Kickstarter Unboxing : Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition

(Yeah...don't let the cover put you off. And yes, I know, two months...)

Yes, I'm finally getting around to writing up my unboxing/review of this little gem. As mentioned in my post regarding the Mutant Chronicles one shot I ran a few months ago I've been looking forward to getting my hands on this for some time, having kickstarted this project early last year. A few months ago I recieved my copy of the core rulebook as well as the rest of my Kickstarter rewards, and it's finally time for me to write up my thoughts on this system and Kickstarter.

Introduction :

For those unaware, the Mutant Chronicles RPG is a fairly venerable system, as far as RPG's go, the original version having been released in 1993 by the swedish company Paradox Games. Since then the license has changed hands a few times, and multiple spin offs have been released including the Warzone miniature wargame; which was re-released as Warzone : Resurrection in 2013 by Prodos Games; the Doom Trooper video game for the SNES and Genesis, a CCG, several board games, and a 2008 independant film that somehow managed to cast both Ron Perlman and John Malkovitch. All of which are of somewhat... variable quality.

I'll go into more detail with regards to the setting later in this post, just as I did in my post for the Straffar Gattan : 39 introductory adventure.

As for the new publisher, in 2013 Modiphius Games, the publishers of Achtung Cthulhu and Dust Adventures, announced that they'd acquired the license and would be releasing a new edition of the long out of print RPG. As you can imagine there was much rejoicing amongst those who actually remembered the franchise. How have Modiphius done with their release of the 3rd edition? Let's see shall we?

What's In The Metaphorical Box? :

I paid for the Print Master pledge, giving me the following...

• The Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Core Rulebook in Hardback and PDF
• The Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition Players Guide in Softback and PDF
• The Dark Symmetry Campaign Book in PDF
• The Dark Legion Campaign Book in PDF
• The Dark Eden Campaign Book in PDF
• The Dark Eden Campaign Book in PDF
• The Dark Soul and Apostles Guidebook in PDF
• The Bauhaus Guidebook in PDF
• The Brotherhood Guidebook in PDF
• The Capitol Guidebook in PDF
• The Cybertronic Guidebook in PDF
• The Imperial Guidebook in PDF
• The Mishima Guidebook in PDF
• The Whitestar Guidebook in PDF
• The Cartel and Orbitals Guidebook in PDF
• The Heretics and Mutants Guidebook in PDF
• The Luna and Freelancers Guidebook in PDF
• The Fall of Von Holle Adventure in PDF
• Dead Angels E-Book

I also paid a little extra for an Imperial Corporation patch, which I just love the design for and will need to find something to sew it to at some point. Originally that was all I intended to get, however a few months after the Kickstarter campaign finished the cover art, which you can see above, was announced. I... have issues with it, that I'll go into when I get to discussing the books art, and I made my displeasure known via the Mutant Chronicles facebook page. Shortly after that I recieved a message from Modiphius, letting me know that as I was especially unhappy with the books art they were willing to offer my an upgrade to the Special Edition cover for half price, an offer I eagerly took them up on. 

There was also a minor shipping incident in my favour, in that when my order originally arrived it contained a copy of the basic Core Rulebook, not the special edition that I'd paid extra for. A quick email later and I was sent my Special Edition copy free of charge, and told by Modiphius to keep my basic copy of the rulebook,either as a spare or to give to a friend as a gift. To me, this speaks very well of Modiphius. They listen to their customer base, to their fans, and are willing to take steps to deal with any issues they may have, something a lot of companies simply don't both with.

The basic pledge set me back £60, with my patch and special edition rulebook costing me an extra £36, that's a damn good deal. I genuinely regret not upgrading my pledge to the point where I would have received physical copies of all the books, but as I wasn't sure how well the project was going to be handled I erred on the side of caution. Even so, I don't think I did too badly and I know full well that I'll be picking up physical copies of the books as well as a few accessories like Dark Symmetry dice when I have the disposable income.

Here are some pictures of my physical pledge rewards, as always I apologise for the poor quality, but the only camera I've got readily to hand is the one in my Lumia, and it isn't particularly great...

