Finally got my copy today. Would be happy to answer some questions to the best of my ability. I'm not really familiar with the setting (is anyone?), so lore-related questions aren't my strong suit.

Some first impressions:

• There are a lot of options for the build-your-own stuff. You can build your own species, weapons, armor, and Aeffects (which are kind of like magic/superpowers). These aren't done in 2-3 steps with a couple options for each step--there are over 30 traits for weapons alone, and a weapon can have up to 3 traits.
• I'm pretty much 100% convinced that the Æffects rules are the answer to the superheroes question.
• Lot of neat new (and old) talents. I can see most of them fitting right into a classic fantasy setting, though a really hard setting might not work with all of them. They incorporate an Æmber cost into some talents, though that could be removed relatively easily without much stress, I feel. And some of the names are hilarious, especially in English; my favorite is "Tickets to the Gun Show," which allows you to use Coercion with Brawn. Right below is a picture of a bunch of muscly space ogres flexing.
• I probably would not include the magic rules and the Æffects rules in the same game. They aren't really the same mechanically, but they are similar in function that having both may be a bit much.

Talent summaries.

Tier 1

• Bad Breath: Ranked. Gain a breath weapon. You select one quality, with a rating equal to ranks in Bad Breath. Damage also increases with additional ranks. This talent has an Æmber cost, and can become depleted on despair until you spend Æmber.
• Close Combatant: Gain Brawl or Melee as a career skill. May also remove 1 setback from melee combat checks once per session.
• Devourer: Ranked. You may eat an incapacitated target to heal wounds.
• Faerie Finesse: Add success to checks interacting with fairies/pixies. Gain an additional boost die when assisted by fairies/pixies.
• Fearsome: Same as from Star Wars. Force adversaries to make a fear check. Ranked.
• Hard Headed: Same as from Star Wars. Make a Resilience check to recover being staggered. (Although I think Star Wars used Discipline? EDIT : The original did use Discipline, so this talent is slightly different.)
• Mutation: Ranked. Has an Æmber cost. You gain a mutation from the species generation rules.
• Need for Speed: Heal additional strain based on how fast your vehicle/mount is going.
• One of Us: Ranked. Gain advantage when interacting with a chosen organization. This can turn into threat if your character doesn't jive with the organization.
• Silent Communication: Ranked. Gain a form of short-ranged telepathy, which increases in range based on ranks. Can be other forms of non-verbal communication, and two characters with this talent can talk back and forth.
• Spire Sense: Always know where you are related to the Spire. Lore-related talent.
• Street Habits: Gain Stealth or Streetwise as a career skill. Can also "find" a small, cheap item similar to Deep Pockets once per session if in an urban setting.
• Talk Shop: Treat your ranks in Charm as your ranks in Knowledge (Science) or Mechanics when interacting with engineers, scientists, etc.
• Torment: Add boost die to social and combat checks against disoriented/staggered/prone targets.
• Well Organized: Ranked. +2 encumbrance per rank.

Tier 2

• Æmber Aptitude: Gain Æmbercraft and Knowledge (Æmber) as career skills.
• Anthem: If you have a musical instrument, use a maneuver to add one boost to do checks allies within short range make. The effect persists if you spend a maneuver every round, but you cannot use the talent again if you stop until the encounter is over.
• Bowl Over: Gain Knockdown quality on weapon if you engage them before making the attack. If your weapon has Knockdown already, you may trigger the effect without spending advantage.
• Distraction: Make a Coordination, Deception, or Skulduggery check. Disorient targets equal to success, inflict strain on affected targets with advantage, and stagger a rival or minion with triumph. This one doesn't clarify how long the effects last however.
• Flavor Sensation: Cook food to heal strain and upgrade other characters' next check.
• Goes to Eleven: Ranked. Increase the range of any music-based talents.
• Implacable: Ranked. Reduce strain from social checks. Caps out at your Presence.
• Know-It-All: Gain boost dice up to your Intellect on Knowledge checks, but your allies suffer that much strain.
• One with the Crucible: When recovering strain, spend advantage/triumph to move a story point to the player pool.
• Patch Up: If you fail a check to heal wounds, you can heal wounds anyway equal to Intellect, but if the targeted character generates a despair they suffer wounds instead.
• Pyromania: Increase your weapon's damage based on it's Burn quality.
• Sharp Tongue: Ranked. Inflict critical remarks in social encounters easier.
• Sucker Punch: Spend triumph on an initiative check to make a Brawl combat check. Can trigger Disorient without spending advantage on this attack.
• Tanks A Lot: Vehicle weapon targets are treated as larger. Can also attack with Gunnery weapons at engaged range like a Ranged (Heavy) weapon.
• Telekinesis: Ranked. Gain telekinesis. Actually a clever talent, and has various uses.
• Tickets to the Gun Show: Use Brawn instead of Willpower for Coercion checks.
• Wallcrawler: Can move across vertical surfaces. Reduce difficulty to recover from falls.

