Genesys – Secrets of the Crucible is a role playing game supplement published by Edge Studio for use with the Genesys System. This is a setting supplement and the core book is needed to use it.
The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $24.95. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale, and has 274 pages with two being the front and rear covers, two the front matter, one the Table of Contents and two the Index.
The first page of the Introduction explains that the Crucible is an artificial world so large it can rival small stars, one filled with many cultures and peoples who have ended up there. It suggests a number of ways characters might have ended up there and things they might be doing on the world.
Roleplaying in an Impossible World looks at what the book is, how to use it, what a science fantasy setting is, what the different chapters contain and whether it can be used in other settings. A sidebar looks at challenge levels in adversary profiles.
The Center of the Universe gives a brief look at the world and the powerful beings known as Archons, as well as the most well-known location on the Crucible, the Spire. Different regions of the Crucible can have completely different environments.
Life on the Crucible gives a brief look at the different species and cultures and how they may or may not have changed, how wars of conquest are not really viable, possibly because of the Archons, and how much life revolves around the substance known as Æmber.
In the Beginning… explains that the Crucible is essentially an enigma. No-one definitively knows who built it or why, and those who arrive can never leave again. The Archons are covered in a bit more detail; these beings all seem to be unique as well as powerful and intelligent.
The Mystery of the Vaults looks at the hidden treasure rooms known as vaults, which the Archons seek out and fight over in battles that are essentially formalised, battles which are treated much as sporting events by others.
Adventures in the Crucible briefly looks at the kind of adventures that can be had.
Chapter 1: Character Creation explains that Secrets of the Crucible uses the Genesys core system as its basis, though there are differences. It’s recommended to first come up with a character concept, and then says that character creation essentially breaks down into a seven-step process. Some of the Core Rulebook steps are augmented by the material in this book.
Step 1 is to determine the background, Step 2 is to select a species, Step 3 to choose a career, Step 4 to invest experience points, Step 5 to determine derived attributes, Step 6 to determine motivation and Step 7 to choose hear, appearance and personality. A sidebar mentions the Æmbit, or “bit,” the generic currency. Some of these steps are then gone into in more detail.
In Step 1 it explains that the Crucible has a huge range of backgrounds, given the different species and cultures. Some view the Crucible as home, others that it is just the place they are. There’s a d10 table to determine how a character views the Crucible, which can be rolled or selected or something new can be created. Those that are listed are covered in more detail.
Step 2 is selecting a species. There are 11 pre-made species, elf, giant, goblin, human, krxix (insectoids), Martians (which have two types), phyll (sentient plants), robot, saurian (intelligent bipedal humanoid lizards), spirits (incorporeal beings) and sylicates (intelligent stone beings). Each is described and given abilities. Finally, there are details on how to create a new species, with tables and descriptions to randomly generate them.
Step 3 explains that Secrets of the Crucible uses its own unique careers that replace the ones from the core rulebook. Eleven new careers are described in the same way as the core careers.
After this, new skills and rules are covered. There are new general skills, new knowledge skills and some rules on mounted movement and combat. Finally, five tiers of new talents are covered.
Chapter 2: Organizations covers some of the most famous organisations of the area of the Crucible known as the Local Group. It explains the benefit of organisations, why characters may wish to be associated with one and how to reflect such associations within the game. Eleven different organisations are then covered in detail, with things like their aims, history, culture, society, technology, encounters with them and, in some cases, sub-groups. Following this, eight more organisations are given a brief overview.
Chapter 3: Equipment and Vehicles starts by explaining the Æmber economy, and how, instead of carrying around the substance, people use Æmbits, believed to have come from Æmber nuggets. There are also some local currencies and barter is also used. Following this are systems for creating weapons; these fall into broad categories and are intended to be used as the base for specific weapons; the Crucible has such a wide variety of peoples and technologies, and some of the items fall into sufficiently advanced to appear like magic category. There are various different traits for weapons. Armour is covered in the same manner. Following this is more general gear, which has various specific examples. There are also various treasures of the Crucible, useful and valuable items that don’t fit into the other categories. This is followed by some examples of cybernetics. Finally, there are a number of commonly encountered vehicles.
