Great questions, Gold. Thanks for asking.
-Rules Overlap: 100%.
A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE (AVSE) and CUSTODIANS OF
THE GALAXY (COTG) have the exact same rule set included. You get the entire RPG
system with both products. AVSE also includes a quick reference "RULES
LITE" if you want to get started a little quicker.
-Module Overlap: 0%
AVSE is a self contained Barroom romp lasting
roughly 4 hours. COTG is a 60 hour adventure spanning dozens of locations
-Compatibility: 100%
You could add the bar from AVSE into COTG
easily. You would need to change the fictional details a little but the assets
could easily transfer. The tokens provided in AVSE are cartoons whereas the
tokens in COTG are digital paintings...but they are totally compatible.
-The one shot (AVSE) could serve as an
introduction to the system. But mostly it was written to be a bite-sized bit of
fun. Light introduction to the system but the expectation is that you would
need to read the rules before play so that your game time can be reserved for
play.
-The campaign (COTG) actually does a LOT more
to teach the system during play. You can start playing with ZERO preparation
and the game teaches itself as you go. In fact, not knowing the rules becomes
part of the gameplay in interesting ways. I'll go one step
further...(spolier) in COTG the GM is, in a way, also playing the game. if
you GM COTG without any prep, you, as the GM, will fall down a rabbit hole with
its own mysteries and at the end of the game you might feel that you (the GM)
lost! My intent with COTG was to do something almost entirely new in
RPGs.
-AVSE is not included in COTG
-COTG contains:
...29+ unique location maps (I forget the exact
number) something like that. Some are enormous. There are 120,000+ map hexes in
COTG. The car chase map is over 1 mile long with 10' "squares".
That's Some have dynamic lighting. Some have "animated" parts.
On the asteroid map the asteroids move! -sort of. It's hard to explain here. Oh
screw it. The asteroid "map" is a stack of 28 fully painted full
sized maps. Each turn you click the top map and SEND TO BACK revealing the next
"slide" which includes new positions for the asteroids. There is
PLENTY of documentation in COTG. To give you some idea, the word doc equivalent
is 300+ pages. Having said that, it is all set up to guide you through. You
don't need to read or understand anything in advance. In a couple of places the
documentation is Pick-A-Path: I provided tips hints and ideas for a variety of
scenarios that might arise. COTG has several distinct endings (not just in
different colors). It is possible for the players to survive COTG but still
feel that they lost.... It's a lot. One of the Roll20 staffers told me that
COTG was EASILY the largest non-licensed product on Roll20. Honestly, COTG is a
several year long passion project with at least 2000 hours of work put in (and
I can document most of that number). It is massive. The maps are all digitally
painted. There are 100+ unique character tokens (not including
variations). I could ramble forever. I am tempted to quote the Roll20 staff member I corresponded with but I don't want to put that person in an awkward position. Suffice it: They were very complimentary about the scale and caliber of the offering. I humbly suggest that such compliments are justifiable. What's more...as proud as I am of the mountain of artwork included and the 100's of macros and special features and all that...I think the one standout for me is in the story. I've never played a game that attempted something like this. To say more would spoil it. Take a look: <a href="https://bit.ly/2IeSkby" rel="nofollow">https://bit.ly/2IeSkby</a> Ask me more questions! It makes me feel loved...