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Serenity RPG


Eodin

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I read through the Serenity RPG book, and it just screams to me "Star Hero, i.e. Traveller Hero".

 

The background setting information is not bad, but the game system, IMHO, is awful (not my taste).

 

The other thing that came to mind while I was reading it was "Where is Western Hero 5th Edition when I need it" ? ;)

(I still have my Western Hero 4th edition, so no big worries).

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

I'm running a Serenity game, and, yeah, the system either sucks or I've never bothered really learning how to use it (I'm focusing very heavily on narrative and character, rather than detailed combat). I started it when the RPG first came out, and wanted to give it a try. Were I to do it again, I'd use Hero almost for sure.

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

Had a friend who normally doesn't GM buy it and tried to sell us on it, but it went the way of most of his games that use specific brands like that. Wheel of Time never took off either.

 

I'd love to see Firefly, Starship Troopers (for a D20 system that's not a bad one, had a few fun games with it), and Last Starfighter Hero supplements (hell, even Digital Hero translation would make me happy). And I know, I know. I can dream of a Last Starfighter rpg, can't I?

 

I can dream.

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

I'm playing a Serenity game and I don't mind the system. It is hardly granular, it has a lot of flaws, but ultimately it does what it needs to do.

 

Systems are systems are systems. Some of them are better suited for some style of games than others, but I have had some of my best games with the worst systems (and some great times with the best systems). The playing is the thing for joy to gamers bring (Hamlet via Yoda, only wrong and dummified).

 

Faults: In addition to what others have suggested, the Serenity system is half-finished. There is a lot of stuff that I make up on the fly (and take should take good notes for in case of future replication) not because I want to but because I have to. There is a lot of stuff (like the autofire rules) that either sucks or needs to be replaced. Again, not because I have to but because they don't make any sense.

 

The Benefits: Simplicity. And then there is um, simplicity. The game has a rather smooth flow because of this (discounting the occasional need to make things up because the game is half-finished), it also lacks granularity (see above). This is not necessarily as bad in the 'Verse as it would be in another setting. I often find that games based on movies and other visual properties have a better 'fit' to their subjects if they are simple and smooth in operation. Look at Trek-games. The Coda system was more complex but also quite simple (and horrifically unbalanced in a lot of ways). The LUG system did very nicely (although character generation had some serious flaws) and is probably my favorite from a game-play perspective (Coda was actually easier to GM but was subject to a few balance and metagaming issues). I liked the FASA version myself, and the AP system, and percentile based skills are actually quite simple.

 

I love HERO, very granular and the ability to create powers and whatnot is tres cool. But it is also a much more "expert oriented" game, where the players have to have some basis of knowledge in the system in order to play. The kids nowadays are scared off by that, and some of the established gamers I know (who play some hopelessly kludged systems like Rollmaster) are also afraid to try it out (or in at least one case, determined to declare that it sucks no matter what; you always get that guy at the table). They are turned off by the math involved in character creation (which not only isn't that bad in the first place but this whole "math-bad-avoid" cycle speaks to our modern generations lack of grit).

 

I'm considering taking the Serenity game on hiatus for a while, they have three books that are supposed to come out (I'll wait until that happens before I put much stock in that) and frankly, I need a little more as a GM. It has been a relatively long running campaign, but I would like to spread my wings a bit.

 

As such, I plan on tricking the players into trying HERO. Most recall or can get their hands on the original Traveller rules. I am going to have them make Traveller characters and send them to me. Then I will translate these characters into HERO and I will even them up by using the player with the highest points as the baseline and adding superskills, psionic abilities or whatnot to the others in order to bring them to the same point value. This avoids the problem that guy who rolls up five characters and takes the best (or just cheats) in Traveller and the problem of "Hero Shock" in the character generation process. It also evens the players out: No "Dude I'm like 90 but I have all the skills I need" or "I was forced to muster out after two terms, I'll just sit over there while the rest of you do everything")

 

I will then present them with characters and simplified options for the combat system. If I do the math for them -- "If you use Autofire with this character your OCV is X" right on the sheets -- it should ease any lingering problems as well as streamline combat a bit. I may make the characters (actually translate the characters) all with a standard Speed (like 3) so that they all start with the same action sequence (which tends to be more flat in Heroic games anyway), but show using NPCs and the like how the speed chart works (not making ever NPC faster than them btw, just the occasional bad guy or running-away critter). This way, they can see where they might want to spend advancement points. Eventually, I am sure that some of them (which include two engineers and a science teacher) will want to delve further into the system on their own as they get more interested.

 

I plan on using either the Terran Empire setting (or maybe Alien Wars, that was very cool) or a variant of the Traveller HERO rules (no aliens, smaller "galactic footprint" and some other elements that may include Infected Mutates and Post-Apocalyptic goodness) for this.

 

Any suggestions?

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

A fun variation for you Traveller types would be to set the Serenity-esque campaign in the Solomani Rim a few years after the Rim War between the Imperium and the Solomani Sphere (say around 1007, perhaps). The characters are former Solomani citizens who fought for the Sphere and are now adjusting to life on the Imperial side of the border where there are few jobs and even less opportunity on worlds with economies shattered by years of devastating interstellar warfare. Thus, the Imperials are the bad guys and the characters are scraping along trying to find some way to make a living among the stars.

 

Matt "Yeah-it-was-a-very-fun-take-on-an-old-standby" Frisbee

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

Firefly/Serenity - Wikiquote

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Firefly#Our_Mrs._Reynolds

 

Firefly Deck Plans - Keith "Shiny" Curtis

http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=704

 

Firefly Deck Plans - Keith "Shiny" Curtis

http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=705

 

Firefly and Serenity Database - Wikia

http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

Firefly and Serenity Wiki - Wikia

http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Firefly

 

Fan Maps of the Verse - Grey Ronin

http://www.superbuddies.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5317&highlight=serentiy+maps

 

Adventures in the Verse - Blue Sun Cafe (Thanks Kardiac)

http://www.superbuddies.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9911&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=serentiy+maps

 

Serenity RPG -

http://www.serenityrpg.com/

 

Serentiy RPG Forums -

http://cortexsystemrpg.org/index.php?action=forum

 

 

More later

 

 

QM

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Re: Serenity RPG

 

Firefly Deck Plans - Traveller Rules

http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/savage/1WorldOrder/My_Popular-Media-Designs/Firefly_FT_Original.html

 

Firegly Deck Plans for d20 - FireflyFans.net

http://www.fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=53

 

Google Images "Firefly Deck Plans"

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=Firefly%20Deck%20plans&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

 

Into the Black - Fan Film- Samasra

http://www.intotheblack.ca/node/95

 

 

I do not think you folks will have trouble converting that.

 

 

QM

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