Here we've got my copies of the core rulebook and players guide, both of which are nice, solid, well made books. I'll get to my issues with the cover art later. The players guide is a lovely little extra, containing the complete rules for character creation as well as the core game rules and comprehensive weapon and armour tables in one neat little paperback. I really wish I'd gone for the pledge that would have given me multiple copies of this as it's a great idea that more RPG's should pick up on. We all know how much of a nightmare it can be to go through character creation with only a handful of books spread between a full group of players, an issue the Players Guide solves, along with providing the players with the bulk of the rules they need and doubling as a quick reference document. Very handy indeed.

Here we have my special edition copy of the rulebook as well as my Imperial patch. I really like the patch, it's an awesome little geeky accessory, and the special edition book is just lovely. The poor picture quality makes the embossed symbol on the cover difficult to make out, but in the metaphorical flesh it's very nice.

Just to make things clear, i'm going to be limiting this review to my physical rewards, as not all of the PDF books have been released yet, though it's possible that I'll do either short individual reviews for them or lump them all together into a single mega-review. In the meantime let's have a look at what's inside my books shall we?

The Fluff :

For the sake of brevity (and my own sanity) I'm going to copy and paste the setting information I wrote up in my Straffar Gattan 39 post into this one. Naturally I'll be adding to it, as I left out information regarding the factions and events that weren't pertinent to that particular adventure. Here we go...

The setting of the Mutant Chronicles RPG (and by extension the Warzone miniature wargame) is a dystopian pseudo-postapocalyptic future where the human race has (for the most part) long since abandoned the polluted hell hole of Earth and spread out across the rest of the solar system. Due to the prevalence of terraforming technologies Mercury, Venus and Mars have all been rendered habitable by humankind (though in the case of mercury the sheer heat means most settlement is below the surface in vast systems of caverns and domed arcologies), whilst the outer planets and asteroid belt are littered with space stations, research facilities and the like.

The human race is no longer divided by race or nationality, instead the greatest powers in the setting are the Megacorporations, colossal mercantile institutions that superseded the nation states of old earth in the years before humanity fled its homeworld. The bulk of the human race are employees of these corporations, each of which has its own unique quirks, history and specialisations. Those that don't belong to one of the Megacorporations are almost universally, freelancers, members of one of the handful of smaller organisations that exist in their shadows, or unfortunates who have slipped through the cracks of the corporate system.

