RPGs in Space, RPGs and space

What is the allure of gaming in space? For me, it boils down to two things:

1) You can go anywhere. Plans go awry? Just jump to another system and keep going.

2) You have the tech to do anything. Primitives think you're a god, and your wits are what keeps you above technological equals or superior beings.

This is also the allure of good spacefaring fiction. Look at Larry Niven's Known World stories, or Asimov's best tales. Although there are many veins of scifi, endless space is a rich and rewarding one.

Space is not the final frontier, unless you're gaming in the early days of space travel and are limited to one system. Space with a capital S is the endless frontier, the lack of frontier. This is the promise of spacefaring RPGs, yet they all too often hobble the freedom that space gaming should support.

Let's look at the first adventure module for the venerable Star Frontiers. The text starts,
"Welcome to the universe of the STAR FRONTIERS game! You are now a star-rover, one of the lucky few who spend their lives traversing the black void of deep space" (1).

This promise is quickly taken away by a railroad pirate attack with a staged result:

"Instead of landing in a choice site in a fully equipped shuttle, they are crash-landing in the middle of a hostile desert. They are light years from their home planets, with no hope of rescue in the foreseeable future." (7)

 Yes, the game promises, you can go anywhere and do anything. Then the GM is instructed to say but don't do either.

This is a load of bollocks. But Star Frontiers isn't alone.

The first adventure included with Traveler, Mission on Mithril, starts thus:

"Scout Service Starship CentralAxis, on detached duty, stutters out of jump space from Olympia three days late. That sort of delay spells almost deadly disaster to the jump drives of the tiny scout; without repairs, the ship will never jump again." (Mithril, 2)

This despite the text:

"Traveller is an entire universe to be explored" (Core Rules, 7)

Yet again the promise of Space is empty when access to space is denied.

I understand why this was so common. Science based gaming in an endless universe is daunting for the GM, so why not limit it to one locale? This kneejerk reaction is only natural given the dungeon crawling origin of the hobby.

Here's how to avoid this misstep:

1) Always allow access to space. The only times PCs shouldn't have access is when their decisions lead to this. They want to dangerously tinker with engines or start a fight that could take out their jump capability? So be it. But don't foist those constraints on them to further YOUR story. Space tales are about their story in your universe.

2) Always allow access to tech, if PC finances support it. This requires the GM to have a decent grasp of tech and its use and limitations. But remember that the GM has endless resources to throw at PCs (if they ask for it), and that turnabout is fairplay. If PCs use a device in an asymmetrical or novel way to get an advantage from technology, be sure that others in the same universe have as well, and the next NPC can draw from the same bag of tricks. Take note of any unique idea players have and add it to your arsenal.

3) Always remember there are consequences for PC actions. Yes, PCs can jump away from any shitstorm their adventures cause, far from local authorities. Yet science fiction gives us the proper response to this - the bounty hunter. From Star Wars to Cowboy Bebop, bounty hunters are called in when law enforcement fails, and can use any means or measures to bring in fugitives. Enough high-tech hunters on their trail and PCs might prefer surrendering to authorities.

So don't be cowed by the size of space. Read good fiction, get inspired, read the rules, take note of player ingenuity, and follow the PCs wherever they take you. The open minded GM will discover new things about his or her universe that will surprise them and make their job as rewarding as that of the players.


Sources
Acres, Marc et al. (1982). SF-0: Crash On Volturnus. 
 Lake Geneva: TSR.

Miller, Marc et al. (1983). "Mission On Mithril." Traveler CT Book Three: Adventures. Bloomington: Game Designer's Workshop.

Miller, Marc et al. (1983). "Mission On Mithril." Traveler CT Book Three: Adventures. Bloomington: Game Designer's Workshop.Core Rules

Guest Post - Star Wars Session Recap

WHO PLAYED WHO Joseph playing the game master.
Ryan playing a human Force sensitive con artist/medic Max.
Gio playing force using Twilek (jedi?), Nami.
Christopher playing human engineer Jia.
Tedankhamen playing Trandoshan bounty hunter Peebles.

Session 11 Recap:　（written by Ryan Jason Kishida）

As Jia, Max, and Nami wait for their daring mission for the Rebellion to start, Nami decides to try and look up some information covertly. She tries to get access to a terminal without anyone knowing, but she spots a rebel member always tailing her. Eventually Nami decides that tail isn’t being too obnoxious about it and checks the coordinates she memorized. They turn out to be for the planet Wayland. She finds surprisingly little data, almost as if the data has been deliberately obscured. She also tries to look up information about the planet Despayre but is similarly frustrated. Jia wants to improve the cyber-feet she created for Max. However, the base doesn’t have adequate medical/cybernetic facilities for the job. Apparently, a ship, the Raptor, will be arriving soon and it should have the resources needed.
The group is called to a meeting with Mon Mothma. She says that the Empire has hit one of the Rebellion’s supply depots and the stock of Tibana gas has been heavily reduced. She says that it will take 1 to 2 months for them to get the gas the group needs. While the group eventually agrees to wait, Max is able to get some generous concessions from the Rebellion. As negotiations are concluding, Kyle Katarn bursts in and says that he doesn’t want any outside help on his mission. The group stays out of the argument and Mon Mothma is eventually able to get Katarn to agree with her idea.

