Sort of a party game, sort of an RPG, but neither of each. Hard to describe this one. It is the cheapest (free) and the smallest (1 page, and barely that) game I have reviewed. All I can really say it try it out for yourself.

An excellent little program, Greg Porter seems to be a real Renaissance man now that he programs too. Creates a beautiful, stylish, atmospheric character sheet with important bits marked in color for easy understanding.

I recommend using this program to run it as it's a free pdf viewer that lets you save characters made with this:

http://download.cnet.com/PDF-XChange-Viewer/3000-10743_4-10598377.html?tag=mncol;1

Perhaps one of the most comprehensive guides to the Victorian era ever written for gamers, Verne manages cover every aspect of this world in ways that are sometimes intimidating in their detail and frankness. If you were to have a Victorian era adventure, this book should be at the top of your list of reference materials. I was especially impressed with the descriptions (often from period publications) of how this 'alien' world works. Then, to make things even more impressive, Greg Porter has included excellent sections on the technology and backgrounds that turn an already useful guide into a "steampunk" game.

Verne rivals Castle Falkenstein as one of the best written and designed rpgs for this era (though, surprisingly, Greg doesn't mention CF in his bibliography- wonder why...?).

Dandy character generator, if you have the required software to work this advanced pdf. As handy as it is, it will not work on a Mac with Apple's own pdf tool, Preview; instead you have to use Adobe's Reader, which some Mac users install reluctantly. Similarly, the pdf for the iPad, which would be quite useful, requres PDFExpert, software which itself costs $10.

At least on the Mac, you cannot print to pdf from the Adobe Reader, which means you cannot save a digital version of the character generated (which is a serious pain). This apparent limitation and the requirement for specific pdf software dropped what would otherwise be a better rating from me.

The operation of the generator is substantively quite impressive, but you have to read through the instructions, which are quite wordy. If you don't reset first, for example, it takes several seconds between clicks for the data input sheet to respond; enough to imply (incorrectly) that it is not working.

It would be wonderful if such a character generator could be generalized for other systems, FATE in particular.

By itself, Verne is an excellent, well thought out and insightful product that creates a wonderful alternative world in the spirit of the steampunk genre. It reminds us that the real victorian age was nothing to long for, with it's institutional racism, classism, sexism and other unpleasant things like child labor, starvation, disease, etc. Then it creates the fantastic alternative to the reality of the Victorian era thru the lens of alternative technology and physics that allow steam, iron and brass to do things modern technology cannot.

You can recreate the worlds of Wells, Verne, Doyle, Burroughs and others. You could also create your own worlds if you want.

Wonderful job of distilling the era into an understandable format for player's and GM's alike using a system with plenty of wriggle room to enable different play styles to interact successfully. EABA is highly recommended. Verne is also for anyone into steampunk

A As a long-time DM who has to convince other people to take time to make a character, I am a huge fan of character generators. Finding a good one is always a challenge, so BRTC's Character Creator for the Verne RPG is a real boon. This interactive PDF is good fun for steampunk fans who aren't interested in playing Verne at all, as the first steps in character creation is simply answering questions in character. When you're done, you hit "calculate," and your character race and profession are generated, based on the answers you gave. There's an option to do this randomly as well, but random or calculated, a character creator as cool as this adds up to one thing: less time messing around with character creation mechanics to devote more time to game play! Two thumbs up to BRTC for producing this little number. Other systems should take a page from BRTC's book and release aesthetically pleasing, bug-free character creators. It's fun to roll dice, but as a DM, it's more fun to get people into playing as fast as you can, and the EABA Verne Character Creator definitely does that. There's a version in the download for the iPad as well, but I could not review, as I don't own one.

(Also in my blog http://minimrpg.com)

It feels like a merry coincidence, Greg has just released EABA Verne, a steampunkish suplement for his generic role-playing game: EABA. I am not going to compare his efforts to mine; he’s in the major league and EABA Verne shows it. Neither, I am going to claim compatibility: the very reason I decided to go ahead and make my own game was that most, if not all, generic role-playing game rules are not adequate to play heroic children.

Not withstanding the rule system you love, EABA Verne offers a great setting and/or ideas that could be inserted in any steampunkish setting; and improve it. For that alone, it is well worth the price.

