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 |
