 September 26, 2011 - 11:31am | I think this site is from our own Captain Rags.  It has an incredible amount of information; deck plans, drawings, NPC's, backgrounds, locations, etc. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us pawning it. The drawings alone can be printed and handed out to players. Amazing site. |
 September 26, 2011 - 12:29pm | I really like the Dead Man's Wharf station, pretty slick design. |
September 26, 2011 - 1:48pm | Ya know, why don't more player's request robotic pets? Robotic Dog: Level 2, STA: 100, Length: 1.3m, Weight: 50kg, Move: 130m/turn, Attack: 60, IM 6, Damage: 3d10 bite, 1d10 claw, #Attacks: 2 ...and here's my cousin P.0.0.P cleaning up after robotic pets....  |
September 26, 2011 - 2:14pm | What, if you leave them unattended too long they leave oil stains on the carpets? |
September 26, 2011 - 3:35pm | Sure... but if their cybots, watch out. LOL |
 November 3, 2011 - 5:52pm | 1.) cliche, (seems there is always a pet... and it either gets in the way, is the motivation for stupid risks, or just does nothing at all... and no one trusts an NPC with a cat or a dog anyway, as everyone knows that means it is either an "antagonist-in-thin-disguise" villan or a "hard-to-get-along-with" ally, so even GMs tend not to use them.) 2.) characters owning pets makes people feel silly even if it is not a robot. ("I am supposed to fictionally get attached to a useless piece of "equipment" that may annoy everyone "randomly" and/or potentially get my character killed? um-mm, why?") 3.) lack of up-front support in the rules or mention in the setting. (I didn't know I could have a talking teddy-bear!!?!! what page is THAT on!?! you only showed be a list of heavy and cumbersome gear and rather useless knick-knacks! ... No, Teddy-Bear was not listed between Tac-Nuke and Thermal-Detonite alphabetically.) 4.) when a pet is selected it is usually either biologically compatible (a Vrusk with a butterfly-like parrot), or based on a homeworld cultural connection (humans from golliwog have pet fungal-toads, humans from Prenglar have pet kooshi-balls, humans from Madderly's Star keep raccoons to help reduce the anoying talking-butterfly population.) 5.) Because a robotic "dog" is just as lame as a regular dog, when I could request a robotic sentry bot with man-seeking mini-missiles, high-explosive fragmentary-flechette chainguns, shock-rocker ripper-saws, orbital-defense plasma-canons, and a small starship's Alpha Shield Defense Matrix... why settle for the "lesser pet" when an ED-2-Oh-9thousand-and-1/2 is kewler? I have had characters with all kinds of pets... robotic included. Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
 September 27, 2011 - 6:01pm | I don't see the point why having a pet or pet robot or whatever is "silly". It can be a character device, but more it tends to work better for bad guys like the 007 villian with the cat, or Zorgs (whatever you call it) in the fifth element. |
October 16, 2011 - 6:18am | While it may be chiche, it does not mean it can't be fun. We're not talking about what are really set props like Blofield's cat (007) or Zorg's pet Picasso (Fifth Element), we're envisioning something a little more fun like the 4th Doctor's pet K-9 with intelligence and just enough to move the story along or slow it down without it looking too deus ex machina. |
November 3, 2011 - 5:33pm | These are what I consider "fun" ... Blofield's cat (007) Zorg's pet Picasso (Fifth Element) The Doctor's K-9 (Doctor Who) "Dog", Max's dog (Mad Max 2) EMAX Research's dog "Max" (Man's Best Friend) Arnold the Pig (Green Acres) The Mongoose Rikki Tikki Tavi (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi) Benji (Benji) Muffit and Muffit II (Battlestar Galactica) Ripply's Jones (Alien & Aliens) Data's Spot (Star Trek The Next Generation) Archer's Porthos (Star Trek Enterprise) Harry Mudd's Tribbles, The Klingon Targ, and Spock's Sehlat (Star Trek Origional and Animated Series) Norbert and Jeri (Alien: Harvest and Alien: Stronghold) Critters (Critters) Gremlins and Mogwai (Gremlins) Monkeybirds (Pirates of Darkwater) Vornskrs and Ewoks (Star Wars is ripe with pet ideas) ~ (Toys from the 80's) ~ The Space Pets - High Hoppin' Hoomdorm, Stretch Legged Stoomdorm, Fleet Footed Floomdorm, Lurch Along Loomdorm (Tomy Co.) Boglins (various manufacturers, from Mattel to Kellogg's) Various Electronic Pocket-Pets (various manufacturers) Though I am sure this list is not exhaustive this is a sample, specifically in Star Frontiers, of what has influenced my selection of pets as a Player, and the pets made available as a GM... many have also been in robotic form. Other possibilities from my mind have been given in posts relating to planets and eccologies... and I admit I have been considerably exotic (my preference is to "starfish-alien" over "rubber-suit" alien). I did have to look up the original names of the Sehlat and Vornskrs as I have modified versions... but found this http://io9.com/5302221/20-best-and-20-worst-pets-in-science-fiction and can say many more influences I had not remembered are out there. Any animal can come in a robotic companion form, and don't overlook the electronic pocket pal... I still stand by the list of reasons, and in the order given, as response to the direct query by w00t: "why don't more player's request robotic pets?" ... I didn't clarify that I don't personally subscribe to those rationals (#3 and #4 might be close but I can fix those)... to that list I will now add #5: (personally I don't consider it a "pet" if it is that kind of "kewler") Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
