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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay $7.46
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by Evyn M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/24/2012 20:34:09

Not written by a local, There is so much more to the 9 counties than just SF. Otherwise not bad.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by Thomas B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/26/2012 01:24:27

WHAT WORKS: Once again, Gun Metal Games packs a lot of info into a small book, with some nice crunch (I like both Hybrid options, as well as the expanded City Trappings and the Salvaging rules). The art is lovely, probably my favorite art yet in the IZ line, and there's always something cool in their equipment sections. A couple of relevant sidebars are reprinted from earlier books, not taking up too much space and ensuring that this is usable with just the Savage Worlds rules and IZ setting book.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: I like the layout, other than it seemed to be too bright and clean. I also would have preferred the Hybrid packages with the other character creation stuff. Just would have been handier. For some reason, San Francisco just didn't grip me, but I think it's more of a "I'm a middle of the country guy"...I'm kind of intrigued with what we might see when IZ covers a section closer to home for me.

CONCLUSION: A worthy product for the crunch alone, and some of the best art I've seen in the IZ line yet. I doubt I'd ever intentionally set a game in San Francisco, but I'm just not a California guy (I tend to avoid the same region in Deadlands as well). Even if you're like me, however, you'll find stuff that you can use elsewhere in your IZ games without having to try too hard. Also, pay attention to the sidebar conversations: They're not just filler. Not my favorite book in the Interface Zero line, but still a great product.

For my full review, please visit: http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2012/01/tommys-take-on-san-francisco-ruins-by.html



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by Ron T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/20/2012 22:14:25

Disclaimer: Provided by GunMetal Games for review purposes.

First Glance: With bright red background and heavy borders, this appears to be a bit cluttered at first. The graphics are top notch for a small company. Better than the art for many major game companies really. Only Paizo and Alderac come to mind right off the bat with consistent awesome artwork. It's 67 pages of crunchy, meaty, savage goodness. (Note: As this PDF is layered properly it was easy to turn off the background and borders layers for ease of viewing...This is a bonus, not a bummer.)

Core Review: This product delivers from the word go. The fictional writing is great, especially with the interaction of the hackers in the sidebars, which runs the entire book, from the neighborhoods to the NPCs. Pages 5-15 are neighborhoods, from Chinatown to Pacific Heights this gives a good indication of what you're in for in San Fran. The next 7 pages cover the organizations operating in San Fran, there's 13 of them, so you can imagine there's plenty of space for conflict.

The next 8 pages are what I usually look for first...crunchy character info. First we start out with a neat hindrance called: Nano-infection, a nanite virus, totally cool, totally futuristic and affects the wild die associated with a specific trait. (This could easily be worked into a normal hindrance such as a chronic disease for your non-scifi games). Next is the new edges. Four of them, Bedroom Eyes (Social), Bounty Hunter (Professional), Feral Throwback (Racial) and the Sword-Whip Training (Combat) edge for the swip from the equipment section. The next thing covered is the Occupations. These are one of the unique elements of IZ, making it slightly more complex than a standard SW game, but I like it, gives clarity of a purpose in life, without nailing you down to a class. The two introduced here are the Caravan Guard and the Professional Escort...yes that kind of professional escort, a companion you might say. Next up...Mad Max style gear from Road Wear, a new Armored jacket and Armor suit...plus wasteland survival wear. Only three new weapons, but man, start with the SWHIP, the sword whip, a heavy blade that can extend out to have reach 1 (with reduced dmg.) and you should probably pick up the edge as well. Next up is a big beefy carving knife...a 3 lb twin titanium blade with a carver motor in it...YIKES! I love it. Last up is a 50Cal sniper rifle...makes big holes in things including heavy armor, it's effectively a Barrett 82. Two new vehicles, the bay runner (a sea motorcycle effectively) and the Wasteland chopper, complete with gorgeous artwork show a nice chopper mounting a mini-gun on the handle bars...Then there's the designer drug, Black Zombie, nasty stuff, which is perfect for sadistic gamemasters. The final piece of gear is "Pipe Cleaners" a catchy name for a hacking filter for the less than perfect San Fran local web. [Also provided in the book are the racial templates for Rat Hybrid (pg 6) and Bull Hybrid (pg 28) characters]

The next section is pure genius!! City Trappings. Really this is brilliant, effectively it is templates for anything from a building to an entire nation. Each trapping has unique characteristics based upon it's trapping, so a building that has brown-outs obviously has power issues, unreliable power makes hacking a little more risky. The trappings are Black Market, Brown Outs, Combat Zone, Humans Only, Hybrids Only, Interdicted Zone, Kingpin, Martial Law, Military Base, Slum Dogs and Wilderness. Really these are awesome and worth the $8.99 in and of themselves.

Next up is "Salvage Tales" 4 pages of crunch for rummaging through ruins. These are also rules that can easily be used in other SW games, or even converted for scrounging rules for other systems. A quick bounty generator for those bounty hunter characters is provided, then we're on to Plot Hooks. Seven plot hooks are provided, not bad at all. The book rounds out with almost 30 NPC stat blocks, some of which are unique NPCs, typically leaders or major contact for an organization and typical members of those organizations.

Artwork: As I said in the Quick Glance, GMG puts out top-notch artwork that surpasses a lot of Big Game companies...The cover is awesome with the Bull hybrid toting the mini gun...

Family Rating: TEEN! With drugs, violence, and sex this supplement, like its parent setting, screams parental discretion advised.

Value: Oh yeah this is easily worth the $8.99 the PDF costs!

Rating: Epic!!

For more in depth reviews, visit EpicRPGBlog.blogspot.com



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by David C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/17/2012 14:51:24

This is another wonderful book from Gunmetal Games. I love the layout of the book with the Net conversations on the side showing what characters from the world think of the text. The art work really inspires me with character ideas to compliment the descriptions and stories of the city. On a last note I love anything that gives me and my players new "toys" to play with in the form of weapons and vehicles and this book doesn't disappoint. I can't wait for their Mallmart catalog to come out if it's going to have equipment that is detailed and interesting like these.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by Michael Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/17/2012 13:02:05

I've started reading the book and I can not help but be impressed. The setting pays tribute to the Cyberpunk genre quite well. The artwork is superb, and the writing is very good...though I admit I'm biased. All in all, it's a beautiful book. I'm surprised at the previous review. Buying a book of this quality and complaining about the 'layout' is like getting a gold brick and complaining about the weight.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay
Publisher: Gun Metal Games
by Kevin F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/16/2012 19:18:09

Love the game, hate the layout, too cluttered, text is too close to margins and section lines, too much colour and layering. Simplify it please.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Hello there, I'm certainly sorry you didn't like the layout of the book! If you would like a refund, I'll be happy to give you one.
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