The Good: No duplicates. There are some extra interesting background points for a couple of the races here that might lend to fun role-play.
The Bad: None.
New Specializations
The Good: Good trees that seem on point with the Spy theme. A few new talents that are pretty cool.
The Bad: I think these Specialization trees are such that they may have a hard time being as useful in many games that are not intentionally heavy on political or other 'espionage' and diplomacy story arcs.
New Signature Abilities
The Good: Fun sounding abilities. Counterespionage has some serious potential in the right situations. Unmatched Tradecraft is the real workhorse though with a pretty flexible ability to make some important check types MUCH easier.
The Bad: Counterespionage is going to be highly circumstantial and will likely not come up as often as other signature abilities (though when it does it can be a game changer).
The Good: Fun sounding abilities. Counterespionage has some serious potential in the right situations. Unmatched Tradecraft is the real workhorse though with a pretty flexible ability to make some important check types MUCH easier.
The Bad: Counterespionage is going to be highly circumstantial and will likely not come up as often as other signature abilities (though when it does it can be a game changer).
New Gear
The Good: On theme, with some fun options for concealed weapons and discrete weapon carry. A good selection of new attachments for weapons, armor and even gear, make this one of my favorite gear sections in a while.
The Bad: Caution: The new E522 Assassin droid has a mini-missile launcher that can easily dish out 20 damage that ignores 20 soak to an entire party on a MISSED attack if they are caught outside of a vehicle.... Planetary scale weapons will always exist, but be aware of what your doing with them, and make sure your party understands the real nature of the threat.
The Good: On theme, with some fun options for concealed weapons and discrete weapon carry. A good selection of new attachments for weapons, armor and even gear, make this one of my favorite gear sections in a while.
The Bad: Caution: The new E522 Assassin droid has a mini-missile launcher that can easily dish out 20 damage that ignores 20 soak to an entire party on a MISSED attack if they are caught outside of a vehicle.... Planetary scale weapons will always exist, but be aware of what your doing with them, and make sure your party understands the real nature of the threat.
New Vehicles
The Good: A handful of new vehicle attachments is nice to see.
The Bad: literally only 3 new vehicles and one of them isn't even in the vehicle section, its only in the modular adventure in the end (at least they still gave it complete stats).
The Good: A handful of new vehicle attachments is nice to see.
The Bad: literally only 3 new vehicles and one of them isn't even in the vehicle section, its only in the modular adventure in the end (at least they still gave it complete stats).
New Mechanics
The Good: Lots of new charts for uses of different skills (Computers, Deception, Skulduggery, Stealth, and Slicing encounters). These charts are super helpful as both a reference and a crutch when you aren't so sure how to approach these skills and the situations they sometimes involve.
There are a lot of small sections dedicated to new ways to use certain skills and other various references that range from mundane to very useful.
The Bad: None.
The Good: Lots of new charts for uses of different skills (Computers, Deception, Skulduggery, Stealth, and Slicing encounters). These charts are super helpful as both a reference and a crutch when you aren't so sure how to approach these skills and the situations they sometimes involve.
There are a lot of small sections dedicated to new ways to use certain skills and other various references that range from mundane to very useful.
The Bad: None.
Overview
Cyphers and Masks is a well thought out book that stays on target. At first glance it doesn't feel like much, but as you look closer you start to see the real depth that it lends to the Spy career. It has some of the best gear additions in a while. The new mechanics/rules suggestions provided in the back are thematic and incredibly useful. Solid buy for all and a must get for campaigns that deal heavily in diplomatic/espionage/intelligence scenarios. If your campaign is cloak and dagger, then you're going to want Cyphers and Masks.
Overall Score: 9/10
I have updated the Spy career to reflect the new specializations and signature abilities.
I have also updated the ALL Careers file to include ALL careers and specializations up to the release of Cyphers and Masks.
Cyphers and Masks is a well thought out book that stays on target. At first glance it doesn't feel like much, but as you look closer you start to see the real depth that it lends to the Spy career. It has some of the best gear additions in a while. The new mechanics/rules suggestions provided in the back are thematic and incredibly useful. Solid buy for all and a must get for campaigns that deal heavily in diplomatic/espionage/intelligence scenarios. If your campaign is cloak and dagger, then you're going to want Cyphers and Masks.
Overall Score: 9/10
I have updated the Spy career to reflect the new specializations and signature abilities.
I have also updated the ALL Careers file to include ALL careers and specializations up to the release of Cyphers and Masks.
is there any good way to get in touch with you. ?
ReplyDeleteBastionKain@gmail.com is the email that I associate with this work.
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