As the meeting is finally wrapping up, a message come through the base comm system. Imperial forces have exited hyperspace above the planet! A security force rushes in to evacuate the Rebel leader. The comm system advises all base personnel to prepare for evacuation and combat. The group wants to try and help but they are being led to their quarters. Nami uses the Force to persuade the guard to lead them to their weapons. Unfortunately, her use of the Dark Side implants the idea that she and the guard will duel once she is armed.
Fortunately, alarm klaxons go off at this point and the guard snaps out of the trance. He tells the group to get on a shuttle, presses the key for the weapons into Nami’s hand, and then races off. The group recovers their weapons and then heads to the hangar bay.

Focus on a ship traveling through hyperspace. The ship is a system patrol craft designed for combat and built for speed. However, this is not a military craft. No unit markings are on this ship. No military insignia identify it. It is decidedly somewhat scruffy looking. This is a bounty hunter’s ship. Said bounty hunter is in the cockpit returning from his latest job. Unlike most bounty hunters, this Trandoshan, Peebles by name, works mainly for the Rebel Alliance. He hunts down high-value Imperial targets and captures them. His latest quarry, an Imperial Navy lieutenant, is unconscious in the holding cells. Peebles is somewhat worried. He owes the Rebellion. While he has been helping, has he been doing enough? At what point can he say the debt has been paid off? If he keeps capturing Imperial targets, at what point will the Empire cancel his license? These questions weigh heavily on his mind as he prepares to exit hyperspace.

He is completely unready for what greets him above Kothliss. An Imperial Naval force is in orbit above the planet. At first Peebles wonders if they are waiting for him, but the force is too large to send after one bounty hunter. The Imps are doubtless here to wipe out the previously secret rebel base on planet. The base where he has to deliver his prisoner. The Imps open fire without hailing and Peebles’ ship takes heavy damage. It barely manages to survive the trip through the planet’s atmosphere. Peebles directs the craft toward the Rebel base, but he cannot control the ship and it crashes practically into the base causing alarms to blare throughout the base.

As Peebles exits his ship, he grabs his equipment and his prisoner. At the entrance to the base, he identifies himself and is directed to the hangar bay for evacuation. In the corridor he meets Jia, Max, and Nami. While the group cannot help but notice the large Trandoshan with an Imperial office slung over his shoulder, they avoid comment until they are on the shuttle.
On board, everyone introduces themselves. Max also checks the officer and says the Imp should be out for a while. While the officer might have a concussion, there is nothing life threatening about his condition. Jia, Max, and Nami notice Peebles agitation at this point, and it begins to affect them also. The tension everyone feels it not helped by the shuttle ride. At several points the group contemplates offering help. However by the time they finally decide to offer, the shuttle docks with the Raptor.

The Raptor waits for a few more shuttles to dock and then rapidly retreats into hyperspace. The group asks to meet with the ship’s captain so they can check on the status of their mission. The Raptor is going to Port Tuuga to deliver droids to the Rebellion. And it turns out the ship isn’t directly part of the Rebellion and the group is sent to a liaison officer. The officer turns out to be the guard from the base, Pash Cracken. While Pash is quite cheerful at seeing the group again, Peebles reveals his impatient side. The Trandoshan wants payment for his bounty and picks up Pash by the neck until he cooperates. Pash then informs the group that their mission has probably been canceled since Katarn can’t wait for the group to rendezvous. However, Pash promises to check after the ship exits hyperspace. The group heads to the medbay, so that Jia can work on Max’s feet and Peebles can have his prisoner checked on.

At the medbay, Jia has the equipment and facilities to work on Max’s feet. She does an incredible job getting rid of the previous defect and improving the overall performance of the attachment giving Max increased agility. Peebles drops off his quarry, the medical officers say there is nothing they can do right now but monitor his condition. They also ask if it would be ok to put the officer into the brig after he recovers consciousness. Peebles doesn’t really care anymore since he has delivered the target, and gives permission.
Before anyone can exit the medbay, a shudder rocks the ship. There can only be one explanation, the ship has exited hyperspace. However, they should not have reached their destination yet. Max fearing interception by an Imperial blockade or a navigational error contacts the bridge and mutters something about having a bad feeling. The captain replies saying that droids have taken over the ship and disabled it. He also reports that the droids are trying to break into the bridge. As if the situation was not bad enough, the captain also says that the ship is slowly being dragged into a black hole and unless control of the ship can be regained quickly the ship will be sucked in.

The doors in the medbay have been locked down and sealed, but Nami is quickly able to slice the doors open. Max loans his ion blaster to Nami since she is the best shot in the group. Since the ion blaster was designed to quickly disable droids, Nami should be able to make short work of any droids they encounter. The group decides to secure the bridge and heads in that direction. However, they soon meet a group of patrolling protocol droids. As the group readies themselves for combat, they begin to labor for breath. The droids must have shut down life support!

