Bulldogs!

Bulldogs!
From: Galileo Games, Inc
Reviewed by: Bill Perman

Bulldogs! is a new RPG from Galileo Games, Inc. Bulldogs is a game that takes place in a distant galaxy. The galaxy is divided between two powerful empires, with a neutral Frontier Zone keeping the peace. The galaxy is very old, far past its prime. The age of innovation and technological advancement is a thing of the past. Rather, the galactic society as a whole has been riding along the technological success of centuries past.

From the back cover:
“Bulldogs! is a new science-fiction role-playing game from Galileo Games, using the d20 System.

This book contains:
10 new character races.
6 new primary classes, including the Bounty Hunter, the Space Pilot, the Engineer, and the Space Pirate.
New skills and feats appropriate for the science-fiction setting.
Rules to create your own unique races, usable for any d20 game.
20 pages of new weapons.
Starship combat rules. ”

Bulldogs! is a sci-fi game, with an emphasis on action. Since it is a 3rd party company using the d20 open license, they recommend the D&D; Players Handbook from WotC. Personally, I would recommend d20 Modern or Star Wars d20, since both are also rules inclusive. They both lend themselves to sci-fi better than the Players Handbook, which lends itself to fantasy settings. Modern and Star Wars cover vehicle combat, grenades and blast radiuses, not to mention weapons that utilize multi-fire and rapid fire.

Because Bulldogs! takes place in a distant galaxy, there is no Human race. There is a race called the Arsubaran, who not only appear the most human, but have no racial adjustments, just like the human race as described in basic d20 rules. The other races range from humanoid to truly alien beings, like the Dolom, with their large size and three arms. The game even allows for robots as a playable race. Each entry not only details their game stats, but also includes examples of names (I always found generating a name can at times be the hardest part in creating a character), their relation to the other races, what adventures these races are typically involved in, and what class they are more favored to take. The chapter on races also offers full color illustrations, as opposed to the rest of the book, which is standard black and white.

There are eight primary classes, six of which are unique to this game, the other two are the Rogue and Fighter, which have been tweaked a bit from the Players Handbook to fit into a sci-fi setting. There are several Prestige Classes like Assassin, Infocity Acolyte, Secret Agent and Mata Hari, which can further diversify your character.

The rules are well organized and character generation is par for the course for players familiar with d20 mechanics. The art and illustrations are fair, nothing spectacular, but they convey the mood of the game. However, the crown jewel of this product is the section on Starship combat.

As a fan of sci-fi myself, I was very disappointed (like many others) in the Starship combat rules found in WotC’s Star Wars RPG. It was based too much on the use of miniatures, which works well for character combat, but in a 3D environment with near constant motion, the tables, modifiers, and rules just became overwhelming. When d20 Modern came out, the core rulebook never even attempted to cover aerial combat. So you can imagine my curiosity to see Bulldogs take on this element of gaming, which has not been stellar thus far in the d20 system. In Bulldogs, Starship combat is a little more abstract. Combat rounds are about 30 seconds long, as opposed to the standard six-second round for character combat. The combat rounds have three major phases, Search, Movement and Firing. Pilots wishing to increase or decrease range from another ship simply make opposed pilot checks, augmented by the ships speed rating. Pilots can also opt to use evasive maneuvers, again using an opposed pilot check. Success allows them to add their pilots Dex bonus to the ships Armor Class, with a penalty being imposed on his or his crews’ ability to hit. Bulldogs also has rules for boarding another ship. All in all, it’s a better system for d20 Starship combat than what I’ve seen on the market thus far.

page #8
“The Devalkamanchan Republic is one of the two superpowers of the galaxy. The reason for its expansionist inclination is intimately ties to the center of its culture: religion. A very pious people, the Templari worship the twin gods Deval and Kamanch, both gods of war. Their holy scriptures speak of the two deities being the butt of a joke by the trickster god Albrul, and as the other gods laughed at their misfortune, the twins started a war and slew all the other gods. The most often quoted passage of that holy text is: “We, nor those that follow us, must never be weak again.” To this end, all Devalkamanchans consider themselves the holy warriors, or templars, of their gods, and have expanded into the galaxy, taking what they need, and conquering those that might one day serve as a threat.”

The game is broken into standard chapters, Intro, Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Equipment, Combat and Ships. While the over 200-page count would suggest that the game is packed with info, I found a few things lacking. I would liked to have seen a detailed galactic map, designating the major territories and where this Frontier Zone lies, as well as the major trade routes and significant star systems. A chapter or two on the various cultures and religions would have been nice. A chapter that gives a more detailed galactic history and the current state of affairs from political maneuvers to acts of war would have been beneficial. There are some small write-ups in the intro, but the overall backdrop is thin. To some, that is a plus, allowing GMs to create their own level of politics, while other GMs may be put off from the idea of a poorly established background. Still, one can get the gist of it by gleaming information from info scattered throughout the Intro, Races, and Classes chapters. The game does offer some suggestions and story seeds for games dealing with everything from Pirates to Bounty Hunters.

In conclusion,
Bulldogs will have your players immersed into a galaxy of action, excitement, and heroism. With it’s versatility, new campaigns can be generated and still retain that feeling of freshness and dangers unknown. A must have for science fiction fans everywhere.

For more details on Galileo Games, Inc and their new RPG “Bulldogs!” check them out at their website http://www.bulldogsgame.com, and at all of your local game stores.

(Product Summary)

Bulldogs!
From: Galileo Games, Inc
Type of Game: RPG
Written by: Brennan Taylor
Game Design by: Brennan Taylor
Cover Art by: Jeremy Simmons
Additional Art by: Christian St. Pierre, Jennifer Rodgers, Sean Parnell, Charles Reid, Phil Renne, Michael Erickson, Danny Cruz, Dean Kuhta, Marrus, Stephen Lanham and Kirsten Maloney
Number of Pages: 216
Game Components Not Included: Requires the Players Handbook from WotC
Retail Price: $ 24.95 (US)
Number of Players: 2 or more
Item Number: GG2000
IBSN: 1887920021
Website: www.bulldogsgame.com

Reviewed by: Bill Perman

Added: July 30th 2004
Reviewer: Bill Perman
Score:
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Language: eng