The title is what a player said when I held up the map from about five feet away, while commenting on the fact the flip mat was too dark. "But it should be dark, that's a cave, right?"
No. No, it's not a cave.
I know the other reviewers have already noted this issue, but I want to be clear just how dark this thing is. Dry erase markers barely show up, negating much of the point of having a flip mat. This has been an increasing problem with flip mats; the "dark" side of the cathedral mat is also too dark to draw on and see the details well, for example.
The sample art on the Web page is deceptive--my print of the map at least is darker than the sample image, and is so dark a green to be nearly brown, so it's not very pretty to look at, either. Maybe I just got a bad copy, but based on what I've read here, that is unlikely.
This is especially disappointing as the Forest flip mat was to replace, thematically speaking, the much vaunted "Woodlands" flip-mat, now out of print (which I never got a chance to buy). I imagine you'd still be better off buying, begging, or stealing the OOP mat than buying this one. (Disclaimer: I do not actually advocate theft of any product.)
This map features on one side, a "light" colored cathedral with pews, columns, and stained glass windows, and storerooms/libraries in the back. It matches the feel for old cathedrals and churches I have visited in real life, while featuring a terrain design useful in a d20 combat setting. The flip side is a similar cathedral but darker in color with "evil" decorations.
This came out conveniently before I needed a cathedral for a fight in my campaign, and it's sure as heck easier to use than try to draw a fully detailed cathedral on a blank page by hand! The details are clear and gorgeous; the "light side" is especially well designed that if I needed to draw on changes in the terrain, I could do so and it showed up clearly.
My only complaint is that the sides are too similar--basically the same map, with different colors and a couple tile changes. Most cathedrals are multi story, and I would have preferred the flip side to be a balcony, basement, or catacombs area instead. Also, the "dark side" of the map is dark enough in color to make it harder for drawn on details to show up.
I received these as part of my map pack subscription, which largely has blown me away in innovativeness and beautiful detail. This pack is instead bland and repetitive. Given time, I could make better on my own.
The only good feature of this set is the "inside of the whale" set of four cards. This is what the whole pack should have been like: the mouth and gullet of the creature, with some unique, clear details (and the watery bits can also be re-used for other water scenes). These cards are the reason for the 2 star rating, rather than a 1 star.
The gelatinous cube is also neat because we have both the cube and the corridor it's in. Or it would be, if the rest of the corridor were gridded so you could actually use it as a combat map. I’ve yet to see a fight take place entirely inside a gelatinous cube, so the only way this card will be useful is if you cut the cube out.
As for the other 13 cards? The sample pics now up are exactly what you get--a bland silhouette of a monster in generic terrain, with some blank red squares inside. Again, there are no gridlines outside the monster, so you can't use the whole card as a battlefield (so say, if one PC is in the monster and another PC is outside the monster, you have no way of easily judging distance). If there were gridlines, you could use the card atop a regular battle map and move it if the monster moves; again, most of these are monsters where the fight would not take place entirely inside the monster. I cannot see a way you can get your money’s worth for these cards’ limited use.
The real shame about this set is that it had the potential to be an awesome set of “living” landscapes to be used as both innards and alien terrain, and this potential was discarded in favor of an unusual shoddiness, laziness, and poor forethought otherwise unseen in the Game Mastery line.
I’m tempted to dump the majority of the set straight into the recycling bin. Maybe I can get some use out of them as index cards at least.
This game has a wonderfully intuitive, pick up and play system. Characters are made with a short, reasonable list of attributes, abilities, and traits. Checks involve rolling 2d6 and adding the appropriate attribute+skill. Traits modify the die roll.
Characters also have story points, similar to fate points in the Fate system, which can do a variety of things from modify die rolls to alter the game's narrative and environment (within reason). This adds beautifully to the cinematic nature of the system and universe.
Unfortunately, the rulebooks lack organization and the consistency and quality of writing. Nearly 50% of the Gamemaster’s Guide is a repetition of the Player’s Guide, a shameful waste of time and paper that could have been better used to provide a more in-depth description of the Doctor Who universe (which is otherwise a bit lacking). Alien traits and gadgets are found in the GMG rather than the Player’s Guide, unnecessarily complicating character creation. The narrative style of the books focus on sounding relaxed and “cool”; sometimes this results in useful, uncomplicated exposition, but at other times the tone grates, and some overly lengthy text could have been replaced by simple tables. Advice to the GM is fraught with contradiction: GMs are advised in one place to be flexible, and in another, in so many words, that GM fiat surpasses everything—horrifying to see in what’s supposed to be a rules-light, novice-friendly system.
The adventure booklet is shoddily written and obviously rushed. It’s filled with grammatical errors, let alone plot holes. The second, shorter adventure suggests having the Doctor as a player character, but then dictates the Doctor’s actions as if he were an NPC. Fortunately, the loose structure of the game makes it easy to design your own adventures if you want to—but that’s not helpful to first-timers who need some guidance on that front.
The production quality of the box set is fantastic: well-bound, beautifully laid-out paperback rulebooks, sheets, and cards. The 6d6 are lovely. Sadly the box needs to be sturdier, and is only just big enough to hold everything as shipped. Once I punched out my story tokens, they didn’t fit in the box with everything else.
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