Nami moves into range and lets loose with the ion blaster. She is able to shut down one droid and badly damage another. The droids return fire targeting Nami and one shorts out due to a malfunction. Max, rather surprisingly, activates his lightsaber and tries to attack. The droids are able to evade his attacks but the close proximity to the lightsaber’s energy field ionizes their weapons temporarily disabling them. Peebles unloads a withering volley of bolts from his heavy blaster rifle and downs 3 of the droids. Jia shoots her ion blaster but isn’t able to connect. The remaining droids try to shoot Nami but miss.

Nami shoots again with the ion blaster and shuts down one droid and temporarily disables another. The droids reveal hidden flame projectors and roast Peebles. Jia is also hit and scorched. Max is barely able to sidestep in time to avoid the gouts of flame that erupt from the droids. Peebles is enraged and charges the droids with his vibro-ax. However, he only flails ineffectively. The shock and pain of being burned prevent him from landing any serious blows. Max, however, is able to take down the last 3 droids with his lightsaber. The group pauses to try and regain their breath but the flame projectors consumed quite a bit of the oxygen in the corridor.

Nami tries to activate the turbolift system, but she can’t get around the security the droids have put in place. Gravity however fails at this point. Max ties everyone together using some of the rope from the climbing gear he carries and suggest that they can quickly glide down the turbolift shaft to their destination.

Though it is somewhat awkward for the group to move in zero g, they manage to make their way to the bridge corridor. There they confront the droids that are trying to break into the bridge. Nami throws a frag grenade at the droids hoping that the blast will catch them. However, the grenade doesn’t quite go in the right direction because of zero g. The explosion from the grenade catches one droid but no serious damage is done to the other droids. Peebles shoots and heavily damages one of the astromechs. The droids open fire at Peebles. They miss but Peebles is put into a disorienting spin as he tries to avoid the bolts. Jia shoots the damaged astromech droid with her ion blaster and shuts it down. More droids try shoot Nami but miss. Another astromech droid ejected a couple of anti-personnel mines that floated slowly toward the group. Max tried to Force push the mines away but he could only grab one and push it toward the droids.

Nami shoots one of the astromech droids disabling it however inertia still carried the droid on its collision course with Max. Max tried to Force push the droid away but the stress and confusion of the battle prevent from focusing enough and he has to maneuver out of the droids way. The droids shoot one of the mines and the explosion catches Jia. Peebles following the droids example shoots the mine close to them destroying the last of the protocol droids. The remaining astromechs flee up the turbolift shaft.

Not knowing what to expect on the bridge, the group prepares weapons and charges in. They find the bridge crew, strapped in at their stations either weakly gasping for breath or unconscious. They find the captain in his ready room. He labors as he explains all the tasks that can help the ship and gives the group a datapad with the information. As Jia and Nami encrypt the ship’s navicore which contains data and coordinates related to the Rebellion, Peebles secures the bridge. Max has had an idea at the back of his head trying to work its way forward, and when Peebles moves past a large cabinet, he suddenly remembers what it is. Most large starships have emergency breathers stowed on the bridge in case of a sudden loss of atmosphere. Since the bridge crew was trying to react to their sudden exit from hyperspace, they didn’t notice the slowly decreasing oxygen levels. By the time they noticed, they couldn’t undo the restraints quickly enough to reach the equipment. Max opens the cabinet and passes the breathers to the group. With everyone breathing easily, they are able to put aside their fears of suffocation. There are also enough breathers for the captain and the bridge crew to share. Max gives the extras to the captain so he can sort that out. Though the fear of asphyxiation is gone, now the proximity to the black hole is a cause for terror.

Against conventional wisdom, the group decides to split up. With time running out and a huge number of critical systems to restore and situations to respond to, it seems the wisest course. Max and Nami will stay at the front of the ship. They will first re-activate life support and then head up to the primary and secondary communications stations. Nami’s computer skills should be critical in these areas and Max will try and keep the droids busy long enough for Nami to do what she needs. Jia and Peebles will secure the fore and aft hangars and then most importantly reactivate the ship’s engines. Jia’s engineering skills will save everyone and Peebles’ combat prowess will keep Jia safe.

Nami and Max race to life support. They find a couple of deactivated droids (an astromech and medical droid) and several unconscious humans. Nami decides to activate the medical droid to help re-activate the systems. Max fearing that all droids have been subverted prepares to cut the droid down if needed. Max’s fears are confirmed as the droid tries to attack Nami once it is done powering up. He quickly cuts the droid in two. Nami is quickly able to reactivate life support however there are some atmosphere scrubbers that need to be taken care of for full system functionality. Max wakes up one of the techs and gives his breather to him so the techs can start the process. Max and Nami will have to share a breather from this point.