• Bauhaus : Disciplined, orderly and efficient, Bauhaus have a reputation for producing excellent quality goods at commensurately high prices. The dominant power amongst the tropical jungles of Venus they have their roots in the corporate entities of Germany, Russia and northern Europe. Ruled by a council of high born Elector Dukes they are a feudal corporation, though one that recognises talent and is more than willing to promote exceptional individuals into the ranks of the corporate nobility.
• Capitol : Proudly proclaiming themselves to be the only democratic corporation (with all employees being shareholders, and their number of shares determining their number of votes) Capitol are the inheritors of the American Dream. The undisputed masters of the mass media their products are regarded as the baseline against which all others are measured, and due to their cosmopolitan nature their homeworld of Mars is a melting pot of corporate interests rivalled only by Luna City.
• Cybertronic : The youngest and most mysterious of the Megacorporations, Cybertronic specialise in advanced technologies that would normally succumb quickly to the effects of the Dark Symmetry. Strangely their products seem to be immune, or at least highly resistant, to such corruption. Wealthy and powerful but distrusted by the Brotherhood and their allies Cybertronic's employees have access to technologies unavailable to mankind since before The Fall, technologies that unite them in ways that other corporate employees would find alien and disturbing.
• Imperial : The smallest and most aggressive of the Megacorporations, Imperial grew from the businesses and companies of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. Lacking dominance over any of the inner planets they have aggressively colonised the Asteroid Belt and outer planets. Ruled by Her Imperial Serenity and the Imperial Parliament they are less a unified entity and more a collection of bickering clans who nevertheless stand united against any outside threat, and who's aggression and diversity make them a power to be reckoned with.
• Mishima : A fusion of feudal japanese culture and the corporate Zaibatsu of the 21st century; the Mishima corporation is the most rigid and heirarchal of all the Megacorporations. The corporate samurai of Mishima oversee dozens of competing companies, known as Keiretsu, which constantly jockey for position and influence in the eyes of the Overlord and his family. Known for itsinsular nature, strong sense of familial honour, and insufferable politeness Mishima is nevertheless an industrial powerhouse, the corporations Mercury based factories supplying the markets of the solar system with all manner of cheap, readily available goods.
• The Brotherhood : Once known simply as The Brothers, a charitable organisation that preached human unity in the face of the uncaring corporations, they have since developed into one of the most powerful organisations in the solar system as well as the official state religion of humanity. Wielding immense political and spiritual power the Brotherhood are a bulwark against the malevolent forces of the Dark Legion, their Inquisitors and other agents willing to make any sacrifice to protect the souls of the human race. The Brotherhood wield the supernatural power known as "The Art", a metaphysical discipline who's practitioners can perform all manner of miraculous deeds ranging from healing the most crippling of wounds to obliterating the enemies of mankind with blasts of supernatural flame.
• The Cartel : Founded in the years following the first war against the Dark Legion, the Cartel exists to foster cooperation between the Megacorporations. Much like the corporations it attempts to unite the Cartel is riven with petty politicking and pointless debate, the corporate delegates rarely agreeing on even the most minor of issues. The Cartel has had some successes however, the most notable being the Doomtrooper programme and the elite Anti-Dark Legion commando's it produces.
• Luna PD : Founded originally by Capitol Luna PD are the only law enforcement organisation with jurisdiction over all of Luna. A truly inter-corporate enterprise it draws personnel, equipment and funding from all four of the Megacorporations and works along side their respective corporate security forces. Despite this semblance of unity Luna PD is underfunded, undermanned, and constantly subject to the conflicting designs of its corporate sponsors, leaving it an organisation riven with divisions  and internal security issues.
• Whitestar : Operating from hidden bunkers and fortified outposts in the Russian wastes, Whitestar are the de-facto rulers of Old Earth. Made up of those left behind after the corporate exodus, Whitestar have spent the centuries since battling for for survival in the radioactive, poisoned hell the Megacorporations made of their world. Since revealing themselves little over a century ago they have been blockaded by the corporations, the threat of a nuclear bombardment of Luna ensuring both their independence and their isolation.
• The Dark Legion : The primary antagonists of the setting, the Dark Legion are a malevolent horde of alien entities, supernatural horrors and products of the very blackest technologies, all united in service to the Dark Soul and its Apostles. The Dark Legion corrupts all that it can, and destroys what it can't corrupt, the apocalyptic failure of technology that caused the Fall being but one of its manifestations. Once imprisoned at the very edge of the solar system, the Dark Legion was unleashed by unwitting Imperial explorers, since when it has periodically launched terrible assaults against the solar system and its inhabitants.

Interestingly the published material for the Mutant Chronicles setting is split between two distinct time periods, with the nature of the solar system and the presence of the various factions altering accordingly. These time periods are as follows...

The Dark Symmetry Era : This is the time period in which the sample adventure, Straffar Gattan 39, takes place, as well as the subsequent Fall of Von Holle adventure. For the most part this time period is the closest to a traditional science fiction dystopian setting, focussing on a mixture of dark cyberpunk with themes of corporate corruption and creeping supernatural horror. At this point in history the Brotherhood are still hiding behind the guise of a charitable organisation, the Dark Legion are only just starting to move against humanity, and Cybertronic and The Cartel don't yet exist.

The major events that punctuate this period are The Fall, the collapse of modern technology over a number of years as Imperial explorers accidentally unleash the Dark Symmetry and its corruption turns any sufficiently advanced technology against its creators. This is followed by the discovery of a number of "rifts" that allow FTL travel within the system, and the subsequent First Corporate War as minor conflicts between the Megacorporations rapidly escalate. Behind the scenes agents of the Corporations and the nascent Brotherhood fight against the horrors of the Dark Legion, as its influence begins to spread and its servants seek to wreak havoc across the solar system.

The Dark Legion Era : Taking place over 1200 years later, by this time period the solar system is a very different place. With the advanced technology that humanity once took for granted no longer viable, it has been replaced with a dieselpunk future with aesthetics strongly inspired by the early to mid 1900's. The Corporations remain the dominant powers, joined by the Brotherhood, The Cartel and, most recently, Cybertronic. Though humanity was victorious over the Dark Legion in the first war, the human race remains as divided as ever despite the best efforts of the Brotherhood and the Cartel.

