 January 25, 2014 - 2:18pm | Which one was your fave? Which one did you play the most? Which one really had an impact on your campaign? Which one would/could you expand into a campaign all on its own? |
January 25, 2014 - 2:19pm | My all time fave was SF/KH:1 Dramune Run. It had a nice Star Wars-y feel to it...the Gullwind had a personality like the Falcon (although it was no Kessel Run contender), Garlus had a semi-retired Han Solo personae, and the nemesis was not unlike our favorite Hutt. This game had it all for me: a good back story, well developed NPCs, and enough action, danger, and mystery solving to keep you on your toes. And who can say no to a free ship at the end? The one I played the most was the Assault on Starship Omicron mini-module that was included in the Referee Screen. We subjected those eight pre-gens though all sorts of zany scenarios with that map. SF:1 Volturnus: Planet of Mystery probably impacted my campaign the most as I sourced it when recycling the Star Devil as a major antagonist in my game. As for which one I would base an entire campaign around, that one's easy: SF/KH:0 Warriors of White Light. I used it as a backdrop in my Basically Speaking game that was hosted here back in the early days of SF.us and there's plenty that can be done with it with any set of rules. No module begs for post-play expansion like this one. |
 January 25, 2014 - 3:59pm | My favorite AND most run is easily Crash on Volturnus. It was my first experience with Star Frontiers and an iconic adventure. I ran it for my friends in high school, and again for my kids with a lot of additional material from the project here. Which one to base a campaign around, I kind of based a campaign around the 2nd Sathar war. I used the Volturnus series and the Beyond the Frontier series as components of a larger scale Sathar build up culminating in SW2. The day of the Juggernaut was the opening battle, followed by several critical battles in the frontier core. The UPF eventually won, but only after losing a couple of worlds that then required ground campaigns afterward. |
 January 25, 2014 - 4:48pm | Crash on Volturnus- most played I think most impact is Warriors of White Light, I've sourced this continually over the years I think many modules could be expanded into a campaign: Sundown on Starmist (potential sequels: UPF colonization of the system and problems associated with that- someone actually did some work in that regard both a fiction piece and background information but I'm sure I could dive into the material and develop more including Star Law oriented adventures and klick connection stuff); Alcazzar (same thing as Starmist; no reason to not expand the corporate war angle), War Machine: no reason to not expand on the UPF bringing the native species of Liberty system more fully into the UPF fold and getting their feet under them. Warriros of White Light and Dramune Run are tailor made to launch a campaign. I think I'd like to use either my unfinished module Bounty on Death as a campaign launch/prequel to the Volturnus campaign.with the campaign being th equiv of 3 module prequels to the Volturnus campaign thus the PCs have become heroes in the Truane's Star system and this fame justifys their being chosen for the Volturnus campaign. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 25, 2014 - 7:16pm | Mutiny on the Eleanor Moraes. I've run it a number of time, with a number of different game systems. Great stuff every time. |
January 27, 2014 - 6:01pm | Wow, only four of us played the published modules? |
January 27, 2014 - 6:03pm | Oh and SS - just so you know Shat Rat is a BIG deal in my setting! :) |
 January 28, 2014 - 10:08am | I've played them, just can decide which one is my favorite. Played the Volturnus series the most, plus written extensions Like Dramune Run for the same reasons as Shadow Shack Like the Beyond the Frontier series for fleshing out a bit more of the sathar and the race against time nature of the modules. 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 |
 January 28, 2014 - 6:19pm | I was never aware of the existence of modules besides the ones that came with the Alpha Dawn and Knight Hawks boxed sets. I still haven't given any of them a really good read except 2001 which I do not care for. Frank Metzner wrote my favorite version of D&D (BECMI) but it's just one long railroad. That might be a function of it being a movie license. The Elanor Moraes series I've skimmed and it looks very high quality. I'm going to have to sit down and read them all sometime. I guess I'd have to pick Crash on Volturnus as my favoriite, as I've run it and modified it extensively. If any of you are familiar with Blackmoor and the Temple of the Frog (Aliens are making killer frogs in a D&D world) I would love to adapt that to Star Frontiers and run it from the point of view of a rescue/explorer crew. |
January 28, 2014 - 7:03pm | If any of you are familiar with Blackmoor and the Temple of the Frog (Aliens are making killer frogs in a D&D world) I would love to adapt that to Star Frontiers and run it from the point of view of a rescue/explorer crew. It has been adapted, sort of. Sundown on Starmist: in the module is a list of 10 otherwise harmless frontier creatures that have been re-engineered by the sathar to be dangerous, though most are of nuisance value. one is the "frogg" (2 "g" s). Not purhaps what you were thinking. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 28, 2014 - 7:38pm | I've got that download so I'll have to read it. Thanks for the heads up! |
 January 29, 2014 - 12:46am | Volturnus has seen the most use, and after that Beyond the Frontier. The Mhemne & Heliopes have made a bit of an impact, but I'd say Volturnus had more of a far-reaching, long-term impact on the campaign setting. |
February 1, 2014 - 9:28pm | but I'd say Volturnus had more of a far-reaching, long-term impact on the campaign setting.