Tier 3

• Æmber Affinity: Cancel a despair the first time using a specific Æmber item.
• Æmber Dowser: Find sources of Æmber.
• Anthem (Improved): Enemies add setback when you use Anthem.
• Bad Breath (Improved): Your breath weapon gains a second weapon quality.
• Bloodhound: Gain additional success when tracking a target.
• Born in the Saddle: Gain success on checks when mounted.
• Breaking Bread: Share a meal to make social encounters easier.
• Bullseye: Inflict strain on other characters after inflicting a critical injury.
• Contingency Plan: Once per session salvage a story point from a failed check.
• Daredevil: Similar to Potent Concoctions without the negative side of the effects . EDIT : If you roll a despair, you add a proficiency die to the check. Not sure if this a misprint or not.
• Dramatic Entrance: Jump into an encounter .
• Electrified: Gain Disorient 2 and Stun 3 on unarmed attacks. Add threats to incoming Brawl attacks. Has an Æmber cost, and can deplete.
• Elusive: The opposite of Bloodhound.
• Eureka: Potent Concoctions, but for Æmbercraft checks.
• Hard Headed (Improved): The same as from Star Wars. Recover from being incapacitated due to exceeding strain.
• Inspiring Cry: Allow allies to reroll boost dice.
• Power Chord: Make a Charm check to allow allies to recover strain equal to success.
• Shameless: You don't suffer strain when you fail a social check.
• Sweeping Blow: Punt a second target, as long as both are kindergartners (or just smaller than you, I guess).
• Tag and Release: Deal additional strain damage based on Knowledge (Science).

Tier 4

• Dramatic Entrance (Improved): Allies recover strain or enemies suffer strain when you use Dramatic Entrance.
• Dramatic Escape: Get out of a situation.
• Foresight: Gain a temporary story point. Has an Æmber cost.
• Hard Headed (Supreme): Recover from being incapacitated due to exceeding wounds.
• Ingenious Solution: Swap in Knowledge when making a skill check.
• Pain Don't Hurt: Consume Æmber to reduce incoming damage based on Resilience+1.
• Stunned Silence: Spend advantage/triumph to stagger the target of a social check.

Tier 5

• Æmber Enhancement: Boost your characteristics by spending Æmber. Has an Æmber cost.
• Beastmaster: Based off of Animal Companion. Gain an animal pack.
• Dramatic Entrance (Supreme): Perform an action when using Dramatic Entrance.
• Sharp Tongue (Improved): During a social encounter, when inflicting a critical remark, you may force the target to capitulate.

Nice. Thanks for the breakdown. Looks like it’s worth getting the PDF when it comes out.

BTW, Talent Tome and Species Study in my dropbox have been updated with Keyforge stuff.

Wouldn’t Talk Shop make more sense if you used “tech skills” as Charm?

On 6/13/2020 at 11:38 AM, drainsmith said:

BTW, Talent Tome and Species Study in my dropbox have been updated with Keyforge stuff.

Thank you for gathering them all in one place! I did notice that Bioroid and Clone are listed twice on pages 9 and 10 in the Species Study.

On 6/22/2020 at 10:29 PM, Masablasta said:

Thank you for gathering them all in one place! I did notice that Bioroid and Clone are listed twice on pages 9 and 10 in the Species Study.

Oh weird. I'll have to take a look. Thanks!

@Masablasta Ah. This is because one is from the CRB and the other is from Android. Each are listed because they are different.