 March 10, 2012 - 5:30pm | Not having been able to really follow the B5 series when it was on TV I'm enjoying catching it a season at a time from the library. Something about it is seductively attractive in its elemental construction and not the exact storyline or the station. Mysterious race (shadows) working behind the scenes to take everything down Religious elements that tie into the story telepathy and other mystic mumbo jumbo playing a small but some times important role Political intrigue Massively Compelling characters- Mollari and G'Kar blow everyone else away in that show totally awesome; these two really steal the show IMO Themes of order vs chaos Themes of war sux End of the world themes and interesting exploration of alien culture as it rubs up against human culture Side Note: the fact that ships from different factions and races have distinct design philosophy panders to my pet peaves. Star Frontiers could use a campaign with these elements and still not even be a copy of B5. Though I suspect a little bit of alternate setting timeline and all that would be called for. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 11, 2012 - 2:39am | To keep the game simple and a bit cartoonish they went with PGC as the ACME company and since ship design was made pretty standard even though the Vrusk and Dralasites would need different seats. Best to start with a basic design theme for each race and develope from there. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 March 11, 2012 - 9:59am | I think that it is a little simpler than that. I would go so far as to say that the game designers, understanding that this is a game played out in the player's imagination, assumed players & gm's would fill in their own details about seats for different races and ship designs. The Knight hawks ship designs were a frame work for UPF warships. They never went into to any detail on how other ships should look because if they spelled it all out for us we couldn't have any fun desgining our own versions for our games. |
March 11, 2012 - 11:14am | Now if we want to get into the political side of things we need another forum. Since we were left with almost ZERO describtion of how the UPF council works (although quite a few good articles have been written) this could really get interesting. Remembering that the UPF is closer to the European Union than the United States. I wonder just how much the militia ships truly differ from Spacefleet and if the militias get into shooting matches with each other. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
March 11, 2012 - 12:27pm | 3 Dramune Wars, so yes the militias get to fighting each other, though outer reach is, dare I say it, rift raft and pirates. Yazirian civil war project speculated on Yaz militias shooting at each other. But what I was talking about the elements of what went into B5 made the show compelling and the same element would make a great campaign. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 11, 2012 - 1:46pm | OK I will say it. The only thing that really bugged me about B5 was how much they ignored the minor races and how unrealistic the Ambassadors were. This was supposed to be the great meeting and mediation center for the races of the Galaxy. Now while the four "Star Empires" each had a "Major Player", the minor races usually just sat in that box and listened to whatever the "Star Empires" had to say. Not to mention the Ambassadors had staffs of like one while the Commander was both the commander and ambassador. The UPF needs to be bigger and while the four races get along and cooperate for mutual defense against the Sathar; self interest dictates there should be alot of "situations" where the four races are at odds. Maybe more specifically the major planets and their representatives since they are each supposed to be independent. How much the mega-corps play should be mentioned. Like how come every time a new planet is discovered it is by a mega-corp trying to exploit it and not a planetary government looking for a new colony (except for Volturnus)? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
March 12, 2012 - 5:43am | I guessing that you missed the episodes that focused on he minor races. And since it was a TV series it would have been tough to represent the shear number of staff ambassadors would have had and the layers of insulation that would have imposed would have prevented much of what would have gone on in the script- one ambassadors storming in on another to deliver his lines. I felt that having one assistant was a decent enough nod to what they were trying to do. Sure we could pick it apart for not being realistic, but I'm more concerned with the story elements that made it so enjoyable. Should I presume that you did not enjoy the show, rattraveller? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 12, 2012 - 4:36pm | Actually the Drazi have at least two episodes that are mainly focues on them. When you get into the later seasons and the league of non alligned worlds start flexing their muscles in the council chambers you see a lot more of their involvement. And when the stellar alliance is formed then even more race cooperation starts to occur. |
March 13, 2012 - 4:58am | You also have to remember that the writer had a five year plan and new where he was going. This is important because if you have a story to tell then sometimes you have to sacrifice things you might like to explore but that dont advance the story for the stuff that gets you where you are going. Another Point I meant to comment on: only mega corps colonizing. All of the planets of the Frontier are newly discovered/colonized and a planet is such a big space, its entirely possible that the individual governments find it easier to develop new areas of the planet then to foot the bill for expensinve interstellar ventures. Between AD and Zebs; beginning in KHs we see the rise of the mega corp. Its natural that several mega corps would colonize/seek to control planets. So yes the new colonization between KHs and Zebs is primarily mega-corp driven it is not 100% mega corp. One thing I consider an important issue to tackle is mega corp ownership of colonies; there are significant ramifications. A mega corp is probably better set up to turn colonization into a production line activity. This means that they could churn out new colonies left and right and then get seats on the Council of Worlds. It would turn into a race to see who will be master of the galaxy. Mega corps already have huge influence on the council without having a direct voice through seats. So the mega corps have the typical influence that cash buys but then they get to have seats on the council that they dont even have to buy with campaign contributions? This will be a grave concern for the politician- considered unacceptable. So the mega corps churn out a bunch of colonies who foots the bill for defense? system security is private company security not std militia, can space fleet "federalize" them? These become murky waters. Sapient Rights? are the citizens of the mega corp colony indentured servants, slaves, employees? Do they have rights, a mega corp colony is a company town writ large. IMO The Council of Worlds would have had to step in and put legistlation in place that would codify how colonies are governed, rights of determination for the citizens, whether mega corps could have seats on the Council etc. limits would be put in place that would inhibit mega corps from being expansionist colony builders. Without that the logical progression is that around FY200 or Fy300 that the mega corps would control everything and sapient rights and government would be irrelevant. In fact the UPF would cease to exist as it would be meaningless as a governmental body- the blocks of planets beholding to one mega corp or another would fall out into the Streel or PGC blocks for the 1st Galactic Mega Corp War. and the UPF would go the way of the League of Nations. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
