Malachite
2017-05-19, 12:03 PM
Lots of you have probably seen Hyperlanes (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/235742298/hyperlanes-cinematic-scifi-for-dnd-5e) advertised when the Kickstarter ran at the end of last year. Well, they just delivered the Core Rulebook this morning and I'm reading through it now. It's chunky - the pdf is 189 pages! - and has a fair bit of fiction and artwork so far.
I'm going to start posting a quick first impression now and edit this as I get further through the document. :smallwink:
So, here we go:
Races
I like the race creation system. Rather than sticking with the traditional fantasy race but in space! or trying to make up a bunch of new races which would meet with mixed reception, they throw it open and provide the DM (or players) with a quick tool to create their own, using "Cultures" and "Physiologies". An alien gets one of each, a human gets to mix two cultures. Each of these give a small boost to a related stat and a couple of bonuses like a proficiency or minor ability. Size automatically starts at Medium, may be reduced to Small if you choose, or can be raised to Large with DM permission. There are also nifty options for a couple of technological species.
Classes
First up, the Ambassador.
Modelled on the Bard, this is the charismatic leader, diplomat, hustler, courtesan and the like all roled into one. In other words, the Face, who knows the right thing to say at the right time to the right person. Archetypes included are the Con Artist, Performer and Provocateur.
The Con Artist focuses on fast talking to confuse and deceive, gaining abilities like the familiar Cutting Words, access to more Dection Tricks and Gambits (the overhaul's tech version of cantrips and spells - more on this when I reach it) and eventually advantage on said Gambits.
The Entertainer covers the more traditional performance aspects of the bard, along with those who use... more seductive means of entertainment. They gain the ability to use all but their most powerful Gambits for free if they tie it into a 20 minute performance and pass a related skill check, get advantage of people they've previously affected and gain Inspiration from successfully influencing others in this way. Less of a combat character, perhaps, but potentially very powerful in social situations.
The Provocateur is the archetypal leader of men - the one who draws people to their cause. They get skills to help them develop a support network, influence a crowd and to support you and, at higher levels, draw one and incite them to violence, and to know the ins and outs of a chosen enemy group.
Next, the Genius.
The expert in their field, this covers a range of professions and is modelled on the Wizard. Specialties are the Engineer, Doctor, Splicer (aka Hacker) and Tactitian.
The Engineer is the one who keeps things going that little bit longer - who keeps the ship flying that extra few seconds when it should be falling out of the sky or coaxes enough juice to absorb one more hit from a shield generator that just overloaded. They can upgrade people's kit - sure to make them friends - as well as vehicles and spacecraft.
The Doctor , unsurprisingly, patches people up. They get some bonuses to healing people, including a "heal a dying person a small number of hit points aka auto-stabilisation" action on entering the specialty and eventually the ability to heal themselves a little bit from the satisfaction of helping others. It strikes me as a touch less powerful than some of the other abilities - some of the numbers seem like they'd be a little low at the levels where they come it - but then this is the Wizard chassis they're going onto. Without seeing the Gambits yet, this may not be a terrible thing.
The Splicer is the hacker, the desk jockey, the codebreaker. No computer system is closed to you, you become more difficult to counter, and you can leave yourself back doors to get in later for greater effect.
The Tactitian - this is an interesting choice, and I'm looking forward to reading the Tactics Procedures they get access to. They get to help more people, more often, including providing a way to negate cover bonuses.
The third class is the Muscle.
Based on the Fighter, this is the one who thinks bringing a knife to a laser pistol fight is a good idea... and gets away with it. As with the original class, they get a fighting style, but I'm not totally convinced on the balance between these. +1 slashing damage to all attacks vs advantage on two saving throw types, for example. Archetypes are the Duelist, Martial Artist and Thug.
The Duelist gets some flavourful abilities such as being able to move people around, disarm them and ward off damage from attacks, but I feel much of these come at a higher tier than they should. The basic third level ability required the target to be unarmed, which I'm unsure will come up often enough to warrant that 3rd level, first archetype feature. I'd consider removing it, moving all the other features down a tier and coming up with something nice for the l18 slot.
