New (Old) Star Frontiers Book

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 10, 2013 - 7:25am
I was looking over the e-bay selection of Star Frontiers material today and someone is selling a complete lot of all rules, modules, accessories, and books for Star Frontiers for $249.  In looking though the set, I discovered another choose your own adventure book that I had never known about.  It's aimed at younger kids as it is in the Fantasy Forest line but it is #8 - Star Rangers Meet the Solar Robot.  It's definitely set in the SF universe as there is a yazirian child on the cover.  It's a sequel to #6 - Star Rangers and the Spy.  You can find a short description and cover image here: http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=1014

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Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 10, 2013 - 7:49am
Wow, great find.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Abub's picture
Abub
December 10, 2013 - 10:23am
I never knew there were any Gamma World Pick-You-Path books.

Hmm... am I to old to read them now?  lol 
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KRingway's picture
KRingway
December 10, 2013 - 10:33am
Does anyone know if the interior art shows any races from Star Frontiers? The creature on the cover only seems vaguely Yazirian to me...

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 10, 2013 - 10:58am
Well, I have the first one (#6) and it definitely has all 4 of the Core Four races represented.  These books are aimed at the under 10 crowd and the pictures are more cartoonish and the main characters are kids of their respective races.  And since the artist is the same on the two books, I'd say, yes it probably does.  Here's a picture by the same artist from the first book which is definitely Star Frontiers:
Kids of the Core Four
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TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 10, 2013 - 11:01am
And I just ordered myself a (used) copy on Amazon.  I'll post more when it arrives in a few weeks.
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My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

KRingway's picture
KRingway
December 10, 2013 - 11:12am
Aha - I wasn't sure from the cover as the Yazirian didn't have wing flaps. Sometimes you just can't tell if sci-fi art from that period isn't cashing in on Wookies in some way ;)

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 10, 2013 - 11:17am
KRingway wrote:
Aha - I wasn't sure from the cover as the Yazirian didn't have wing flaps. Sometimes you just can't tell if sci-fi art from that period isn't cashing in on Wookies in some way ;)
Tall hairy warrior side kick, yep cashing in on wookies. Villians of Volturnus pick your path book had a rip off of the of the round robot worn around the neck of the short the short robot on the Buck Rogers Tv show.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Abub's picture
Abub
December 10, 2013 - 12:03pm
Twiki!  Googling tells me the AI he carried was Dr. Theopolis.
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Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 10, 2013 - 10:46pm
Yes but, it was a different concept.

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 2:58am
I own a copy of each of those Endless Quest books by TSR.  There are only five:

Villains of Volturnus
Captive Planet
Trouble on Artule
Star Rangers and the Spy
Star Rangers Meet the Solar Robot

The two Star Rangers books are aimed at little kids, and deviate somewhat from Star Frontiers canon.  The Yazirian has no patagia, and doesn't fly or glide at all, but her personality is correct.  The Dralasite & Vrusk characters do not seem to have any contradictions, although the Vrusk mandibles do seem to look more like a mustache in the illustrations!  I liked the idea of the solar station, and the planet Nedram, both of which I put in my game.  If you ignore the dozens of goofy aliens (such as the giraffe-headed man wearing the TSR t-shirt), the books have lots of ideas you could incorporate into your game.

Captive Planet is good, and I consider it canon.  There is nothing in there that contradicts anything, and it fleshes out quite a bit of detail about New Pale and a couple other worlds.

Villains of Volturnus I also consider canon.  It gives a tremendous amount of detail on Volturnus, and has the best illustrations of all the Endless Quest SF books.  In fact, when running the Volturnus module series, I used the pictures from Villains of Volturnus to show what a Kurabanda or Edestekai looked like.  I have never seen better Kurabanda pictures anywhere.

Trouble on Artule only has the most tenuous connection to Star Frontiers at all.  Definitely NOT canon.

One note: most of these books have weird little alien creatures called Boxils.  I think they made them up to appeal to kids.  They appear in both Star Rangers books, as well as Villains of Volturnus.  A Boxil is basically a 4-legged cube with a face on it.  Their intelligence level is hard to interpret, but they seem to be about as smart as chimps.  I have included them in my campaign setting, as background color (my kids love them).

