 November 26, 2016 - 4:51pm | I'm a huge fan of HBO's Rome. Its an A/B story with the lives of historical figures Julius Ceasar, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra intertwined with fictional characters Titus Pulo and Lucius Vorenus. Absolutely love this story. Actually watching an episode now and wondering how I might do the A/B story in the Frontier. The B story is of course the lives of the PCs who find themselves intertwined with the lives or famous personages in history. The question is what personages in Frontier History. We know so few- Admiral Morgaine- suitably tragic like Julius Ceasar, the governor of Volturnus who was assassinated (Zebs timeline) also suitably tragic, the king of Clarion, or the Star Devil? I dont feel like a fan creation suits this idea. Did I forget anyone? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 26, 2016 - 8:46pm | The Clarion king's daughter. Leotia. |
 November 26, 2016 - 9:18pm | There's the various personalities listed in Zeb's Mega-Corp section and IIRC Cults & Cadres. Also of noteworthy mention: > the un-named human and his vrusk partner C'hting from the opening pictorial scenario against the Sathar Agent Dalmor as well as the duo's PGC contact Beren > Dave Shick's female yazirian "Eusyl" > Lklekt the vrusk who is famous for leaping out of jetcopters (p20 of the expanded rules) >Jardin, Yarmin, Dartha, & Yttl who were tracking the short fat dark haired slug wearing a skeinsuit ( p54-55 "example of play") > The yazirian child Rinny from the crashed Hepplewhite Inc ship sample scenario (I have utilized him as an NPC companion for one of my PCs, re: the Knight Owl "meet the crew" section) > Beril Gamache, commander of the UPF frigate Z'Gata (opening of KH manual) > Snar Latm, owner of the Hargut Lance (p13 of the Campaign Book) > Jason Rhegra (lv-2 fighter pilot, p24 of the Campaign Book...Jason made a few appearances in my Star Fighter Corps game) > Soleran (lv-3 astrogator, p25 of the Campaign Book) > Doc Evanson (lv-3 engineer, p27 of the Campaign Book) > captain Anegray (p32 of the Campaign Book) > Blaleg Norris (lv-3 pilot, p35 of the Campaign Book) > Bagrat Denuffe (assault scout pilot, p37 of the Campaign Book...Bagrat gets incinerated by the exploding scout he was attempting to escape from but perhaps players can interact with him prior to that fateful voyage) > Disan the yazirian (p40 of the Campaign Book) > Lemuel Fairbanks III (starliner owner, p42 & 44 of the Campaign Book) There are many personalities from the various modules such as the CMS Leo and Falcon crews (Warriors of White Light, I used Leotia XX --- two generations after that module --- in my dark alternative Soon Uprising play by post game in the year 111, I also used Leotia XVIII from that module in my Basically Speaking game in the gameroom here) along with any other surviving NPCs from said games, not to mention the various pre-generated characters in the modules (I used Grobber Jaloub from the Alcazzar module as an NPC in my Star Fighter Corps game). |
November 27, 2016 - 6:25am | In Rome the A story used Ceasar, Brutus, Pompeii, Marc Anthony and assorted women so a star Frontiers A story should have at least one character of similar stature- which means someone in the Leonine royal family, Admiral Morgaine, The Malthar, The star Devil, Col Jamison A lot would depend on who is chosen and what famous events we can extrapolate- Admiral Morgaine clearly has some very key events the PCs could be involved in. Jamison too. What if the unnamed governor of Volturnus that is assassinated late in the Zebs timeline is Jamison? He's a hero of the Volturnus campaign and has prior exp dealing with the eorna and primitives of Volturnus. volturnus would figure large in such a campaign. There is a major KHs battle IIRC from one of the Dragon, Ares, Polyhedron articles set in Zebulon space. The Hepplewhite crash. The Volturnus Campaign and the mechanon related events. If Morgaine is at the center of things, he gets a heroic death thats for sure. we get the first Sathar war for events, the admiral didn't start out as an admiral so we can project backwards to him being a captain and I think first contact with the yazirians would be a good place to mine for material. The famous criminals dont really appeal to me for this sort of thing. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 27, 2016 - 11:02am | If we're going to cite Dragon articles then fan creation just got the green light. Jamison died in the Volturnus trilogy, palyers saw it first hand. Any adventure interacting with him would have to take place prior to the first Volturnus expedition, or at the very least during said expedition...players would have to be refugees hiding and working against the Star Devil and other exploration type ventures while the second expedition makes their way to Outpost One and Slave City one to catch up to them for the big battle in the third module. I also utilized the Malthar in my fy111 dark alternity campaign, one of your best allies against a regime that knocked the UPF out of the ballpark is an enemy of the UPF. Enemy of the enemy being what it is...he makes a perfect NPC for any anti-establishment players to interact with. |
November 27, 2016 - 4:57pm | ^Depends on which Dragon articles you mean. Some are canon, some are not. |
