Ratings for - RPGnet RPG Game Index

Statistics: Spirit of the Century

Core Game Ratings

Rating: 8.2 / Ranking: 4

These ratings are based on 220 ratings with 1.05 average weight and 11 reviews.

This is compared to an index-wide 3.64 average ratings and 1.98 average weight.

This rating earns a medium-high level of trust because of its considerable input.

Ratings + Reviews:

20%

33%

32%

Index Ratings Only:

20%

28%

30%

RPGnet Reviews Only:

18%

45%

36%

Core Game Comments

All User Comments

Rating	User	Comments
10 / 10	mordrid3141	My new GM got me into this game recently. And it has blown me away how engaging it can be.
10 / 10	thadrine	Changed the way I look at gaming forever! And it apparently did that for a lot of people with all the FATE based game now. You will love it.
10 / 10	Midnight the Clumsy	This Game has redefined the way I look at role-playing and role-playing games!! I can't recommend it highly enough!! - Erik Menard / Midnight
10 / 10	Calculon	I run this game at conventions and everyone has huge fun. One of the most playable games out there.
10 / 10	kaiserjez	Absolutely awesome pulp rpg, easily adaptable to other heroic style genres.
10 / 10	Teloric	Best game I've ever GM'd, by far. The best feature is that it is so GM friendly. Creating an adventure and running it is a genuine pleasure. The worst feature I would have to say is the setting, but that's more of personal preference thing (I'm more of a swords and sorcery guy). If this game came out in a fantasy version, I wouldn't have a reason to play anything else...
10 / 10	EarthsShadow	This is the roleplaying game I have been waiting for ever since I started gaming back in 1991, and I am a FATE 3.0 junkie because of it.
10 / 10	Valandil	I first played a demo game at the January 13, 2007 RPGnet Game Day at Oakland's EndGame. I had a blast and fell in love with the system. It's definitely my "desert island" rpg choice.
10 / 10	Save-vs-DM	Perhaps one of the very few games that actually made me feel joyful when reading. Good for anyone, no matter what your style.
10 / 10	Ahrimanius	This Game changed how I look at RPGs. Absolutely Amazing.
10 / 10	Jedira Dakhan	One of the best pulp games, and the best version of FATE/FUDGE out there!
10 / 10	zoatebix	The "I played this on" date is approximate. Some notes on how things turned out can be found here: http://zoatebix.livejournal.com/4652.html The collaborative phases of character creation were fantastic - things ground to a bit of a halt as people started checking out skills and stunts. Luckily, we had a hard copy and two laptops - one with the pdf and one with the SRD from the FATE website. I ran the adventure included in the book over the evening after we created characters and the following evening. I managed to make a few modifications based on some of the characters Aspects. Everyone was pretty comfortable invoking their Aspects right off the bat, but they didn't quite get comfortable self-Compelling. By the end, people were starting to get the hang of Maneuvers - once I explain that Maneuvers, Declarations, and Assessments all do the same things, I'm sure the other two will get used, too. I ended up pulled punches at the climactic battle so that we could end the game at a decent hour. I used the big bad's minions and reinforcements but hardly any of his Fate Points. A good time was most certainly had by all!
10 / 10	Lee Torres	An exceptionally put-together RPG experience - I'm looking forward to future variations on this theme!
10 / 10	Willow	An amazing book, some of the best and craziest fun I've had in a long time.
10 / 10	Aaron Powell	Rarely have I read a book this dense with rules that gets me excited about playing after nearly every page. So many wonderful and fresh ideas that hang together coherently. I can't wait to give it a real go at the gaming table.
10 / 10	Aetherdyne	Very useful way of looking at games, flexible enough to adapt to many other genres without enormous amounts of work, and inherently flavorful enough to not feel bland in the process.
10 / 10	AJFixer	It forever changed the way I look at and play RPGs. Simply amazing.
10 / 10	amnesiack	Building on both past pulp games and Evil Hat's success with the Fate generic system, SotC is easily the best game in the pulp genre that I have ever read. If you want to kick it pulp style, it's a must-have.
10 / 10	Antoine F	I never found any game who could inspire you and your fellow players such wonderfull characters in such a short time. The advices on running a game are really worth the reading. With the system of the Aspects, they help you create a game where the PCs will be the center of action and attention. I ran two games in a week and can't wait to play again !
