Serenity: Why am I GMing this?

[MerricB]

A couple of months ago, a few friends of mine from the local gaming store decided to start up a campaign of the Serenity RPG. Mick would be the GM, and there would be about six other players. I would have liked to play some RPG with these guys - only Mick has roleplayed with me before - but the numbers were just seeming too high to run it well.

Anyway, Real Life (tm) got in the way of a couple of the players, and they were down to three regular participants after the first session. So, they asked me to join in. I was happy to now. As I wanted to get a hang of the game before I brought in my main character, I created a temporary one-shot character: Billy, based very, very loosely on Billy the Kid, the legendary gunslinger of the Wild West. The session was very interesting (you can read the report here), and - the way it ran - my character drove the session so I was almost working the GM's role.

I pause here to add that I haven't actually seen all of Firefly. I saw bits of a couple of episodes when it was on TV, and I've seen Serenity, but my knowledge of the setting is rather light. (I do have the DVDs, but they've been gathering some dust as I've been doing other things).

So, come last weekend, we had my second session (the campaign's third) and I introduced my new character. Mick managed to totally blindside me by expecting I'd drive the session again. This wasn't a totally unrealistic goal, but the parameters of the session were just so far out of my control (and Mick didn't explain in so many words that's what he wanted) that I actually had a fairly unsatisfactory session. I was also getting more and more frustrated by the system: the resolution system is far too random for my liking.

Anyway, Mick admitted towards the end of the session that he was really having trouble coming up with adventure ideas. Despite my lack of knowledge of the setting, strangely enough I had a number of ideas myself, and I was happy to run the next session myself and let Mick take a breather. Over the next few days, this developed into me taking over the running of the game altogether - something both Mick and I were happy about.

So, now I'm running a game of Serenity, with a system I don't really like and a setting I don't know that much about. Why am I GMing this again?

Exactly how long we'll keep using the Serenity system is up for debate. I want to run the next session with it, so we can see if I can make it work better when I'm controlling the game fully. I suspect that I'm still going to be frustrated. The system I'm most likely to replace it with (and, strangely enough, it's a pretty close match) is that of the new Doctor Who "Adventures in Time and Space" RPG. Indeed, it's possible to keep the same skills & attributes and just change the resolution system. (A d2 becomes a score of "1"). My liking for the way Story Points work in DW far outtrumps that of Serenity RPG. Still, I might as well try one session more of Serenity rules to see how it goes.

Also using advice from the DW RPG, I'm going to set up this campaign like a season of Doctor Who: 13 "episodes", some two-parter, some focusing on one or two of the characters, and other being "arc" episodes. There's a couple of campaign arcs we've already got in motion, so it'll be fun to see if I can make them work.

This will also be the first time in quite some while I'll not be running D&D in one of its forms. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

 

[Wik]

Seriously, as someone who JUST finished watching two episodes of Firefly (for, like, the umpteenth time) how can you have them on DVD and not actually see them all? It's one of the best shows ever made.

As for the system itself - I like it, but it requires ample use of plot points to really work. Your structure, however, fits dead on - and that was really the way the TV series was heading, I think.

The game runs fast enough that you can actually split the party, too - and the books seem to imply this is actually a decent thing to do regarding pacing. An A plot involving a bank heist is fun, especially if there's a B plot going on involving the group's shephed trying to declare the party's ship as "sanctuary" to protect a falsely accused kid wanted by the law... of course, the PCs from group A escape to their ship, which is now surrounded by feds... and hilarity ensues!

 

[Kzach]

Watch the DVD's.

The movie was passable, but only if you assume it has nothing to do with the series. The series is ten types of awesome to the power of ten.

Watch the DVD's.

 

[Rechan]

Good luck man.

Also yes, Watch the DVDs.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I've done a Serenity campaign before, but we inevitably just changed systems to Dogs in the Vineyard (IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE, I suppose). The Serenity system can be somewhat clunky.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Watch the DVD's.

The movie was passable, but only if you assume it has nothing to do with the series. The series is ten types of awesome to the power of ten.

Watch the DVD's.

Quoted for truth. Several of the DVD episodes even sound like Traveller adventures!

 

[BryonD]

Anyway, Mick admitted towards the end of the session that he was really having trouble coming up with adventure ideas. Despite my lack of knowledge of the setting, strangely enough I had a number of ideas myself, and I was happy to run the next session myself and let Mick take a breather.

Don't know about running a system you don't like, but...

Do NOT watch the DVDs at this time.
It is a decent show. Watch them eventually. But don't watch them now.

One real downside of games based on very specific material is it becomes to easy to start thinking the sessions need to match the material. It can be an obstacle to thinking outside the box. You don't have that issue.

In hindsight you probably create plot that would work perfectly well as "the kind of thing that may have happened in season 2". Even though the plot doesn't match anything in particular that happened in the show, the feel is right. This is particularly the case with something like Firefly, which has a rather small basis to work from. Compare it to Star Trek, for example, which has a precedent footprint so huge, there is virtually no limitation.

You may also want to consider just re-writing all the same characters into a system you do like. You don't need a Star Trek (r) system to run a Star Trek game and you don't need a Serenity(r) system to run a Firefly game.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'll have to join the choir:

Firefly was a great show. It's a shame it didn't really get a chance before it was cancelled.

Initially I was quite sceptical ('Ah, so it's from the guy who created Buffy? I think I'll pass!'), but it was really quite intriguing.

Regarding the FATE system, I don't know it myself, but I've heard some good things about it. Anyway, good luck running the show!

 

[Connorsrpg]

Hey Merrick. No dnd for a while...eeek.

Wish you well with Serenity. I never got into it when it was on TV but friend gave me Firefly DVDs and got around to watching them. They were very good.

In fact said friend lives in Ballarat and his current DnD campaign is based heavily upon the story line of Firefly.

I was interested when you said 'local store'. Which would that be...and where is it?

We haven't looked at the Serenity system, but I pointed it out to him. Don't get to play enough as it is - so we stick to one game (2 in you count SW Saga now and then).

How do your players feel about the system? If they haven't played much then maybe you should present them with their PCs redone for DW or whatever you are comfortable with. Maybe even Saga?

I would want the DM familiar with the rules.

Also agree with ByronD in a away (though I would watch the series to get a feel for the, ah, 'feel' of the show - Austin Powers moment there). BUT I remember playing dnd Dragonlance with someone that had read the novels (and followed those stupid 'the PCs don't die rules) - that kinda sucked, as we just expected to do whatever the heroes in the book did. I am sure you could watch the shows and not get stuck on that though...a brilliant GM like yourself

Oh...and Good Luck Cheers, C

 

[Umbran]

One real downside of games based on very specific material is it becomes to easy to start thinking the sessions need to match the material. It can be an obstacle to thinking outside the box. You don't have that issue.

I don't think that's an obstacle here for two reasons:

1) Merric here is a very imaginative guy. I'm not too afraid he'd be boxed in.

2) There's only about a dozen episodes to the show. There really isn't much setting material to begin with that he'd be forced to match. He has to make up setting and plot material on his own, whether or not he watches the show.

Why are you doig it, Merric? Because the genre is easy-peasy to work with. To first approximation it is a western... IN SPACE!