Babylon 5 d20

[Thunderstorm]

I have been looking for a Sci Fi game with more indepth intriuge and political stuggles than Star War, and I think that I found it, but I need the help of those few in cyber space that have played it..
I was a fan of Babylon 5 when the series 1st came out , but had lost track or it in recent years. Recently I was surfing when I found a good deal of info at the Mongoose website on B5.
What are your thoughts on the game and is it worth the cost to begin the campaign? What does it compare to in the gaming world? A quality product?
Any cool game features? Pestige classes?

Let me know what you think so that I might delve deeper into this amazing universe...

Thanks, Thunderstorm

P.S. How are the starship and space battle rules?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Well, I like it. Be warned however that combat is deadly even reletively high level characters can be taken out with a few shots from a ppg. Psi talents are treated fairly briefly, but more is promised.

There is a lot more support for the game than there was for the Chameleon Eclectic version, and the season books are also episode guides, with instructions on how to integrate each episode into a campaign.

I have not yet tried the space cobat, and in fact have modified a scenario I created for the old version involving the destruction of Babylon Station. (Not B5, the first one) The first time I ran it things went... badly. The PCs ended up guarding sheep on Mars. (Low gravity, helium rich environment, with lots of high pitched 'baaahh's as the sheep bounce all over the place. The players didn't seem to realize they were being punished!

A site with adventure seeds for the old B5 game is being updated, you can find it here: http://www.redsector.net/modules/

Hope this helps.

The Auld Grump

 

[Thunderstorm]

Thanks Grump. That does help a bit, I just find the setting to be very interesting and I have never liked Star Trek (too many trekkies)...

 

[Allensh]

Babylon 5 RPG is awesome!

I HIGHLY reccommend this book. I have been running it and my players love it, even the ones who don't know Babylon 5. It's excellently done (except for the character sheet but I have found an alternative) and it is great. yeah, combat is deadly. This is good because B5 is more about interaction and mysteries than about combat.

Allen

 

[Ranger REG]

Sounds like a good reference source for making a Star Trek type campaign (the kinds before VOY and ENT).

 

[VorpalBunny]

Yeah, combat is deadly. This is good because B5 is more about interaction and mysteries than about combat.

Exactly. And the hit point system reinforces this idea very well. Any character, no matter how high a level he or she is will think twice about things if they're staring down the business end of a PPG. That's the way it shoud be.

Space combat uses the Dragonstar system. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it seems very intuitive and easy to use.

Sounds like a good reference source for making a Star Trek type campaign (the kinds before VOY and ENT).

Yeah, it would. But then again so would Decipher's Star Trek RPG.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Argh! Yet another d20 game I must own!

Is the main book enough to build a campaign off of? Are the Psi rules complete enough to have effective characters or do yuo really need the Psi-book mentioned? B5 was and is my all time favourite sci-fi show and i would love to try this out. Is it 'true' d20 (ie you must have the PHB to play) and if so does it go from 3.5 or 3.0?

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I HIGHLY reccommend this book. I have been running it and my players love it, even the ones who don't know Babylon 5. It's excellently done (except for the character sheet but I have found an alternative) and it is great. yeah, combat is deadly. This is good because B5 is more about interaction and mysteries than about combat.

Allen

Dang straight! Even core characters in the show were taken out of action with amazing speed. (How long was Garabaldi in the sickbay? A month? Two?) High lethality means taking the time to think.

The way the old CE version handled adventures was to create a flowchart, for example if the players toss an agents room they may (depending on Search rolls) find three clues, each leading to different locations that have more clues... Hmmm, we found a matchbook with 'Tarent's Hawaiian Style Lounge' on the cover and the words 'talk to Al' on the inside, a 5 visit ticket to 'Stan's Holo Theater' with two visits left, and a card from a sporting goods dealer... I fully intend to use this method for any further adventures.

Should I ever use the starship combat I will most likely use the cardstock cutouts that came with the Earthforce Alliance book for the old CE version. Chameleon Eclectic used to have them up on their website, you may be able to track them down online.

Mongoose themselves have a better character sheet up on their website:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/B5 Charsheet.pdf

I would also reccomend downloading their free samples and seeing how you like it. Also, because of the way the book is printed there is a map of B5 and a starmap that disappear into the fold of the book, the first sample has both these maps - I printed minee onto legal sized paper for ease of use.

Man I want to play a technomage but meanwhile...

The Auld Grump, the Corp is Mother, the Corp is Father...

 

[Staffan]

Dang straight! Even core characters in the show were taken out of action with amazing speed. (How long was Garabaldi in the sickbay? A month? Two?) High lethality means taking the time to think.

Since I just rewatched the episode in question... probably not that long.
Garibaldi is shot in Chrysalis (1.22). He is still unconscious in sickbay in Points of Departure (2.1), which is specifically said to be one week afterwards (in Ivanova's monologue in the beginning). He wakes up after Franklin and Sheridan use the alien lifedrain device in Revelations (2.2), but the time between the two episodes isn't specified - it's probably about a week or two, since Sheridan is still a newbie on the station but has apparently had time to gain weight from eating fresh food instead of spaceship rations.

All in all, I'd say a month, tops.

 

[VorpalBunny]

Argh! Yet another d20 game I must own!

Is the main book enough to build a campaign off of? Are the Psi rules complete enough to have effective characters or do yuo really need the Psi-book mentioned? B5 was and is my all time favourite sci-fi show and i would love to try this out. Is it 'true' d20 (ie you must have the PHB to play) and if so does it go from 3.5 or 3.0?

Let me see... sorta yes, yes, yes, and no.

The main book contains background on the station, the four major races and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds plus all the rules necessary to play the game (the background stuff is worth the price of admission alone). It focuses on the first season (hence the "Signs and Portents" part of the title). Meaning if your game is set in 2258, you're all set to go - the book includes PrCs and races featured in 1st season episodes (Thenta Makur assassin and the Dilgar come to mind). If you want Rangers and "hairy" Delenn you're out of luck - you need to pick up "The Coming of Shadows" supplement.

Telepaths get enough of a write-up to play effectively - each telepath character rolls for his/her permanent P-rating and then gets skill points based on that rating. There are enough psi skills in the book to keep a telepath busy for a while.

It is "true d20" - you need a 3.x PHB to play, however, Moongoose changed enough in the game to omit the need of a specific 3.0 or 3.5 PHB.