The Martial Artist adds some of the archetypal monk features onto the fighter, such as unarmed damage, unarmoured defence, fast movement, tumbling and a top tier damage resistance similar to the Bear Totem Barbarian. However, there's an odd choice, which I'm not keen on - Unarmoured defence is now Dexterity + Strength to AC, and Unarmed damage has no option to add Dexterity instead of Stength To Hit and Damage. For a class which opens with a quote from Gamora, in a book which is about playing sci-fi crews and has referenced Firefly a number of times so far, I'm disappointed that no option is given to play a Dex martial artist like River Tam.
The Thug is the tough guy, bringing in some Barbarian style Intimidation to scare your foes, ability to suppress others' Gambits and gain an extra fighting style.
There's been some nice abilities in this class, but I feel the archetypes are more Champion than Battlemaster. Maybe that will come in the Soldier class later.
Onwards! The Outlaw comes next.
Based on the Rogue, this is split into the Bounty Hunter, Gunslinger and Saboteur archetypes.
The Bounty Hunter is for everyone who just wants to play Boba Fett. They get to learn Tricks and Gambits from the Survival and Arsenal schools (which sounds awesome), customised armour and weapon (as the Genius: Engineer can make), an ambush style ability for surprising an enemy with Gambits and, at the highest levels, the ability to mark a target and gain advantage for the rest of the combat! Sneak attack every round, boss fight!
The Gunslinger isn't just for those wanting to dual wield - the available fighting styles can let you do that without disadvantage, but they also provide a solid reason to just use one for a +2 to hit, or support snipers with lang range shots no longer having disadvantage. The fourth fighting style gives a flat +2 damage to shotguns and rifles, and will get outclassed very early on given this is a Rogue chassis rather than a Fighter. This has just made me realise that the Muscle is the onl class to get the Extra Attack feature at all. (Gambits had better be worth it!)
The Saboteur isn't just about explosives, this archetype gets the specialist infilration skills too. They get bonuses to disguise themselves and eventually Stealth the party, but the pyros among you are going to be salivating over the concept of getting to add Sneak Attack damage to any Engineering Gambits with explosives and when attacking objects or structures...
Where would the spaceship go without a Pilot?
The Pilot is *loosely* based on the Sorceror. The learn tricks which they can use to make their ship dance and generally get the crew from A to B without getting gunned down by C. Or D or E, depending on how many enemies the crew makes. The archetypes are the Ace, the Racer and the Smuggler.
Aces are the fighter pilots who love combat. They gain Gambits related to dealing damage, cope better with zero gravity, get harder to trick, develop a bond with their fighter and eventually become great squadron leaders.
Racers - for the Dom Torettos of space. They can fly faster and more nimbly than anyone else, survive crashes and have nearly died so many times they are immune to fear. Racers are hardcore, and they know it.
Smugglers, unsurprisingly, are good at hiding things, tricking people and travelling stealthily - at high levels, they're also pretty nifty at finding the secret places other people don't want them to know about, too!
Last but not least, the Soldier.
Based on the Cleric, the soldier carries a big gun and digs in for the fight, gaining abilities to make better use of cover, send enemies running or even make them surrender. They can also use Wisdom for ranged attack rolls, meaning your soldier doesn't have to be lightning fast just to be accurate. Think the awesome Baze Malbus from Rogue One. :smallwink: The archetypes are the Commando, Medic and Scout.
Commandos get in quietly, hit the enemy hard and get out again - usually with a bang. They're mentally tough and stealthy, can shoot on the run and get to access Gambits which help them stay alive and blow things up.
Medics keep their team in the fight. Their Medicine gambits restore more health, they can pull their wounded friends out of sticky situations more easily, dodge explosions and find cover while working on people.
The Scout is the eyes and ears of the party. They move stealthily, can deny cover to enemies, gain effective invisibility from cover, and at high levels, grant advantage against enemies and vehicles by pointing out their weak points (again, the Outlaw will love you!).
