{"id":5302,"date":"2025-11-20T09:19:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gamersdungeon.net\/?p=5302"},"modified":"2025-11-20T09:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T09:19:56","slug":"the-pioneer-rpg-kickstarter-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gamersdungeon.net\/?p=5302","title":{"rendered":"The Pioneer RPG: Kickstarter Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For All Mankind, the Apple TV series, is without question one of my favorite shows of the last decade. It\u2019s an alternative-history epic about what might have happened if the space race never ended, if humanity kept pushing, competing, and occasionally tripping its way across the solar system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has everything I love in a good story: speculative history, grounded sci-fi, drama, and just enough \u201cthis could almost happen\u201d futurism to make you glance suspiciously at NASA\u2019s latest press releases. But what I enjoy most is that it feels less like science fiction and more like future history, a glimpse into a world that could have been ours with just a few different turns of the wrench, without infusing it with the magic of made-up future tech that most science fiction relies on.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I love a good historically based what-if story, and For All Mankind hits those beats with perfection in my humble opinion. No question, one of the best shows in years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So when the marketing team at Mongoose Publishing reached out and asked me to take a look at their upcoming RPG, The Pioneer, the very first thing that came to mind was, naturally, For All Mankind. One paragraph into the description, and I was already hearing the opening theme in my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we\u2019re going to take a peek into Mongoose Games\u2019 latest Kickstarter: a rather unusual, yet deeply intriguing, near-future Earth RPG about humankind\u2019s next great adventure, exploring our own solar system. If you\u2019ve ever wanted a game that sits somewhere between hard sci-fi realism and \u201cwhat if we just kept going?\u201d, this might be exactly your trajectory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pioneer is built on the classic Traveller system, which, for long-time sci-fi RPG fans, should trigger an immediate nod of recognition. Traveller is the granddaddy of science-fiction tabletop gaming, the venerable elder around the campfire telling stories about starships before most of us were even rolling dice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that pedigree isn\u2019t the real selling point here.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I haven’t tried the modern Traveller, though I do have nostalgic memories of playing this one back in the Jolt Cola days. I regret nothing!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What makes The Pioneer interesting is the opening it offers for a story-first RPG focused on near-future exploration beyond just the “adventure gaming” elements. You\u2019ll be heading out into the solar system, and yes, there\u2019s some delightful technobabble sprinkled throughout (it is a sci-fi RPG, after all), but this isn\u2019t just a game about rockets, trajectories, or micromanaging oxygen levels. It\u2019s got this presence defined into the game, like a grand stage on which modern space exploration stories can unfold and it’s this part of the game that has me intrigued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your mission isn\u2019t just \u201cgo do the space thing.\u201d Instead, The Pioneer opens the door for character-driven drama you\u2019d expect from a prestige TV series. Motivations will matter. Politics will matter. The planning, the pressure, the PR disasters waiting to happen, the game leaves room to weave these elements into the action parts of the narrative just as much as the EVA repair scenes. It\u2019s a game where you will tell the whole story, including the behind-the-scenes footage usually reserved for the documentary crew. An exciting proposition for a guy like me who loves NASA stories that happen between the lines.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A 200-page hardcover means that this RPG doesn’t fall into the “Light” category as far as game systems go. Not surprisingly, as neither does Traveller, but it is a modern system, so I think we can probably expect a relatively approachable game system. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A great example in the preview is Rescue at Low Earth Orbit. On the surface, it\u2019s a classic space-rescue scenario with plenty of \u201cuh\u2026 Houston we we have a problem\u201d moments. But underneath, there\u2019s a deeper narrative thread open to explore, one with enough emotional and political gravity to anchor an entire campaign. I won\u2019t spoil the potential twists, but let\u2019s just say there\u2019s more going on than simply \u201ccomplete the mission.\u201d It immediately grabbed my attention and, once again, made me think of For All Mankind in all the best ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kickstarter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pioneer is launching through Kickstarter, and I always feel obligated to sound the traditional warning horn when entering that particular sub-market. We\u2019ve all heard more cautionary tales than success stories, Kickstarter can be a magical place, but it can also be where good intentions go to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, Mongoose Publishing is not some first-time, two-person garage operation trying to figure out where the print PDF button is. These folks are seasoned veterans with a long, reliable track record. If there\u2019s a spectrum of Kickstarter risk, this one sits comfortably on the \u201cyou can relax\u201d end of it. You can check out the Pioneer Kickstarter here<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The even better news, at least in my humble opinion, is that this Kickstarter has already blasted past its funding requirement, so The Pioneer is definitely happening. And not only that, the most exciting stretch goals have already been unlocked, giving the project a strong launch trajectory (pun fully intended).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, one of the first things anyone wants to do in a near-future space RPG is stage a mission to Mars. Luckily, this Kickstarter has anticipated that very impulse. Ares Ascendant, a full-length campaign covering the entire mission from A to Z, is already included. So if you\u2019ve ever wanted to make the Red Planet your problem, you\u2019re in good hands.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I think this book is the key to the game. Most people, I think are willing to try alternative RPG experiences to the standard stuff like D&D, but creating a campaign for a game like this, I think, would be tough, so releasing it with a solid campaign like a mission to Mars was a very smart move, it’s exactly what this game needs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Is this a good game?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One question people love to throw at me, as if I\u2019m shuffling tarot cards behind the scenes, is: \u201cWill this be a good game?\u201d<\/em> And as always, I have the same answer when it comes to RPGs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RPGs are good games because they\u2019re not really games. They\u2019re experiences. An RPG is only ever as good as the group you sit down with. That is the secret truth of the hobby. So the real question with The Pioneer isn\u2019t \u201cIs it good?\u201d but rather: Does its subject matter excite you and the people you play with? Because if it does, the rest tends to take care of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My advice to all role-players, especially those who\u2019ve spent their entire hobby life inside the comfortable walls of Dungeons & Dragons, is simple: explore. For gods\u2019 sake, explore other RPGs. There\u2019s an entire universe of creativity out there. Designers are pouring their imagination, innovation, and occasionally their sanity into projects like this. And I can say with near certainty: if the theme speaks to you, you will find something to love in the game, whatever it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So go out there, support your community, and give games like The Pioneer a chance. This is a wonderful project, and absolutely one worth investing in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For All Mankind, the Apple TV series, is without question one of my favorite shows of the last decade. It\u2019s an alternative-history epic about what might have happened if the space race never ended, if humanity kept pushing, competing, and occasionally tripping its way across the solar system. It has everything I love in a … Continue reading The Pioneer RPG: Kickstarter Preview<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[54,5],"tags":[35,19,36],"class_list":["post-5302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-table","category-role-player-game-reviews","tag-opinion","tag-reviews","tag-rpg"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nPta-1nw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2610,"url":"https:\/\/www.gamersdungeon.net\/?p=2610","url_meta":{"origin":5302,"position":0},"title":"Top 10 Table Top Role-Playing Games","author":"5 Minutes","date":"October 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The one thing I always tell people who enter the hobby, people who typically enter the scene through Dungeons and Dragons is that while D&D is an amazing game, it is but a small piece of a much larger world. 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