Yep, and that pretty much sums up the initial intent behind that series. The producer of the game left it rather wide open so the GM can develope and flesh out a campaign, and the Volturnus series is surely fuel for that fire. Even TSR made a (failed) attempt at it with Zeb's Guide, using University of Zebulon as a backdrop for a "future Frontier" so to speak. As mentioned, I sourced SF:1 for the Star Devil as they are a major nemesis in my game. Star Law and Pan Galactic funded the creation of Mercenary Starbase on Volturnus as a reaction to the rising pirae threat...SpaceFleet was already spread far too thin to even make protection from the Sathar feasible, let alone patrolling the space lanes...so a chartered roving fleet was needed. The early stages of my campaign weighs heavily on all of that wholesome goodness that is the Volturnus series. Before the dark times. Before the Sovereign Domain Authority's upstart dictator arrives and overtakes the Frontier in one swift stroke. Which, naturally, stems from the backstory of Star Wars' fall of the Republic/rise of the Empire. But now I'm drifting off topic...suffice it to say Volturnus plays a fair role in that setting as well: the aged Malthar returns from exile and sets up shop to thwart the dictatorship via smuggling operations. |
February 1, 2014 - 2:30pm | Although Zebulon's succeeded in expanding the Frontier (at least in my campaign), it failed to be embraced by most people because it went against what had already been established and tried to rewrite history (among other things). There is both good & bad in Zebulon's Guide. But I agree that the Volturnus series did the best job of capturing the imagination, and providing a means to come up with a solid ongoing campaign - and most of it doesn't even take place in the normal Frontier - just one planet! |
February 1, 2014 - 6:58pm | Although Zebulon's succeeded in expanding the Frontier (at least in my campaign), it failed to be embraced by most people because it went against what had already been established and tried to rewrite history (among other things).
I like to think of Zeb's as Star Frontiers 2.0 or more realistically, since it was unfinished, 1.9 And just like later versions of D&D, it completely disrespected and did away with players of the original game while moving to a rules-heavy (or heavier at least) format. |
February 1, 2014 - 8:31pm | I completely agree. Later incarnations of D&D definitely alienated players of the original. With Zeb's the rules & timeline did that. There was certainly disrespect for the players and the original source material. One of the most annoying things for me when I first opened Zebulon's Guide was that they had "used up" several perfectly good planets as "plague worlds". What was left on the map for the GM to develop? Not much. I remember being annoyed about that at the time. Anyway, I like the Volturnus module series, and I wish they had made more stuff of that level of quality. |
February 1, 2014 - 9:00pm | I completely agree. Later incarnations of D&D definitely alienated players of the original. With Zeb's the rules & timeline did that. There was certainly disrespect for the players and the original source material. One of the most annoying things for me when I first opened Zebulon's Guide was that they had "used up" several perfectly good planets as "plague worlds". What was left on the map for the GM to develop? Not much. I remember being annoyed about that at the time. Anyway, I like the Volturnus module series, and I wish they had made more stuff of that level of quality. My reaction to Zebs guide 30 years ago was that I liked the ability to bettery tailor my character with the new rules system. Dont get me wrong I currently think that Zebs and the fan created SF2000 are both too fiddly but at the time I like the changes over the AD system. I honestly didn't notice most of the problems with the timeline other than then fact that we suddenly had plague systems with no information on them whatsoever. I did like the greater information on cults, cadres, and corporations and as for the rule mechanic I never actually played the new system other than doing character creation. Oh I did note the disconnect between the artwork and the description of the ifshnit. I did like the idea of expanding the AD map into an area called the Rim but I also thought that it was odd that little to no information was given on that. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 4, 2014 - 2:03am | Personally, when Zeb's came out, my favorite part (or at least the part I noticed first) was the new aliens. I adapted them right away, and have used them ever since. Yeah, the disconnect between the Ifshnit art and the description stood out to me too. |
 February 4, 2014 - 3:43pm |
I only have had trickle down effects of anything except Volturnus. After having read a lot of the "newer" stuff and "expanded" universe stuff I think the obvious answer is Volturnus. Everything about the initial adventure sets the pace for later adventures in a greater story line....IF...the GM drives the story well enough. Honestly, though, I have only ever experienced 1 run through with 1 GM of SF. I can only speculate after that. The adventure that sets a larger tone for the universe being played in would make an impact on me as a player. |
 February 21, 2014 - 8:41am | I played in all three Volturnus, White Light, and Dramune Run, I don't think we owned any others back in the day. The only one that I've run myself has been White Light. My favorites, that I have re-read over and over, and thought about running, have been Dramune Run and Warriors of White Light. Dark Side of the Moon and the Face of the Enemy series have been read and dissected, and may show up on my table someday, in part or in whole. |
February 21, 2014 - 8:53pm | Warriors and Dramune Run can be easily melded together for a campaign. I ran a game here where players were boarding crew on one of the newer CRM scouts and one of their missions was inspecting the Gullwind as it was running from the Malthar...Garlus' final leg before the bad guys caught up with him in Minotaur and murder his crew. |
 February 23, 2014 - 4:54pm | Which one was your fave? Volturnus Planet of Mystery. I loved the space pirate hideout and slave city one. The whole Volturnus series was perfectly balanced between a well thought out richly detailed setting and an open ended adventure seed. I also have a lot of sentimental feelings about volturnus as I have a lot of fond memories of playing through it. Warriors of White Light had a real cool factor to it but the setting was not as detailed as Volturnus and seemed to be missing something. I didnt know about the other modules back then when I played regularly and had a group to play with. I eventually collected the modules after the fact and they still wait to be played. Which one did you play the most? The Volturnus series, part I and II. Only played part III once, we didn't really understand that what the PCs were doing was playing a small part of a much larger war. It didn't really click and we would just end it with Planet of Mystery Which one really had an impact on your campaign? The Volturnus series. As kids we thought that the gov't of Truanes Star were the good guys and PGC was our friend. It wasn't until much later that I saw the darker side of the SF universe with The Volturnus Connection and the Mega Corp write-up in Zeb's Guide. Which one would/could you expand into a campaign all on its own? Both Volturnus and Warriors of White Light were perfect for that. We played a campaign chasing after Star Devil and we also played as royal marines. |