That's enough for tonight, I'll move onto Backgrounds, Feats and Gambits when I next get a chance.
I'm going to start posting a quick first impression now and edit this as I get further through the document. :smallwink:
So, here we go:
Races
I like the race creation system. Rather than sticking with the traditional fantasy race but in space! or trying to make up a bunch of new races which would meet with mixed reception, they throw it open and provide the DM (or players) with a quick tool to create their own, using "Cultures" and "Physiologies". An alien gets one of each, a human gets to mix two cultures. Each of these give a small boost to a related stat and a couple of bonuses like a proficiency or minor ability. Size automatically starts at Medium, may be reduced to Small if you choose, or can be raised to Large with DM permission. There are also nifty options for a couple of technological species.
Classes
First up, the Ambassador.
Modelled on the Bard, this is the charismatic leader, diplomat, hustler, courtesan and the like all roled into one. In other words, the Face, who knows the right thing to say at the right time to the right person. Archetypes included are the Con Artist, Performer and Provocateur.
The Con Artist focuses on fast talking to confuse and deceive, gaining abilities like the familiar Cutting Words, access to more Dection Tricks and Gambits (the overhaul's tech version of cantrips and spells - more on this when I reach it) and eventually advantage on said Gambits.
The Entertainer covers the more traditional performance aspects of the bard, along with those who use... more seductive means of entertainment. They gain the ability to use all but their most powerful Gambits for free if they tie it into a 20 minute performance and pass a related skill check, get advantage of people they've previously affected and gain Inspiration from successfully influencing others in this way. Less of a combat character, perhaps, but potentially very powerful in social situations.
The Provocateur is the archetypal leader of men - the one who draws people to their cause. They get skills to help them develop a support network, influence a crowd and to support you and, at higher levels, draw one and incite them to violence, and to know the ins and outs of a chosen enemy group.
Next, the Genius.
The expert in their field, this covers a range of professions and is modelled on the Wizard. Specialties are the Engineer, Doctor, Splicer (aka Hacker) and Tactitian.
The Engineer is the one who keeps things going that little bit longer - who keeps the ship flying that extra few seconds when it should be falling out of the sky or coaxes enough juice to absorb one more hit from a shield generator that just overloaded. They can upgrade people's kit - sure to make them friends - as well as vehicles and spacecraft.
The Doctor , unsurprisingly, patches people up. They get some bonuses to healing people, including a "heal a dying person a small number of hit points aka auto-stabilisation" action on entering the specialty and eventually the ability to heal themselves a little bit from the satisfaction of helping others. It strikes me as a touch less powerful than some of the other abilities - some of the numbers seem like they'd be a little low at the levels where they come it - but then this is the Wizard chassis they're going onto. Without seeing the Gambits yet, this may not be a terrible thing.
The Splicer is the hacker, the desk jockey, the codebreaker. No computer system is closed to you, you become more difficult to counter, and you can leave yourself back doors to get in later for greater effect.
The Tactitian - this is an interesting choice, and I'm looking forward to reading the Tactics Procedures they get access to. They get to help more people, more often, including providing a way to negate cover bonuses.
The third class is the Muscle.
Based on the Fighter, this is the one who thinks bringing a knife to a laser pistol fight is a good idea... and gets away with it. As with the original class, they get a fighting style, but I'm not totally convinced on the balance between these. +1 slashing damage to all attacks vs advantage on two saving throw types, for example. Archetypes are the Duelist, Martial Artist and Thug.
The Duelist gets some flavourful abilities such as being able to move people around, disarm them and ward off damage from attacks, but I feel much of these come at a higher tier than they should. The basic third level ability required the target to be unarmed, which I'm unsure will come up often enough to warrant that 3rd level, first archetype feature. I'd consider removing it, moving all the other features down a tier and coming up with something nice for the l18 slot.
