Reign of Discordia True20 Edition

A brief review of the Reign of Discordia product line from Gun Metal
Games. After a great core product, the rest of the line is somewhat of a
disappointment.
I recently heard about Reality Deviants (now Gun Metal Games) Reign of
Discordia when trolling the archives of the Atomic Array podcast. The interview
the hosts conducted with the writer Darrin Drader intrigued me, as here, it
seemed, was a setting that matched my desires for a Space Opera set in (not
after) an apocalyptic period
Wanting to know more, I was quite disappointed to discover very little chatter
about the game or the setting, even when posting a request here on the General
forums of RPG.net. I did discover that it was a True20 product and that a number
of pdf support products had almost been published. Further a Traveller edition of
the game had also hit the market and this is due to be published in hardcover
through Mongoose Publishings Flaming Cobra imprint.
And there my research was going to stand; a potential game that just hadnt done
enough to warrant any further review. Or so it was until I discover how cheap the
True20 editions pdfs were through RPGNow, especially when one was offered
another 10% off for Cyber Monday. Weighing up my options, I decided to take
the leap and purchase all five of the published Reign of Discordia (or RoD) book
for a bargain basement price.
Suffice to say, Ive been impressed with what Ive read from this game, and to
perhaps save others from undertaking the research I did, I thought Id submit a
review of the current line.
Reign of Discordia Core Rule book
Weighing in at 137 pages of full colour text, the pdf includes a neat layers
function that allows readers to turn off parts of the document (for example the
thick starlike border) for print purposes (a function I recommend every PDF
publisher includes).
Beyond the aforementioned thick border, and an invocative cover piece, the
traditional art is sparse (although of a high quality and matches the setting quite
nicely). To make up for this, however, the book does make use of simple
watermarks, and uses images to identify key components of the setting (for
example, small full colour pictures of the major planets, icons for the key
organisations active in the setting, and examples of each of spaceship types
used).
A comprehensive Table of Contents is also included, although there is no index
(a fact that I think is forgivable seeing that the book is more source than rule
book).The text is in a simple two-column format, and uses nice strong heading
types (although Id have like the level two and three heading to be a little more
distinct). My only other real complaint here also is the use of red borders on
tables. These, unlike the borders, can not be turned off (although interestingly

enough the entirety of the tables can?), and so means you either get colour
printing or faint and fuzzy borders in black & white.
On to the book itself, is divided into 7 chapters, each of which I will briefly cover.
Chapter 1 - Life After the Stellar Imperium
An introduction to the rise and fall of the as titled Stellar Imperium. This section
covers the history of the Imperium; humanitys discovery of faster than light
travel, encountering intelligent alien life (even if the first thing we did was try and
eat it), the concord that created the Empire as it was known, etc. The interesting
aspects of the setting not only includes the typical examples of expansion but
emphasises the point that humanity and its allies has more in common with
Victorian age expansionism than bringing peace and light to the galaxy. This is
never more strongly highlighted than in the way the Imperium dealt with the
home planet of one race, basically enslaving them to work the resources from
their planet, and just as quickly abandoning them when the profit became to
small.
As RoD takes place just five years after events come to a head for the Stellar
Imperium, the text also covers current situations in regards to commerce,
communications, gas mining and religion amongst others. This all helps present
the setting as one where societies are struggling to exist after the helicon days of
the Imperium.
The section also has an interesting way of presenting the timeline of events.
Rather than just having a separate table where the highlights of the rise and fall
are documented, each page has a small section that simple summarises the key
events are noted. This is the first time Ive seen this approach and it quite good at
helping the reader browse both the background and enabling them to quickly
reference the material.
Chapter 2 - Major Worlds
This section covers the major worlds of the setting. Divided to sections based
upon the racial ownership (i.e. which of the major races lays claim to it) and
general status (core or frontier), it details 50+ planets in total.
Nicely, each world not only has a detailed description of its key facts (population,
planet type, rotation and orbit times, etc.), but also includes a small image of
what the planet would look like from space. This will help immensely when
describing the look and feel of the world to players.
The chapter concludes with a two page map showing the relative locations of the
listed planets and the general spheres of influence exerted by the major races. It
would be nice to have a single page map available (maybe on double sized piece
of paper say A3 or American equivalent) for download somewhere, maybe?
Chapter 3 Character Options
This chapter covers character creation, as well as character paths, feats and
other True20 specific mechanics. Detailing the 10 odd core races described in
the background (including some who are more suited to be the players

adversaries than playable characters), it does a good job not only the
appearance and traits
While

Final Thoughts
Typos and grammatical issues.