Fresh off a board-game break for music, Daniel (@dungeondive) couldn’t resist unboxing the new Battle Systems Core Space expansions — because, as ever, the game reawakens both his excitement and his frustration at not having space to keep it permanently set up. He walks through three additions. Shift Change at Mega Core is a civilian pack adding worker NPCs (with management, engineer and scientist classes) plus the scavengers Salazar and Molly, who use hidden hatches and back-passages to grab loot before the players and follow a flowchart rather than the usual d6.
The Rogue Purge pack is the standout: Purge who’ve broken from the hive mind, cloaked themselves in rags, and can be fielded as NPCs or as a unique crew that starts with a single Live One and crafts its own gear. Finally, the Dangerous Days campaign book collects the Mission Monday one-offs and adds harsher survival rules for a galaxy whose collapsing trade routes and hardening politics feel a little too close to home. Daniel praises the elegant, low-upkeep NPC system and Nick Greenwood’s character art throughout, while warning that all the new minis are fiddly, brittle resin.
Core Space’s NPCs act on simple charts yet feel alive and unpredictable. Which games pull off lively AI factions without drowning you in upkeep?