Chapter 4: Æmber starts by looking at what Æmber is, which is mostly myths and theories as in-universe no-one really understands it. It then looks at how Æmber can be harvested and how it can be used on the Crucible. It then looks at how Æmber is used in Genesys game terms. Æmber can be Raw, which is used to create and power Æffects or can be consumed to activate talents or empower some weapons and armour, or Processed, which has been altered or manipulated to perform a specific function, such as currency. Æffects are looked at, with a process for creating them; concept, design, powers, components, skill checks and finishing touches. Armour, weapons and utility are different uses, and various general powers, which often seem practically magical in nature, are covered. Finally, it looks at Æmber and Narrative Dice and Æmber in Æmbercraft checks and other checks.
Chapter 5: The Crucible covers some of the locations on the Crucible itself. Given its size, this doesn’t come close to covering everything, so some important places in the area of the Local Group are covered in varying amounts of detail, such as cities, settlements, outposts and oddities of the landscape, as well as some brief details on other places on the Crucible.
Chapter 6: Adversaries contains various different beings that could be encountered on the Crucible. These are divided into different sections based on their type or where they might be encountered. Creatures covers a variety of things, including dangerous plants and hybrids of organic and machine, that could be encountered. Demons are those of Dis. Nomads and Travelers are those with no fixed location. Urban Inhabitants are those who can be encountered in towns. Wilderness Beings are those of the wilderness. Legendary Beings are specific individual NPCs. All are covered in the standard Genesys format.
Chapter 7: The Game Master explains that the Crucible can be a daunting place to run games, given the mixture of species, super-science and fantastical technologies, and that this chapter is intended to help. It first starts with how to depict life on the Crucible and how the place’s inherent impossibilities should be embraced. It looks at campaign design, and how to involve the players in this, and depicting the diversity as well as cities, customs and environment. The Crucible’s constants are looked at, including the motivations of others, challenges and Æmber.
It then looks at using the Crucible, which is a setting so expansive that essentially any story can be set there. It looks at the different types of adventures, using existing locations and creating new ones and new environments, and at creatures. How player characters and NPCs evolve is looked at, as well as alternative rewards such as information, patronage, equipment and Æmber. It also looks at the consequences of NPCs evolving and the different types of non-player characters.
Adding new life to the Crucible is also covered, from new species to new NPCs to new organisations. Archons are given their own section, with their differing appearances and motivations, their interactions with mortals and vaults and how to create Archons, with some sample ones.
Finally, the adventure builder is intended as a way of quickly creating adventures. There are three categories in this. Hooks, Escalations and Climaxes. Hooks has some sample adventure ideas, with primary goals, challenges and a twist. Escalations has some example of these, with some new challenges that will result from them. Climaxes is done in a similar way, with examples and more new challenges.
Genesys – Secrets of the Crucible in Review
The PDF is bookmarked but not as deeply as it could have been. The Table of Contents is at times less deep and is hyperlinked. The Index is reasonably thorough and is also hyperlinked. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two-column with sidebar format and appeared to be free of errors. The sidebars contain asides from different NPCs, including some from the Legendary Beings section, and each is done in a different font specific to that NPC; some fonts are easier to read than others. There are a variety of colour illustrations, up to full page in size. Presentation is good.
This is a setting book, not a full game in and of itself. Though some material may override elements in the core Genesys book, that book is still needed in order to play. This is not a standard science fiction or fantasy setting, but a combination of both, and technologies range from quite primitive in regions to essentially no different from magic. This does allow a wide range of different types of adventures to be had, depending on what’s preferred; some groups and GMs may not want the huge range of possibilities implicit in such a setting and may prefer to try and stick to one kind of type. The advantage with the Crucible is that it can accommodate almost anything, and this is its disadvantage as well. Genesys – Secrets of the Crucible can be found by clicking here.
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