 March 17, 2008 - 2:29am | Okay, guys and gals, let's hear your thoughts on this issue of the Star Frontiersman. Lots of goodies. Lots of great art. Post your thoughts here. 70 pages of eye-popping goodness that people from other game systems are enjoying as much as Star Frontiers fans. Star Frontiersman #8  "I don't use the stuff for SF, but for Traveller, so anyone who likes SciFi should be glad to check this site out." —Treebore at Enworld.org. . |
 March 20, 2008 - 7:46am | I wonder if "Dungeon Master" sounded that corny when it was first used... 
I think "Dungeon Master" still sounds corny to the uninitiated. It's definitely a loaded term in our society. When newer evolutions of RPG's moved to "Game Master" I was kind of happy because it's really more accurate and generic. That said, I still use the DM term for my AD&D games. And "Frontier Master" didn't make me bat an eye. ;) |
 March 20, 2008 - 1:08pm | Still reading through issue 8. My son read through the Mechanons section and made a character. I like the stories in the issue also.
My game got moved to Friday. It is hard being the FM sometimes. haven't really got to play as a player in a long time.
Let me know what you guys think of the Autodoc and the Gauss rifles. At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
 March 20, 2008 - 1:54pm | As usual I'm hoping somebody will be able to use what I contributed, but I'm not holding my breath this time. I doubt aquatic adventures happen much in Star Frontiers. If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. -- Carl Sagan |
March 20, 2008 - 2:12pm | As usual I'm hoping somebody will be able to use what I contributed, but I'm not holding my breath this time. I doubt aquatic adventures happen much in Star Frontiers. I'll be changing that, and AER is set up for it. All that is needed is a good aquatic module. I have one idea, but I encourage others to write some aquatic adventures. |
 March 20, 2008 - 7:26pm | I will have to look through some of my old magazines. I had a Traveller adventure that was based underwater. I always wanted to convert it to Star Frontiers. I will put that on my list of things to do. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
March 20, 2008 - 10:44pm | Thanks, guys. I really love the concept of things like Blue Planet and SeaQuest, and I love the ocean. A mission to a world like Poseidon or even to a place like Europa, with seas hidden under miles of ice, would be pure awesome in a can. If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. -- Carl Sagan |
March 21, 2008 - 1:12am | The Mini sub and Bathyxplorer are great additions. I think an under sea adventure is a great idea. I have been tossing around an idea of doing an adventure under a frozen lake. Like lake Vostok in Antarctica. At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
 March 23, 2008 - 9:43am | Let's see, comments for Issue 8: I liked the article on chronocoms. It helped flesh out some ideas for communication systems. The ships for KH's were good. I have a strong dislike for ship creation rules in KH but these were interesting nonetheless. The Gorlians seemed useful and I think the editor's notes at the end kind of spelled out an issue in Star Frontiers with the pairing of the attributes ie STR/STA etc. A partial quote "In fact, I found his terminally-low Intuition and Logic scores far more of a defining factor for the character. This bothered me a little, since the species is known as good trackers (normally Intuition should be high for such a race)." Perhaps there should be a case towards not making these attribute pairs so closely related. I mean I could create a race that has a high resistance to poisons, gas, drugs, etc. but still be physically weak requiring a large discrepancy between STR and STA. I guess you could make these like special abilities that give a bonus to STA for these resistance checks. I had a big problem with the sniper rifles (laser and gauss). Both of these are just long-range, low rate of fire versions of their regular