Things Don't Go Smooth
delericho
Legend
4 out of 5 rating for Things Don't Go Smooth
"Things Don't Go Smooth" is the first non-adventure supplement for the Firefly RPG. The way MWP are approaching the line is to present the 'canon' material (as seen in the show) in the Core Rulebook, and then to add to the setting with the supplements. As such, as far as I can tell everything (with one exception) that is in this book is new material.
The book can be broadly split into three sections: example antagonists, new rules material, and adventures.
The first part of the book consistutes most of the first three chapters and part of the fourth. Those first three chapters each provide several example antagonists, split into three categories: spies and agents, crime bosses, and wild cards. Each is presented as a pre-written NPC with a supporting cast, ships and hideouts, and some ideas for plans and adventures. As such, they should be easy enough to drop into a campaign. (I did note, though, that one of the characters is a repeat from "Thrillin' Heroics" while a second is tied to the crew of Serenity and so may be of less use if you're not using them as your PCs.) The fourth chapter deals with "Enemy Boats", and includes write-ups for a dozen ships used by those sample NPCs.
The second part of the book, the new rules, includes parts of chapters 3 and 4, and all of chapter 5.
The relevant part of chapter 3 discusses adding Reavers to the game. This was probably the single thing that most attracted me to the book, but it turned out to be okay but not great. In particular, I felt it was hampered by the MWP license being restricted to the TV show, and thus they were unable to address the revelations in the film, and that in turn meant there was an elephant in the room. Still, it was a worthwhile discussion, even if the main lesson is "use carefully".
Chapter 4, in addition to providing the sample ships mentioned above, adds several new ship distinctions and assets, and advice on how to create new ship distinctions and assets of the various types. This was all good material, as the coverage in the Core Rulebook was necessarily brief. My only criticism here is that the chapter would have really benefitted from including pictures of all the new ship types introduced right there beside the relevant distinctions - the lack of the same was unfortunate, to say the least.
Chapter 5 then includes a grab-bag of stuff, mostly associated with running Antagonists. In particular, it discusses the difference between an Antagonist (defined as a small to mid-scale threat) versus one of the great factions of the setting (the Alliance or corporations). It includes several detailed examples of some of the trickier aspects of play, which is appreciated, and then several pages of advice on creating settings for adventures, including a step-by-step breakdown. The chapter then describes two new types of Triggers: scene triggers and location triggers. These work just like Distinction or Asset triggers, but can be used by any character in a given Scene or Location (as the names imply). Truth be told, I can't see these getting much use - the game almost certainly runs best when it runs simply, and so adding more complexity ain't going to help.
Chapter 5 then ends with the highlight of the whole book: several pages of tables that serve as a handy adventure generator. The Firefly RPG already strikes me as a game that will be exceedingly simply to generate adventures for (as the convention of not killing the bad guys tends to spawn lots of loose ends that can be used later), and combined with this generator the busy GM probably has enough to run a campaign indefinitely. It's excessive to say these tables are worth the price of admission by themselves, but when combined with the new ships in Chapter 4 and the other advice in Chapter 5 it becomes a pretty compelling package.
The book then ends with two sample adventures, "Merciless" and "Thieves in Heaven". Oddly enough, both focus on the Crew stealing things from various people, although the resulting adventures are quite different. These are both fine, and highlight some of the new rules quite well. Still, they're a nice-to-have - I wouldn't buy the book for these alone.
I had a hard time rating this book: initially I was going to go for the dreaded 3-star review. There's good stuff in here, but none of it is essential. However, those adventure-generation tables in Chapter 5, coupled with the new ship rules in Chapter 4, are enough to elevate this book somewhat higher, and there's enough other material here that the GM should get his money's worth. (Though I wouldn't recommend it for players - although there is some material here a player can use, this is very much a GM-focussed book.)
"Things Don't Go Smooth" is the first non-adventure supplement for the Firefly RPG. The way MWP are approaching the line is to present the 'canon' material (as seen in the show) in the Core Rulebook, and then to add to the setting with the supplements. As such, as far as I can tell everything (with one exception) that is in this book is new material.
The book can be broadly split into three sections: example antagonists, new rules material, and adventures.
The first part of the book consistutes most of the first three chapters and part of the fourth. Those first three chapters each provide several example antagonists, split into three categories: spies and agents, crime bosses, and wild cards. Each is presented as a pre-written NPC with a supporting cast, ships and hideouts, and some ideas for plans and adventures. As such, they should be easy enough to drop into a campaign. (I did note, though, that one of the characters is a repeat from "Thrillin' Heroics" while a second is tied to the crew of Serenity and so may be of less use if you're not using them as your PCs.) The fourth chapter deals with "Enemy Boats", and includes write-ups for a dozen ships used by those sample NPCs.
The second part of the book, the new rules, includes parts of chapters 3 and 4, and all of chapter 5.
The relevant part of chapter 3 discusses adding Reavers to the game. This was probably the single thing that most attracted me to the book, but it turned out to be okay but not great. In particular, I felt it was hampered by the MWP license being restricted to the TV show, and thus they were unable to address the revelations in the film, and that in turn meant there was an elephant in the room. Still, it was a worthwhile discussion, even if the main lesson is "use carefully".
Chapter 4, in addition to providing the sample ships mentioned above, adds several new ship distinctions and assets, and advice on how to create new ship distinctions and assets of the various types. This was all good material, as the coverage in the Core Rulebook was necessarily brief. My only criticism here is that the chapter would have really benefitted from including pictures of all the new ship types introduced right there beside the relevant distinctions - the lack of the same was unfortunate, to say the least.
Chapter 5 then includes a grab-bag of stuff, mostly associated with running Antagonists. In particular, it discusses the difference between an Antagonist (defined as a small to mid-scale threat) versus one of the great factions of the setting (the Alliance or corporations). It includes several detailed examples of some of the trickier aspects of play, which is appreciated, and then several pages of advice on creating settings for adventures, including a step-by-step breakdown. The chapter then describes two new types of Triggers: scene triggers and location triggers. These work just like Distinction or Asset triggers, but can be used by any character in a given Scene or Location (as the names imply). Truth be told, I can't see these getting much use - the game almost certainly runs best when it runs simply, and so adding more complexity ain't going to help.
Chapter 5 then ends with the highlight of the whole book: several pages of tables that serve as a handy adventure generator. The Firefly RPG already strikes me as a game that will be exceedingly simply to generate adventures for (as the convention of not killing the bad guys tends to spawn lots of loose ends that can be used later), and combined with this generator the busy GM probably has enough to run a campaign indefinitely. It's excessive to say these tables are worth the price of admission by themselves, but when combined with the new ships in Chapter 4 and the other advice in Chapter 5 it becomes a pretty compelling package.
The book then ends with two sample adventures, "Merciless" and "Thieves in Heaven". Oddly enough, both focus on the Crew stealing things from various people, although the resulting adventures are quite different. These are both fine, and highlight some of the new rules quite well. Still, they're a nice-to-have - I wouldn't buy the book for these alone.
I had a hard time rating this book: initially I was going to go for the dreaded 3-star review. There's good stuff in here, but none of it is essential. However, those adventure-generation tables in Chapter 5, coupled with the new ship rules in Chapter 4, are enough to elevate this book somewhat higher, and there's enough other material here that the GM should get his money's worth. (Though I wouldn't recommend it for players - although there is some material here a player can use, this is very much a GM-focussed book.)
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