My Initial Thoughts on Into the Black a Sci-Fi TTRPG

As someone who has been playing the Mass Effect series for nearly as long as the series has been around - which is roughly half my life at this point - the series holds a soft spot in my heart. Now that I am looking back at the series with the eyes of an adult, and more importantly, as someone who is significantly more aware of the power dynamics and issues marginalized groups face every day in our world that are incorporated into the game (intentionally or not) my enjoyment of returning to the series with the Legendary Edition is more than a little muddled. Beyond obvious issues like Garrus - and really the whole crew - are space cops one of the missions from the first game (that I remember playing as a teen that didn't really register on my radar) was the side mission where biotic "terrorists" have captured some dude who refused to provide the L2 biotices with reparations for the severe injuries that were inflicted on them thanks to their implants.

In this mission when you get to the point where you can confront the leader of the terrorists, the captive politician of course whimpers that he had no idea how desparate they were and that he would take another look at the formula promising to give them the $ they deserve. Now, I the player would have - if given full autonomy - helped these terrorists escape (because they're clearly trying to look out for people whose lives were severely impacted by this corporation). Or shot the bastard myself. Now, the best resolution the game gives you is allowing you to talk the guy into looking into the reparations again and convincing the terrorists not to kill him and to go to jail.

Personally this does not live up to the rose coloured memories in my mind. Don't even get me started on the genophage, and how they dress up a genocidal monster as a cute lizard boy scientist.

Now, Mass Effect is not what I am here to write about today, but my love of Mass Effect is what made me decide enthusiastically to pick up a copy of Into the Black by Monkey's Paw Games. It is priced at $10 USD on itch, and it contains almost 100 pages of content!

Throughout this review, I will be making comparisons the 5th Edition. This is not becase I think everything should be viewed through a 5E focused perspective - far from it. But there are many TTRPG fans that had their first experience in the hobby with 5E, and due to that game's strengths and weaknesses, I feel like many players are hesistant to expand their horizons. My goal in comparing the two games is to hopefully encourage some 5E fans that are hesitant to expand their experience into doing just that.

I really appreciate that before you even get into the content of the game itself there are several pages discussing safety tools, and a great note from Olivia Hill (I would share it here, but I think it is best if you see for yourself in the game).

Getting into the game itself, I really like the character creation. It feels like it would be quick and easy. The character creation feels much easier than what is outlined in 5th Edition in a way that I think gives players more freedom to create who they want to play without being bogged down with excessive and possibly confusing character creation mechanics. The ability for each class to reroll the stat that is most tied to their skillset is a great idea as well that I think just makes a lot of sense gameplay wise and thematically. To me it feels like the representation of allowing the character to study and improve in their field compared to those who aren't trained in the same areas as they are.

I also like that the different species don't have a major impact on your character. Unlike 5E where your race plays a somewhat important role in how well you can play different classes thanks to your stat bonuses.

The debt mechanic - that the group starts their adventure owing a corporation a large sum of credits is interesting, and I think can work as a great spark for building character relationships and backgrounds. It also (as it is hinted at in the game's core book) works as a great plot device as the corporation pursues payment.

Combat and inventory management systems are - like the character creation options - simple in a way that allows for new players to get a feel for the system quickly.

The book also features lots of interesting roll tables to make your game and your galazy feel unique - including corporations and drugs for example.

If, like me, you are a fan of Mass Effect and TTRPGs, this is definitely up your alley and I suggest you check it out. You even start the game with your own ship that you can use to explore and go on exciting adventures with!

For people who are D&D 5E players that are looking to explore the TTRPG space more, and especially those who are into Sci-Fi, I think this game could be just what you are looking for. And, if you have stumbled across this blog with an interest in TTRPGs, but never having played one before, I definitely suggest you take a look too!

TL;DR

For only $10 USD you can check out this awesome and exciting space based sci-fi TTRPG love letter to the Mass Effect series.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far in my blog! If you want to help show your support, and help me focus more on my TTRPG and gaming passion than my soul crushing 9-5, please check out my Patreon!