 August 22, 2007 - 7:56am | I won't be working on the site much tonight, as I'm playing a Star Frontiers session with my wife and another couple (coach of my son's Midget League Football team and his wife). Turns out they roleplay regularly and love sci-fi but never tried Star Frontiers. I plan on building characters and running a small en-media-res opener. I have no ideas... anyone? Help? Or do I wing it again?  3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
 August 22, 2007 - 8:12am | I find a lot of my best starts began with a short description of the area the characters begin in, then suddenly announcing "Roll for Initiative!" This emulates the beginnings of most movie offerings (beginning with action); this is usually followed up with "who were those (antagonist) guys?", and scoping out the area for npcs. Usually there is an npc in the area that holds the plot hooks... 'those guys are out to steal my X' or 'they are trying to extort me for Y, and I refused'. You could wing much of this based on the types of characters or their personalities. If the group designed themselves as freelance assassins or bounty hunters, then you might make this more military in nature, or if the characters are setup as explorers then it might lead to pirate activity, if characters are like merchants, then it could be criminal gang trying to control commerce in the area... etc. I don't try to hard-wire much plot into the first meetings until I get a feel for the characters and their motivations (and the player's personalities and gaming 'style' (action, roleplay, intrique/mysteries, comedic). I have played games that are serious tactical style, and games that are almost like episodes of Scooby-doo, and it really all depended on what the players and their characters were like. <insert witty comment here> |
 August 22, 2007 - 8:23am | Has your family done all the modules? There are several very fun modules, including Dramune Run or the classic Volturnus stuff. Bugs in the System, with its flipped out Yaz android could be considered cinematic. |
August 22, 2007 - 8:26am | You could also cut and paste stuff from different modules to come up with a new story. |
 August 22, 2007 - 12:31pm | I've been dying to convert the Cauldron Station quickstart adventure from Alternity to Star Frontiers. It shouldn't take too much work; just a couple NPCs and a creature to change over, and the rest is fluff. The Alternity quickstart rules are free and legal to download, if you know where to find them, and I believe the Cauldron Station adventure is included in the GM's kit. It might provide a night's fun. If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. -- Carl Sagan |
August 22, 2007 - 2:08pm | I own Alternity... Cauldron Station is an introductory adventure within those pages I think isn't it? I tried the game years ago but, although I enjoyed some of the setting and tech, I wasn't a fan of the ruleset. The adventure might make an interesting convert for a project devoted to converting other game's adventure modules to Star Frontiers... sounds like a good project? 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 22, 2007 - 3:37pm | Yes, Cauldron Station is in the opening Quickstart section of the Gamemaster's Guide. If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. -- Carl Sagan |
August 23, 2007 - 12:21pm | I was leafing through that book yesterday. The maps are quite nicely drawn, but don't look that complicated. Isn't any one of us capable of producing maps of that quality? 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 24, 2007 - 9:15am | I should have updated you all. The group made characters and talked about old times, we didn't get started playing. Our characters are: Rae-Van. A female human ex-star law detective kicked off the force for taking money. She figured "who cares if he took a little from the thugs!?" She used the money to fund her efforts to bring in more criminals, because Star Law wouldn't give her all the stuff she needed to do her job effectively. She had an amazing arrest record, but someone higher up didn't like that she was using funds from busts and so she got kicked off the force. Now she sells her services as a freelance protector... a high class bodyguard. She is currently in the employ of Dahara. Dahara. A male Yazirian sports star. He's rich, he's smart, and he's athletic. Rolled up an amazing dexterity. He plays for a Yazirian Thrashball team called the Darts. In his off-season, he keeps his wits sharp (to the dismay of his coaches) by exploring. Holo'zines all over the Frontier refer to him as an adrenaline junkie. His player plans on getting his Battle Rage up to 100% some day... and does a great immitation of a berzerking chimp! He has hired the protective services of Rae-Van because he likes the prestige of having a bodyguard that few others can afford. Oram Worik. Dralasite artist who wants to see the stars. He's lived his entire life on Dramune, with his family of scientists. Although he's picked up his share of scientific knowledge, his passion is space and what it can offer. He has amazing Intuition and Logic scores. His passion is to find secrets to the universe and be the first to create artwork based on it. He understands that to accomplish this, he'll face incredible dangers. That's why he seldom travels without his dear friend Khiara. Khiara. Ex-convict