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Odyssey Prime
 
$7.50
Average Rating:3.6 / 5
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Odyssey Prime
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Jason B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/06/2017 08:06:02

I think as I am running a ongoing D20 Mordern game this book has become a good asset to haveand will help me greatly.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Timothy B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/07/2010 12:14:22

Odyssey Prime is a fantastic premise that was perfect for the time. What if all your d20 (and Unisystem) worlds were connected? One part Armageddon: The End Times, one part Conspiracy X and one part Stargate SG1, the Odyssey Prime Mission was to "seek out new life and new worlds, and get to them before ours blows up!". Some examples were given of various d20 products from many publishers on how link in their product to this one. Pluses: Great use of the d20 system to do a variety of things (military, tech and magic). Built in excuse to use all your d20 books in one game. Minues: Lacked product support since the line was delayed. Still a fun game



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Anthony C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/05/2007 13:09:06

I wished this game had been purely devoted to the Unisystem, but D20 has its hold on it. This basically means the majority of the book is useless to me.

I'm still giving it a strong rating because the concept of the game is terrific.

You travel alternate dimensions

You have two characters in the games.

Also, I find the paperwork required at the game's end to be great. Make your players fill it out alone so they can't get their stories straight. You can then hose them for lying to their superiors! Trust me . . . this is wicked fun.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Chris H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/26/2006 00:00:00

Very disappointing product, does nothing that hasn't been seen before in Stargate SG1, Fringeworthy, GURPS Infinite Worlds or Tangents (for the Alternity RPG).

About the best part of the PDF is the backstory to the Project. The armageddon scenario adds some sense of urgency to the proceedings, but it's not really touched on beyond the backstory. The history is nicely written, creative and interesting. If the rest of the game matched it, I'd be a happy man. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I enjoyed the background fluff. The armageddon countdown friving the campaign is a great idea, nicely executed.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Material is repeated between the D20 and Unisystem sections, 12 pages are used for ads for Misfit Studios, other small-press games settings are offered as worlds for OP with virtually no ideas on how to integrate them into the campaign. Almost no original example worlds are given, with minimal rules for generating game worlds.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Without addressing the matter of this customer's personal tastes, which are subjective, there are some objective errors and misrepresentations in the review. There is indeed repeated material, a necessity of providing rules for both d20 and Unisystem game mechanics. The repitition in the second instance is limited to what is necessary for the differences between the two systems--none of the "fluff" is repeated. Second, there is only ONE page of Misfit Studios ads, and two pages for Eden Studios (as necessitated by the Unisystem license.) I can ony assume the other 9 pages of "ads" the customer is talking about are the pages discussing products of more than a dozen other publishers so that the customer can pick and choose some of these suggestions for use as dimensions the game could visit. These are product capsules, not ads, and (despite this customer's claims to the contrary), several do indeed have direct OP-related suggestions.
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Phillip M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/11/2006 00:00:00

Firstly, let me say that I am a sucker for almost anything to do with parallel worlds, time travel, alternate history and the like ... so Odyssey Prime was an immediate attraction when it appeared and, of course, since you're reading this review, I bought it.

I really wanted to like the game a lot ... and, no, its not awful ... it's just, well, it doesn't do much for me.

Why? Well, firstly, its virually a pastiche of parts of Season 3 of "Sliders" and "Stargate" ... even the artwork shows it is entirely derivative with thinly disguised Stargate Rings (only with Runes instead of glyphs) and Stargate entry chambers. To be entirely fair, neither Sliders nor Stargate are original ... there is a long tradition of these sorts of stories (and many variations thereupon) in Science Fiction (and even in gaming) ... its just that OP struck me as entirely lacking in originality.

Even the way the stargate was discovered in OP is a straight takeoff of the way it was discovered in Stargate ... just transposed to the UK from Egypt.

Secondly, the new character classes ... these are fine, as far as I can tell (I loathe d20 modern, much prefer Spycraft), but the names just strike the wrong cord. They are ... forced ... for example, the Special Forces class is called "Operator" ... why not "Green Beret" or, simply, "Special Forces". The assassin class, instead of being called "Assassin" is "Wetwork", and the Wheelman is "Outrider." Yes, this is a minor niggle, but it is part of my overall disquiet with the product.

Thirdly, the "Outfitting a Team" chapter, as far as weapons is concerned, provides a few new items, but a lot of the weapons included are already included in existing material such as the d20 Modern "Weapons Locker" (WotC, 2004) ... the Glock 18 Machine Pistol, the Mk 23 SOCOM, the PSS SP4 and the Steyr TMP. That's 40% of the "new" Pistols that are, basically, a waste of space as they are not new at all.

The same padding occurs with "Long Arms" ... the Colt Commando, Colt M635 SMG, OICW, M4a1 Carbine, MAG7 Shotgun, Remington 870, Shrike LMG, Steyr IWS 2000, Steyr Tactical (Scout) Sniper Rifle, Striker Shotgun, and the VAL Silenced Assault Rifle are not new material ... 11 of the 15 items listed and detailed.

The rest of the chapter is much of the same ... a few skerricks of new material, but mostly stuff you probably already have (hey, I do, and I loathe d20 modern ... its still reference material for Spycraft!)

The background material in Chapter #5 is, as noted, largely derivative ... it just lacks a spark of originality. It is workmanlike and well enough written ... it just doesn't grab you as something new, original, and tempting. Its all very "ho hum".

The chapter on campaigns is full of sketchy ideas that anyone could have come up with ... of course, that doesn't mean everyone would have. But, again, it lacks the feel of originality.

The last quirk is the last chapter ... which provides data for OP for the Unisystem (Eden Games). Now, I like the Unisystem. I think Witchcraft and Armageddon are great backgrounds. In fact, if OP had been entirely a Unisystem game, it would have been better ... of course, realistically, d20 sells better, I guess. The problem is that a large chunk of the material here is a repeat of the material in the equipment chapter ... it may well be new material for the Unisystem, but I can't see it being useful for anyone who buys this, as the huge majority of purchasers will want OP for d20 (which is sad, as I said, Unisystem is far far better).

Then there's the typesetting. If you've read my other reviews you know I don't like bad typesetting ... and, well, OP isn't bad ... it's sloppy.

There are quite a number of scattered paragraphs in almost every chapter where the line spacing is incorrect, the lines are too close together compared to the other paragraphs. I know how this can happen ... you have a standard paragraph style set up for, say, 10 point type on 12 point spacing and call it "Body Text" ... but the DTP program insists on having a style called "Normal" which might be 10 point type on "one line" spacing (which is quite different from 10 point on 10 point, even). If you're not careful when doing editting and moving or adding paragraphs you will find that you have inserted "Normal" formatted paras where you should have "Body Text" ... its all too easy to do. But it should be easily picked up at the proofing stage. I mean, I picked it up in the first five minutes.

Which sorta sums up OP ... a great idea, pity about the absolutely average implementation.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The idea.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The implementation of the idea ... somewhere along the line the creative process seems to have been ... derailed. Either that or the light at the end of the tunnel was really an oncoming express train ;-)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Odyssey Prime
Publisher: Eden Studios
by Paul L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/08/2006 17:32:55

I picked this up after seeing an announcement of its publication on RPGnet, and I'm far from disappointed. The premise offers a lot of different RPing possibilities (the inclusion of several different d20 and Unisystem settings as possible destinations was inspired). There's a definite Stargate SG-1 vibe to the game, so fans of that show should check it out. Having d20 and Unisystem rules was a good idea, and I'll definitely mine this for my own Unisystem games. Definitely recommended.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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