PPop Culture Catalog: Cruises and Resorts (SFRPG)

This installment of the so-far absolutely amazing pop Culture Catalog-series clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages of SRD, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was requested to be moved up in my reviewing queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

All righty, we begin this supplement with a brief introduction, as well as the rules for the fandom engine that powered the first two Pop Culture Catalog-installments (Vidgames & Clothing); I explained the engine twice by now, and I don’t like repeating myself, so please consult my reviews of these supplements if you need a refresher of what it does.

Stressed out by your interstellar adventures? Nova Age and Blood Space rigors got you down? Fret not, for in the Xa-Osoro system, there are plenty of resorts to choose from! A total of 8, to be more precise. All of the resorts and cruises herein note their price, location and system, type and the area the resorts cover. As before, we get a great visual treat, one that uses modified tweaks of the logos of famous real world destinations in a way that makes the respective allusion clear.

Kickass (and perhaps inspired by one of my all-time favorite Black Mirror episodes), Cyber City Resorts sports a 80s-style logo and represents a fully virtual resort maintained via the mental upload and temporal stasis technologies of the dwarves of Ravnopolis. Allowing for the exploration of digital vistas. As an aside – this obviously does allow for nigh infinite means to insert all kinds of other adventures into an ongoing campaign, which is pretty awesome. Fans of this one get +1 to Perception and Disguise DCs regarding spells and items based on holograms. Dillington is more conventional: Vacation homes overlooking bucolic countrysides, technology is downplayed and behind the scenes, catering to a nostalgia of ages long past. More importantly, the place thankfully has a filtration unit that keeps the Blood Space-augmented strain of therianthropy out…which, of course, makes for a ready-made hook that any GM half worth their title can use for a rather frenetic module…and being a no flight zone, exploring these notions in the context of the quasi-luddite environment is pretty cool. The pdf also provides brief settlement stats for the resort’s primary city, and fandom taps into the multicultural nature of the race, allowing you to recall information over specific races.

ReVuYu has been built on the glynwarians’ planet, and houses the most advanced R&D facilities in an all-inclusive anti-aging destination…and that is meant literally. The unique properties allow for the transformation into children, allowing you to experience your childhood anew in a no-adults-allowed environment, which once more makes for a pretty awesome adventure baseline. Minor nitpick: It’d have been nice to get item stats for the age-regressing tech employed here. Being a fan of this place enhances your ability to interact with kids and adolescents. Sarvatora Springs is a popular beach resort operated almost exclusively by the Bantosian’s native catfolk, Named for its famous hot springs, which have miraculous healing powers, this place has all the amenities that you’d expect from an awesome beach trip. The extremely reliable geyser that acts a s a kind of clock allows fans to better glean information from natural terrain as well as resist e.g. avalanches and similar environmental dangers. The Toran Strip is basically space Las Vegas, allowing fans to purchase items of a higher character level, provided you can pay the bribes, that is! Extra kudos to all GMs for introducing Fallout New Vegas-style content here. Personally, I’ll be sure to include Mr. House here. *clicks again on the replay button of the “The House Always Wins”-song by the Stupendium*

Xtravix is operated by 1010 Robotics and is situated in several thousand expansion bays to the SuperRing, with places fashioned after biomes both real and imagined, including those from the legendary Okami company’s (The Nintendo stand-in) videogames, with fandom helping you to bypass environmental hazards or negate their effects.

More nightmarish than fun, at least for me, would be the Dalton Whimsy World. Picture a Disney World that is, actually, a whole world, that is the sole inhabitable planet in the star system. “The Happiest Place Ever After” – and it does have its own fleet and is outside government regulations. Fans may spend Resolve to resist emotion effects. Nitpick here: There are no immediate actions in SFRPG; that should be a reaction. On a plus side – the place houses a rather twisted, secret underground metropolis that houses the employees incorporating the characters of Whimsy World. (I’d love to see this concept developed into a proper, full setting book…so much potential here for characters etc….)

Worvenia would be the second resort world here, and it comes with no less than 3 sample settlements. It’s the oldest resort in the system and focuses on wintersports, with a city on the Northpole, Southpole, and the ring…oh, and holiday spirit and good cheer? Totally mandatory…As a fandom perk, this one allows you to spend Resolve to reroll Acrobatics checks to keep your balance on ice, snow, etc.

The pdf also features a total of 2 different cruise lines noted, with Iron Cruise Company being the first; this company focuses on cruises towards the Lovers, the collective of Eozatta, Ozari and their rings. They come with several luxury outfits available per night, and the ships feature anything from official tavern crawls to lounging areas, libraries and casinos. Offering anything from a full month to a one-year-cruise, the cruise helps fans to recall knowledge about and Pilot through natural wonders. Jionshi-Wu, the safest possible cruise, uses an ultranought ship and is one of the most heavily armed ships ever, an honorary member of Azanward’s Armada fleet, with the crew consisting of soldiers honorably discharged. The vessel had no less than 1,400 attempts made to breach it, each resulting in catastrophe. But surely your PCs will be successful, right? 😉 The fandom allows for better information recall about Azan, kami, etc.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are still very good on a formal and rules language level. Apart from a missing blank space and an l instead of an r, as well as the one action hiccup, I noticed no issues. Layout adheres to the series’ neat two-column full-color standard, and the pdf sports great artworks for the icons, as noted. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t require any at this length.

Alexander Augunas delivers a cool supplement herein; each of the locations has some sort of complex adventure hook baked right into its core, with many of them making me really excited to see and read more about them! All in all, this represents a flavorful, inspiring and fun offering, which is why my final verdict will clock in at 5 stars, just short of my seal of approval.

You can get this cool, fun little supplement here on OBS – you know your characters deserve vacations, too!

Missed the installment on vidgames? It can be found here!

Adventuring in style? The Clothing-installment can be found here!

Endzeitgeist out.

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