by Joseph Cochran, with Ronald Jarrell, Charles Ryan, and Zeke Sparkles
co-published with Chameleon Eclectic
200 Pages

Babylon 5 fans rejoice - the long-awaited RPG is almost here, and it appears to have been well worth the wait.

The first thing people will notice about The Babylon Project is the layour. Full-color throughout, the book is eye-catching and very readable. Sidebars are effectively used to present tables, examples, and additional information where needed. Kudos go to graphic designer Charles Ryan, who has done a great job of making a product that's attractive and easy to read.

Content, though, is the most important thing, and here again The Babylon Project brings in high marks. First off, there is an excellent summary of Babylon 5's intricate storyline. While it will be old hat to fans of the TV show, people unfamiliar with the story will be quickly brought up to speed upon reading it. Frankly, it's damn good stuff, well-suited to epic-scale role-playing adventures.

Next up is character generation and game mechanics. Here The Babylon Project really starts to shine. During character creation, players consider three separate phases in their PC's history - childhood, "development" (adolescence), and adulthood. At each stage, the player will select several relevant skills, choose personality characteristics, and carefully consider some specific details of the character's history. The process is vaguely reminiscent of the "lifepath" systems seen in some other games, but it does not coddle players by providing tables to roll on.

Rather, a series of questions is provided for players to answer. The answers to them will help to more fully define the character under development. It's not really a character development system, but it does provide an organized framework within which an imaginitive player can thoughtfully construct a believable, three-dimensional character. Attributes, which are rated from 1-9, are generated at the beginning of character creation. All four PC races - Humans, Narn, Centauri, and Minbari - have default scores for the twelve attributes, which are the starting point for new characters. A player can bump an attribute up or down by up to two points, but they have to compensate by adjusting another attribute in the opposite direction. Deviations of more than two points must be approved by the GM. Obviously, this is not an environment where power-gamer munchkins will thrive.

The skill system is also straightforward. From the skills written down during character creation, players choose one to be the Primary, three to be Secondary, and any number of the remainder to be Tertiary. A character's Primary skill is at rank 4 (out of a possible 5); the Secondaries are all 3; and players can assign 12 points to the Tertiary skills in any way they wish such that none is higher than 3. Each skill has several associated sub-fields or "Specialties" players can choose from. Upon purchasing a skill, one Specialty is chosen for free; others may be added at the cost of one point. Players are encouraged to make up skill Specialties if an appropriate one isn't listed in the book.

The Babylon Project uses a relatively conventional roll-and-add formula for task resolution, but there's a clever twist. When a character attempts a task, the GM assigns it a difficulty number, which is typically in the range of 2-25. The player adds up their skill level and the level of its relevant attribute; if they have the correct Specialty, they get another bonus of two points. This number is called the "Ability," and a typical value for a skilled character would be about 10. Of course, the GM can modify the Ability based on circumstances . For example, if a PC was trying to fix a fusion reactor in the dark, in zero-G, they might be at a -4 or more.

Now comes the twist - instead of rolling a die and adding it to the Ability, the player rolls 2d6. One d6 produces a positive number, and the other a negative, but only the smaller of the two absolute values is kept. That is, if a player rolls -2 and +5, they keep only the -2, which then modifies their Ability. The GM then compares the modified Ability score to the task difficulty to judge the attempt's success or failure. The system is quick, light on math, and easily produces a variety of results from Critical Failure to Critical Success. Incidentally, rolls of double ones or sixes indicate some sort of unexpected mishap or benefit, respectively.

The combat system is also straightforward. The standard task resolution system is used to determine ranged weapon hits, while hand-to-hand combat uses a contested roll variant. Hit location is easily determined, and good provision is made for called shots. The wound-tracking system is more complicated than the rest of the rules, requiring a couple of lookups on a specialized table. It is not a traditional system, but it is slick nonetheless. It lets the GM calculate how long a wounded character will live if they don't get medical attention, and even provides for long-term effects of injuries. Again, nice work all around.

And by the way, combat is lethal in The Babylon Project. Try not to get your characters shot at, as one good hit from a modest weapon can finish off almost anyone. Tough? Yes. Realistic? You bet.

Despite the lengthy rules summary above, relatively little of the book is devoted to mechanics - there's just not a lot to say. Most of the game is used to detail the world of Babylon 5, and provide players with the tools they need to get started. Of course, the major races are all described in detail, and there are equipment lists, a sample adventure, psi rules, character sheets, and all the other things you'd expect to find. Without going into detail, it is safe to say that everything you really need is there, and all of it is executed more than competently.

One of the biggest surprises in The Babylon Project was the section offering advice to the GM on how to craft an epic-scale adventure. The B5 TV series is about huge events - like interstellar wars - and the people caught in the middle of them. The Babylon Project RPG has the same two levels of focus. It starts out with an unusually thoughtful character creation process, and then provides GMs with the tools they need to craft a truly epic scenario. Readers of SHADIS probably all have a few epic campaigns under their belts already, but any GM would benefit from giving this section of The Babylon Project a read - it can really help organize one's thoughts.

Overall, The Babylon Project is one of the most impressive RPGs on the market today. Clever rules, a great story, and slick production combine to make this game a real stand-out. Its main flaw is a lack of information on some topics; for example, space combat is not covered, alien worlds are not covered in enough depth, and stats for the TV series characters are not provided. None of these omissions are fatal though, and all of them look like they are designed to be addressed by future sourcebooks. In the meantime, Chameleon Eclectic and WireFrame have produced a great game that deserves the attention of sci-fi players everywhere.

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