November 27, 2016 - 7:46pm | ^Depends on which Dragon articles you mean. Some are canon, some are not. I hold that there are levels of cannonicity. Different documents have different weight. Box sets have greatest weight but KHs box set supercedes AD where star ship details are concerned. Modules are next in weight excluding the 2001 & 2010 modules as well as the Trouble on Janus which is dubious in that it reads like a Traveller moduel with a little Sf window dressing. Dragon articles followed by the Ares and Polyhedron articles Then Zebs if its not too contradictory and then the various pick your path books which are usually treated as bad holovid novels, although they do have details about the Frontier that can be gleened. Things that contradict generally should not supercede documents with a greater wt but each referee is free to do what he or she likes with their campaign Treat the Star Frontiersman and the Frontier Explorer as Talmudic writings - but not as authoratative as the Jews treat them; they are simply the writings of "rabbi's" about the Frontier they are not really authoratative but certainly of value. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 28, 2016 - 1:50am | I hold that the Dragon articles actually by TSR personnel who worked on SF are the same level of canonicity as the core rules (indeed, a number of them are actually rough drafts of material that appeared in Zeb. |
 November 30, 2016 - 11:01am | I hold that there are levels of cannonicity. .. Then Zebs if its not too contradictory... Zebs if it's not contradictory... Ha, ha! ...Wait, I use that method of sorting things out too... Opps... Joe Cabadas |
November 30, 2016 - 7:38pm | Is there anything in Zeb's that is NOT contradictory? |
December 1, 2016 - 12:26am | The Timeline is the most messed up part. The changes in the tech are easily explained as advancements over the "old" gear. The stuff about corps and such is pretty consistent. |
December 1, 2016 - 10:35pm | Then there's the resolution system... My beef about the mega-corps and cults & cadres (probably the only universally agreeable chapter to utilize) is they failed to include GVMPI which was mentioned in the KH Campaign Book, thus blowing their "closest to the bullseye" for consistency. |
December 16, 2016 - 7:20am | Note to self, never again mention Zebs lest the thread get hijacted into another Zebs sucks discussion :P There's the various personalities listed in Zeb's Mega-Corp section and IIRC Cults & Cadres. Also of noteworthy mention: > the un-named human and his vrusk partner C'hting from the opening pictorial scenario against the Sathar Agent Dalmor as well as the duo's PGC contact Beren > Dave Shick's female yazirian "Eusyl" > Lklekt the vrusk who is famous for leaping out of jetcopters (p20 of the expanded rules) >Jardin, Yarmin, Dartha, & Yttl who were tracking the short fat dark haired slug wearing a skeinsuit ( p54-55 "example of play") > The yazirian child Rinny from the crashed Hepplewhite Inc ship sample scenario (I have utilized him as an NPC companion for one of my PCs, re: the Knight Owl "meet the crew" section) > Beril Gamache, commander of the UPF frigate Z'Gata (opening of KH manual) > Snar Latm, owner of the Hargut Lance (p13 of the Campaign Book) > Jason Rhegra (lv-2 fighter pilot, p24 of the Campaign Book...Jason made a few appearances in my Star Fighter Corps game) > Soleran (lv-3 astrogator, p25 of the Campaign Book) > Doc Evanson (lv-3 engineer, p27 of the Campaign Book) > captain Anegray (p32 of the Campaign Book) > Blaleg Norris (lv-3 pilot, p35 of the Campaign Book) > Bagrat Denuffe (assault scout pilot, p37 of the Campaign Book...Bagrat gets incinerated by the exploding scout he was attempting to escape from but perhaps players can interact with him prior to that fateful voyage) > Disan the yazirian (p40 of the Campaign Book) > Lemuel Fairbanks III (starliner owner, p42 & 44 of the Campaign Book) There are many personalities from the various modules such as the CMS Leo and Falcon crews (Warriors of White Light, I used Leotia XX --- two generations after that module --- in my dark alternative Soon Uprising play by post game in the year 111, I also used Leotia XVIII from that module in my Basically Speaking game in the gameroom here) along with any other surviving NPCs from said games, not to mention the various pre-generated characters in the modules (I used Grobber Jaloub from the Alcazzar module as an NPC in my Star Fighter Corps game). Thank you shadow for the thorough list many of these are not quite on par with Ceasar, Marc Anbthony and Cleopatra, although these are worth consideration. so the big names as i see it are Princess Leotia, the Malthar, Hatzk Naar, the Star Devil, Col Jamison and Admiral Morgaine. We can also grab the names of the other battleships listed in KHs and assume that they were also admirals/ commanders that died with Morgaine at the battle of Morgaine's world or the Battle of Prengular or perhaps one of them gave their life at the Battle of Cassidine in SW1 I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 16, 2016 - 7:38am | In HBO's Rome the historic moments dominate the story for both the A and B characters: Ceasar's rise ot power and his falling out with Pompeii, Ceasars assassination on the floor of the senate. Marc Anthony's alliance with Cleoptra and