Jia and Peebles make their way to the fore hangar bay. The doors are sealed but Jia opens them slowly. Once they are open enough for him to squeeze through, Peebles quietly enters the hangar. There are lots of droids in the hangar bay. Some are trying to gain access to shuttles, others are guarding a door, and others are disabling starfighters. Jia tries to activate the fire control system to provide a distraction for Peebles but she can’t gain access. Instead she is able to shut off the lights in the hangar bay. Peebles sneaks his way to a pilot who appears to still be conscious, though barely. Peebles learns that there are Rebel soldiers in the pilots’ ready room and they have breathers. As Peebles moves into position, Jia contacts the soldiers and tells them to prepare to exit the room. After checking that Jia is ready, Peebles opens fire on the guards. He misses them but one of hit bolts hits a gantry which falls and crushes several of the droids guarding the door. Shortly after Peebles opens fire, Jia opens the doors to the ready room and the soldiers come out blasters blazing. As Jia and Peebles climb into one of the Y-wings, the pilot tells them the activation code. Peebles gets into the gunners station and activates the weapons systems. He tries to blast some of the droids with the ion cannon, but it is difficult to target man-sized droids with systems designed to shoot at other spacecraft. Jia gets into the pilot seat, powers up the craft, tells the bridge the fore hangar is secure, and she needs them to activate the hangar doors. The Raptor shudders as the gravity of the black hole tugs at the ship. Jia and Peebles have to overcome their fear that they will be consumed the black hole. Jia maintains her composure, but Peebles starts to shake a little from the terror. As the Y-wing exits the hangar, the Rebel soldier mop up the last of the remaining droids.

Max and Nami dash up to the primary communications array. They need to stop the droids there from calling for Imperial reinforcements or failing that call in for Rebel reinforcements. On the way, they stop by a small intelligence section the Rebellion has temporarily set up on the ship. According to the captain’s notes, there should be intelligence operatives there who can help restore the ship. There are droids here trying to access the data and keep the operatives under wraps. Nami is able to shock the astromech droids trying to access the computers and open the door holding the operatives. Max tries to use the Force to throw his lightsaber and cut some of the droids down before they can react to the operatives. While he is able to use the Force to control his throw, his lightsaber shuts off mid-flight and harmlessly hits one of the droids in the back of the head with a loud “thunk.” The droids turn to react but before then can do anything, the operatives blast them from behind. Nami snorts at Max’s prowess with a lightsaber. Max gives the operatives a copy of the objectives list and tells them to hurry before he and Nami dash off to primary communications.

As the Y-wing exits the hangar, Jia and Peebles are confronted with the Black Hole and its terrifying proximity. They are briefly tempted to just get the hell away from it but Jia’s loyalty prompts her to keep on task. As they near the aft hangar bay, they can see two Victory class Star Destroyers exiting hyperspace and moving close to the Raptor. As the Y-wing enters the hangar, Jia and Peebles see a chaotic scene. Rebel soldiers are fighting droids for control of the hangar bay. Some of the droids are trying to gain access to the shuttles in an attempt to escape the ship. Peebles fire the ion cannons the shuttles and disables most of them. One of the load/lifter droids charges the Y-wing as Jia brings it in to land and severs the left engine from the ship. Jia barely manages to keep control of the craft and safely bringing the craft to a stop though the craft does crash into several droids. As Jia pops the cockpit, she shouts for the Rebels to follow her to engineering. Some Rebels do follow her but some droids pursue as well.

In the primary communications array, Max and Jia find that the droids have control. Some droids are guarding the communications personnel, a couple of astromech droids are accessing the computers, and a medical droid is interrogating an officer strapped to a chair. Nami stealthily accesses one of the computers and shocks the astromech droids. As she does that, Max tries to free the personnel and charges the droids swinging his ligthsaber. Max’s wild swings actually result in him flinging his lightsaber away. In an uncanny stroke of luck, the lightsaber impales the medical droid. With the guards distracted by Max, the communications personnel rise against their captors quickly disabling the droids. Max and Nami rally the personnel and everyone charges to the secondary communications array quickly securing it. Once both stations are secure, they send a message to the Alliance for reinforcements. Nami makes a withering comment about Max really needing to learn how to use a lightsaber. Max is unable to disagree with the assessment.

In engineering, Jia, Peebles, and their Rebel reinforcements must confront the tactical droid that has been masterminding this operation. The tac droid shoots Jia scoring a solid hit. Peebles shoots back in response blasting away at the droid doing serious damage. A rebel trooper also follow suit and fires his blaster rifle at the tac droid. He does some damage to the already weakened droid. The droids that chased the Rebels fire at Jia assuming her to be the leader. They score several devastating hits and Jia is overwhelmed and knocked unconscious. A rebel engineer tries to re-activate the engines but the stress of combat proves too much and he can’t remember the correct sequence. The remaining droids shoot at Peebles scoring some minor hits on the tough Trandoshan.