Despite the lack of advanced technology the themes established by the Dark Symmetry era remain in place, with Cyberpunk giving way to Dieselpunk, and the supernatural themes coming into greater focus due to the presence of the Brotherhood and the Dark Legion. The Second Corporate Wars and return of the Dark Legion occur during this time period, with humanity again being forced to unite in the face of the darkness or be utterly destroyed. Heretics and other servants of the Darkness are more common than ever, minor incursions by the Dark Legion are regular occurances, and the Corporations remain at each others throats despite the spectre of impending doom looming over them.

So, all in all it's a grim, dystopian setting with strong cyberpunk and dieselpunk themes married to gritty aesthetics and supernatural horror. All of which I absolutely love, with the idea of a relatively low tech science fiction setting being something I'm especially fond of. It's a solid and well established setting, with sections of the book being dedicated not just to history and and the factions involved but also to minor but interesting world building elements such as the kinds of suits worn by businessmen of the different factions, how people live on a day to day basis, what kind of public transport is available, all little tidbits which do a wonderful job of bringing the world to life.

On the subject of minor elements that I really like, one of the most prominent is that in the books Timeline chapter there are a number of sections which have annotations underneath them, annotations that direct the reader to the GM only section at the end of the timeline and fill them in on events that the players should ideally be unaware of. Now I know full well most players with the book WILL read that section, but I appreciate the attempt to differentiate between player and character knowledge by making what they should and should not know emminently clear.

That's not to say that the books fluff is perfect, far from it. There have been a number of changes made in this edition to fluff that was established in the older books. For the most part I'm not going to go into the exact details, but needless to say its likely that when I end up GMing this setting I'll in some cases be making use of the older fluff. The changes seem, to me, unneccessary, and I'm not sure if it's a case of another writer trying to make their own mark, or simply a decision by the writing team to take the settings fluff in a new direction. Either way it's not a huge complaint, as I'm very much of the opinion that what is and is not canon in any campaign is up to the GM and Players to decide, but still it is something I take minor issue with.

There is one major alteration however that I do need to address, the proverbial elephant in the room that is Whitestar. Before this edition of the rules the Whitestar faction didn't exist, their position as the last remnants of humanity left on earth being taken by the "Tribes of Earth", a selection of minor factions scattered across the ruined planet. I'm not opposed to their addition to the setting, in fact I quite like the feel of them as a faction of crafty scavengers, proud warriors and desperate survivors. What I dislike is that with a handful of exceptions there is little reference to them outside their own sections of the core rulebook, it's as if they've been added to the setting without actually having been properly integrated into it. For example chapters 30-37 of the book detail the Megacorporations and Factions, including their views of one another. The chapters detailing Bauhaus, Cybertronic, The Cartel and The Brotherhood don't even mention Whitestar. It's just, well, lazy, and I can't help but abhor incompleteness in a campaign setting.

On the subject of old and new fluff, another problem (in my eyes) is that several of the fluff sections later in the book are outright lifted from previous publications. For example I've already mentioned that the book contains a section on corporate business attire, said section is taken in its entirety from a 2nd edition book. It's not the only example of blatant copying and pasting either, and whilst I appreciate that it's very difficult to acquire the older books but still, it's a little bit lazy.

The last issue I have with the fluff presented in the book, and one of the most telling with regards to my mindset, is that the actual writing quality of the fluff varies considerably. Throughout the book it ranges from solid to very good, there are however some very noticable exceptions such as some of the creature descriptions in the Dark Legion chapter. These are in places awful, and honestly read like they were written either by someone rushing to write some fluff and not giving much care to the quality thereof, or by someone who's first language isn't english. Either way they detract from the quality of the book, though admittedly not majorly, I'd just have appreciated a little more time and effort being put into these sections.

So, overall, the games setting and fluff are solid, despite my usual nitpicking. If nothing else it's an interesting setting and worth reading up on based entirely on its own merits.

The Art :

I'll start this section of my review by addressing a rather thorny issue, that of the cover art. Whilst I understand that the intention was to come up with something reminiscent of Paul Bonner's classic work, in my opinion it simply fails in every regard. The characters are both off model, the proportions are just strange, and the face that the gentleman in the foreground is pulling...well...he looks more like someone who's had their seat stolen in the pub than an elite soldier in the midst of a frantic firefight. While I'd let it slide if it was an internal illustration, it's not the kind of piece you want to use to try catch the attention of and lure in new players.