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 15, 2013 - 4:22am
I thought the boxil was a lousy idea and cant believe it made 2 more books!
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 15, 2013 - 8:26am
Boss - I liked the idea of the solar station, and the planet Nedram, both of which I put in my game. ...A Boxil is basically a 4-legged cube with a face on it.  Their intelligence level is hard to interpret, but they seem to be about as smart as chimps.  I have included them in my campaign setting, as background color (my kids love them).

You should post info and stats. I never read the books and would love the info on Pale and Volturnus too.

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 8:27am
LOL!

Only lousy if you're not an 8 year old!  (which of course, I am)

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 9:14am
According to Captive Planet, the government of Truane is based on the planet Pale.  New Pale is a sparsely populated agricultural colony, established by Pan-Galactic, which grows a grain known as mannakan.  Mannakan is blue in color, and is related to the real-life cassava plant.  The actual work is done by large robots which look like harvesters, run by a central robot brain (level 6) in the capital.  The locals refer to the robot brain as the "Main Brain".  Scattered around the planet are about half a dozen relay stations (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.), which receive the robot brain's signal, and thereby control each local agricultural robot.  Both Pale & New Pale are depicted as normal-sized planets.  New Pale is an earthlike planet with lots of beautiful forests, plains & lakes.  A very large percentage of New Pale is mannakan farmland.  Most of the colony worlds in the Frontier rely upon the mannakan crop each year, and would suffer greatly if the crop were to fail.  The plot is that the Sathar are trying to sabotage the mannakan crop in order to create a Frontier-wide crisis.  The capital city of New Pale is Truane City.  There are only about 20,000 people on New Pale, most of whom work at the agricultural stations.  The capital city itself only has a few hundred technicians.  Large merchant ships arrive every 3 days or so, to transport grain back to the rest of the Frontier, and bring supplies.  The story takes place before the Volturnus module series, and the Sathar are trying to prevent the Frontier from expanding beyond the Truane system towards the Zebulon system.

Sathar-created cybodragons make an appearance in the story, and slithers are also mentioned.

Animals native to New Pale include:

Squird
These small animals resemble birds at first glance, but are actually somewhere between birds and squirrels.  Their bodies are covered with fur-like feathers (or feather-like fur).  They have a beak & wings, and can fly.  When in the trees, they tend to scurry up and down the trunk.  The noise they make is a kind of chirping, chattering sound.  Many people on New Pale are fond of them, and some even keep them as pets.

Whistly
This creature looks like a furry toad about the size of a housecat.  Its fur has changing patterns of color, which allow it to camouflage itself.  It does not hop, but has a waddling gait.  It has large, catlike eyes and a round, lipless mouth (permanently in an "O" shape).  Many people describe its head as owl-like.  They appear to be nocturnal, because they are nearly blind in normal daylight, and tend to stick to the shadows in the forests of New Pale.  Whistlies are not aggressive, and if frightened by something large & noisy, they will emit a very loud whistling howl which can be deafening.  Locals refer to them as the alarm system of New Pale.  They are unaffected by their own cries, and are nearly deaf.  The best way to get them to stop howling is to remain calm and still for several minutes.

Fieldbear
This is a massive, aggressive-looking herbivore.  They travel in large herds.  A fieldbear looks like a cross between a hog, a beaver and a bear.  It has six legs; the front two are small paws that it uses to stuff food into its mouth.  The hindmost four legs are stubby and used only for walking.  It is blind, with vestigial eyes, and finds its food by using its sense of smell.  It has a voracious appetite, and one herd can decimate a vast field of mannakan in mere minutes.  When worked up into an eating frenzy, they have been known to unintentionally eat living creatures who get in their way.  Fieldbears breed exceptionally quickly, and a new generation of them can appear in mere weeks.  These creatures were considered such a threat to the agricultural colony that they developed a type of spray to render them sterile.  After years of spraying, fieldbears are now nearly extinct in their native habitat, and are mostly only found in zoos.  However, in the story, when the spraying stops for a few weeks, the fieldbear population rebounds very quickly.

In addition, there are other large, dangerous animals which are briefly mentioned, but not seen or named.

iggy's picture
iggy
December 15, 2013 - 9:29am
bossmoss wrote:
In addition, there are other large, dangerous animals which are briefly mentioned, but not seen or named.
Could these be dinosaur like?
-iggy

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 15, 2013 - 9:51am
Thanks!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 9:53am
In Port Loren, on Gran Quivera, is the highly respected Computer Institute.  It is a university housed in a skyscraper controlled by Pan-Galactic.  The same skyscraper also has residences, and a Corporate Communications Center on the top floor, where there are booths similar to old-style phone booths, but with viewers (all screens are referred to as "viewers" in the book).  The communications center can send messages in real-time, with no delay, and it is implied that this feature is not available to the general public.

