 December 2, 2010 - 6:15pm | As I'm starting to think about the Equipment lists and what is possible with the tech level of the Frontier I start looking for TV shows or movies that might inspire the type of tech in Star Frontiers. Now if we discount artificial gravity, warp drive, and replicators, I think Classic Star Trek (the adventures of Kirk, and company) had a lot of technology that could be included in SF (tricorders, communicators, phasers etc). Also Space 1999 has the level of tech appropriate for Star Frontiers. Anyone else have any other suggestions? "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
 December 2, 2010 - 11:37pm | Babylon 5 comes to mind, especially for the Earth Alliance ships/stations. Also, almost any of the Gundam series which has made it to American television. The new BSG/Caprica has some ideas for tech, even if it's not my cup of tea. The short-lived CBS series Space Rangers is a good tech reference as well, IMO. Maybe Andromeda as well, tho most of that tech looks like it would be way outside SF's tech level. EDIT: Oh, and you might want to look at the ultimate(IMO) Star Trek parody series, Hyperdrive. Sift out the British humor, and you still have some good bits there. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 6, 2010 - 4:42pm | BSG is an excellent source as they were very concerned with realism in tech. It is very much a Star Frontiers show (if you remove the artificial gravity). 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) |
December 6, 2010 - 9:55pm | Also, Space: Above And Beyond. Forgot that one. It's definitely within SF tech, even if some of the science(artificial grav and FTL) is handwaved over. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 9, 2010 - 1:59pm | FTL travel is a necessary evil in science fiction because of the vast distances involved, unless you are dealing solely with events that occur in a single location. of course the single location situation, such as adventures that occur on a colony can be interesting, most science fiction usually involves travel at some point between the stars. I was also looking at shows like Lost, or even Prison break and thinking that the concepts of shows like that could easily be adapted to a SF setting, as can any of the many cop shows (CSI Port Loren comes to mind). the show or movie wouldn't have to be a sci-fi show to make for an interesting SF game. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
December 9, 2010 - 5:03pm | In that case, may I suggest the Australian TV series Sea Patrol, produced by the same network who co-produced Farscape(another good reference, BTW). You can find episodes of Sea Patrol on You Tube; I don't think it's on DVD in the States yet. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 9, 2010 - 5:52pm | Sea Patrol Twenty-four sailors from every walk of life, of every age and temperament, who apparently all won beauty contests before jioning the service or do all Austrailians look that good? Anyway I will try and check the show out but in the same vein Sea Quest has some good tech items and except for the lost in space season some OK plots. Going back to some of the Older shows which took guesses at future tech and actually came out around the time of SF Sy-Fy channel just ran a two day marathon of Space Precient. Tech is very close to SF and they had multiple races and if you are going for a Star Law Ranger campaign plots are great. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 9, 2010 - 6:33pm | Sea Patrol Twenty-four sailors from every walk of life, of every age and temperament, who apparently all won beauty contests before jioning the service or do all Austrailians look that good? I've yet to see an ugly Australian...I'm sure they exist, but are probably kept in attics somewhere.  Anyway I will try and check the show out but in the same vein Sea Quest has some good tech items and except for the lost in space season some OK plots. D'oh! I totally forgot about SeaQuest DSV. Even the third season has much in the tech and society vein to recommend it, even if the episodes themselves were half-arsed. Going back to some of the Older shows which took guesses at future tech and actually came out around the time of SF Sy-Fy channel just ran a two day marathon of Space Precient. Tech is very close to SF and they had multiple races and if you are going for a Star Law Ranger campaign plots are great. In a similar vein, there's also the SF series Starhunter. Season one is better, but even season two has some tech, plots and settings useable in a Star Frontiers campaign. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 9, 2010 - 6:47pm | Alien nation would make for an interesting SF situation. A new race of Aliens fleeing from the Sathar end up on a Frontier world and try to integrate into society. Byu the same token V would be interesting also, except that these Aliens motives would be to take over the Frontier and use the humans (and maybe the Yazirians too as food. Lost in Space (specially the first season, before it went campy) is also an easy fit for SF, as would Logan's Run. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
December 9, 2010 - 7:37pm | The B&W first season of Lost In Space...that brings back memories. It's also somewhat solid SF, same as some of the later ones, where they get off that damn planet and back into space. Alien Nation...another good SF series, same with the originial V. Hmm, why not combine both angles...the once-proud Visitors were conquered by the Sathar, and some seek refuge in the Frontier, where they find steady work...as rodent catchers..... " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
