Perry Rhodan Hero

[PaRappaTheRappe]

Has anyone done any write ups for a campaign set in the Solar Imperium of "Perry Rhodan"? I'd be very interested in anyone's approach to tricky things like paratron shields and transform-cannon, or a write-up of Hulatar troops or TARA combat robots.

[The Horror]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

I don't think you'll find anyone who's done that very easily. Perry Rhodan is just not as popular as it deserves to be. I know there has been a GURPS write up, but the links I found to it online were all broken.

 

I've actually been writing a Perry Rhodan RPG of my own. I'll look at getting it licensed and published sometime next year after I finish my PhD. If the license costs too much I'm sure I'll still be able to give it out to fans for free. I have no expectations of it selling very well - it's rather more a labour of love than anything. It doesn't use the HERO system, but rather it's own system. Ask me again in 6-8 months time and I should be able to send you a digital copy of the manuscript for playtesting/reviewing.

 

It's good to see another fan around these boards though. There are at least another couple of people registered here who do like the series, though I don't think they've done any HERO write ups for any of it. Shame that.

 

 

The Horror

[PaRappaTheRappe]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Thanks, I'd be interested in it. I discovered PR on spacebattles.com where it has a fairly large and knowledgeable following, who can actually quote teratonnages and other nifty technical facts when quibbling how fast the SI would beat-down the Star Wars Galactic Empire or Warhammer 40K. The irony is that the pen-and-paper crowd there is small and has no intersection with the PR fans, so I came here wondering if there were Perryverse gamers on the forums.

[The Horror]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Thanks' date=' I'd be interested in it. I discovered PR on spacebattles.com where it has a fairly large and knowledgeable following, who can actually quote teratonnages and other nifty technical facts when quibbling how fast the SI would beat-down the Star Wars Galactic Empire or Warhammer 40K. The irony is that the pen-and-paper crowd there is small and has no intersection with the PR fans, so I came here wondering if there were Perryverse gamers on the forums.

 

Cool. Thanks for the link. I was going through nightmarish processes to work out the exact vehicle specs. Even ordered some German technical manuals to get a better idea of what is currently considered to be canon, though not speaking German has made that process way too slow for me to do properly right now. I'll definately start asking some questions around there soon when I have more time to work on the document.

 

If you end up statting up some PR gear in HERO feel free to post it here. I'll take a look through it to see if it looks ok. The main issue I had with HERO was the fact that mutant powers would cost a fair few points during character gen, and that people without mutant abilities would not be getting those points or anything close to even match up for it (some of the players could have possibly felt that to be a bit unfair). But the system is solid, and it can do PR very well. Let us know what you come up with. There should be some other people here with enough familiarity with the series to make some good comments on it as well.

 

 

The Horror

[Southern Cross]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

I haven't read Perry Rhodan (the Ackermonster's English paperback versions anyway) for years,but it's one of the few genres I'd think of that would REQUIRE

a random system of character generation.Being able to read minds is useful,but most players would prefer to play either Pucky or the two-headed mutant Ivan Ivanovitch Goratshkin (did I spell the name correctly?) who's capable of mentally triggering NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS in objects that contain carbon,even through Arkonide forcefields.

[The Horror]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

I haven't read Perry Rhodan (the Ackermonster's English paperback versions anyway) for years,but it's one of the few genres I'd think of that would REQUIRE

a random system of character generation.Being able to read minds is useful,but most players would prefer to play either Pucky or the two-headed mutant Ivan Ivanovitch Goratshkin (did I spell the name correctly?) who's capable of mentally triggering NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS in objects that contain carbon,even through Arkonide forcefields.

 

That would definately have a lot of merit, but completely random PC generation including power selection would just take a lot of building a character IMO. With Ivan's power it's simple to rule that PC's cannot have it since they don't have two heads. Humans are on the whole easy to do. Just restrict them to one major power and at most one minor power on top of that. With Pucky it gets a bit messy, since anybody wanting to play that race should have strong psychic powers. It wouldn't be a problem in a HERO game where the characters are designed by the GM, but if you want to give players the full option of character design then guidelines most definately have to be in place. It took me a long time thinking about this to get what I feel was the best balance for my game, though I wouldn't even know where to start with HERO.

 

The first thing you'd need to do is throw point balance out the window. Look at the cost difference between a teleport and a telepath or a telekinet. What might do the trick is generating some packages for completely arbitrary amounts of starting character points, and have the points within the package be completely variable. For example, make telepathy and teleportation worth say 15 character points each, though the actual points they get in the package are a lot higher.

 

And what about hypnotic skill learning/power development? What a way to screw character generation if it's not regulated properly.

