Geek Sites: Battlelords Website Review

SSDC games have launched a new website in support of their RPG “Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century.” The game takes place in a dangerous future where mercenaries composed of twenty five different races are hired by mega-corporations to defend corporate interests and the alliance against the invading Arachnids. The best way I can describe this game would be if Shadowrun, Starship Troopers, the book Enders Game, Rifts and Traveller had a love child – an amazing, sexy love child. The new and improved website gives a 22 year old game a breath of fresh air. The improved site creates fusion between the traditional RPG and the interwebz. Wizards of the Coast should have hired these developers for their web site as it is amazing and full of RPG goodness.

The SSDC website Wiki includes free modules for all levels, a robust FAQ section and a Newbie Guide that is a useful and powerful aid for new players, including a glossary of Battlelords terms and many rules expansions. As you start to navigate the site, you quickly notice that almost every section encourages player/user input. You can add home-brew weapons, characters, modules, mega-corporations and even races. All of this freedom is great, but the designers were smart by not allowing everything on the site to be a free-for-all. The Devs have provided templates for adding all of these home-brews to the Battlelords universe. This gives the user outstanding guidelines that are useful and non-restrictive. I dug into the site, focused on user-developed products, and found that their template system works. Nothing seemed disjointed or out of place. I have seen sites that depend on user input that look like a hot mess, but this one is well designed and easy to use.

The artwork for the site and the books have been highly praised. I have mixed feelings about that praise. I like the art and I am a fan of black and whites, but some of the art was not as polished as it could be. I liked the detail in most of the drawings and the amount of art is ginormous, but the art didn’t “fill” me up. The art felt like your typical buffet, lots of selections, but far from gourmet.

Web tools on the site include a Combat Resolver that determines hit location and critical hits for any number of shots and targets. The system seems kind of rules crunchy so this will be a useful tool especially when you go full auto. There is also an Initiative Tracker that — you guessed it — tracks your entire party’s initiative. The Devs say that the tracker can be used for other games, but I haven’t tired it yet.

This is the first time all of the Battlelords core rulebook is available in PDF. Because this is an established system there is an extensive line of books to support it. All of their books are now available in print, PDF, and bundle (print+PDF). SSDC offers a Newbie Special that includes every book in the Battlelords line, and the Alliance Special which includes every book in both print and PDF formats in one massive collection. SSDC states that in the future the site will include expanded web tools and the possibility of a revised edition of the game to name a few.

If all of this sounds awesome (and it should) strap on your ablative armor, load your gauss pistol and head over to www.ssdc.com to judge for yourself. The Devs want to grow the community and I think this is the right way to go about it.

Stay tuned for my full review of the Battlelords core rulebook and an upcoming contest!

About Cape Rust

Cape Rust is an international man of thespionage. Born and raised in San Antonio Texas, he joined the U.S. Army where he served 12 years six as a Military Policeman and six as an all source Military Intelligence Analyst. Being a fat, bald version of James Bond, his geek interests are wide (like his belly) and varied. His collection of gadgets (electronic and travel related) are only rivaled by the amount of pockets found on most items of clothing he wears.

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