''Reich Star'' is a science fiction/alternate history

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

published by

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in 1990.

Description

''Reich Star'' is an alternate history role-playing game set in 2134, almost two hundred years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was won by the Axis forces. The Third Reich and the Empire of Nippon subsequently ruled the world before moving out into space in the 22nd century, where they have enslaved technologically inferior alien races. Players create characters who are part of a resistance movement, seeking to overthrow the Nazi regime. Characters can be mercenaries, smugglers, explorers and other character classes. Characters receive a limited pool of Luck Points that can be spent to temporarily increase an attribute such as Strength when needed. The book also covers history, notable persons, and technology.

Publication history

''Reich Star'' was designed by Ken Richardson and developed by Simon Bell.

Reception

In his 1990 book ''

The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pr ...

'', game critic

Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pre ...

did not think the game mechanics were especially innovative, "but they're clearly explained and quite thorough." Swan liked the concept of the game and concluded by giving it a solid rating of 3 out of 4, saying, ""Designers Ken Richardson and Simon Bell have a lot of fun with the premise, producing a solid science fiction RPG in the process. ''Reich Star'' is just about as realistic as a Roger Corman movie, but in the hands of an experienced referee, it can be just as exciting." In an article about alternate history games in Issue 105 of ''

Polyhedron In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all on th ...

'',

Roger E. Moore Roger E. Moore (born July 11, 1955, in Winchester, Kentucky) is a designer of role-playing games. He is best known for his long-running tenure as editor of '' Dragon'' magazine and was the founding editor of ''Dungeon'' magazine. Early life Mo ...

pointed out that alternate history games involving changes to already fictional settings, such as a new ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' timeline, were less compelling than an alternate history where the timeline diverged from real events. Moore held up ''Reich Star'' as an example of this, writing of the Nazi-dominated future, "This possibility is quite intriguing, but it was founded on a change in real events, not a fictional future divergence in history, and is thus innately more interesting than the latter."

Other reviews and commentary

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'' #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990)

References

{{reflist Alternate history role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 1990 Science fiction role-playing games