 

 

The Horror

[DrTemp]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Actually, a Perry Rhodan RPG is due to be available in about a month.

 

In German, of course. It is based on a very annoyingly old-fashioned gaming system called "Midgard"- which is a typical fantasy system, with random character creation, levels, and the like.

 

It does not, however, play in the Solar Imperium, since in the German novels, the Solar Imperium does not exist any longer- The League of Free Terrans has succeeded it a few centuries ago. The new RPG seems to focus on current events in the "Perryverse".

 

I am not sure whether they accept english language questions, but just for completness: You can find a web forum for this new RPG at

 

http://www.midgard-forum.de/forumdisplay.php?f=121

[DrTemp]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

[...Random CharGen for the Perryverse...]

That would definately have a lot of merit, but completely random PC generation including power selection would just take a lot of building a character IMO. With Ivan's power it's simple to rule that PC's cannot have it since they don't have two heads. Humans are on the whole easy to do. Just restrict them to one major power and at most one minor power on top of that.

 

Uhm... if one does not want Pucky (I assume that's the Ilt Gucky's name in the english translations of the stories?) or a character of similar power level in the group.. well, what about giving fewer Character points to start with?

 

The first thing you'd need to do is throw point balance out the window. Look at the cost difference between a teleport and a telepath or a telekinet

 

Well, in a story, there is no such thing as "game balance", naturally. I would not conclude from that that in a different medium that has game balance this would not work in the Perryverse.

 

And what about hypnotic skill learning/power development? What a way to screw character generation if it's not regulated properly.

 

That should be easy. You need free CP for learning skills- just the amount of time required is reduced dramatically by hypnoteaching.

[Edward Kann]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Wow

 

Perry Rhodan. Now THERE is a blast from the past. I remember walking into a used book store YEARS ago and filling my arms with Perry Rhodan paperbacks.

 

They were great!

 

But I haven't seen a single one of them since then.

 

Thanks for reminding me about that series. Now I have another set of good old books to pick up and look for online.

 

Edward

[The Horror]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Actually, a Perry Rhodan RPG is due to be available in about a month.

 

In German, of course. It is based on a very annoyingly old-fashioned gaming system called "Midgard"- which is a typical fantasy system, with random character creation, levels, and the like.

 

It does not, however, play in the Solar Imperium, since in the German novels, the Solar Imperium does not exist any longer- The League of Free Terrans has succeeded it a few centuries ago. The new RPG seems to focus on current events in the "Perryverse".

 

 

That is very cool. At some stage I'll make some inquiries as to whether they hold the license for the English version as well. Regardless, I'm sure there will still be a place in plenty (or some) of people's hearts for my version as well, since it's set in the first cycle of the series.

 

Damn. I wish I had the time to learn German. One day, when I finish studies, maybe...

 

 

 

The Horror

[DrTemp]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

That is very cool. At some stage I'll make some inquiries as to whether they hold the license for the English version as well.

 

Probably not.

 

However, I cannot agree that I find anything based in Midgard "cool". Midgard is something like the opposite of Hero System or GURPS: It's a bad D&D clone from the early 80's, and it shows.

 

Regardless, I'm sure there will still be a place in plenty (or some) of people's hearts for my version as well, since it's set in the first cycle of the series.

 

While I also believe there'd be interest in the game you have in mind, a want to nitpick that the Solar Imperium did not exist in the first cycle of the series...

[TheImperialKhan]

Re: Perry Rhodan Hero

 

Actually I think that the first cycle is a great period to set a campaign. Particularly if your players are World-Builders. Let them play Rhodan, Bell, et al and give them a chance to really build a new world.

 

Alternately set a campaign right after the end of the first cycle with Earth trying to build the Solar Imperium while still remaining hidden from Arkon. Plenty of adventure, space exploration, interaction with small local space-faring powers more in the New Power's league at the time (something that the series glossed over), maybe a short duration conflict or three and there would still be opportunities for plain old terrestrial menaces that need to be dealt with. Set it aboard a K-class auxilary vessel to start, the New Power picked up another 40 that were aboard the Titan in addition the original and the twelve from the Stardust II, they would be great for this sort of thing, 60-meter diameter, well-armed for their size with a crew of up around 50 or 60. Later you could eventually move the players over to something bigger when it was built, maybe a 200-meter Terra class heavy cruiser. You might even try having Earth start to trade with a Springer clan that was ostracized for being too honest and above-board, that in turn leads into the espionage missions of Earth's Solar Agents which could be another great campaign.

 

That early period was really a great period for roleplay. The players really have the chance to make a difference without the benefit of the safety net that a massive space fleet provides. When all you have is a handful of heavy-class spaceships you really can't afford to go throwing your weight around.