As you can imagine, EABA Verne takes inspiration in the works of the French writer; but also from other classic Scifi masters and then integrates them into a coherent world. Every effort has been made to creat a millieu that is fun to play, dream-able, and yet solid and reasonable enough to look plausible to a 40 years old, like me. The publisher prides himself in attention to detail, and I can bear witness to it. I was expecting some vague reference to armour in a world dominated by rifles, but the book speaks of such unknown items as Korean cotton armour, and the somehow better known American Civil War experiments.

This might be the hightide of European domination, but the book does not forget minor powers (like Spain), South America, the Asian nations: notably China and Japan, even Africa receives a section worthy of that name. Mars, Venus, an empty core Earth with morlocks and possibly dinosaurs are all there for the gamemaster to include in his games, or not. There are secret societies, conspiracies and spies; some could have been a rival for Sherlock Holmes.

Steampunk, it’s there, with flying machines and interplanetary vessels, and yet they are rare enough to keep a Victorian world, well Victorian. No super-submarine is going to sink the Royal Navy, unless the gamemaster decides to let loose a Nemo; no airship fleet will bomb London, though one or two might challenge the skies. Mars would remain wild and enigmatic for decades.

Greg has nailed it this time. Well done, master.

Well, this pretty much is what I was searching for a long time. Easy to learn gameplay with a decent level of realism and great replayability. The file is completely hyperlinked (which comes in handy when designing new starships) and the layout has been adapted to screen reading. Speaking of designing starships: it feels kinda like a box of Lego's where you don't have to calculate mass and space for things you want on your future flagship. Once it comes to combat you don't need a bag o'dice, coins or cardboard-pieces do the job excellently and the system is so dead simple that you'll most likely not need the file after your first battle.

I could go on praising this but I think you get the idea. Instead I'll go build some ships and find me someone to test them against.

Since others have already posted content reviews about EABA products, I will focus just on the iPad features. The iPad editions of EABA and Ythrek differ mainly from the regular ones in small but interesting details. Page margins have been trimmed to better fit the ipad's screen, improving readability without the hassle of zooming in to enlarge text. There is also a small grey bar at the bottom of the page which doubles as a quick table of contents. This is a really nice feature which makes jumping between sections a real breeze. These two products are in my opinion essential buys for anyone who owns an iPad and has an interest in EABA. General evaluation: 5 stars! Customer satisfaction: Very satisfied!

Since others have already posted content reviews about EABA products, I will focus just on the iPad features. The iPad editions of EABA and Ythrek differ mainly from the regular ones in small but interesting details. Page margins have been trimmed to better fit the ipad's screen, improving readability without the hassle of zooming in to enlarge text. There is also a small grey bar at the bottom of the page which doubles as a quick table of contents. This is a really nice feature which makes jumping between sections a real breeze. These two products are in my opinion essential buys for anyone who owns an iPad and has an interest in EABA. General evaluation: 5 stars! Customer satisfaction: Very satisfied!

Probably my favorite space combat game.

Easy to learn, quick playing, flexible and diceless!

This version is not simply a pdf reprint. It is in full hypertext and includes new optional rules and real space science as well as the game it self.

Slag works best for mid-sized fleets of small to medium sized starships. The system does not have the detail for a satisfying fighter duel. Supersized ships such as the Galactica or Imperial Star Destroyers while possible are a bit cumbersome.

Highlights for me include the dice-less (but not rock-paper-scissor) combat and the flexible design system. A range of tech levels and system types are included. The game also includes example designs so you can play right away.

I think this is a very good game with many strategic and tactical player choices. The core of the game is an unforgiving economic engine that repays you with catastrophes relative to how hard you work the system. If you go slow you won't get enough resources to buy VPs and use your special abilities, but you won't add your part of catastrophes either. If you go foot to the floor, you will be able to buy quite a lot, but then will have to deal with the destructive consequences. This is a nice simple model for the real world and when coupled with markets and the need to build up your technology if you want to win, the player is put into a seriously compelling bind.

I really like the game. I built the components in about an hour (though I left the glue on the markers dry overnight) and learned the rules in about the same amount of time. It did take a play though to understand how it all fit together.

Great job!!! Thanks!!!

The underlying mechanics seem an AWFUL lot like WEG's d6. Only, they avoid presenting it that way, which seems sort of awkward.

Still, after a brief read, it seems like it might be well organized and flexible. Definitely worth a free download (some things aren't).

LOL, What else remains to be said. This game is an utter blast. It helps to have some rowdy friends to play with. With the group I play with this is always a favorite when we all get a bit would up. Cleverly designed and packed with laughs. I think I peed my pants twice. Replay vailue is very high in IMO. This game has not lost its flavor yet!