Customer Reviews

Space 1889: Science Fiction Role Playing in a More Civilized Time

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love old Victorian- and Edwardian-era adventure books. Give me Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells and their ilk and I am quite the happy camper. As such Space: 1889 well fills this need. The pushing of The Great Game into outer space, replete with colonies, cloak & dagger work, army regiments, the raj-mentality (with all its pitfalls, questionable notions and nobility) are here, taken not just to Mars, but also to Mercury, Venus and the Moon. With a bit of work, who knows? Perhaps the very stars will eventually be available!

For those who love this type of adventure, a touch of the movie "Zulu" meeting John Carter with a nod to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you will find all sorts of ideas to mine. The Canal Martians, and then their less civilized brethren, provide exotic scenes, moral quandaries, wily enemies. How "realistic" you play all of this is up to you, anything from a "Gandhi" tone to one of Pure Heroism.

The problem, however, is the system. It is clunky, simplistic, and in the end quite broken. In attempting to keep everything to d6 rolls, you end up with either binary results or the old "bucket load o' dice" scenario. I have tried playing the system several times (at least three different GMs) and it has never felt satisfying. On the other hand I ported the setting over to other systems (Harn, Over The Edge, BRP/Runequest/Call of Cthulhu, etc.) and found it worked emminently well!

In the end, I would suggest this book as a supplement to anyone interested in roleplaying in this sort of era. Ditch the system, keep the setting, and you will have a blast!

Space:1889 predated the coining of the term Steam-Punk by several years, and is notable for taking a variety of sources, (E.R. Burroughs, Jules Vern, Victorian scientific romances, Kipling, Flashman, 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', etc,) and combining them into a tight and well thought out alternate history. Like the other products of the late GDW, Space:1889 has a very detailed setting, and excellent maps & (for the most part) artwork. Since it was designed as a companion to the wargame for the same setting, the RPG rules are rather simple, and geared toward swashbuckling combat- a much stronger emphasis on role-playing then on dice rolling. The setting rules, (presumably due to the source material,) are decidedly Anglo-centric, with the typical villain assumed to be German, or at least foreign. However the game has a devout fan base, and plenty of additional material has been released by as books by the Royal Martian Geographical Society (available here on Amazon) or a selection can be viewed online at their website... .

Despite the fact that I am a big fan of the game, I have to say in all honesty that this is a high quality game, and it is a great thing that it is back in print. The main book is a complete game and setting, (unlike some recent game releases,) and so you are getting a lot for your money.

Space: 1889 was a really cool game back in the late 80s. At first, I was delighted to see it back in print. Now that I have a copy, I'm not so sure.

See, the original was a sewn-bound hardbound work with glossy full-colour pages interspersed throughout. Very nicely done. Some of the art was lacking, but that was GDW in the 80s. It was still put together wonderfully.

This version, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Almost twice the original price of that beautiful book they put out, this is simply a collection of xeroxes of the original book with Heliograph's logo stuck in it im places over where it used to say GDW. Further, the cover is a pseudo-laminated colour laser print of the original work's cover.

All this low, low quality for the price of a brand new D&D book or other top-shelf work (I don't like new D&D, but the books are put together beautifully).

It's a good thing Frank Chadwisk isn't dead -- if he were, he'd be rolling in his grave over this shoddy production of a great game.

Go buy a used copy of the original.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of the original rulebook at a convention several years ago and have managed to aquire almost all the supplements and books that were issued. I think the game world is very creative, interesting, and adds new dimentions to the swashbuckling type RPGs, which are becoming more and more rare as D20 infects the gaming industry.

Rants aside, I found the game system in this book to be rather weak when compared to other systems. That's certinally not a problem, there's more then enough source material in this book and the others to keep a group entertained for years. Personally, I very easily adapted this world to GURPS and had a great time GMing a campaign on Mars.

Please don't think I'm making a negative review, I'm not. I love having this book. It's a very creative world and lends itself to many fun campaigns, but experienced role-players should be aware that the author concentrated more on background then on game mechanics. It's a great setting, lots to explore, just do it with a different gaming system then the one printed in the book.

This game has its faults as do all. Contrary to the other complaints here, the quality is just fine. Yes, it is a mere soft cover with no color pages, but at least SOMEBODY bought the rights and reprinted it. Did you?

The game focuses more on plot than creating a rule for every possible situation. This is part of what makes it a good game. You can make characters and run a game in a reasonable period of time. It would be nice to see it updated for a universal system, like GURPS or d20, only because it would be easier to convince others to play then.

If you enjoy gaming in a setting that is not dark & evil, Space 1889 is a good choice.

Back before the angst ridden tales of supernatural creatures became the rage of RPGs, there were tales of great adventure and romance and danger. Space 1889 is one of the finest of the games to have come from that "golden age" of RPGs. However, it fell by the wayside, following the dismantling of it's original producer, GDW. Now however, thanks to Heliograph, you can take up this game of bold adventure and exploration again.

I suppose there are many people who like lots of rules and methods in their games. Lots of complicated stats, in depth character creation with attributes, skills, advantages, disadvantages, etc. Space 1889 allows you to create an exciting character with a minimum of systems. This is a stripped down, streamlined, fast playing, action packed game system. Grab you saber, buckle on your pistol, load your carbine, and mount up, we're heading out into a world filled with opportunities for the greatest adventure you can have around a table!

Character creation is easy. Combat is fast paced. It's all very intuitive, easy to remember and implement. This is a classic game and it is great to see it ressurected. In a sea of d20 deluge, I am thrilled to see this classic product make a resurgence. It's biggest weakness is it's niche setting, but if you are looking for the ultimate steampunk game, look no further. If you want it simple, fast and fun, here it is.

I wish this were like the original, with a hardcover and color plates, but I am just glad to see it back. I never owned it in it's first incarnation, but I did have the pleasure of playing it. Now, I finally own it, and it is a prize in my RPG collection.

This is a fairly easy roleplaying game to learn with an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the adventures written for the game are horrible! Plan to devise your own. Conklin's atlas of the worlds in an invaluable resource for this game, giving you much greater detail on Mercury, Venus & Mars. Too bad they thought Victiorian Earth was "boring" to give it much detail.

While this may not be the most sophisticated RPG to come down the pike, Space 1889 is just plain fun. The rules are simple enough for a newbie role player to jump in and have a good time, but flexible enough for a good GM to write a very interesting adventure. This is a good 'beer and pretzles' type game that lends itself well to a casual style of play as well as a more involved campaign.

I bought an original hard copy print of this book a little while after it went out of print. I think it's great that Heliograph has decided to resurrect this fine game. It has a decidedly victorian atmosphere, very remniscent of jules verne novels and movies based on such. I do wish however, that the background information had been expanded upon by a dozen or so more pages. Your imagine will have to fill the void where Chadwick left off. Hopefully, if Heliograph does not want to 'update' Space 1889, somebody else will.

Excelent idea, fantastic background and brilliant understanding and representation of XIX century science fiction (H.G. Wells, Jules Verne). An original and very interesting game. However, Heliograph has done a poor job at reediting it. Soft cover, and black and white images lower the quality of the original. Even if the color was quite simple, the conversion to black and white is so horribli done that it looks like a bad photocopy.