10 / 10	Bartmoss	I must admit that this game has got me very interested in trying the genre for the first time in a long time. It is also of course very easy to adapt to a more modern version too.
10 / 10	Berserker	Aspects have revitalized my gaming.
10 / 10	burningcrow	I'm absolutely fascinated by the beauty of the system! Great work!
10 / 10	CaffeineBoy	I am deeply in love with SotC. I'm not a huge pulp fan, but the FATE 3.0 engine and the book's extraordinary GM advice make the game practically run itself. My mind boggles at how easy it is to get enormously satisfying results. I've been playing RPGs for over 25 years and this is one of the very best I've come across.
10 / 10	coyoteslodge	I've been waiting for this for sooo long. :)
10 / 10	Doval	Spirit of the Century captures, for me, a lot of the flavor and feeling of those good novels/movies/TV shows which you watch and think "That'd make a great adventure" only to realize that it wouldn't becasue the system does not support XXXX.
10 / 10	Dr. Halflight	The best Pulp game I've ever purchased
10 / 10	Esarel	Simply excellent, with one of the best GM advice sections out there.
10 / 10	Galandris	Great pickup game, with the fate engine adapted and improved. It really fits the pulp themes of the game. It's mostly a rulebook and GM advice book (the setting is quite skimpy, but easy to research) and I feel it's not bad: after reading it, I was thinking of many possibilities to use the system for any kind of over-the-top adventures.
10 / 10	ghostwolf	Buy...This...Game. Seriously. This is one of the best RPGs I hae ever purchased. The system is strong, the character creation process encourages the players to work together and to work with the GM to create exactly the kind of adventures they want to play in and ever single page of the book is full of awesome information on how to make the sytem work for you.
10 / 10	grey.spiral	This game is an absolute blast. The tagging idea is one of the most lively and innovative ideas I have seen in an rpg in a long time.
10 / 10	gunsel	Very nice RPG. Very elegsnt aspect system. Supports all kinds of pickup play. I loved the way they did the preorder. This was my first rpg to ever preorder because I am an inpatient man. The .pdf kept me happy til the book showed up. I loved the membership card and signatures also. Thanks! dave
10 / 10	Hafwit	If you're even mildly interested in pul gaming or FATE, do get this book. It managed to clarify both for me.
10 / 10	Inamoena Tempora	One of the best RPGs I have read lately. Great GM advice, solid, easy to understand rules, and oozing with style and setting info. Definitely a keeper.
10 / 10	Jim DelRosso	I loved this game when reading it. I loved it more when I ran it. I loved it still more when I played it. I can't say enough good stuff about it, except to say every session I've been involved in (and it's mroe than a few, now) has been utterly awesome.
10 / 10	JoystickJunkies	Awesome and very very fun roleplaying game that turns gaming on it's head, shoves a cocktail down it's throat and tell it's to party till the sun comes up. SotC is a true breath of fresh in a stagnant industry.
10 / 10	jrkilroy	This game has erased all my doubts about FUDGE, but more importantnly, it is forcing me to challenge my 'beliefs' about what a RPG system is. Greatness.
10 / 10	Microangelo	.
10 / 10	Mr_Pleasington	A fantastic system contained in one of the most well-written rpg books I've had the pleasure of reading. It drops so much of the baggage games have been carrying for decades and replaces it with a refined version of some of the better ideas coming out of the Forge-game scene without becoming a 'pass the stick, tell your part of the story' session like many of those rpgs. The biggest compliment I can give is that it is one of the few books I've read in a long time that got me excited about playing while reading it.
10 / 10	msbowman	The single best pulp roleplaying game ever released!
10 / 10	Myca	This is an amazing, wonderful game . . . I'd never really had the urge to run pulp before, but after reading this, I'm bubbling with ideas and character concepts.
10 / 10	Paul Watson	This is the ultimate in pulp games, every page fills me with an urge to run a game of pulpy goodness. It's is based on FATE 3.0, the latest version of FATE.
10 / 10	Rob Donoghue	Ok, so I wrote it, and I'm totally cheating by rating it, but I figure that will get quickly drowned in the noise. To pitch this game as a love letter to Adventure! is kind of a terrible pitch from a marketing perspective (Pulp doesn't sell, basic fact of life) but it makes it no less true. To pitch it as the new versionof Fate woudl also be true, but potentially uninspiring, cuz heck, Fate was free, so I;m nto sure how much marketing muscle it has. But pitching it as a game where the cover is 100% the way play goes? Yeah, that's the truth, Gorillas in biplanes and all. I can guarantee this because, when the grey ghost knocks Gorilla khan out of his seat, GG's parting comment is "Evolution is your co-pilot, Khan!". True story.
