 November 28, 2007 - 1:07pm | This project will be divided up into different sections and if you want just jump into a section and work on it. If you want to be assigned PM me. Introduction Using this Book Map of Known Space Star Systems Skills Combat Equipment Races (add some new ones dont be shy) Cults and Cadres Mega-Corporations and more (if you want to add some new topics do so) Confucious Says: Man with one chopstick go hungry. Man who eat many prunes get good run for money. Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement. |
 November 28, 2007 - 3:07pm | As stated in the other threads the following are specifically mentioned in Zebs 1.0 as being expanded in future versions of Zebs. The important thing to note is that these things would be NEW material, not just expansions of Zebs 1.0. Power Armor Cybernetics Bionics Robotics Genetically Engineered "Super Sathar" (So a section on the Sathar Genetic's program seems desirable.) My personal opinion on some of the things mentioned above: 1) Intro : Check. 2) Using the Book : Should just be part of the Intro. 3) Map of Known Space : The new Zebs map I created and was printed in SFMAN 6 should do the job. It can be expanded to include any relevant information. I'm open to suggestions. 4) Star Systems : I don't think we need more. Perhaps we could use more specific information about the ones added to Zebs 1.0 and their relationship with the Frontier core. 5) Skill : Same here. GM's and players just need more guidance about how to use the new skills. More skills aren't likely to make Zebs more playable... just more complicated. So unless the new skills fall specifically within the above mentioned areas of expansion, I'm not too excited about them. 6) Combat : Again, Zebs created a new system that has not been widely adopted. Reasons for this need to be explored and any tinkering of that system made more accessible/applicable. I suspect that an easy conversion chart/tool so old material can be used in the Zebs system is what's really needed to convince people to adopt it... not a wholesale changing of it (making sections of 1.0 less viable.) 7) Equipment : Maybe. I'm not sure about this because the first book introduced new equipment. I don't think making players consult three different volumes for equipment is the best idea. I know Power Armor isn't covered, so maybe a section of different kinds of power armor and battlefield equipment... items that would be designed more for standard Warfare as opposed to normal combat situations. 8) Races : Zebs already introduced new playable races. Along with new Space (the Rim.) I don't believe new races are necessary beyond expanding the functionality and balance of the ones already included. New races piled on top of the races that some people already have a problem with won't likely make Zebs more appealing. I vote for a moratorium on Frontier building races. :p 9) Cults and Cadres : Not sure. Again, not to sound like a broken record, but if Zebs was part of a 3 book expansion of the Alpha Dawn (and perhaps Knight Hawks) rules, I just don't see the next two volumes covering the same stuff the earlier volumes covered. Doing that seems more like editing Zebs 1.0 itself, not actually doing Vol 2 and 3 the way they probably would have been done. 10) Mega-Corporation : See above. So, as you can see, the goal of this project is very much in doubt if most of what's going to be developed is based on things Zebs already addressed. Zebs, to me, was about a paradigm shift that was largely laid out in Volume 1.0 and successive volumes would tighten things up, clarify, and fill in the gaps. I believe the design of future volumes need to be pegged as either Pyramidal (with Zebs as the foundation and the rest being built on top of and within the confines of it) or as an Inverted Pyramid, where near exponential expansion of the Frontier is inevitable, and Zebs ends up being the crack in the proverbial dam. One smacks of chaos, whereas I think Zebs was originally promising a "New Frontier Order." |
 March 21, 2008 - 4:51pm | one thing implied but not realized was adapting SFKH. The design systems work just fine, but since the starship skills are all only in the PSA system... |
 May 19, 2010 - 8:45pm | I'll take a stab at resurrecting a zombie thread... I think that what this project needs is not to expand on the zebs guide in an effort to put out volumes 2 and 3. -for one thing cybernetics is getting tackled in the SFman with Bill Logan's exhaustive article and few others that are coming out sooner or latter so thats an issue that doesn't need to be re-done and other stuff is being down up well enough in the SFman too -the rules mechanic- I believe we should respect the DNR order in its medical records and not initiate CPR on that corpse If you think about it, what Zebs did was expand and detail more of the setting, sketchy though some of it is, We should take a page from the writers of Zebs and simply seek to flesh out and detail the setting material and get it out in the form of articles for the SFman. 1. an article for the SFman is a workable "bite" that wont swamp the submitter and eventually become a dead and abandoned project junking up his hard drive. 2. The SFman is a great platform for dusting off this material and breathing new life into it. Curriously Zebs has been under represented in the SFman and if Galaxy Rangers and the xenomorphs from the alien movies can grace its pages than why not Zebs material? 3. Once we've compiled a wealth of material in the SFman that is of zebs origin we can do up a Zebs suppliment and if we never get enough then we dont do a zebs suppliment and so what. What we should focus on A. Remastering the races and new art that doesn't suck the article on the Ifshnit from a recent issue was excellent and the one on the mechanons was good too, Osakar and Humma should get similar treatment. and some archtypes for Zebs races come on its time! B. Time line, not to beat this horse while its down but there are problems and its a mess but... if we break it up into 3 sections: Section A starts with a long long time ago and goes up to just before the time of full contact between the Rim and the UPF (nice chunk of time and for those who despise Zebs and want nothing to do with it this will be their timeline) Section B will be the expansion of the Rim area and lead up to the end of SW2; Section C will be the most creative as it will propose a direction for the future Alternately the 3rd timeline could focus on the ICEWARS or corporate conflicts. there is material from Dragon magazine and of course Dramune Run has details on the Dramune War. but you could just include all the details from the SFKH modules and the non Volturnus SF mods. C. side by side with the time line sections I suggest above what might be cool is to have a chart of equipment and tech advance that matches the 3 sections of the timeline for GMs and players to refer to. D. some indepth looks at the star systems in the Rim would be good too. E. obviously and adventure or two wouldn't hurt either I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