cousins (except the gauss sniper rifle somehow gets an extra 1d10 to damage). Neither of these rifles would be suitable for a character trying to be a sniper. Both give tell-tale signs of where the shots originate and thereby making it suicidal for the would-be sniper. Once you fire they know where you are since the laser is either a beam or a pulse of light easily seen and the gauss rifle's projectile "leaves a short red or blue streak trailing the projectile". Continuing with the sniper rifles, the note about allowing a sniper to multiply the damage by their weapon skill level is way too far out there in balance IMO. At least with the sniper rifle in Issue 4 you were looking at a maximum of 60 points of damage. The damage output of the rifles in Issue 8 just made this a real problem to look at. Maybe lessen the bonus to adding an extra 1d5 or 1d10 per level of the sniper's weapon skill instead? Just to touch back on the regular gauss rifle a moment, I would probably back off on it being able to fire a burst. But that's just me personally. I liked the underwater vehicles. I agree that a good SF adventure underwater would be nice. Concerning mechanons, personally I dislike them as a PC in any circumstance. They still feel to "roboty" to me even with some organic traits. |
 March 23, 2008 - 3:44pm | I commented on Beam Sniper Rifles in the thread that Corjay started, but I thought I would just say that Laser Beams are often not visible to the naked eye... certain gases are often introduced in order to make them visible. Certain colors might be named (blue laser, green, etc.) but these have more to do with the wavelength of the light being focused. One thing that this post did spark in my mind, is that the Military PSA needs a Sniper skill. This skill could include certain subskills that mirror some Environmental skills, namely camoflage, stealth, but could also add certain extras for 'careful aim' or reductions in Range Penalties... not everything need be a direct increase in 'to hit chance' or damage modifiers. This is an ommission that I think needs a real place in the Military PSA skill choices. <insert witty comment here> |
March 23, 2008 - 3:47pm | Oh, and I am with you on Mechanons... they seem much better as antagonists for the Referree's use than player options. They would make great NPC's and another faction of 'bad dudes' than the current list of Sathar, Zurraquor, and Pirates. I do love the new treatment of Mechanons otherwise. <insert witty comment here> |
 March 23, 2008 - 11:52pm | CCR: yes, Dungeon Master did sound that corny back then... "The guy in charge of the Jail?!?" Heck, DM still sounds corny. GM is a much better term, and Storyguide, Referee, and Narrator are all terms I hear in common use. FM sounds as corny and "out there" as Dungeon Master to me. |
March 24, 2008 - 9:19am | Referee has always sounded corny to me for Star Frontiers. Some guy in a longitudinal black and white striped shirt, blows a whistle and steps into the deep space scene where everyone's dressed for sci-fi directing with his stiff movements, calling "Offsides, number 28! 5 yard penalty!" However, it's a traditional part of the game, so I won't change it. Of all of them, I like Narrator the best and Game Master second. |
March 24, 2008 - 9:33am | After hearing DM for so many years, GM really sounded corny. Now I am more accepting, but I still catch myself using DM no matter what game i am reffering to. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
 March 24, 2008 - 9:59am | Referee came from Traveller, as well as from the boardgames which preceeding RPGs. Me, I prefer the term Guardian angel, Observer and Director...or G.O.D. :) "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 March 27, 2008 - 7:28pm | Okay, I've read all of it but the Mechanon article. Once more a great collection I just have a few comments and questions to the authors: On the Explorer scout: (I loved the ship.) These are mostly ideas to think about if you want to flesh out the ship a little more.