As I said earlier the cover art is why I ended up with a copy of the special edition book, and I've got to give Modipius credit for noticing my less than flattering facebook comment and contacting me to offer a discounted upgrade to the special edition. A major point in their favour.

Much like certain elements of the fluff a good chunk of the internal art has been reprinted from older editions of the game. Unlike the writing however I don't actually have an issue with that. Whilst I would love to see a book filled with new art; Paul Bonner and the other original artists classic illustrations are what initially drew me to the game, and they do a wonderful job of setting the tone and feel of the Mutant Chronicles universe.

Reprinted art aside, the rest of what's in the book is a mixture of good and average. None of the art is particularly bad, though some of the pieces (most notably a fair few of the Iconic Career illustrations) aren't up to the standard of the rest of the book. I particularly like the semi-digital art used throughout for landscapes and some of the monster illustration, which I believe to be the work of Christian Rodrigo Quinot. They're dark, brooding pieces that hint at the nightmares lurking in the shadowed recesses of the Mutant Chronicles universe, their level of detail and realism fitting perfectly with the dieselpunk aesthetic of the game.

Like I said, none of the art is particularly bad (except for the cover), and I'm glad to see plenty of new work in there alongside the classic reprints. The layout too is solid, being neat, tidy, and easy to read with the mixture of brown and black inks used for the lettering giving the feel of 1940's era newspapers and millitary documents.

All in all it's a very good looking book, making me very glad that I've got a physical copy rather than just a PDF.

The Crunch :

So I've blathered at length about the fluff, the art, the feel and mood of the universe. At this point I suppose I should actually talk about the game itself, don't you think? I'm not going to go into exhaustive detail with regards to the games exact attributes, skills and the like, instead I'll focus on what I find particularly interesting.

The core mechanics of the game are nice and simple, being focussed around Attribute/Skill tests made using a pair of D20's. When making such a test the player rolls the dice and compares them to the sum of the appropriate Attribute and their level of Expertise in the skill being tested. For each dice that rolls equal to or less than this target number a single success is generated, with multiple successes being required for more difficult tests. A characters level of proficiency in their skills is measured not only by Expertise but also by Focus, which indicates a range of D20 results within which dice rolls will generate an additional degree of success making difficult tests a that little bit easier.

The ability to score multiple successes on a single test is especially important with regards to the Momentum mechanic, which allows characters to spend any successes they generate in excess of those required to pass an Attribute/Skill test to improve their results. For example momentum scored on an Attack action can be spent to change the hit location, or deal additional damage to the target; while momentum scored on a Mechanics test could be used to carry out repairs faster and with less need for spare parts and other resources. Interestingly momentum can also be "Banked" in a shared pool that all the party member can draw upon, representing the parties coordination and morale. It's a neat little mechanic with similarities to 40k Roleplay's Degrees of Success and World of Darkness' Exceptional Successes, save far more versatile

On the opposite end of the scale, if any of the D20's roll a natural 20 then the test generates a Repercussion, the range of dice rolls that can result in a Repercussion also increasing under certain circumstances. This can be handled in one of two ways, either generating Dark Symmetry points for the GM (which I'll get to later), or allowing them to impose a Complication on the character in question ranging from a weapon jam to a social faux pas. It's important to note that Repercussions and succesful skill tests are not mutually exclusive, with characters being capable of overcoming whatever challenges lie in front of them whilst simultaneously screwing themselves over. I like this mechanic, though not as much as I like the next one.

Next up we've got Chronicle and Dark Symmetry points, the former being for the Players use, the latter for the GM. Chronicle points are essentially Fate Points, which players can expend to gain additional combat actions, score an automatic 1 on a skill test (in addition to those rolled on their dice), and immediately recover from minor injuries. Pretty standard stuff really. Dark Symmetry points on the other hand are used by the GM to make life difficult for the players, being used to activate the special abilities of supernatural foes, add extra foes to an encounter, and generate dangerous environmental effects. Unlike Chronicle points which are refreshed at the start of each game session, the Dark Symmetry pool grows and shrinks over the course of the game as the GM expends them and the players cause more points to be added to the pool. The pool usually grows as the result of Repercussions (which add 2 points to the pool), however players may also add to it whenever they make an Attribute/Skill test by choosing to roll an additonal D20 (up to a maximum of three extra dice) or by deciding to simply fail a test instead of making the roll and risking something catastrophic happening to them (this only adds 1 point, making it less dangerous than a rolled Repercussion).