With only seconds left until the Raptor enters the event horizon of the black hole, the ship shudders yet again and everyone can feel the tug of the black hole’s gravity on them. The stress proves too much for Peebles and he falls unconscious. The tactical droid flees engineering trying to find a way off the ship before it enters the black hole. The rebel engineer makes one last desperate attempt to restart the engines and performs the reactivation sequence perfectly. In fact, he does so well that he manages to hot start the ship’s engines giving them full power virtually instantly. The soldier pulls the other activation switch and the engineer comms the bridge telling them to get the ship the hell away from the black hole. As both Rebels slump down with relief, they realize that because of their heroic actions today they will probably be promoted and might even become named NPCs as a result of their heroics.

What awaits our intrepid adventurers next?
Will they help Katarn steal the plans for the Death Star?
Will they seek their missing navicore?
How will they get the tibana gas they need?
Will Nami teach Max how to use a lightsaber?
Will Peebles stick around this competent yet crazy bunch?
Will Max remain a danger to himself in combat?
Will Jia take a greater leadership role or has she learned her lesson?
Will those heroic NPCs get names and become recurring characters?
All this and more in our next exciting episode!

A Cure for 5e

Hey all!

I am back and mostly intact from a hellish semester and personal life insanity. I still have three deadlines to meet till November, so don’t expect regular posting just yet. That said, I needs to write, so I will try to trickle out a few interesting things.

Anyway, during my absence from blogging it seems D&D 5e dropped like a bomb on the scene and still continues to burn up the blogosphere. Like most people I cut my teeth on Ye Olde Game and have probably played more D&D than any other system. That said, I am far too busy and disconnected to enter the fray about 5e, and so for the foreseeable future I will be offering an alternative to D&D and fantasy gaming in general. I plan to write mainly about science fiction gaming, so if that sounds good to you, watch this spot and enjoy!

REVIEW – Star Wars Edge of Empire + Age of Rebellion

After the semester a friend kindly invited my family to his cabin on Mount Rokko, the verdant mountain that overlooks the city of Kobe. It was a great chance to unwind, let my little son interact with their baby daughter as well as different adults, and generally rehumanize myself and my partner.

While this main objective was met in spades, the host also got me into a game of the latest Star Wars RPG with a few of his friends. I haven’t gamed in over a year, and the last Star Wars I played was in the 90s, so of course I was overjoyed.

Overall, I had a blast. Although a marathon 6 hour session in an unfamiliar system is admittedly tiring, I was entertained and impressed and so I offer a review.

THE BOOKS

The two rulebooks are GORGEOUS, there is no other way of saying it. Remember the wonky art of the old comic book adaptations of Star Wars, how Yoda looked like Grover, Leia like a generic supermodel, and Luke her sister? The art in these rulebooks are the total antitheses of those old comics. The cover picture of Luke IS a portrait of Mark Hamill circa 1979, while the aliens and tech inside are reverse-engineered from the movies back to the palette of Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art. Even if you unfortunately never play the game, it makes your gaming shelf shine with its beauty.

CHARGEN

The character sheet is sufficiently old school, with boxes for attributes, skills, special abilities, and equipment. Chargen itself is new school, with point-buy all the way. Although it wasn’t anywhere near as execrable as 4e’s point buy, I kind of miss random chargen and having to roll with the punches. If that doesn’t bother you, chargen is fast and relatively painless. I made a Trandoshan bounty hunter – not terribly original, but fun for a guy dropping into someone else’s game for a session. My fellow players and the GM advised me, and with the point-buy I was encouraged to buy off all the racial weakness of my character. Although normally I would have balked against this filling in of the character’s holes, it was good enough for a one shot appearance.

MECHANICS

The mechanics are streamlined and easy to pick up – to resolve an action, grab a handful of dice equal to the higher of an apprpriate attribute or skill, then get a bonus from the lower of the two. Add in some difficulty dice, roll the whole whack of polyhedrals, then cancel out successes and failures to find your ultimate level of achievement. Dice are special d6s, d8s and d12s with symbols instead of numbers, which affect play in ways that take some getting used to. However, the amalgamation of player dice and difficulty dice is a wonderful innovation that makes rolling go fast and gives a great feeling of satisfaction to the roller.

PLAY

Play was overall not much different from any other rpg I’ve played, with the aforementioned dice rolling making things run very smoothly. If there is one thing that hinders play, it is getting used to the dice. Dice in Star Wars have success, triumph, and advantage symbols versus failure, despair and threat symbols on their sides. What this means is that you can succeed in an action but end up threatened, or fail yet gain some advantage. This system offers much more possibility than the binary succeed-fail mechanic of traditional dice, which encourages improvisational storytelling and really suits Star Wars. The initial effort needed to memorize the dice meanings and get used to the resolution mechanic is well worth it for the storied gameplay you’ll have.

THE STORY & THE MASTER

Regardless of how good a system is, a good GM really brings a game to life. My friend the game master is a former astronomy student and highly technical-minded man, which showed in the intricacy and breadth of his descriptions. We really felt immersed in the Star Wars universe, especially the tech and cultures. I am more of a fast and loose GM myself, and felt that although my friend ran a great game his way, I could do one my way with as much success.

