For the last few days, I have soloed my way through Rocks on the Other Side (119 pages, at DriveThruRPG). This post-apocalyptic RPG depicts the aftermath of a global nuclear catastrophe. I created six PCs. For the solo engine, I used Magic the Gathering Cards (92% of the virtual deck was from the Fallout expansion).

The PCs started with a Ford Transit Cube Van XLT. They were sleeping in it. They had parked it on a side road. At 05:00 A.M., they heard the sounds of vehicles. It was an Enclave Convoy being led by Colonel Autumn. He wanted to know if their vehicle was “available”. He looked them over and then confiscated it from them. He had many men under his command and they were well armed. Just after this, still before dawn, the PCs were attacked by a bat mutant. The PCs killed it, but Dirk did take damage and he did make his saving throw to avoid the effects of mutated damage. At 05:30 P.M. the PCs encountered a Caesar’s Legion Convoy being led by Legate Lanius. This time the PC’s guns and ammo were taken.

On the second day, they found the Darkwater Catacombs. Only armed with spears, they did not want to mess with that. Later, they encountered a man on a grey horse. He introduced himself as Mr. White. He looked at Dirk’s wound, changed the bandage, gave him a pill, and shared his food with the PCs. He left after this meal. This was followed by the PCs being attacked by raiders. Dirk, Zack, and Pam died. The other PCs ran away. The last encounter for the day was a market, but the PCs had nothing to trade. They spent the night in a boiler room. On the third day, while searching a large building, they found a basilisk collar. They took it to the market and traded it for a crossbow and bolts. Later, while exploring, they found a robot. It seemed to be on some kind of mission. It ignored them and moved on. The last encounter of the day was a zombie mutant. They killed it, but Carlos died. So, only two of my PCs survived the three days of adventuring. Maybe you will have better luck.

It was such a great read! I love how it appearsvto be set in modern times with a historic feel. The way the country is split into multiple nations is brilliant and feels like an accurate portrayal of our current society. I hope there is a part two!

At 332 pages, 297 are the content. When trying to get a review or rwo for Ephemeris; I found this one: https://youtu.be/NQS6mRd- kdzQ I do agree with most of what he says (Tetsubo57). Editing: font size ok. Perhaps saved 20-30 pages by condensing some of the example classes shown (possible.)

Combat rounds are 10 seconds long. Weapons have a damage factor, which is multiplied by the difference between the attack and defence rolls.

The Arbonix to me do seem somewhat wierd, with 2 rows of 'nipples' on their chest to 'float'.

The system shouldn't be too hard to 'home rule' by GMs, if they wish to make changes for their campaign or scenario(s) they are running.

If you prefer using D6 instead of D20 for OGl; Ephemeris should do pretty much ok.

At £4.00/$4.99, it's serviceable.

It's always good to look at a collection of new systems to explore, and this has some interesting places to visit. It opens well too, when the introduction begins "The version you are reading is in the Human’s lingua franca. If you are not human, and would like to read it in your species’ native tongue, please consult a data bank on one of your species’ planets and download the appropriate version" you know you are in for an in-character treat.

And you are, with each system described vividly in a few paragraphs, a pen-picture of what is there, who might be living there and what they are doing. Often, this mere description spawns thoughts of the kinds of adventures you might run if the party chooses to go there... and this is enhanced in many entries with a separate note aimed at the GM, giving any game mechanical details needed, such as rolls required to survive a virulent plague or a hostile atmosphere, for example. Yep, not all places are welcoming or safe to visit!

The one drawback is - no map! There's no indication of any spacial relationship between any of the systems mentioned, all we know is that they are in this Sector Eight, or Althani Space. The most information is the distance of each from Earth, and that just in light years without any directional component. Your astrogator will be tearing his hair out, or wringing his tentacles or something, depending on species.

Other than that, it's a nice collection of systems to explore... where's my starship?

Do you think space exploration is all fun and excitement and home for a ticker-tape parade by teatime?

Nope: you'd be right (and wrong) and here is a collection of stories of what it might be like. Some convincing realism, humour, excitement (oh yes, it's exciting at times) - often written from the standpoint of those to whom it's a job of work rather than an adventure...

Again, something I'm having to tear myself away from.

For the gamer: Well, if you run a space exploration game you will find plenty to mine here - atmosphere as well as adventure ideas. Or of course, this might be the sort of literature you can pick up on a space station bookstall...

Interesting background, good level of detail to run these encounters and let the players know what they find. The ship still has plenty of active systems and the Ancients are not all that impressive, so it's more The Mostly Intact Ship of Those Other Guys. Maps seem to be poor digital photos of some pencil line drawings, which look bad and are barely readable, though to be fair, it's only been a few weeks since I saw a similar level of effort from a much better-known publisher.

From the species-specific classes here, the Oomusachi Trader is interesting, gaining a series of enhancements to space travel and influence within the Tulmath trade network as well as access to their traditional weapons and improved starships. I found definitely enough here to justify the purchase.

The Macroist/Microist consolidates many fields of science into one and uses this remarkable insight to .. generalise even more, to the point where it barely has a discernable theme to its abilities.

Not much to note about the cultural description or subspecies, besides their reproduction, if that's not detailed in the core setting. Let's not get started on real-world snail sex ..