 December 9, 2010 - 8:53pm | ahhh... I feel the urge to break out the DVDs of the original V I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 10, 2010 - 5:12am | Speaking of the original V at the end of the first mini-series it was mentioned some of the humans would be saved as soldiers to help the leader fight his enemy. Then they tried to contact the other alien race. That part was never developed but could be interesting if the Sathar have a group out there kicking there butts. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 December 10, 2010 - 7:59am | Earth II Firefox/Serenity Space 1999 Red Dwarf (BBC) Dr. Who (Daleks and Cybermen would stomp Sathar @ss) FIAWOL
TANSTAAFL!! |
 December 10, 2010 - 8:16am | LOL, oh yea. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! Exterminate?!?! Anyone for a jelly baby? You can't argue with the invincibly ignorant. - William F. Buckley |
 December 11, 2010 - 11:22am | Also, Space: Above And Beyond. I really liked that show. Very dissapointing that there was no second season. |
December 11, 2010 - 11:45am | I know, but this is the same network which killed Harsh Realm(another excellent series) and Firefly as well, in favor of such crap as Welcome to the Dollhouse, and Glenn Blechh! " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 11, 2010 - 11:41pm | Ah Welcome to the Dollhouse was a movie about Middle School Kids. Dollhouse was another Joss Whedon series with alot of Buffy/Angel/Firefly actors in it. The whole programable people thing was a little strange considering you could get actors to do that stuff in the real world for alot less money. (And for those of you keeping score when I say actors I mean Pros_______.) Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 12, 2010 - 10:16am | Oops...had one in mind when discussing the other. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 14, 2010 - 12:00pm | Neither Harsh Realm nor Firefly were cancelled in favor of Dollhouse. And Dollhouse barely got a season and a half itself. The problem is that Fox has no idea of what the difference is between "gritty" and "adult". Any time they get worried about the difference, they simply cancel the show instead of letting it run on its ratings. I think they take on the shows because they know how good they are, in order to keep other networks from getting them. Then when they get to swetting over the above difference, they turn into bitties. This coming from the network that brings us the cartoons rotting kids minds with adult themes: The Simpsons, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. Not to mention the teen shows where all the teens are screwing each other and then screwing each other over. So I guess they want to rot kid's brains on sex themes, but not expose them to too much violence or hard realities.  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) |
December 14, 2010 - 6:23pm | I meant "in preference to" when I said "in favor of," as in they'd rather have this type of show over the other. But, basically, your observation is accurate. BTW, King Of the Hill is from the same people who inflicted Beavis And Butthead on the world. What a surprise. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 14, 2010 - 8:03pm | Since we are off topic one thing to remember is that TV shows are not made for critical acclaim, good storylines or thought provoking topics. TV shows are made to sell advertising. More accurately to sell products to the demographic the advertisers want. This is why good shows with few viewers are cancelled while horrible shows stay with us forever. Also why Comedy Central which has almost no viewers but they are all males 18 to 35 so it stays on and why Sy-Fy channel shows Wrestling. Back on subject a not mentioned TV show would be Doctor Who. NO not the Doctor himself but many of his adventures take place in times and on worlds with a very good frontier feel to them. Just remove the time traveling element and you have some good stuff to work with. Such has:The party visit the home planet of the Ood, a servile race the party has encountered in previous adventures. A company run by the ruthless Mr Halpen is exploiting the genial aliens - and it's up to the party to discover the secret he's hiding and help the Ood. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
December 14, 2010 - 9:49pm | Deryn_Rys, The more I think about this subject the more I realize that I lean towards story rather than gear. Gear can assist in telling a story (gear as art can even influence ideas such as the utility gauntlet in Issue 15). Some argue the Magazine has too much gear, gadgets, weapons and defenses. There are a few pieces of gear I would like to include in my games, but that is so I can tell a story. Not because my character has to have it. Hope I made sense. |
