GameSquad: What are some of more significant changes being made to the core rules and why are the changes being made?
Keith Taylor: When we set about to create this edition, my goal was to do what the new Battlestar Galactica did for the series. Don’t get me wrong, the original series was great. The new BSG though refocused the series on the characters rather than the setting; space and other sci-fi elements became almost a backdrop. I feel the new series could have been done in almost any era using the exact same scripts and still would have been a phenomenal show.
So that was my bar for this edition. I wanted to add to the series by changing the focus onto the characters, their actions and the repercussions. Everything we changed or added had that facet in mind. Because of that, we placed a lot of detail on character creation; we wanted more detailed, believable and interesting characters. We also increased the lethality and realism of combat; hoping that this will cause players to be more thoughtful about their actions rather than "game" a combat session of hit point management.
We also wanted a system that fit the many different styles of gameplay that are emerging today; some groups prefer a rules-lite system, some are rules-heavy and yet others are in-between. The Reflex system is designed to take a group/players gaming style into consideration. It’s a modular rules system that provides for a customizable level of detail; gamers can play as rules-lite or rules-heavy as they want.
One of my favorite additions is the Team rules. Team rules are not something normally seen in RPGs since they are normally individual oriented. I've never seen an RPG handle team actions and command effectively and enjoyable to all parties involved. I’d like to think we've tackled this pretty creatively and as realistic as possible. Although we are not 100% military focused, there is a definite interest in playing military type characters. Military characters are supposed to act and behave as a unit, not as a bunch of individuals running around being their own chief. With the new Team rule, you'll now be able to play an effective military team with command, team orders, reaction drills and integration. We've also added similar rules in place to handle squads of NPCs (not only for the above reasons but to more streamline combat.
