more important than firepower.
This gives you access to stuff like disguise kits
and Intrusion Suits, which help protect the wearer
from thermal imaging cameras (good for hunting Predators
then).
The medical tech section is very
comprehensive. One of the things I’ve found
most useful in games is the Auto Doc. This is very
nifty piece of gear that helps keep players alive
until they reach a hospital. For some reason medical
skills always seem to be forgotten until the bleeding
and dying starts. In keeping with life saving there
is also a good section on survival gear. This include
things like rescue rafts (useful with all that water),
solar stills and temporary shelters. It’s a
sure sign of an evil GM when all the players race
to this section of a book and start loading up with
gear.
The robots and remotes section is
good when your more cautious (read: cowardly) players
are debating whether something looks safe or not,
as you can now send a robot to poke it. Finally the
Cetacean hardware is expanded from the few items in
the Player’s Guide. This includes things like
the common utility harness and the more bizarre zero-g
thruster pack.
The second chapter is called Weapons
(hurrah!). This section of the book gives you loads
of new weapons to let your characters play with. Most
of the weapons have pictures (this is something lot’s
of games don’t do, which is a shame) and a description
of what they do. Several of the weapons are good for
everyday colony use and will be familiar to most areas
of the planet. Some of the other stuff however is
a little more rare, like the Bloop tube. These fire
small radar guided rocket launchers, which you can
use above or under the water. Nice, depending which
end you’re staring down obviously.
The third chapter is where you can
find everything you wanted to know about Biotech but
were afraid to ask. Biotech has become an essential
part of society in the Blue Planet world and this
chapter will let you have anything from a cybernetic
hand to a full body modification.
Chapter four is like and aquatic
auto-trader. It gives you the low-down on loads of
new vehicles, which is good because in our games we
spend a lot of time moving form A to B, so might as
well do it in style. The vehicles have all been well
designed and each one has a bit of history behind
it. There is also a vehicle accessory section as well.
This is good if you want to give your gleaming new
BMW hovercraft extra armour, a supercharger or maybe
a full stealth package. Before you ask, NO, there’s
no alloys, furry dice, body kits or huge speakers
for all you frontier boy racers out there.
The
End…
This book isn’t just a collection
of stuff they couldn’t fit in the main books
equipment section. It’s a well put together
breakdown of technology on the planet. If you have
been playing Blue Planet V2 for a while this book
is a great way to bulk out your characters next stop
at the trading post.
This book is full of the kind of
gadgets R2-D2 would probably like on his Christmas
list and is well worth a look if you want to add more
'tech' to your games.
Reviewed By Jon Simpson |