10 / 10	sabbatregent	Tight rules, good setting, the best advice for a GM you've ever seen. Also, it's quite easy to port the rules to another setting.
10 / 10	Skywalker	This book is simply superb.
10 / 10	synistar	Best mechanics I have seen for a pulp game. Tons of useful advice on how to play the game, with examples galore. Sets the standard for pulp games.
10 / 10	theCimmerian	Really encourages exciting group interplay and makes roleplaying positively ooze flavor.
10 / 10	tonpa	Awesome rules combined with good, movable book with berfect size. Its done for use and fun!
10 / 10	TragicHeroBC	I love this game and the enthusiasm with which its creators interact with the community over it. The game has plenty of rules, but simple resolution. It does pulp very well, and that's all it sets out to do. Buy it.
10 / 10	trechriron	The game focuses on story and action versus mechanical fiddly-bits. It is perfect. The advice inside is inspiring.
10 / 10	Uruush	This game represents our first opportunity to see an implemenation of the FATE 3.0 rules all in one place. It is an impressive work with a system that really brings this genre to life while offering a ton of more general information and examples about the core system. For those who like the ideas behind FUDGE, and maybe aren't familiar with FATE, some of whom may have criticized FUDGE as being a dice mechanic and a toolbox, but not a complete game, here it is - a complete game. And what a game! Highly recommended.
10 / 10	village6	Aspects are the 'killer app' of RPGS.
10 / 10	wuxiasnake	Just goes to show how far RPG's have come. Pure class and by far and away the best pulp game ever.
10 / 10	Zounds!	A brilliant game. Intelligent, inspiring, and incredibly fun.
9 / 10	R00kie	Almost perfect. Characters are too tough and combat can take to long but both problems are solved with tiny tweaks available from the Evil Hat website.
9 / 10	walkerp	The base mechanic in this game brought me months of inspiration and fun. We found that for campaign play, there was ultimately a lack of risk for characters that slowly separated us from true immersion. Still tons of fun and I'll go back to it for one-shots or mini-campaigns in the future.
9 / 10	Waldo Pepper	I use SotC for a variety of games outside just the standard pulp setting and it never fails to create enjoyable games.
9 / 10	Shining Dragon	This game oozes pulp from its pores.
9 / 10	Grape Old One	Rad!
9 / 10	Tim Kirk	A very fine Pulp game, that is greater than the core of its component parts.
9 / 10	Aaron Smith	A fantastic book, well laid out with terrific advice, insight, and details for both players and gms. A joy to play with.
9 / 10	alejandro	This is one of the funnest times I've ever had making a character... let alone playing the amazing game. Thanks Fred and... the other guy... for a spectacular game!
9 / 10	BigJackBrass	A genuinely fresh approach to pulp gaming, lacking in background detail but more than making up for it with innovative mechanics and sheer gusto. The small format hardback is superb.
9 / 10	Dave Versace	Great game - wish I'd had it ten years ago when I was playing every damned night!
9 / 10	dete	Spirit of the Century is one of those source books that is so packed with brilliant content that ideas start exploding in your brain like fireworks starting on the first page. The Aspect system that made Fate RPG so much fun is back with a vengeance, streamlined and expanded to improve virtually every facet of play. Best of all, while SotC is built around a specific (and fun!) scenario, the core Fate v3 rules are easy to pick out and adapt to virtually any setting. Highly recommended!
9 / 10	DMAndrew	Some of the best GM advice ever found in an RPG book.
9 / 10	dmjeffk	A great game of two fisted pulp action. Solid game mechanics with just the right balance of simplicity and crunch and character generation that gives you the opportunity to make truly unique and memorable characters that are fun to play. This game truly has spirit where it counts!
9 / 10	Geburah	I feel this is quite possibly the game that best captures the spirit of the original Hero Pulps. While the setting - what there is of it - is entirely disposable, the rules and advice are both excellent. My only quibble is with the large quantity of "fiddly bits" tacked on to the simple and elegant Fate system, which add flavour but also more book referencing.
9 / 10	JoÃ£o.Mariano	The Pulp Genre done right and with glorious feeling!
9 / 10	Jonathan Moyer	An excellent game of pulp action and adventure! Character creation takes a while, but it's fun and the actual play is quick and smooth.
