Anyone played the "Farscape" RPG?

[Farscape]

Has anyone played the "Farscape" RPG? I'm planning on finding the book and I was just wondering what people thought about the game.

Cheers

 

[Ratskinner]

Has anyone played the "Farscape" RPG? I'm planning on finding the book and I was just wondering what people thought about the game.

I haven't played it, but I own the book. (I'm assuming you're talking about the D20 version, and not some newer arrival.) The book is worth owning for Farscape fans (at least for $5 like I got it at Origins), simply because of its amazing episode synopses of the first two seasons and the great images within. The book is a gorgeous physical artifact.

Which only makes the next part more depressing...the game is nothing to write home about. Its a bog-standard D20 implementation with a very low-power magic system called "powers" for the Mystics and Priests. A few things here and there are renamed to be a little more flavorful in a farscape-y way. Personally, I can't say that I think it would match the feel of Farscape in play very much. Also, the show wasn't completed when the book came out, and the game did very poorly so no updates happened. That leaves some gaps, and it certainly doesn't provide any new material to explore (i.e. no new powers for mystics/priests, no new species or worlds beyond what's in the first two seasons.)

Were I inclined to run a Farscape game, and had a group so inclined, I think I would first look at Fate Core or Fate Accelerated. They would handle the free-wheeling creativity and long-term consequences the characters experience far more effectively than a system like D20, I think. There may be other systems that would work as well, but that's my system of choice nowadays for story-oriented games, and I think Farscape is a more story-oriented than tactics-oriented milieu. I might still pick up the book, because its got a lot of material there.

 

[Farscape]

I haven't played it, but I own the book. (I'm assuming you're talking about the D20 version, and not some newer arrival.) The book is worth owning for Farscape fans (at least for $5 like I got it at Origins), simply because of its amazing episode synopses of the first two seasons and the great images within. The book is a gorgeous physical artifact.

Which only makes the next part more depressing...the game is nothing to write home about. Its a bog-standard D20 implementation with a very low-power magic system called "powers" for the Mystics and Priests. A few things here and there are renamed to be a little more flavorful in a farscape-y way. Personally, I can't say that I think it would match the feel of Farscape in play very much. Also, the show wasn't completed when the book came out, and the game did very poorly so no updates happened. That leaves some gaps, and it certainly doesn't provide any new material to explore (i.e. no new powers for mystics/priests, no new species or worlds beyond what's in the first two seasons.)

Were I inclined to run a Farscape game, and had a group so inclined, I think I would first look at Fate Core or Fate Accelerated. They would handle the free-wheeling creativity and long-term consequences the characters experience far more effectively than a system like D20, I think. There may be other systems that would work as well, but that's my system of choice nowadays for story-oriented games, and I think Farscape is a more story-oriented than tactics-oriented milieu. I might still pick up the book, because its got a lot of material there.

Thanks for the info!

I am a massive, massive, fan of the show and I really want to run a Farscape game. I'm a bit saddened by what you describe. I think the universe is fantastic with so much to offer and explore. I think I will still try and pick up a copy of the game. I may have to order it because I haven't seen the game anywhere around here.