So, those are the game's core mechanics, what else is interesting about this system? Well..

Character generation makes use of a "Life Path" system, splitting the process into several stages each of which represents a period of the characters life with their actions during that time determining their statistics. Starting with the circumstances of the characters birth this system then progresses through their early years, education, and onto their professional life. Whilst this entire system can be done using D20 rolls to generate a truly randomised character, the system also allows the use of "Life Points" to re-roll events or simply choose certain results, allowing a varying degree of control over the character creation process. I like this method of character creation, it's very organic in that it gives the players a considerable amount of control whilst simultaneously forcing them to deal with circumstances beyond their control.

Combat has a few interesting tweaks too, for example unlike every other RPG I've played there is no roll for Initiative. Instead the players always act first and in whatever order they choose, followed by their opponents. The only exceptions to this are extraneous circumstances such as an ambush, or if the GM spends Dark Symmetry points to activate the parties foes first. Combat also doesn't make use of basic unit based movement, that is to say characters don't move a set number of feet, meters, squares or any other unit of measurement at a time. Instead whenever movement and manouverability are an issue the area the characters are moving around is split into a number of abstract "Zones" just like in the Dresden Files RPG, which are used for the measurement of movement, weapon range and the like. As an example if the party are taking part in a firefight in an apartment building each room would be a zone of its own, with the interconnecting corridors being split into zones of their own. Another basic abstraction is ammunition, instead of tracking its use players are assumed to have plenty of ammo and never have to reload unless they're using a weapon with especially limited ammunition or blazing away without care for ammunition conservation.

In general the combat rules cater to a very, for want of a better word, "cinematic" style of play. It's more abstract than what I'm used to from Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Heresy and the like, but it's undeniably fun and fast moving, neither of which are bad things.

I'll wrap up this section on the rules by mentioning a few other bits and pieces that I particularly like. To start with the rulebook contains full rules for vehicular, aerial and space combat, giving GM's and players alike plenty of options in that regard with the rules themselves being close enough to those for normal PC's to be easily picked up on. It also contains rules for a wide variety of vehicles and uses a system of vehicle qualities that makes designing new and modified air, ground and spacecraft nice and simple. I've already mentioned the abstract rules for ammunition, the game goes on to use a similar system for other consumables such as medical and technical supplies, as well as material wealth in addition to a simple but robust acquisition system far superior to the one used in Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and the like. The rulebook includes rules for supernatural abilities, in the form of the Dark Symmetry's gifts, and the Arts of the brotherhood, both of which are sufficiently distinct in mechanics and flavour to be interesting whilst simultaneously being easy to make use of.

There's a lot more to the rules than that, but I'm afraid I can't really go into any more detail without extending this already lengthy post beyond all reason. If what I've written up so far interests you, you should really pick up the book for yourself. All in all there are a lot of very interesting twists to the rules, with the entire system having an emphasis on speed of play and a "cinematic" style of game that focusses equally on story and drama as much as it does on the actual rules of the game.

My Thoughts :

And there we have it, The Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition. Overall I'm very happy with the game and my physical rewards. The quality of the game is, with a few exceptions mentioned above, excellent, and I think Modiphius have done an excellent job reworking a franchise that deserves to be brought back into the gaming mainstream. I'll be reading through my PDF copies of the non-core books as they are released, and I'm curious to see what else Modiphius will do with the license.

I've always liked the setting of the Mutant Chronicles, and thanks to the quality of this re-release it's almost certain that it's going to be the next game I run once I've finished the Tyranny of Dragons campaign. When that game will be both played and set I've no idea, but I'll definitely be chronicling the misadventures of my players.

With regards to the company themselves I've developed a very positive impression of them, both from the quality of their releases and my limited interaction with them. The only other Modiphius products I own are the books for Achtung Cthulhu, both of which are beautiful, well written books and I'm very happy to see Modiphius keeping their standards high.

Well, that's that, next time I've got another review for you as I shift my attention back to the grim darkness of the far future... Well, further far future.

Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael