I didn't know anything about this game, never picked it up back in the day, nor have I heard much about it, until PIG re-released it. The scans (are they scans?) are superb. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. I can zoom, and the text is readable zoomed in!

I picked up all the PDFs except Bloodshadows (although I'm tempted). The system has some surprising things in it. I have a fellow gamer who waxes poetic all the time about "1990's" or "1970's" game design, in the pejorative. I think it's a bunk philosophy. If the game is good, and people enjoy it, who cares when it was designed? In fact, I would say there are things in here I like over "simpler" "modern" games.

There are some elements I see here that latter games "borrowed" from.  Toughness works almost exactly like it does in Action! System. The wounds system is very reminiscent of World of Darkness (though the original Vampire predates Masterbook I think). Action System! seems to have borrowed some of the ideas for Skill Groups from them. Hell, D&D Knowledge, Profession, and Craft skills are very much like Macroskills in Masterbook. EABA has a universal table similar to Masterbook, and this idea makes calculating measurements and relating them directly to game mechanics a breeze. We've seen these concepts in other games, and these ideas seem popular IMO.

It also has some other nifty stuff I appreciated. Optional Critical Failures if you roll a negative amount BELOW your current Skill Level (so the more skilled you are, the harder it is to critically fail). Default static defenses but you can choose to roll an active defense for better defense numbers (with a penalty for multiple actions in a turn). The MasterDeck cards add a level of dynamic play, and in a way that seems fun (reading about such in the book). They give you ones to customize for your game. I really dig the "Special Effects" design system. Just the right amount of crunch yet not too "hand-wavy" to have no purpose. The dice method; 2d10, 10's explode if you have "Skill Ads (read: Ranks)" or spend Life Points (read: FATE points), has an outcome table that keeps the results in a reasonable range. I like some curve in my dice, and this is a nice compromise between 3d6 (awesome curve) and 1d20 (linear blah).

The writing and presentation could use some polish, and some of the terms used can be confusing on the first read. Outside that, It seems like a nifty game to me.

Does anyone here have any experience with it in play?
What are your thoughts on the Masterbook/Shatterzone RPGs?

P.S.  There is an Open Supplement license, allowing you to make compatible stuff with the logo, following the rules in the license. What types of settings would potential Masterbook fans be interested in seeing?

To be fair, Shatterzone books are much better scans than MasterBook  I'm using new, advanced techniques for them that produce near-original copies.

Otherwise, I won't comment, since I'm biased

Ever considered releasing Shatterzone as a Savage Worlds book? I'm not saying that SW is better than Masterbook, but SW does have a bigger audience and it's actually lacking a straight sci-fi setting.

Quote from: brettmb;520851I'm using new, advanced techniques for them that produce near-original copies.

Do you have any pointers you could share? I still have a crap load of Timemaster books to scan to have ready for better quality PDF and POD printing. What I've been doing is OCRing the text and doing a new layout, but as you know that's very time consuming. Maybe it is the best way from a print quality perspective but I'd love to hear about your technique.

Quote from: Soylent Green;520858Ever considered releasing Shatterzone as a Savage Worlds book? I'm not saying that SW is better than Masterbook, but SW does have a bigger audience and it's actually lacking a straight sci-fi setting.

If someone wants to license shatterzone for other systems, give me a yell.

Quote from: Goblinoid Games;520861Do you have any pointers you could share? I still have a crap load of Timemaster books to scan to have ready for better quality PDF and POD printing. What I've been doing is OCRing the text and doing a new layout, but as you know that's very time consuming. Maybe it is the best way from a print quality perspective but I'd love to hear about your technique.

I'll email you.

Quote from: brettmb;520865I'll email you.

Cool!

All apologies to Brett, but I've had Shatterzone since it came out, so I won't be getting his any time soon.

Me? I always liked it in the abstract. Never found anyone to play it with.  I still pull the books out once in a while and go crazy with character creation, which is a little wild compared to newer, tighter systems (also: Less boring... the downside of ruthlessly polished and balanced creation systems is characters that can't deviate from the average in any meaningful way...)

Quote from: Spike;520869All apologies to Brett, but I've had Shatterzone since it came out, so I won't be getting his any time soon.

I didn't expect anyone who already had it to get it again except for supplements they didn't yet have.

I played the original version and really liked it. The only game other than TORG that used that kind of system, that I actually enjoyed playing.

RPGPundit

I liked Shatterzone. It supported a pretty good campaign. I like the Masterbook rules. They're a little dense, and it takes a couple sessions to get comfortable with the cards, but it's a good game. I wasn't crazy about the system for Indiana Jones or Tank Girl, but I liked the other things they released for it.