Battlestar Galactica RPG

[Ranger REG]

Assuming the studio approves it, we should have the book at GenCon this year. We hope to have the BSG QuickStart rules out before that so folks can play a few games before the show; we will have BSG events being run at GC Indy as well as several other Cortex and d20 games (including Serenity and Dragonlance).

Cheers,
Cam

I'm concerned that since BSG will be canceled after the fourth season, the studio's interest will wane just as they did for Serenity RPG.

 

[DethStryke]

I'm concerned that since BSG will be canceled after the fourth season, the studio's interest will wane just as they did for Serenity RPG.

This is a nit-pick, but BSG is completing in the fourth (upcoming) season. It was not canceled as Firefly/Serenity was. That is to say, there will be story completion in line with what the writers, specifically Ron Moore, had wanted from the start.

Whether they had originally wanted two more seasons and that idea was nixxed, that is open for discussion. Whatever the reason, having a story that runs its course is much different than getting programming whiplash in the middle of its first season a'la Firefly.

While I'm a big fan of both franchises, I agree with GlassJaw - a BSG RPG (that almost rhymes when I said it aloud... ) I don't see as a very exciting proposition. Good for one-shots, but campaigns? Nah.

 

[Kaffis]

Coming in a bit late as I didn't catch this thread the first time around, but I feel a need to contribute to the derail.

My disappointment in the Serenty RPG wasn't the system, per se, nor the background material. It was the poorly conceived economic factors.

As a setting that's based on a smuggler/trader ship, economics are important. And while there was plenty of support for calculating ship maintenance costs, there were virtually no guidelines for reasonable and workable commodity costs or commissions for hauling somebody else's cargo. The tone of the universe virtually dictates that the party be kept on the ragged edge between going entirely broke and barely staying afloat. But the GM is left floating in the wind on that front, trying to calculate how generous he can afford to be without letting things get out of control on his own -- it felt like I was designing the system from the ground up, I had to do so much math.

In addition, there's virtually nothing but the ship to spend money on. Food, personal equipment -- all come damn cheap. So if you don't have a stake in the ship (being, say, hired help on a salary), all you do is just rack up cash that you have nothing to spend it on.

 

[Technik4]

In addition, there's virtually nothing but the ship to spend money on. Food, personal equipment -- all come damn cheap. So if you don't have a stake in the ship (being, say, hired help on a salary), all you do is just rack up cash that you have nothing to spend it on.

I don't know, the crew of the firefly never seemed too rich to me. Mostly they did jobs to pay for fuel and save up money for vacations (crew) and repair (captain). Money also came in handy a couple times for tight jobs, IIRC.

Basically, money shouldn't be the driving force of the campaign, even it is one of the motivating factors for a character.

 

[buzz]

Basically, money shouldn't be the driving force of the campaign, even it is one of the motivating factors for a character.

A Firefly RPG that contains extensive trade/economics/cargo rules a la GURPS Far Trader is, IMO, one that totally misses the point.

 

[Johnny Angel]

I don't have any major objections to the system, though I do think it's sufficiently reminiscent of Savage Worlds that you might as well just use that system, which is better supported. Certainly the playing cards wouldn't feel wholly out of place in a Firefly 'Verse game.

The GM screen for Serenity came with a large map of the ship, which is the model I use for my party's ship in my d20 Star*Drive game. It also has a large map of the Aces and Eights, which has a similar aesthetic advantage that it is a ship that incorporates the vertical dimension whereas most ship diagrams in RPGs, for practical reasons, have flat maps.

The way they present the setting does chaff me somewhat. The premise, mixing space opera with western, has a potential for hokeyness, which the TV show itself arguably does stray into, though the movie strays away from to the point of almost eliminating any hint of a western motif. But the one module put out so far -- Out in the Black -- it is full-on robo bozo loco hokey.

There were other adventures put out for free, most of them having been used in Con demos. These are fairly tightly designed around the idea that you'd be playing the characters from the show. Now, I think that can be an interesting idea, and I'd love to see my groups' interpretations of the characters. But re-arranging the adventures to get other parties in seems problematic.

As for the economics of trade, including doing "jobs" and smuggling, it would be handy to have a well-designed system for handling that and give the party a sense of barely keeping their heads above water. But who does have such a system? The best I've found so far is Alternity. It has guidelines for ship costs, maintenence costs, the value of and laws concerning salvage, the monthly cost of lifestyle and fuel, ext. But their commodities system, though they have one, is kind of problematic. There is no rule for price fluctuation, and the relative prices are the only clue as to how the markets even work. Do you know of a system that does it better?

 

[buzz]

As for the economics of trade, including doing "jobs" and smuggling, it would be handy to have a well-designed system for handling that and give the party a sense of barely keeping their heads above water. But who does have such a system?

Here's mine.

When the session begins I say, "So, once again the crew finds itself down on its luck and short of cash. But, looks like Badger has a job, though it may involve some Alliance entanglements..."

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

[fusangite]

I'm curious but not optimistic here. I react to it the same way I react to the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire RPG. How can you design a system representing a universe in the middle of a series that is gradually revealing the nature of the cosmology and the laws of cause and effect? This series seems very rich in these areas; and I think it would be a big screw-up to assume that the way the Battlestar universe is anything like your standard space sci-fi universe; I personally would love to contribute to such a product once the series was over. But it looks like the premature release of the game will foreclose more comprehensive and representative game-building.

 

[Ranger REG]

This is a nit-pick, but BSG is completing in the fourth (upcoming) season. It was not canceled as Firefly/Serenity was. That is to say, there will be story completion in line with what the writers, specifically Ron Moore, had wanted from the start.

I agree with you.

It's a nit-pick.

Any shows -- that is not a televnovela or a mini-series -- that didn't make season (or in the case of Britain, series) 5 is considered canceled in my book. Yes, that includes TOS and ENT for my fellow Trekkies. Don't flame me, I wanted them to last at least season 5, or perhaps season 8 as in the case of SG-1 (ironically, we still do not have such a continuing RPG line since AEG stopped their production).

I simply want the game to be in for the long haul.

 

[fusangite]

Any shows -- that is not a televnovela or a mini-series -- that didn't make season (or in the case of Britain, series) 5 is considered canceled in my book. Yes, that includes TOS and ENT for my fellow Trekkies. Don't flame me, I wanted them to last at least season 5, or perhaps season 8 as in the case of SG-1 (ironically, we still do not have such a continuing RPG line since AEG stopped their production).

By that logic, Fawlty Towers was cancelled. I see a flaw.