Octavian's rise to power. For this concept to work you need some elements of historical events in the Frontier If its Col Jamison it would be his exploration scouting missions which are part of his back story, the Volturnus survey mission, and the battle of Volkos. then there have been some interesting discussion of whether or not he was the star devil or a patsy of the star devil, I've speculated that he was sent by the UPF as a govenor of Volturnus due to his relationship of working with the eorna and his fame and success on Volturnus- which would then bring in the Hepplewhite crash and eventual mechanon revolt/ exodus. Malthar: rise of the crime lord to dominate dark world station at outer reach, the various Dramune wars, and events in the Dramune run module. Admiral Morgaine; 1st & 2nd common musters, Free World Rebellion @ Madderly's star, and the Battle of Cassadine and Battle of Prengular or Morgaine's World. Princess Leotia i think is harder- could work in the details of Streel being banned from doing business on Clarion and the event that lead to the gun control laws on Clarion, perhaps the Free World Rebellion only one jump route away from Clarion. The sathar plot that i wrote "The Frog that Kissed a Prince" (FE # ?) could be fodder though its not cannon. Hatzk Naar - i've speculated that he is vrusk based on his name Hatzk of trade house Naar. and that Naar was essentially destroyed during the Free world Rebellion at Madderly's star. so with those assumptions the free world rebellion and his turning to piracy. the root of bitterness in him and his intensifying pirate activities based at Outer Reach leading to the Grand Raid which results in the 1st Common Muster and his eventual death. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 18, 2016 - 10:41am | The original Star Frontiers game I played in back in the early to mid 80's was like this. Our group mashed the movie DUNE, the Star Frontiers RPG, and the Battletech game into one gooey mess. The "A" story was the interactions of the Dune-style Major and Minor houses in control of various planetary empires carved out of the Frontier map, and using Knight Hawks for space combat and Battletech for ground combat. Each player was the leader of the House, with a space fleet, mech fleet, and trading fleet. First we'd game out how our strategic level game would go, and that would adjust the relative prices of things across the Frontier, as well as create dramatic background news. The "B" story was our player characters on the ground using Alpha Dawn for the role-playing within the changing Frontier universe created by our A-story game. Keeping purely within canon, you could likely do something similar where each planetary and station governor is in political and economic competition with the other systems. Throw in mega-corps and Vrusk trade houses and you have a lot of variety there. Adjusting the exports and prices from Tote That Barge would be an easy start to this. There is also an old board game called Noble House which featured gathering resources to fulfill contracts, adjusting stock prices, corporate mergers and takeovers, and such that could be purposed to help drive such an A-story game around an expanded Tote-that-Barge style core. |
December 28, 2016 - 12:17am | I thought Hatzk Naar was the Star Devil. |
December 28, 2016 - 12:12pm | I thought Hatzk Naar was the Star Devil. Hatzk Naar, in the Gospel according to Zebulon's Guide is the pirate who began openning raiding and attacking planets in the Frontier and was the catalyst for the First Common Muster. He was captured and executed by being tossed out an air lock to be boilled alive in his vacuum suit at Timeon. Because of language in the KHs (I forget where) about orbital bombardment being illegal and bringing the wrath of Space Fleet down on you I like to imagine that the Hatzk Naar raid was the occassion when the Council of Worlds passed a resolution that made orbital bombardment of an inhabited planet the cornerstone of interstellar pollicy that would bring swift action that one would not expect from a body like the CoW. This event would certainly galvanize the CoW and get a swift resolution passed. I further like to make the Star Devil an escaped Lt. of Hatzk Naar, although that is not common knowledge. In other words the Star Devil is a new alias chosen after the debacle of the great raid and his getting away by the skin of his star ship. Volturnus is a hidie-hole (probably one of many) that he established in the after math of the First Common Muster. Although at that time Star Law did not exist and neither did Space Fleet. Still his experiences as a Lt. for Hatzk Naar would give him reason to be circumspect I would expect. Without a doubt the styles of the two pirates are very different. Hatzk Naar acts openly with an attitude of "what are you going to do about it?" The Star Devil acts behind the scenes- he's not even present at the base on Volturnus and his existence is only whispered at till the PCs encounter his minions on Volturnus. NOTE: I know that Zebs is considered apocryphal but I like this little bit of history with the First Common Muster and Hatzk Naar especially since its the prelude to the 2nd Common Muster and the organization of the UPF to resist the sathar. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