The Martial Artist adds some of the archetypal monk features onto the fighter, such as unarmed damage, unarmoured defence, fast movement, tumbling and a top tier damage resistance similar to the Bear Totem Barbarian. However, there's an odd choice, which I'm not keen on - Unarmoured defence is now Dexterity + Strength to AC, and Unarmed damage has no option to add Dexterity instead of Stength To Hit and Damage. For a class which opens with a quote from Gamora, in a book which is about playing sci-fi crews and has referenced Firefly a number of times so far, I'm disappointed that no option is given to play a Dex martial artist like River Tam.
The Thug is the tough guy, bringing in some Barbarian style Intimidation to scare your foes, ability to suppress others' Gambits and gain an extra fighting style.
There's been some nice abilities in this class, but I feel the archetypes are more Champion than Battlemaster. Maybe that will come in the Soldier class later.
Onwards! The Outlaw comes next.
Based on the Rogue, this is split into the Bounty Hunter, Gunslinger and Saboteur archetypes.
The Bounty Hunter is for everyone who just wants to play Boba Fett. They get to learn Tricks and Gambits from the Survival and Arsenal schools (which sounds awesome), customised armour and weapon (as the Genius: Engineer can make), an ambush style ability for surprising an enemy with Gambits and, at the highest levels, the ability to mark a target and gain advantage for the rest of the combat! Sneak attack every round, boss fight!
The Gunslinger isn't just for those wanting to dual wield - the available fighting styles can let you do that without disadvantage, but they also provide a solid reason to just use one for a +2 to hit, or support snipers with lang range shots no longer having disadvantage. The fourth fighting style gives a flat +2 damage to shotguns and rifles, and will get outclassed very early on given this is a Rogue chassis rather than a Fighter. This has just made me realise that the Muscle is the onl class to get the Extra Attack feature at all. (Gambits had better be worth it!)
The Saboteur isn't just about explosives, this archetype gets the specialist infilration skills too. They get bonuses to disguise themselves and eventually Stealth the party, but the pyros among you are going to be salivating over the concept of getting to add Sneak Attack damage to any Engineering Gambits with explosives and when attacking objects or structures...
Where would the spaceship go without a Pilot?
The Pilot is *loosely* based on the Sorceror. The learn tricks which they can use to make their ship dance and generally get the crew from A to B without getting gunned down by C. Or D or E, depending on how many enemies the crew makes. The archetypes are the Ace, the Racer and the Smuggler.
Aces are the fighter pilots who love combat. They gain Gambits related to dealing damage, cope better with zero gravity, get harder to trick, develop a bond with their fighter and eventually become great squadron leaders.
Racers - for the Dom Torettos of space. They can fly faster and more nimbly than anyone else, survive crashes and have nearly died so many times they are immune to fear. Racers are hardcore, and they know it.
Smugglers, unsurprisingly, are good at hiding things, tricking people and travelling stealthily - at high levels, they're also pretty nifty at finding the secret places other people don't want them to know about, too!
Last but not least, the Soldier.
Based on the Cleric, the soldier carries a big gun and digs in for the fight, gaining abilities to make better use of cover, send enemies running or even make them surrender. They can also use Wisdom for ranged attack rolls, meaning your soldier doesn't have to be lightning fast just to be accurate. Think the awesome Baze Malbus from Rogue One. :smallwink: The archetypes are the Commando, Medic and Scout.
Commandos get in quietly, hit the enemy hard and get out again - usually with a bang. They're mentally tough and stealthy, can shoot on the run and get to access Gambits which help them stay alive and blow things up.
Medics keep their team in the fight. Their Medicine gambits restore more health, they can pull their wounded friends out of sticky situations more easily, dodge explosions and find cover while working on people.
The Scout is the eyes and ears of the party. They move stealthily, can deny cover to enemies, gain effective invisibility from cover, and at high levels, grant advantage against enemies and vehicles by pointing out their weak points (again, the Outlaw will love you!).
That's enough for tonight, I'll move onto Backgrounds, Feats and Gambits when I next get a chance.