In the session, my character delivered an imperial prisoner to the rebels and met the PCs, a human medic, a hacker-type, and a Twilek con woman. Suddenly the imperials arrive and start bombarding the rebel outpost, so I deliver my prisoner and hitch a ride on a transport with the player characters, which rendez-vous with a waiting cruiser. While in hyperspace, the shipment of droids the cruiser carried comes to life and begin sabotaging the ship, so of course it was up to us to save the day.

The flurry of action included hacking the ship’s system to lock out the evil droids and turn the air back on; missing a shot but taking out the enemy with a falling gantry; crashing a Y-wing into the aft landing bay; and turning the hyperspace engine back on minutes away from getting sucked into a blackhole.

In other words, it was Star Wars through and through.

VERDICT

You like Star Wars? You like rpgs? This game is chocolate and peanut butter, and boy do they go together. It is probably the best realization of an IP in a roleplaying game I have ever seen, so pick it up and enjoy. My friend also has a huge collection of the Star Wars miniature game and uses it to resolve space battle scenes, so this can add a whole new dimension to the game. Yes, in space no one can hear you nerdgasm.

The 8 Dirtiest and Most Dangerous Jobs in Space

Now there are dirty jobs out there in the universe - garbage scow, xeno-coroner, warp engine lube technician. Likewise, any soldier or space merchant faces his share of danger. But there are also jobs that are both insanely dirty AND dangerous, and which only get done because of the small chance of a large payoff they offer. Here are the most notorious ‘Double D’ jobs in space:

Ordinance Recovery

When local pisspot baronies start an interplanetary shootout, there are those who see it is a chance to turn a profit. Missiles or rockets fail in a number of ways – software glitch, fuel leak, chaff or jamming. Unexploded ordinance such as missiles are worth a nice bit on the black market, but are also highly illegal to resell. Some scavengers go in ‘hot’ and sweep in while the battle rages, clamp onto a juicy piece of ordinance and jet out before they become a target themselves, fingers crossed that their cargo doesn’t go supernova. Others go in ‘cold’, picking through debris after the war is won, carefully defusing and disassembling the rockets and their payload before safely storing them and moving on. Either way has an equal chance of making you rich or dead.

Bountyhunting

Space is so unimaginably huge that anyone not looking to be found can easily and effectively do so if they stay on the move. Cops are usually limited to peace keeping and beating down the locals, while mobile criminals cross jurisdictional lines and make things messy for the law. That is why most places either sign on to the bounty hunter treaty or else turn a blind eye to their activities. The big problem is the restriction against lethal force unless fired upon, which means that you better either get the drop on your prize with whatever netgun or stunner you’re using, or else hope they miss once before you gun them down. It doesn’t make it any easier that the most dangerous and most rewarding bounties are wanted alive.

Bughunt

There are all kinds of treaties protecting indigenous life, but for an unscrupulous corporation or a desperate group of refugees looking for a new home, extermination of local flora and fauna might be the only option. The sounds good on paper, but life has a way of carrying on, or at least taking a lot of other lives with it into oblivion. Then there’s the advanced life that can send killers right back at their employers…

Wildlife Transport

As hard as it is just killing off alien life, imagine the challenges of capturing and carrying it somewhere. That tame-looking spacecat you’ve lured into your hold doesn’t seem so cute when it grows tentacles then starts teleporting around the ship eating crew like ruffled potato chips. Add to that your violation of numerous space treaties and local laws in transporting or delivering the critter and you’ve got a galaxy strength headache to deal with.

Test Piloting

As dangerous as test piloting was back in the day of simple aeronautics, with the reality-warping engines used nowadays, things get a whole lot weirder. Pilots can return before their departure, or come back mad from an eternity in the warp lanes, or else sound crazy claiming that the world is the same except for one detail like the color of the skies or that people don’t have forked tongues like they used to. Maybe the ones that just disappear are luckier.

Rat Catching

Imagine an abandoned spaceport the size of a moon needing to be cleared out in two weeks. Now imagine the number of hiding places in such a structure. The rats in the walls could be any number of things, from disgruntled employees, to squatters, activists for some cause, alien critters, rogue AI, or even ghosts. Since most of these jobs are on a timetable, your chance of going home empty handed are higher than those of going home in a box – but not by much.

Artifact Transport

Just like the Fermi Paradox told us, other intelligences rose and fell long before humanity spread out into the cosmos, and from time to time we find their relics, and even their junk. The problem is that we’re still in diapers in terms of technology, and can’t tell if we’ve picked up the cure for cancer or a loaded gun. Artifact transporters are subject to spontaneous mutations, space-time distortions, and whatever malevolent designs the defunct creators of the artifact set in motion. Add to this that on the off-chance you do get a useful artifact AND figure out how to use it, every space pirate, scavenger, and spacy frigate you encounter will be aiming to take it from you.