turned straight, she wants to be a bounty hunter. She's rugged, tough, and more than attractive. Her two semi-automatic pistols are worn low, letting people know she's a slinger and fast at the draw. She is a little hot headed, and tends to try extra hard to intimidate because she knows she is trying to compete in a profession dominated by men. She is close friends with Oram Worik, and has agreed to leave Dramune (her home for the last four years after being released from prison for accessory to murder - she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got left holding the bag after a botched robbery attempt turned into a gun fight) - there's nothing for her here. She is a registered bounty hunter and has a list of those with prices on their heads on a small portable palm-top computer tablet. 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 24, 2007 - 2:33pm | LOL. Your wife just loves that character. I can tell she's Khiara.  That's cool. She likes playing kick-butt women. |
August 24, 2007 - 5:27pm | Nope - that's not her :-) She's playing Rae-Van, ex Star Law detective. She's not as kick-butt as she would like, but she's very cool nonetheless. I'll post character sheets for 'em later tonight :-) 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 25, 2007 - 11:24pm | Submitted By: CleanCutRogue on August 26, 2007
Rae-Van
 Basic InformationRace: HumanGender: MaleAge: 31yearsHandedness: RightHeight: 1.75 metersWeight: 55 kilogramsAbility ScoresSTR/STA: 41/49DEX/RS: 64/51INT/LOG: 65/45PER/LDR: 45/55Initiative Modifier: +6Punching Score: +3Ranged Weapons: 32%Melee Weapons: 32%MovementWalking: 10 m/turn Running: 30 m/turn Hourly: 5 kph Racial Abilitiesnone SkillsPrimary Skill Area: BiosocialBeam Weapons: Level 1BackgroundA female human ex-star law detective kicked off the force for taking
money. She figured "who cares if she took a little from the thugs!?" She
used the money to fund her efforts to bring in more criminals, because
Star Law wouldn't give her all the stuff she needed to do her job
effectively. She had an amazing arrest record, but someone higher up
didn't like that she was using funds from busts and so she got kicked
off the force. Now she sells her services as a freelance protector... a
high class bodyguard. She is currently in the employ of Dahara. EquipmentElectrostunner Albedo Suit Standard Equipment Pack 15 Cr 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 26, 2007 - 4:04am | Holy smokin'. I love the pic. I also like the format. It's a bit of skill blocking. I think I'll do that for the Anniversary Rulebook to open up for a miniatures game. |
August 26, 2007 - 8:59am | Holy smokin'. I love the pic. I also like the format. It's a bit of skill blocking. I think I'll do that for the Anniversary Rulebook to open up for a miniatures game. I started working on a way to stat up a character through the site. It's experimental, but it's not bad. It calculates a few things automatically (for example, selecting race automatically selects movement rates and special abilities, and typing in ability scores automatically calculates IM, PS, RW, and MW scores). What you can't currently do is increase a racial ability (such as Comprehension for a Vrusk), or select equipment out of lists (right now equipment is handled by one big text box). I stopped work on this feature when w00t said he wanted to work on an online character generator project, though I could continue on it if w00t wants me to.3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
August 26, 2007 - 10:44am | But I want you too. Maybe w00t could help you on it. Whatever the case, that looks great and I like it. Me, me, me, me, meeee. Do WHAT I SAY.   |
August 26, 2007 - 11:02am | haha... maybe he can help me, and I can help him, and it can reside within his project somehow. Here's the link to it if you wanna play with it. Since it's still experimental, there may be a few issues w/it. Note specifically that you MUST enter the ability scores in the format of #/#, with the slash present. If you don't, you'll get errors :-P For the sake of site interface consistency, I opted to give it a look and feel we've already become accustomed to with the Support Issue system. w00t - what do you think? 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
 August 27, 2007 - 1:14pm | Yeah..... I'm gonna have my hands all over that one too. =P NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE. Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation. |
August 27, 2007 - 1:16pm | Bill, you *REALLY* need to add the code, to allow ability rolls on the fly. It would also allow for us, who make adventures to use the characters here, as NPCs. ;P This idea is a gold mine. Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation. |
August 27, 2007 - 1:29pm | Bill, you *REALLY* need to add the code, to allow ability rolls on the fly. It would also allow for us, who make adventures to use the characters here, as NPCs. ;P This idea is a gold mine. Adding code to randomize ability scores is actually not all that hard to do believe it or not. I can even apply ability score modifiers base on race. The hardest thing would be to add equipment. I'll work on adding the randomizer. Did you guys notice the "Printer Friendly" version link? The output of the printed NPC looks pretty nice :-)3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
