Kharis2000 Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 I'm trying something different here and planing on running a local retro-pulp space game in the vein of Captain Video, Tom Corbett, and the like (all my previous pulp games have been terrestrial and temporally restricted to the late 20's - late 40's). Since there was talk about games of this sort, I'm attaching the current version of the campaign document for folks to check out and draw inspiration from. I make no claim to originality or ownership for anything in this material; it's fan fiction. Some of it came from Star Hero, some from Steve Long's Solar Smith setting, some from the Cosmic Patrol setting, some from GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol, some from the Rocket Age setting, some from various Traveler supplements, some from ICE's Spacemaster: Privateers setting, some from actual pulp materials, and probably a dozen other places. It's only intended use is to be a campaign bible for my game to introduce the setting and such to my players. All copyrighted materials are owned by the original producers and no challenge is intended. If you want to comment on it, then please feel free - I can always use constructive ideas, suggestions, corrections, and observations. If, in fact, I need to take the file down lest I cause an issue, then just let me know! Tales of the Cosmic Rangers Campaign Document - Final v10.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnStrawberry Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 I have a soft spot for Space Pulp and will definitely check this out! The Savage Worlds Slipstream setting might also be worth a look. I believe Star Hero spends some pages on this kind of setting, but it would be excellent to have an actual, full-length genre guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 I will point out that this is A) not a complete setting y any means, and not the completed version. I found several issues today (like the hideously embarrassing fact that I intended the organization to be the 'Cosmic Rangers' and not the 'Cosmic Patrol' as it was referred to for the whole document, for example), and it will likely evolve a bit more over time as I add things like quick name guides for the alien races, address issues that crop up with my starship operations systems, and so on. Hope folks are, at the least, entertained! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Version 5 of the document uploaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Version 6 of the document uploaded. Small additions again: brief bits on languages, added material (including some images) regarding the CRRS Stellarax and her Captain, XO, and Chief of the Boat, and redefined some of the ranks to add NCO ranks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 To the folks that have downloaded and read the document, are you seeing any issues? Things I'm particularly interested in external viewpoints on are: the starting point levels and the size of the alien race templates in relation to them, the shipboard operations rules, and overall campaign requirements as reflective of the genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Version v.7 of the document uploaded. Fixed Cosmic Rangers template issues [Astrogation (Space) costs 2 points, I was charging for TF's that were covered by the skill], added campaign expectations on page 1, added more details on the CRRS Stellarax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted June 22, 2015 Report Share Posted June 22, 2015 A couple of things, editing-wise: The last line of the second paragraph under Campaign Theme Guidelines drops off with an ",and". The Venusian template lists "2 KSs at 11-" and "2 Sciences at 11-", each for 2 points. Those should each be 4 points. At first blush the templates struck me as a little heavy, with the racial and Ranger template combos giving the Venusians and Vimdrani the fewest options and the Humans given carte blanche. Having stared at it for a while though, it doesn't seem so severe as I'd thought, and it's within the genre to have some marked differences between species. Systems Operations seem to be the skill to have, at least in terms of getting the most out of your ship. I was wondering how high of a skill roll you're expecting characters to have (in general). Rolling at -4 also feels a little steep if skill rolls are on the low end; I think you'll be unlikely to see anyone take advantage of the bonuses that you've defined at that level. Having it at just -2 too strikes me as too little, so maybe -3? This is a great read. I'm a big fan of this kind of setting and wish I was fortunate enough to be a player in this campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Thanks! Those two are now fixed in v.8 of the document (not posted yet) I'm assuming most people will have a base of 11- to 12- (slightly higher for Venusians), so I may need to revisit the penalties. I think that the shield system has a success on a roll giving one level of effect, so I likely need to go back and ensure that all the systems give one level of effect on a successful skill check, with the next levels coming every multiple after that. I may need to look at subdividing Systems Operation or requiring PS: Tesla Shield Operation or something of the sort to prevent one skill from being too useful, though. I tried to structure the templates to a) ensure everyone had the base skills they needed, and to ensure that the alien races were distinguished and generally grouped by their stat adds. Humans were deliberately left wide open as they were structured as the supreme generalists of the game to balance out their lack of superior stats and racial abilities (and racial limitations) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Version 10 of the document attached. This is likely the final version going out to players. More edits, some more images added, discussion of cadet life at the Academy added, additional material inserted in CRRS Stellarax and ship's NPCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 As they roll in, I'll post the characters built for the game as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 First block of characters - two humans, a Mindalari, and a Haltaxan. Observations: So far, almost everyone's chosen to go broad as opposed to taking a deep dive into a specialty or stat. Stroud's player is the outlier, as he maxed Dex for a human and went heavily into piloting. No personal combat-heavy characters. Amusingly, and without planning, both humans chose names with the same initials. So far, only Stroud and Fartraveller have bought Heroic Talents, and one of those was really just a flavor buy. Characters to come: female Venusian Doctor, female Trinalaxan Botanist, male Mindalari generalist, female Martian Amazon (NPC) PC - Ace_Stevenson.pdf PC - Axel Stroud.pdf PC - Hogan Fartraveller.doc PC - Tawny.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Female Venusian scientist/doctor. Still awaiting male Mindalari generalist, female Trinalaxan botanist, and the female Martian Amazon NPC (which I am the drag on) Nurene Sellessen.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted July 14, 2015 Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Cool stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 While I wait for the last two PCs (and stall some more on making the NPC), I'm putting together notes on the game itself mechanically. I'll try to have that done in the next few days and posted up for folks to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Here's the Mindalari Generalist. One NPC and one PC to go. PC - Nyaando.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 And here's the Campaign Outline for Season One. Tales of the Cosmic Rangers Season One Campaign Outline.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharis2000 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 And the last PC, the Trinalaxan botanist. PC - Caryophyllales.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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