{"id":6895,"date":"2016-11-28T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=6895"},"modified":"2016-11-22T08:58:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T14:58:31","slug":"astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Astral Projections – Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTry Before You Buy\u201d is an\u00a0occasional segment of \u00a0Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\u00a92016<\/a>
\u00a92016 by Alligator Alley Entertainment, LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This free module intrigued me in two ways. First it was for EsperGenesis<\/a>, an upcoming science fiction RPG based on D&D 5e’s Open Gaming License. Second, it is published by Alligator Alley Entertainment<\/a>, a company based in Florida, my home state. I couldn’t find out a lot about the company, other that it is less than a year old, incorporating in March of this year. EsperGenesis is due to release in 2017.<\/p>\n

I really like this one. Backstory and (fictional) history often are what sells me on games. This PDF (download at the first link above) is only 39 pages and it has a\u00a0lot<\/strong> of background packed into it (six-plus pages and a few sidebars), as well as a full in media res\u00a0<\/em>module and four pre-gen characters. There is a short introduction before the module proper, then Appendix III afterwards provides two historical type documents–a firsthand account and a scholarly essay. In addition to stats, each of the PCs includes a page of game and personal background. About two-thirds\u00a0of each is a\u00a0personal backstory and the other third details on the PC’s race. All this background increased my interest in the game.<\/p>\n

The playtest scenario is an “escape the ship where you’re imprisoned” gig with a couple complications. There are full stats for NPCs and\u00a0random encounters. Yes, there are even the “traditional alignments.” As I mentioned earlier, this is based on D&D 5e. Per the download page, you do need to have 5e to play the module. The free basic rules can be used, but might limit play options, it warns. The PDF also has an Appendix (II) of Rules just for EsperGenesis.<\/p>\n

Appendix II has\u00a0interim rules for playtesting before the final core book is published. Most of them are gear, weapon, and armor stats as well as descriptions and mechanics for the esper abilities PCs and NPCs may have. The esper and item stat blocks will look familiar to anyone who has played D&D 3.x or later. (Esper powers blocks are analogous to spell stat blocks, as you might expect.)<\/p>\n

Appendix II also covers ship stats and space combat mechanics. From reading, these rules are similar to the FFG Star Wars mechanics. I am looking forward to the final mechanics. It will be interesting to see how the final space combat and other game-specific mechanics are to the playtest ones presented here.<\/p>\n

I will probably pick this one up when it is released. No word on when in 2017 that will be, or the possible price. Alligator Alley is looking for beta playtesters at this point. At the bottom of the download page you can apply if you and your group are interested.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cTry Before You Buy\u201d is an\u00a0occasional segment of \u00a0Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs. This […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"1479160800","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[665,8,1013],"tags":[1022,1021,1065,156,245],"class_list":["post-6895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astral-projections","category-reviews","category-try-before-you-buy","tag-alligator-alley-entertainment","tag-dd-5e","tag-esper-genesis","tag-roleplaying-games","tag-science-fiction"],"yoast_head":"\nAstral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Astral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cTry Before You Buy\u201d is an\u00a0occasional segment of \u00a0Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs. This [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1079\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Whitson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Linda Whitson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Linda Whitson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65f5ba473948e19fe1a2a77e58e77b6\"},\"headline\":\"Astral Projections – Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/blue-690872_1920.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alligator Alley Entertainment\",\"D&D 5e\",\"Esper Genesis\",\"roleplaying games\",\"science fiction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Astral Projections\",\"Reviews\",\"Try Before You Buy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/\",\"name\":\"Astral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/blue-690872_1920.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/blue-690872_1920.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/blue-690872_1920.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1079},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Astral Projections – Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"description\":\"Where Gamers Roll\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"d20 Radio\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c65f5ba473948e19fe1a2a77e58e77b6\",\"name\":\"Linda Whitson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Linda Whitson\"},\"description\":\"Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog. Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/author\\\/zrissa\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Astral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Astral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio","og_description":"\u201cTry Before You Buy\u201d is an\u00a0occasional segment of \u00a0Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs. This [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/","og_site_name":"d20 Radio","article_published_time":"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1079,"url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Linda Whitson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Linda Whitson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/"},"author":{"name":"Linda Whitson","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/c65f5ba473948e19fe1a2a77e58e77b6"},"headline":"Astral Projections – Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis","datePublished":"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/"},"wordCount":498,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg","keywords":["Alligator Alley Entertainment","D&D 5e","Esper Genesis","roleplaying games","science fiction"],"articleSection":["Astral Projections","Reviews","Try Before You Buy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/","name":"Astral Projections - Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis - d20 Radio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-28T13:00:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/blue-690872_1920.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/astral-projections-try-before-you-buy-espergenesis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Astral Projections – Try Before You Buy: EsperGenesis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","name":"d20 Radio","description":"Where Gamers Roll","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization","name":"d20 Radio","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","width":300,"height":100,"caption":"d20 Radio"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/c65f5ba473948e19fe1a2a77e58e77b6","name":"Linda Whitson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a695aae810d0670db4dc5b861601a1994fed8048fb342ad50b9a17280398635?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Linda Whitson"},"description":"Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog. Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/author\/zrissa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6895"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7663,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6895\/revisions\/7663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}