 October 1, 2011 - 5:35am | First off and I know this was discussed in the thread in the general forums Module aught to conform to AD rules as they are a known base line and any GM can convert from. Its the 30th anniversary of the AD rules coming out so this also makes sense. Zebs guide content could be used, mega corps, history, planetary footnotes, equipment, cults and cadres- this stuff certainly makes sense to use. But by and large the module should be an AD module. Could it have a KHs encounter? I think it could depending on the storyline: is the KFs encounter critical to the story line or at least support and advance it? What would undermine the purpose of this project is the module being a KHs campaign. So onto module particulars? 1. Scope: Scope is the level of threat. The Scope can be visible or invisible to the PCs at the beginning. A visible threat is: A sathar battle fleet just dropped out of hyper and is headed toward the planet; you the PCs are the only members of Space Fleet present, What are you going to do? Invisible scope is what happened in the Volturnus series- PCs start out looking for a missing expedition then discover pirates, then discover autonomous robots, then discover sathar battle fleet on the way and will arrive soon. The evolving level of threat also helps to heighten tention so its a good technique to use (why crime mysteries are so popular). Nature of the Threat or whats in danger: an individual, a community, a world, a civilization, the universe as we know it? What should be threatened in this module? In the volturnus series the PCs started out seeking to save a small group of individuals and by the end they save a whole planet. 2. Who's the threat? since this is the 30th Anniversary I'd say there is a compelling arguement for the sathar. They're part of the core 5 and I think it would make a nice book end on 30 years of this game. that is not to say that other threats couldn't be used but my vote is that the sathar be used. Other threats: pirates, mega corp, mercenaries, rogue robots, mechanons, clikks, zurraquor mix and match- use more than one of the above (like volturnus) but with one being the real threat. Having stated that we should not use pirates and sathar together which would be exactly like the volturnus series. 3. Setting Location: a return to Volturnus adventure could be a nice way to celebrate the 30th but my first inclination is to tackle a new corner of the setting that has not been done yet. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 1, 2011 - 8:30am | I guess the first action should be to get a theme. Then get a plot line. Here is my first thought on theme based on Jedion's argument that 30th anniversary should include the sathar. But I don't want to focus 100% on the sathar. Formad Cluster exploration finds zurraquor their. Zurraquor activity looks like a plot againt the Frontier. Zurraquor leads to the Sathar. The module would then establish the relationship of zurraquor to sathar and allow the PCs to fight zurraquor in person, not ship to ship as in the Ares article. -iggy |
October 1, 2011 - 10:00am | @iggy: so the scope is a threat to the Rim and frontier. Presumably the Z's are building a weapon/ship or death star. Logically the best things the PCs could do is big out and bring back a battle fleet so what would be the hook to transition the PCs from arriving in a ship to being in an AD style adventure? New thought I just had? Should we do two modules? One with a KHs focus and one with a AD focus? Rather than just say the Anniversary mod ought to have an AD focus? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 1, 2011 - 11:12am | I don't think we should take on two modules. KISS is our friend to get this thing done. I think that any KH portion should be just a section in the module. I would like that any starship combat allow the PCs to use their spaceship skill rather than the game just change to a tactical board game. As for what the zurraquor are doing I would definitely NOT make it a death star. Too much like SW Ep 3. How about a meteor cannon, massing of ships, or the starship construction yard that was mentioned elsewhere in the forums. The construction yard theme could give the game setting the reward of a tech boost as a reward for finishing the module. Maybe the zurraquor has developed variable jump speed engines. Or longer jump distance astrogation. -iggy |
October 1, 2011 - 1:09pm | The way I see it this would play out as scout ship jumps into system begins scouting, you'd almost have to run a KHs encounter that damages the ship and prevents it from leaving and or calling for the Flight or CFM which would force the action into AD style of play. Fairly straight forward ad encounters to 1. Blow the station and 2. Escape with a working ship. Followed by a chase out of the system. Its fairly straight forward. I'd prefer a more AD style adventure myself, personally. Anyone else have ideas. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 1, 2011 - 1:15pm | I think I still like the "Bounty on Death" concept for the module. It has the Sathar threat in the background, can be geared to starting players and is more in the AD style. If we work hard and knock that one out. I would not be opposed to trying to get a second one done by the end of the year. In that case the second one should definitely have some KH components and be geared toward high level players. And for that one, the ideas suggested here by iggy and jedi would be excellent. The only issue I see is how to work the back story. Why are they there in the system at all? Maybe some sort of signal was detected from a nearby system. 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 |
October 1, 2011 - 1:30pm | "Bounty on Death" is also a good option for a module. Terl, by end of the year do you refer to 2011 or 2012? I feel that whichever module we do should be out in the anniversary year. Let's keep posing ideas for a module and then pick one and run with it. We should have some dates in mind. Date for the theme. Date for outline. Date for background written. Date for planetary data written. etc. etc. etc. Then we should start an alpha play testing group with an expected completion date for the group. The group GM should report about the play sessions and the PCs should report after the module is done. Then the beta version of the module should be written and play tested by another group. -iggy |
October 1, 2011 - 1:54pm | I already had an idea brewing when I started the Bounty on Death thread in the adventure writing project but between brainstorming and feedback that thread is only 4 weeks old. I think week can work with 2 more weeks to talk out the ending and a week to finish writing that with layout and art and maps that could be released in Jan/Feb. No reason not to do more than 1.
PS. I like the idea of a high level module too. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 1, 2011 - 2:18pm | End of 2012. Get one done so it is out by the Con in March and then another (or more) before the end of the year. 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 |
