Justifiers RPG

File:Justifiers RPG.jpg

Justifiers RPG is a science fiction space adventure role-playing game published by StarChilde in 1988.

Description

In Justifiers RPG, players take the role of "Beta Class" Humanoid Constructs, player characters who are part human, part animal. The characters are owned by a corporation, and must earn enough money to buy their freedom by going on space exploration missions.

When constructing the character, players can choose from 28 humanoid animal types, including bats, albatrosses, gila monsters, and rhinos. The game features a skill-based system in which character class dictates what skills a character has. Skill resolution is by the simple percentage-roll method; combat is likewise fairly streamlined. There are rules for psionic powers, cybernetic implants, weapons, and spaceships.

The game includes an introductory scenario.

Publication history

Justifiers RPG was designed by Gideon, with Blaine Pardoe, and published by StarChilde in 1988 as a 128-page book. Several sourcebooks and a second edition of the core rulebook followed.

List of Justifiers RPG Books:

• Justifiers RPG 1st Edition - 1988
• Justifiers RPG 2nd Edition -
• Aborigine Sourcebook
• The Corporate Sourcebook
• CyberMedTech Sourcebook
• The Hybrid Sourcebook -
• The Silent Corp Sourcebook
• Cold as Ice
• Out of the Mists -
• Poseidon -
• The Insidious Campaign -
• The Tower

At some point author Markus Heitz from Germany secured the rights to the Justifiers IP, and proceeded to create a series of novels and short stories with other authors and well as a new edition of the game.

List of Markus Heitz' Justifier Series

Novels (in German):

• Justifiers - Collector - July 6, 2010 -
• Justifiers - Collector: Operation Vade Retro - February 9, 2015 -
• Christoph Hardebusch: Justifiers 1: Missing in Action
• Lena Falkenhagen: Justifiers 2: Undercover
• Thomas Finn: Justifiers 3: Mind Control
• Nicole Schuhmacher: Justifiers 4: Zero Gravity
• Boris Koch: Justifiers 5: Sabotage
• Daniela Knor: Justifiers 6: Outcast
• Thomas Plischke: Justifiers 7: Autopilot
• Maike Hallmann: Justifiers 8: Hard to kill - August 13, 2012 -
• Christian von Aster: Justifiers 9: Robolution - December 10, 2012 -
• Susan Schwartz: Justifiers 10: Unusual Suspects - March 11, 2013 -

Graphic Novels (in German):

• Justifiers - Collector Band 2 - Automaton Prime - Markus Heitz, Hannes Radke, Jorg Krismann - January 14, 2014 -
• Justifiers - Collector Band 3 - Die keeper - Markus Heitz, Hannes Radke, Jorg Krismann - January 1, 2018 -

Roleplaying Books (in German:)

• Markus Heitz' Justifiers - Das Abenteuerspiel (The Adventure Game) - December -
• Markus Heitz' Justifiers - Mystery

Reception

Justifiers RPG was reviewed in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 88. The reviewer commented that "I think this is an excellent primer for beginning gamers. Its main focus is on small unit combat and inter-player conflict. This appears to be what most beginning gamers enjoy the most."

In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, game critic Rick Swan was not impressed with the game, noting that character generation "produces acceptable results, but it's frustrating to use, because many of the rules are underdeveloped ... In fact, ambiguous rules and spotty writing plague Justifiers throughout." Swan also questioned the inclusion of weapons such as maces, tridents and short swords in a game set in the 23rd century. He concluded by giving the game a rating of only 2 out of 4, saying, "There are some good ideas here, but the game needs a rewrite."

Lawrence Schick commented that Justifiers "takes 'Pets in Space' to its farthest extreme", and that "If you can get by that, you'll find a solid skill-based system".

Other reviews and commentary

• Reviews from R'lyeh 23 December 2018 http://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2018/12/1988-justifiers-rpg.html?m=1