Space Anomaly Survey Team

Space is just plain weird at times, filled with anomalies that don’t follow any of the laws of physics, and thumb their nose at reality. Shrinking black holes, anti-matter planetoids, heavy midget planets, and gas or liquid mega-giants without the gravity they’d need to exist are all out there for the finding. They can make your hull disappear, crush you like a tin can, or have you reliving moments from your childhood. Figuring out what makes these anomalies tick, or better yet finding a way to use them for profit, can make the effort and risk pay off in spades.

If you and your crew are in need of a quick payoff or a huge push towards the good life, these jobs are for you. Just remember that they won’t be easy, clean or safe. You were warned.

You Know What They Call Traveler In France?

(Consider this my Joesky Tax for the last rant)

They call it Empire Galactique!

In my neverending quest for free rpg goodies I found THIS site for EG, a French language scifi RPG originally published in 1984. In 2005 the author decided to make it free for all and has been slowly making the gamebooks available as PDFs on line.

Although I haven’t had time to read the entire books or play a game myself, EG is written clearly and has that great Heavy Metal 1980s style French comic art seen in works of Moebus and his colleagues. The rules are simple but comprehensive and explained in an easily understandable fashion. The core mechanic is stat + or – difficulty – 2d6, with a negative result being failure and positive being success.

These are the books currently available as they appear on the website (click on them for download, then on the pictures):

Les règles de base (Basic rules)

Le livre du Rôle (Gamebook)

Le livre du Maître de jeu (GM’s Book)

L'Encyclopédie Galactique (Galactic Encyclopedia)

Tome I : Histoire et organisation de l'Empire (History and organization of the Empire)

Tome II : Espace & Triche-Lumière (Space & lightspeed)

Tome III : Varlet & Lehouine (I dunno the context, but these may be place names)

Catalogue des vaisseaux (prochainement disponible !)(Coming soon, catalogue of vessels)

Tome IV (prochainement disponible !) (Coming soon)

Scénarios (Adventures)

Les pirates de l'amas de Gion (Pirates of the cluster of Gion)

Le cas de l'ambassadeur trop bien protégé (The case of the over-protected ambassador)

L'astéroïde (The asteroid)

La nuit des bourrins (Night of the horses)

L'honneur des Corsaires (Honor of the corsairs)

Le dernier des Kandärs (prochainement disponible !) (Coming soon – The last of the Kandars)

Even if you can’t understand French, give EG a download, look it over and be inspired.

Old School Space Game

THIS is what an OD&D space game needs to emulate

No Dungeons No Dragons ‘March Madness’ Blogserk – Day 10

Other blogs can be found HERE.

The questions can be found HERE.

10 What science fiction RPG have you enjoyed most? Give details.

We played a lot of GURPS Space back in the day, but to be honest the chargen was a bit too involved. I’d certainly never run it, as I am a big hand-waiver as a GM.

I picked up the original Traveler off RPGNow a few years back and would like to give that a shot – minus some of the calculations. I think that game really captures the feel of the 1970s scifi I cut my teeth on. It has shades of Asimov’s Foundation and Niven’s Grasping Hand books.

Speaking of Niven, I have a copy of the Ringworld and as a BRP fan could see me running or playing that. Evidently, Niven himself used the game as a reference when writing the 3rd installment of the series!

Honestly, I have not found that many people who want to play scifi, except for Star Wars d6 or Star Trek (I’d run Far Trek or Where No Man Has Gone Before in a sec given the chance).

I think the problem with scifi that scares people off from gaming in the genre is threefold:

1)     High tech rules make GMing a taxing proposition

2)      Any setting besides an established IP requires extensive background

3)      Knowledge of physics and astrogation basics seems necessary

Fantasy gaming suffers none of these hurdles – tell someone he is an elf, let him roll up a starting spell and some equipment and they’re good to go. Maybe someone needs to write a scifi rpg that doesn’t scare off beginners of the non-scientific.

Good luck with that.

Interweb Buried Treasure Find – TSR 2001 A Space Odyssey RPG?!?

I have been pretty tied down before my preliminary exam on Thursday (today), but while web surfing to de-stress, I came across two TSR modules for Star Frontiers based on the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and the sequel 2010. They are available at the Star Frontiers website in the Modules section. They are well made curios invaluable to any Kubrick film or Clarke scifi buffs, but gamers might balk due to their extreme faithfulness to the source materials.

Although I thought maybe the OSR hadn’t stumbled onto these retro goodies, a quick search for images resulted in reviews of them by Grognardia. Whereas James M didn’t see Star Frontiers as a good fit for the game and understandably dismissed the modules’ gaming usefulness due to their extreme railroady nature, I thought they were great resources for someone looking to run Star Frontiers as ‘harder’ scifi than the default setting, an aspect of the rules modifications they present which James also comments upon. More than that, as an inveterate OSR DIY guy, I think these railroads are ripe for Jacquaying and modding with switchbacks, loops, and alternate tracks.

