 March 18, 2013 - 3:58am | OK gang here is a new freebie for you from drivethrurpg.com Hulks and Horrors http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/111781/Hulks-and-Horrors---Basic-Black-Edition?term=hulks+ This is an old school sci-fi rpg very much based on Basic D&D. This is possibly what Star Frontiers could have been if TSR had just stuck with converting D&D to a sci-fi genre. I am impressed by it but let's see what you think. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 March 18, 2013 - 5:21am | Ok, not what i would call a hard science RPG game but then is a hard science RPG really possible? Thematically its two parts Gamma World with one part Star Frontiers and a dash of Call of Cthulu built on a Basic D&D mechanic- it even has TAACo (THACO for those who have not read it yet). Its a Dungeon Crawl/Exploration game in space. Downside is that races are classes except for elitest humans who get to be a race that chooses classes. Up side of that is that they seem to have done well enough with their sapient alien races that none of my common gripes flagged when i skimmed it (well that's not true actually the bear race hits the anthropomorphic animal/human thing but its clear that they are playing to the audience by trying to provide a Chebakka like race without actually calling it a wookie so I'm inclined to over look that). Equipment: the shot gun category on the weapons list had your classic pump action shot gun but then some beam weapons too. This is a minor point but the category should probably have been labeled: Carbines to distinguish it from long rifles Funny that they included Smokes in the drugs section of the equipment list so that if you character concept was a tough as nail bear man that always had a cigar clenched in his teeth you'd know how many credits to charge for the cigar. The rules for the use of the drug Opacaine were interesting, i liked how that was handled and recommend it for conversion to home brew compaigns. Didn't really look deeply into the starship construction section Star ship combat however- the default rules or method of combat takes a page from the old Star Trek RPG that used abstract combat method and had ways for every PC in the crew to contribute to the overal outcome except this RPG explained and presented it better than the older game. Then it introduced as optional a less abstract system using miniatures. Despite the fact that I love miniatures and have a big collection I am all for this abstract style of ship combat. It would lend itself to PBP style gaming too. Plenty of charts for generating star systems and such as you would expect The Prior Civilization chart allows you to randomly generate government type, biology, money type, species, langauge and tech. 1 page character sheet which is presented as your application to join the Galactic Guild of Surveyors- nice touch there with that. The weapons special features table had more than a few goofy entries There are tons of tables for generating everything from loot to monsters. Through out you will encounter the word science written as "Science!" and the author clearly does not intend for it to be interpreted as anything really relating to the scientific method but rather when you read it you should pronounce it as if you were Thomas Dolby speaking the words from his song "She Blinded Me With Science" or as as Doc from Back to the Future when he would say "Great Scott" but in this case you just pronounce it "Science!" with perhaps one finger held in the air. It is perhaps a more light hearted or less serious presentation of Star Without Number rpg. Dont look for a lot of support for this RPG from the author its geared for old school sand box play and I simply would not expect a line of modules to be forthcoming. I liked the cover as it was evocative of Sci fi from the '80 but there is ZERO art in the rule book which is a bit of a negative as its just page after page of type and not much to break that up. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 18, 2013 - 7:10am | It mentioned "up to levels 6 and beyond". Is the game d100 or polyhedral? Chebakka = Chewbacca? 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) |
 March 18, 2013 - 7:39am | Must have been slow to the party. It's not listed as free for me. Oh well. 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 |
March 18, 2013 - 12:53pm | I got mine today when it was discounted from $10 to $0 funny that it wants charge Tom. Sent an attached copy to you by email. It uses all the classic polyhedral dice of Basic D&D and is a D20 system using what it calls To Attack Armor Class 0 or TAAC0 I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 18, 2013 - 3:19pm | The web site for the game says the free was a temp thing. Sorry didn't find it to post it sooner. The level restriction to 6th is address in the DM section (yes the Dungeon Master) and says why it is there but has a system for going beyond level 6. They just don't recommend it based on the d20 task resolution rolls. Of course if you switched it to a d00 system levels could go much higher. I like it as a resource for rolling up sci-fi adventures ESPECIALLY if you pair it with the Adventure Idea Factory (you do have a copy of that Right?) Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 March 18, 2013 - 8:07pm | Ok, not what i would call a hard science RPG game but then is a hard science RPG really possible? Lets see:
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March 19, 2013 - 7:01am | Ok, not what i would call a hard science RPG game but then is a hard science RPG really possible? Lets see:
I was thinking in terms of the fact that most interstellar sci fi games call for some form of rapid interstellar travel which is little better than magic form the perspective of science and technology right now. You could of course run a game set in one star system, but even the 2001 and 2010 adventures have elements of fantasy included. Clark said it, "Any sufficently advance technology is indistinguishable from magic." So while I believe that FTL space travel may be possible I recognize that it is fantasy till its science fact; that is simply what I meant by that comment. But you are right it would be possible to reign in things like artificial gravity and FTL and other magical techs (including light sabers and sonic swords) and still play a sci fi game. I would play this game in question with a group of friends is one of them was pushing to run it (I would not be the one to push to play it on general principle for my dislike of d20 games. I might even be happy enough to be a back up GM for it as well but if I was to develop a sci fi rpg campaign it would be with a rule set I really like (overlooking the fantasy elements in it  )My first read of Star WithOut Number didn't impress me too much other then I developed a certian appreciation for their treatment of the alien race which was essentially "orcs in space" (I'm generally not a fan of fantasy escapees cast as sapient aliens). but if I had a hard copy of both of these games I'd do a side by side comparison and kit bash what i thought were the best parts from both. Thematically they are similar in their settings. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 19, 2013 - 8:55pm | Apparently, they're on the verge of proving warp travel science fact. Last I heard, they have the math down, and are devloping the tech. They've about conquered artificial gravity (Note, it's not actually gravity, but some special form of magnetic repulsion that affects any kind of matter,) and with warp conquered, it will be Star Trek in no time. (Though the ships are not likely to be the size or shape of the Enterprise.) They're currently working on getting the costs down for all of it through corporate sponsorship. The science fiction will become science fact likely within our lifetimes. 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) |
