D&D 4E Serenity/Firefly 4e Adaption

[Kzach]

As original as I'd like to think I am, I'm pretty certain I'm not the first to think 4e might be good for a Serenity/Firefly style of game. So really I'd just like to hear of anyone's adaptions or projects toward that end.

 

[malcolm_n]

I think there's a 4e-based system coming out later this year from WotC that would fit firefly's theme of spaceships and guns. Prior to that, I'd reskin crossbows/bows and astral schooners appropriately; maybe even make said ships available sooner given the setting.

I could probably throw together some of the characters, converting from the cortex system in which the Firefly RPG already exists.

 

[Garthanos]

I have seen the Serenity characters done rather nicely in Fate. The key was making nice use of quotable quotes.

 

[Ebylon]

A Firefly 4e supplement would need some improved cover rules to make being big damn heroes with fancy guns a little bit more exciting than just "I make an attack with my pistol. I move behind this wall. I'm done."

 

[Saeviomagy]

The main issue with doing any sort of modern setting with 4e is that a lot of the existing classes and powers only make sense at melee range. Otherwise it's fairly easy to create a range of equivalent guns and the like, and port in some of D20 modern's firearm feats to get burst and automatic fire.

 

[Kzach]

The main issue with doing any sort of modern setting with 4e is that a lot of the existing classes and powers only make sense at melee range. Otherwise it's fairly easy to create a range of equivalent guns and the like, and port in some of D20 modern's firearm feats to get burst and automatic fire.

Actually, one of the reasons I felt 4e would be well-suited to a future/modern campaign was that there are so many ranged options that could easily be converted to pistols and machineguns/lasers/whatever with little more than a hand-wave.

 

[Kzach]

I think the biggest block is making things non-magical. You'd definitely have to use inherent bonuses. Perhaps lasers could give masterwork bonuses to hit and damage but obviously be very rare.

You'd have to account for fights with whatever is on hand, whether it be a chair leg or a pistol, the characters will most likely rarely have their favourite weapons on hand.

I think you'd also have to have some sort of agreement in place in regards to hand-to-hand fighting. A monk character would suit a River character very well, but any strong hand-to-hand class is going to have a keen advantage in such a setting simply due to always having their weapons 'on hand' so to speak.

 

[Kzach]

Oh, and you'd definitely have to improve the skills list and expand upon skills. I'd even suggest going so far as having extra slots based on level to get skill powers in addition to regular power slots. Skills would play a much larger role in such a setting, making combat powers more powerful in a sense, but just used less often.