Pan-Galactic likes to handle its own business, without involving Star Law or local authorities.  They have several teams they call upon to handle things quickly.  There are at least five such teams, simply referred to as Unit One, Unit Two, etc.  These teams go where Star Law can't (or won't), and have a great deal of leeway in how they handle things.  Unit Five is the best of these teams, and some of their adventures are described (they sound like actual campaigns).  Unit Five's ship has something other ships do not have: artificial gravity.  It is stated outright that this is something new, and that no one else has this technology yet.

The large merchant freighters (like the ones in Knight Hawks) use shuttles to reach the surface.

Frontier starports track incoming & outgoing ships using conventional radar, just like modern air traffic controllers.  Something I found very interesting is that the book says force fields (of any kind) tend to interfere with radar, and a ship using a force field has a chance to be invisible to radar.  It was made clear that this is patchy, and is not guaranteed to work.

On developed worlds, it is standard for ships to be under computer control (or "comptrol") as they land.

Pilots have to carefully monitor the weight on their ships, because even a mistake of few grams could throw off their navigational computations.

There is a black hole somewhere in the Frontier.  It is mentioned in this story, but they do not say where it is.  It is associated with the worst space disaster in Frontier history, when a ship carrying an entire colony of humans was swallowed up by a black hole.

Synthwood is a type of synthetic wood used throughout the Frontier.

Doors open & close with a whoosh, just like on Star Trek.

A stronger computer system can override a lower level system.  For example, a level 2 computer can override a level 1 computer.  I had never heard that anywhere else, but it seems to make sense.  Also, in the book you can combine systems.  In the story, their cybot has the ability to remotely link to their ship's computer.  When doing so, the cybot & ship add their computer levels together, and are treated as a single computer system.

All the robots in this book (and others) have what they call "photoeyes".  The eyes of the robot are lit when it is on, and a remote operator can see through its eyes as if they were cameras.  In all the Endless Quest books, this seems to be a standard feature common to all robots.

One funny note is that we often refer to something human-shaped as "humanoid".  In this book, they refer to their cybot as "Vruskoid", a word I had not heard before, but makes perfect sense to me.  I suppose there would also be "Dralasoid" or Yaziroid" robots as well?

There is a funny line in Captive Planet when someone mentions that the Yazirian character in Unit Five nearly ended the peace treaty between Hentz & Yast by pushing the High Priest into the sacred pool.  The Yazirian responds by saying, "He needed a bath anyway".


bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 9:57am
Iggy,
I am pretty sure some of the local animals on New Pale are described elsewhere as "large reptiles", so that seems very likely.

Jaxon,
You're welcome!


bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 10:39am
Useful stuff from the two Star Rangers books:

SOLAR stations
These are massive space stations in close orbit around a star (not orbiting a planet or moon).  SOLAR is an acronym for Strategic Orbiting Laboratories for Astronomical Research.  The function of the SOLAR stations is to study stellar phenomena, particularly detailed analysis of stars.  It is implied that there is only one per solar system, and that there may only be a few such stations in the Frontier, most likely in systems like Cassidine, Prenglar & Madderly.  Each SOLAR station is a massive, multi-level construction, like a major city in space.  It looks like two pyramids stuck together at their points, with enormous solar panels sticking out where the two pyramids meet.  These stations are regarded as one of the main hubs of the Frontier.  Each contains a major spaceport, as well as residences, schools, malls, restaurants, hotels, parks, etc.  There are exhibitions & demonstrations, like you would see at an Expo (a holographic demonstration is shown).  There are levels devoted entirely to science, and there is a robotics lab.  Star Law has a station here.  There are large rooms with plants & animals from all over the Frontier, with simulated sunlight & sky.  These alien environment rooms are often used to test new models of robots in realistic environments.  Everything is run by a master computer (assumed to be level 6) in the Computer Room, and there is also a Bypass Room, which serves as a backup computer room.  Other rooms mentioned or seen include the Command Deck, Security Stations, and Life Support Room.  The station is divided up into different sections, each of which is independent, with its own airlocks & life support.  Each section can be sealed off from the others in case of a hull breach or other emergency.  There are huge, humanoid security robots, about 8 feet tall, which scan IDs and are generally intimidating.  They are level 5 or 6, armed with lasers, and are not controlled by the master computer.  One problem that arises is the story is that their main security robot malfunctions and takes over the master computer.

