The Moons of Boria & the Holds of Vendalyr

In this post I'm reviewing two supplements for the N.E.W. role playing game - The Moons of Boria and The Holds of Vendalyr. These focus on two of the races presented as player character material in the N.E.W. rulebook, the dwarf-like Borians and the elf-like Venetians, greatly expanding on the information presented in the rulebook.

The blurb on the back cover of The Moons of Boria describes it thusly - The Moons of Boria - 47 populated moons orbiting a great gas giant in the middle of a dense nebula - are home to the Borian race. Borians are known across the galaxy for their good cheer and technical prowess, but there is so much more to learn!
This fascinating book delves into Borian physiology, culture, technology and more. Discover more about Borian names and language, diet and law. Find the answers to everything you wanted to know about this diminutive species.
This book includes 11 new Borian exploits, a new Borian origin, 3 new Borian careers, a selection of Borian equipment, 3 Borian starships and dozens of Borian starship components and 4 common Borian NPCs.
The supplement was written by Russ Morrissey, who also wrote the N.E.W. and O.L.D. rulebooks, so right from the outset I knew it was going to be well written and informative. With a page count of 29 pages, it covers a lot of ground and it goes without saying that it is an indispensable aid to anyone wishing to play a Borian character. I really have no criticisms to make of this supplement and though I can't imagine Borians appearing very often in my The Ace of Spades Campaign, that isn't to say I'll be completely ignoring them. Indeed, in part 2 of my first scenario featuring the crew of The Ace of Spades, Kimberley received the job offer to help the good folk of the Sterling Agricultural Colony from a friendly Borian named Banderhaven.

This is what the blurb on the back cover of The Holds of Vendalyr has to say - The Venetians are a long-lived race, with an origin far in the distant past. Advanced science, powerful psionics and deadly martial prowess are just some of the traits for which this philosophical race is known.
This book contains never seen before information about Vendalyr, the Venetian homeworld, along with Venetian culture, law, language and society.
Learn about the ancient Venetian martial arts, new technology and more. This book contains 7 Venetian careers, 4 Venetian martial arts, a range of new universal and psionic exploits, 8 unique Venetian technological items, 6 NPCs and 5 Venetian starships.
This supplement was written by Michael Woods and the first thing I noticed about it was that it had a much higher page count than The Moons of Boria, running to 40 pages. I have to admit that this supplement was much more of a "must buy" purchase for me than the Borian supplement. Why? Simply because one of the player characters on The Ace of Spades is a Venetian scout, and she is Danica. Upon reading this excellently written supplement I have made a few changes to Danica's character record sheet, whilst still trying to keep her as close as possible to my original concept of her. One big change is that she has aged more but is still considered young by Venetian standards. This supplement gave me a much greater understanding of what it means to be a Venetian and I was extremely impressed by it. Of all the new races presented in N.E.W. it was the Venetians who fascinated me the most, which is why I wanted to include one in my crew of The Ace of Spades. The Holds of Vendalyr is an indispensable supplement for me and is worth every penny I paid for it.

Both of these supplements are available from Amazon UK. Currently, The Moons of Boria costs £7.14 and The Holds of Vendalyr costs £7.16.