Pyramid Review
Red Dwarf: The Roleplaying Game
Published by Deep7
Written by Todd Downing, Mark Bruno, John Sullivan, Andrew Kenrick, Lee Hammock, Gavin Downing, Allan McComas, and Samantha Downing
Original art by Steve Hartley, Todd Downing
Starbug schematics by Julian De Puma
176-page two-color hardcover with 19 full-color plates; $34.95
For such a cold and desolate setting almost entirely devoid of life, the British sci-fi TV series Red Dwarf certainly has a lot of fans. Devoid of life forms, mind you, not creative juices. In spite of its expansive subject, it doesn't stand out as prime roleplaying real estate when one considers the limitations. But tell that to Deep7. They believe they can make a go of Red Dwarf: The Roleplaying Game by appealing to a cross-section of the show's aficionados and those in the gaming community who love to see popular properties laid out on a character sheet.
Red Dwarf is about the mining ship that bears that name, and the adventures it has three million years after it suffers a massive radiation leak, killing everyone on board. Everyone, that is, except layabout Dave Lister, who was locked in stasis as punishment for bringing a pregnant feline aboard, and his hyper-evolved cat Cat. Dave's immediate superior Arnold Rimmer, though quite dead from the explosion he caused, persists as a hologram maintained by Holly, the shipboard supercomputer. Three million years out from whatever is left of Earth, the crew now . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 21, 2003
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