According to Star Rangers and the Spy, Nedram is a busy central planet of the Frontier, and is where many of Spacefleet's top offices exist.  It is the home planet of the main characters.  It is an earthlike planet with blue dirt.  Spacefleet builds a top secret ship on Nedram, which is stolen by a Sathar agent, but is recovered by the Star Rangers.  So, Nedram has ground-based spaceship construction facilities.  In my game, I placed it in the blank system near Madderly's Star.

Boxils are white, cube-shaped creatures with 4 short, stubby, marshmallow-like legs, and a humanoid face on the front.  They have no manipulators, and make a honking sound when agitated.  They are about the size of a housecat.  In the three books in which they appear, they are everywhere underfoot, on several different planets, ships & space stations, and seem to be taken for granted, like sparrows.  No one ever tries to usher them outside, or away from sensitive areas, making it seem likely that they are not particularly intelligent.  They are treated more like animals than an intelligent species.  Their main purpose in the books seems to be merely to react to whatever is happening.  They often make facial expressions in response to their environment, but never take actions that affect the story.  My feeling about them is that they are just meant to be cute, and are useful when gaming with small children.  I consider them semi-canon (as in, they are only canon when gaming with little kids).  If you hate cute stuff, leave them out.  Smile

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 15, 2013 - 10:45am
Nedram...In my game, I placed it in the blank system near Madderly's Star.

Is that the one 2 light years south of Madderly's Star? Do you have a system brief?

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 15, 2013 - 10:46am
Do you have stats for the Boxils.

Ha ha ha <evil grin> I can use them to throw off my PCs!

"Oh no! Not the Boxils!"

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 10:54am
LOL!

I'm going to have to remember that: "Oh no!  Not the Boxils!"

Sorry no stats.  They are basically noncombatants.  Maybe we can come up with "101 Things to do with a Boxil"...

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 11:31am
Villains of Volturnus

This book is basically a continuation or epilogue for the Volturnus series.  It happens a few years after the war, and could very easily be made into a module.

One of the megacorporations (Universal Minerals) has hired pirates to illegally seize the mineral wealth of Volturnus.  In the story, there are pirates & corporate goons working together.  In addition to the Core Four, we also see Kurabanda working for the megacorp.  Of course, this megacorp is later proven to have connections with the Sathar.

The existence of the Eorna is general knowledge, and kids study their civilization in school, but no one is aware that the Eorna are still alive.  People believe they are extinct.  No Eorna or Mechanons are seen in the story, but the main character does explore an abandoned Eorna city (with some nice pictures of it). 

Larger commercial ships, such as passenger vessels, include small, spherical escape pods known as "Personal Safety Pods", or PSPs.  They use atmospheric rockets to slow your descent as you land.  I have incorporated these into my game.  They are only designed to hold a few humanoids, or 2 Vrusk.  They include food & water, and an automated radio beacon (just a beeper, no ability to send messages).  There is a gauge that gives you an external atmosphere & temperature reading, to tell you if it is safe to open the pod.  One very nice feature is that PSPs come with a collapsible hovercycle.

Ships have special seating for Vrusk. 

Dralasites only use arms & legs when they need to, and otherwise take a somewhat spherical shape.  Dralasites ships & cities use ramps instead of stairs. 

Interstellar radio transmitters are described as large & bulky.  They are not available to the general public (which is consistent with Captive Planet), and require a special key to operate.  Inserting the personal radio key, which is crystal-based, into the radio transmitter allows you to send & receive messages on your own personal, private radio frequency, and the key remembers your individual settings.

The Volturnian sky is described as greenish, and the climate is described as being too dry to start fires because it might spread easily.

We see Edestekai, Ul-Mor and Kurabanda, all of whom are now familiar with the different species of the Frontier.  Their depiction is consistent with the Volturnus modules.  Kurabanda are wearing the same sorts of clothes as the Core Four, implying that they are becoming a part of Frontier life.  A Kurabanda and a Dralasite constantly exchange jokes, which annoys their human co-workers.