December 14, 2010 - 11:50pm | Yes you made perfect sense, and I agree whole heartedly that story supersedes gear, and that any good story can be adapted to any setting. Over the years I've adapted many a D&D adventure to Gamma World or Star Frontiers, and written many adventures where most of the action of the story involved role playing with very little use of gear or even die rolls, but sometimes the equipment is an essential part of the story. However whether it be equipment that the protagonists utilize, or tech that helps illustrate the setting (window dressing so to speak), tech is often integral in science fiction, and helps define the genre. Star Frontiers has a certain feel in part because of the tech level in the game, and as seems to be the case with some people in the community there is a point where Star Frontiers loses its flavor when the tech level becomes too high. The idea behind the topic was to get an idea using examples from shows or movies that most of us might have seen to figure out the kind of technological items we see as being feasable within Star Frontiers and where the boundry line is drawn, without resorting to some abstract concept like Tech levels. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
December 15, 2010 - 8:20am | Good point. Not sure what brought up this memory but I remember in one of the Firefly shows, a dive-bar the party was entering required them to lock personal weapons in a small storage bin before entering. Not really "tech" but a neat idea for gaming. |
December 15, 2010 - 10:46am | I've never seen Firefly, but I remember a similar scene in Mad Max beyond thunderdome where max had to remove all his weapons before entering a place and he had many concealed weapons including that blade in his fly swatter it believe it was. It would be an interesting requirement for characters meeting that obese Dralasite underworld boss if they had had to give up their weapons before meeting him, and would make for a difficult encounter if they had to figure out another way to defeat him and his guards and couldn't just start a firefight. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
December 15, 2010 - 10:54am | I've never seen Firefly, but I remember a similar scene in Mad Max beyond thunderdome where max had to remove all his weapons before entering a place and he had many concealed weapons including that blade in his fly swatter it believe it was. This is where the the Spy PSA might come into play It would be an interesting requirement for characters meeting that obese Dralasite underworld boss if they had had to give up their weapons before meeting him, and would make for a difficult encounter if they had to figure out another way to defeat him and his guards and couldn't just start a firefight. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 15, 2010 - 12:24pm | Good point. Not sure what brought up this memory but I remember in one of the Firefly shows, a dive-bar the party was entering required them to lock personal weapons in a small storage bin before entering. Not really "tech" but a neat idea for gaming. That was in the Serenity movie where River receives the subliminal message and ends up messing up the entire place. -iggy |
December 15, 2010 - 4:58pm | Good point. Not sure what brought up this memory but I remember in one of the Firefly shows, a dive-bar the party was entering required them to lock personal weapons in a small storage bin before entering. Not really "tech" but a neat idea for gaming. I think that was in the movie Serenity itself, at the Maidenhead. It is a neat idea, though. " 'Beware the Beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, for lust, for greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death." |
December 15, 2010 - 6:09pm | Since we are off topic one thing to remember is that TV shows are not made for critical acclaim, good storylines or thought provoking topics. TV shows are made to sell advertising. More accurately to sell products to the demographic the advertisers want. This is why good shows with few viewers are cancelled while horrible shows stay with us forever. Also why Comedy Central which has almost no viewers but they are all males 18 to 35 so it stays on and why Sy-Fy channel shows Wrestling. Back on subject a not mentioned TV show would be Doctor Who. NO not the Doctor himself but many of his adventures take place in times and on worlds with a very good frontier feel to them. Just remove the time traveling element and you have some good stuff to work with. Such has:The party visit the home planet of the Ood, a servile race the party has encountered in previous adventures. A company run by the ruthless Mr Halpen is exploiting the genial aliens - and it's up to the party to discover the secret he's hiding and help the Ood. Firefly's ratings were gangbusters. They were canceled because Fox sweated over the grittiness of the show. Fox execs admitted as much. The exact same thing happened to Space: Above and Beyond (That and the writer's strike at that time). They also turned down purchasing BSG because of their use of "Frak", but the same fate would have met it as with the other shows, because the show is too gritty. Whereas it lasted 4 seasons on Sci-fi network, it wouldn't have made it past the first season on Fox, because the execs would have crushed it. 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) |
December 15, 2010 - 9:52pm | OK, it is settled. I'll submit the Bar-side Lock Box and some suggestions for use or plot-hooks. Anyone want to help? We could start a thread over in the Ultimate Equipment Guide project. :-) Off Topic Anyone remember the Keep It Rolling Story? We should do another one using the gear from that project, make it an insane story-line full of blasters, bab-bins, mooks and oh my's! |