9 / 10	rafial	A simple system, but an extremely comprehensive treatment of how to apply that system in specific cases.
9 / 10	Reidzilla	Nearly perfect! Only lacking in the character advancement department.
9 / 10	renatoram	Wonderful balance of crunch and story driven game. Really really good "running the game" chapter. One of the funniest and most entertaining character cration processes of all times: better than many games.
9 / 10	Sangrolu	Nice, complete and playable spin on FUDGE. The character generation sequence is especially entertaining. The fact that aspects can be give and take make them more tolerable that "roll-your-own" traits in other game, but there is still a lot of variance in the utility and enjoyment factor of different aspects; additional GM intervention and tweaking may be required.
9 / 10	Skiorht	Great organisation, incredible rules, too bad the pulp setting holds little interest to me. The new edition of FATE rules is a perfect fit for the genre, though.
9 / 10	Stickman12	A great follow up to FATE, taking it onwards and upwards. The genre setting material and guide to playing games with minimal preparation alone make this worthy of greatness.
9 / 10	tentacle_james	Something about the flexibility of the system and the coolness of Aspects and the manoeuvres mechanics that just makes this game shine. Its not often a game comes along that is not only a pleasure to run but has tremendous depth whilst being relatively simple at the same time. Its very good indeed.
9 / 10	xiaolung	The most innovative system for Pulp gaming I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Way to go guys!
8 / 10	El Bob	I love aspects.
8 / 10	luc	Despite initial trepidation regarding the system, there is a lot of content here and it certainly shines amongst pulp systems.
8 / 10	ExCrusader	Style: 3 / Substance: 5
8 / 10	Emprint	An excellent game, worth having to crib for other games almost as much as to play straight.
8 / 10	The Unshaven	Excellent for pulpy adventure, but is also a very good fit for running adventures fitting the feel of modern television shows such as Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or many others.
8 / 10	JDCorley	A fairly straightforward application of an interesting system, the main lightbulb that this game turned on for me was the intertwined character creation session instructions. This was something I'd been looking for for a long time.
8 / 10	tartex	While it has really amazing ideas and GM-advice, it falls somewhat flat in describing its basics, like how to create NSCs (besides minions).
7 / 10	sak0232	Very creative and interesting system and setting. I ran it once and I loved it. I wonder if players might abuse certain Aspects.
7 / 10	Zachary The First	A pretty solid game, but inflated somewhat artificially by its RPGnet darling status. No matter that, this is a game anyone looking to run a pulp game should at least research and consider. FATE is a good system, but the presentation of it in this pulp genre is just a wee bit lacking.
7 / 10	Doc Halloween	I love a game where you can pick your own stats, is rules-lite, and is story driven. It is pulp also. However, I am having diffulculties with the rules.
7 / 10	eruditus	This game is pulp done right.
6 / 10	Menchi	After the honeymoon was over, this game kind of loses its cool fast. Doesn't have the legs to keep a game going beyond the first few sessions.
5 / 10	TrippyHippy	Resultant game design probably did shift in the aftermath of this game, and it certainly built an enthusiastic fanbase. I never cared for it though, and found some of the 'revolutionary' aspects of it's design a little overstated by overenthusiastic fans. The book is mainly full of rules, with the setting only detailed enough to be written on a pamphlet.
5 / 10	Pig with Pen	This is a huge book! Very complicated, very complex, very innovative. The GM advise is one of the best I've ever seen. Recommended. EDIT: After finally playing a two-and-a-half day one-shot I have to decrease my rating of this game. Everything I said before is still true, which greatly reduced our gaming experience :(
5 / 10	Ars Mysteriorum	Unremarkable.
5 / 10	Simple Man	Average RPG bolstered by it's current status as a RPGnet Darling.
4 / 10	mandrill_one	Not interested in the genre, sorry.
2 / 10	Craig Oxbrow	The basic concepts get in the way of playing a character and it doesn't feel like a roleplaying game should to me.
0 / 10	Yokiboy	Spirit of the Century is high on my "next to play list." I've played FATE 2.0 very successfully, and can't wait to try out this version of the game engine. The fact that the game tries to be a pickup game, focusing on being able to play complete adventures in an evening of play, with whatever players showed up to the session, is just awesome and implemented quite cleverly.