The main character carries a microreader, which is something like a portable microscope, not much bigger than a pen.  It allows the user to look through it and read microreader discs.  You can carry quite a few of these tiny discs with you.  Anyone who has read Heinlein should be familiar with these, because he uses them in his stories quite often.  Because it has its own light source, the main character uses it as a kind of penlight in dark caves.


Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 25, 2013 - 10:20pm
Thank you for all the info.
 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 26, 2013 - 1:50am
No problem!  Smile

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 27, 2013 - 5:40am
bossmoss wrote:
Villains of Volturnus

This book is basically a continuation or epilogue for the Volturnus series.  It happens a few years after the war, and could very easily be made into a module.

One of the megacorporations (Universal Minerals) has hired pirates to illegally seize the mineral wealth of Volturnus.  In the story, there are pirates & corporate goons working together.  In addition to the Core Four, we also see Kurabanda working for the megacorp.  Of course, this megacorp is later proven to have connections with the Sathar.

The existence of the Eorna is general knowledge, and kids study their civilization in school, but no one is aware that the Eorna are still alive.  People believe they are extinct.  No Eorna or Mechanons are seen in the story, but the main character does explore an abandoned Eorna city (with some nice pictures of it). 

Larger commercial ships, such as passenger vessels, include small, spherical escape pods known as "Personal Safety Pods", or PSPs.  They use atmospheric rockets to slow your descent as you land.  I have incorporated these into my game.  They are only designed to hold a few humanoids, or 2 Vrusk.  They include food & water, and an automated radio beacon (just a beeper, no ability to send messages).  There is a gauge that gives you an external atmosphere & temperature reading, to tell you if it is safe to open the pod.  One very nice feature is that PSPs come with a collapsible hovercycle.

Ships have special seating for Vrusk. 

Dralasites only use arms & legs when they need to, and otherwise take a somewhat spherical shape.  Dralasites ships & cities use ramps instead of stairs. 

Interstellar radio transmitters are described as large & bulky.  They are not available to the general public (which is consistent with Captive Planet), and require a special key to operate.  Inserting the personal radio key, which is crystal-based, into the radio transmitter allows you to send & receive messages on your own personal, private radio frequency, and the key remembers your individual settings.

The Volturnian sky is described as greenish, and the climate is described as being too dry to start fires because it might spread easily.

We see Edestekai, Ul-Mor and Kurabanda, all of whom are now familiar with the different species of the Frontier.  Their depiction is consistent with the Volturnus modules.  Kurabanda are wearing the same sorts of clothes as the Core Four, implying that they are becoming a part of Frontier life.  A Kurabanda and a Dralasite constantly exchange jokes, which annoys their human co-workers.

The main character carries a microreader, which is something like a portable microscope, not much bigger than a pen.  It allows the user to look through it and read microreader discs.  You can carry quite a few of these tiny discs with you.  Anyone who has read Heinlein should be familiar with these, because he uses them in his stories quite often.  Because it has its own light source, the main character uses it as a kind of penlight in dark caves.

Aside from a few facts that differ from the classic modules you could use Villians congruent with a run thru of the Volturnus campaign. The openning is stil the same as Crash on Volturnus- space liner shot down by pirates. I suspect that the changes in story were to accomodate doing the story as a young boy foiling the pirates.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 28, 2013 - 9:34am
Yes, I think so too.  It could very easily be played as the last part of the module series, although it happens a year or so later.

Abub's picture
Abub
December 31, 2013 - 1:02pm
I'm wondering .... do I need to try and create some creatures just in case my players decide to land away from the cities of a planet I expect them to investigate.  Just to have the SF'esque creature fight?  I'm thinking that would most likely be in an explorer so maybe I only need to have a description of some herd animals or something.


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Rollo's picture
Rollo
December 31, 2013 - 1:25pm
I would Abub - just to be ready. As we all know, players have a tendancy to go wildly off-script (which I maintain, is a good thing mind you! :). So planning for as much deviation as possible is always good in order to maintain continuity of play if/when they decide to throw a wrench into your well-planned adventure outline.

And if those extra details are never used - well you can just dust them off for use latter; in that same setting or even in a completely different one if you'd like.
I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! Wink

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 31, 2013 - 1:49pm
Yeah just some generic herbivores and carnivores that you can pull out on the fly and embellish to suit the situation.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!