How would I do that? One way to see 2001 is a space where extremely hard scifi (i.e. human technology like HAL and the Discovery) meets extremely soft ‘techno-magic’ (i.e. the monolith and starchild, and more if you’ve read the novel). Put in this way, adding in the goofy space opera of the original Star Frontiers is hardly a stretch, and so my first move would be to ignore the restrictions to human characters outlined in the modules. Next, since the modules and their source films and books take place over enormous spans of time, from the Dawn of Man to centuries in our future, a bit of Star Trek style time traveling from the Star Frontier’s timeline would be in order. Finally, as a DM I would be OK with PCs going off the rails of the film plot. I’ve always had the dream of running Lord of the Rings and letting the PCs try whatever they want to get the ring to Mordor, maybe allowing Gandalf all spells with the caveat that using any unlocks them for the forces of darkness as well. I’d try to do a similar balancing act with these modules. If possible, I’d run the modules without letting players know they are gaming 2001, but I’d also be open to players in the known who are happy to muck about in the setting.

Here’s an example of how I would Jacquay the first chapter, including some of the complications and reactions I would have anticipated:

The Dawn of Man – It is the default Star Frontiers future, and the PCs are contacted through an agent to make a delivery for a princely sum of money. The condition is that they ask no questions and do not pry into the unknown devices installed on their ship or the cargo it holds, and they must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement to that effect. The cargo is, of course, the moon and Earth monoliths, and the mission is to deliver them to our solar system at the dawn of mankind.

If the PCs do not have a ship suitable for transport, one is provided for them, and unbeknownst to them can both travel FTL and in time. Note that I am a big handwaiver with this type of lightspeed/parsecs speed vs time stuff, and as PCs should be ignorant of what is in store for them, I see no need to get into it. If the PCs have a suitable ship, they are asked to leave it with the agent for a day, after which it is fitted with the FTL and timejump devices and cargo is loaded.

Any attempt to tamper with the devices or pry into the cargo should be met with increasing warnings and danger. Players should first be told that the devices make no sense to even the most skilled mechanic or technician in the group, and both their function and purpose are a mystery. Attempting to open them should either not work (cutters can’t cut the material, there are no joints, etc), deliver warning shocks (small damage or unconsciousness) or worse (increasing damage, a warning message from the agent). If the players don’t seem to want to go along for the ride, tell them they are knocked out by some force, awaken unharmed in their ship but with a Breech of Contract notification informing of the legal repercussions if they disclose any details of the agreement they had made.

If the players do play ball, they are put in stasis until their ship reaches our moon in antediluvian times. When they awake, the shipboard AI informs them that their first mission is to bury the monolith on the lunar surface, so PCs will have to suit up and accomplish this. To throw players off, the GM may describe the lunar monolith as a translucent or transparent oblong filled with tiny crystalline circuit structures as in the novel instead of the ebon monolith from the film. As a red herring, the GM may want to add a subplot of lunar quicksand that sucks down either the ship or several PCs and complicates their task (see the Arthur Clarke story ‘A Fall of Moondust’ for inspiration).

The real action starts on earth, which the PCs may not recognize as such due the change in constellations over the millennia and the difference in Earth’s atmosphere and composition of continents. The ship AI can navigate around the system, but will curiously be unable to give time or coordinates in relation to the PC’s normal setting. The ship AI informs them they must plant the second oblong near a group of cave dwelling apemen, then observe and record its interactions with them for two weeks. It’s up to the players to plan – do they knock out the apemen with stunners, or try and sneak it in? (See Jack Kirby’s 2001 comic for inspiration.)

Once the device is set, it comes to life at night, blinking and flashing hypnotically, after which the entire tribe sleepwalks out to stand rapt before it. After the first night, players making a perception roll will notice the apemen are walking more upright and using sticks to knock down fruit instead of climbing to get food as they did the day before.

The GM can introduce several dilemmas here to challenge the PCs. First, a predator jaguar or tiger can threaten the apemen, or a rival tribe could show up and threaten their access to water or food. Have some apemen die or be injured in front of PCs to provoke a reaction. As the apemen are influenced by the alien device, have them become more aggressive and start using weapons such as sticks or bone clubs. Have a Cain-Abel style first murder occur before the PCs to show them that maybe the monolith’s influences are not entirely benign. If players decide to fire on the monolith or stop it, have any human character instantly devolved into an apeman and modify his stats as per the module (p. 4). Now the game can switch to a return to try and restore the timeline.

If the players allow the monolith’s function to proceed, after the two weeks they are placed back in stasis and wake up in orbit around Earth’s moon just before the discovery of the lunar monolith, with US and Soviet teams rushing to reach the object pinpointed by magnetic scans as in the crater Tycho. Their mission next is to stop the Soviet advance and surreptitiously assist the US team. Once again, throw dilemmas at the PCs, such as the hidden armaments of the US team and the unarmed Soviets. Make them question whether their mission is good or not, and make all humans speak Russian if they decide to stop the Americans. Have fun with the wonky paradoxes of time travel and going off the rails of an established property.

Anyway, with my prelim done expect a speed up of posts of the backlog of ideas I’ve had while grinding away at my thesis.