I like the Eagle transporter as well, my only nit with it was that it was drawn deck parallel to the thrust axis instead of deck perpendicular to the thrust which makes the layouts unrealistic (all the patients fall out of their beds when thrusting, any loose object falls the the back of the room, etc). I like the idea behind the "Abaltive Damage" article. Having played RuneQuest for many years, I like the idea of hit locations. I'll probably take a stab at adapting that hit location mechanic to Star Frontiers. I think it will drop in quite easily to the SF game without having to adapt any of the weapon mechanics as all it does is repartition your STA to the various parts of your body. I guess I just signed up to do an article. (Whoever Bill gives the Submission Editor job to can bug me about it  ).Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
 April 25, 2009 - 4:31am | What a n00b to be resurrecting such an old thread, but I must address the elephant in the room regarding the Gauss weapons in issue 8. The skill for using them is listed as Beam when the weapons are obviously Projectile in nature. The slugs tossed out of the barrell of these weapons would perform exactly as those of a gunpowder launched slug. The type of weapon skill used is determined by the performance of its ammunition. Laser, electrostunner, and sonic weapons fire a beam of energy and are beam weapons. Auto-weapons, needlers and gauss rifles fire metal slugs and are projectile weapons. BTW, I like the attempt at the 'one shot, one kill' damage, although the skill level multiplier is out of balance, IMHO. To obtain a more realistic lethality, a damage system needs to be developed that recognizes that nearly every weapon has the capability to kill with a single hit. It should also recognize that lethality is influenced by the power and nature of the weapon and the individual user's skill level. These are minimum considerations as in real life combat there are many other factors that could influence the outcome. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong. * Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi |
 April 25, 2009 - 11:23am | His thinking was probably that because it utilizes a focused beam of gauss energy to accelerate the bullet and the bullet generates plasma, that it would be like a Star Wars blaster. But you're right, it should be PGS. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
April 25, 2009 - 3:21pm | I completely agree with you Georgie. When I devised the gauss rifles I intended the relevant skill to be projectile. When it ended up in issue 8 it said beam. I'm not sure what happened. I still consider them projectile in my games. I understand what you are saying about the multiplier. Didn't make up the rule. I think Bill came up with that in a previous Frontiersman issue. We use it in our game. I like it. In practice the players don't get to use it very often. They rarely get a chance to sneak up on the bad guys and take time to aim and have surprise. So, it hasn't turned out to unbalance the game. Don't sweat the gauss rifle and the damage in the game. It turned out in play that the dang things are always jamming. or if they aren't jamming they are running out of bullets or SEU's. That is how I intended them, to be deadly, but somewhat impracticle. At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
April 25, 2009 - 5:05pm | I completely agree with you Georgie. When I devised the gauss rifles I
intended the relevant skill to be projectile. When it ended up in issue
8 it said beam. I'm not sure what happened. I still consider them
projectile in my games. Of course I have had players argue that the use of the power pack is similar in operation to beam weapons. So, they should be able to use one with beam skill. How about a gauss weapons skill? Thanks for the clarification, I was hoping it was a typo. ;) It's a cool weapon idea and I like how they are unreliable. It adds a touch of realism. As a referee, I would not create a new skill for the gauss rifle. I would also not accept the argument of those players trying to make it a beam weapon. The propellant does not matter. To be better with a particular class of weapon, one must understand how the ammunition will perform. Projectiles will all perform in a ballistic arc, regardless of how they are launched. I recall being overjoyed when Zebulon's Guide came out and they merged projectile and gyrojet under PGS as I have always thought they should. I like the damage system layed out in Zebulon's Guide and think that it could be modified to introduce lethality. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong. * Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi |
April 25, 2009 - 6:53pm | Ack, the table in ZEBs is too much like playing Squad Leader for my tastes. Bill came up with the damage multiplier for skill option in, I think, SFMan 1, and incorporated it as an option in the back of his AD Remastered rules. For an abstract way of being able to deal lethal damage by targeting vitals, it's not half bad. I've yet to introduce Gauss weapons in the Space Rats campaign, but that's coming. I'm using the damage listed for them in the New Guns document in SF-Un Yahoo group, rather than the damage Chris listed in his article, simply to balance out the fact that Shadow set it up so that all lasers do 2d10 damage/SEU. I think any imbalances introduced by the weapon will be self-correcting. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
April 25, 2009 - 6:53pm | Ack, the table in ZEBs is too much like playing Squad Leader for my tastes. Bill came up with the damage multiplier for skill option in, I think, SFMan 1, and incorporated it as an option in the back of his AD Remastered rules. For an abstract way of being able to deal lethal damage by targeting vitals, it's not half bad. I've yet to introduce Gauss weapons in the Space Rats campaign, but that's coming. I'm using the damage listed for them in the New Guns document in SF-Un Yahoo group, rather than the damage Chris listed in his article, simply to balance out the fact that Shadow set it up so that all lasers do 2d10 damage/SEU. I think any imbalances introduced by the weapon will be self-correcting. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