Core Game Reviews

All RPGnet Reviews

[ Link Reviews ]

Rating	User	Summary
4 + 5	Daniel C Ansell	Spirit of the Century. A really well put together game of pulp adventure, with an excellent game system, and a great setting. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	C.W.Richeson	Spirit of the Century. An incredible product from start to finish, Spirit of the Century is extremely creative, fun to read, and filled with fast paced Pulp adventure all the way through! [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	dmjeffk	Spirit of the Century. Spirit of the Century is a game of two-fisted pulp adventure using the latest incarnation of the FATE rules. The system is easy to learn, play, and run. It grants both players and GMs a great deal of flexibility in designing the characters and stories they wish to play. The guys at Evil Hat really stepped up to the plate and delivered with this one! [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Halfjack	Spirit of the Century. A real game that generates real fun. Good production qualities and clear writing accompany a solid organization to deliver a game that simply works. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	Michael Erb	Spirit of the Century. An excellent pulp roleplaying game that does a perfect job of capturing the genre's over-the-top heroes and stories. [ Read Review ]
4 + 4	James Gillen	Spirit of the Century. Pulp Era gaming in the Fudge system. Apes and zeppelins required. Nazis optional but highly recommended. [ Read Review ]
4 + 5	Sangrolu	Spirit of the Century. Spirit of the Century is a meat game of pulp action heroics that taps deeply into the well of player creativity. [ Read Review ]
3 + 5	mxyzplk	Spirit of the Century. Spirit of the Century, from Evil Hat Productions, bills itself as a "Pulp pick-up roleplaying game." It's a fun, well-executed pulp game with innovative mechanics, although the amount of rules means it may only be "pick-up" with already experienced players. [ Read Review ]
5 + 4	Shining Dragon	Spirit of the Century. An excellent pulp game full of action. [ Read Review ]
5 + 5	ludomastro	Spirit of the Century. This is a great game. Period. The system is fresh and offers a great deal of flexibility for customization. If your group isn't centered on ‘pen-and-paper video games' then definitely give this one a try. [ Read Review ]
4 + 4	Royale	Spirit of the Century. Just a couple years shy of 15, Spirit of the Century is still the quintessential RPG for telling pulp adventure stories. [ Read Review ]

All Magazine Reviews

Year	Magazine	Synopsis
2008	Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine #142	A review of Evil Hat Productions' pulp game Spirit of the Century. "On one hand you have a game system that is designed for quick, simple play anywhere and anytime you feel like it. On the other hand you have a dizzying amount of useful information, stunts, ideas and bonus extras that could easily make for a deeper long-term campaign."