Babylon 5 is here!

[Krug]

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55926

It is true - I have seen it with my own eyes! Fighting through hordes of raiders and Centauri attack fleets, our dogged transport arrived at our warehouse last week and began delivery of the Babylon 5 RPG. And it looks _very_ nice. . .

The Babylon 5 RPG, as I type this, is being shipped from our warehouse to the

distributors, meaning you will begin seeing it on the shelves of your local shops (and will thereafter be available from our web site).

Throughout this week, we will be previewing bits and pieces of the rulebook, and will be putting the Character Sheet up for download too - the first preview can already be found at;

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/b5preview2.pdf

More will be appearing in the Free Material section everyday, so stay tuned!

The first supplement for the Babylon 5 RPG, the Fiery Trial story arc, is reported to be having the finishing touches put to it at the printers and is being prepped for delivery - at this time, we are expecting it to go on sale a week after the main rulebook. I'll keep you all updated as to the status of this book too."

Be seeing you,
Matthew Sprange
Mongoose Publishing

 

[LightPhoenix]

Preface: These opinions are based solely on seeing the preview, and not having seen the actual book.

I wasn't fond of the Telepath at all.

You can't take it after 1st level? Right - how about a telepath who has had their talents forcibly or voluntarily blocked all their life - Ivonava's mother comes to mind immediately. You're telling me once they are free of that, too bad? Sorry, don't buy it. If it was something you could only take at first level, it should have been a feat. Not that I'm fond of that mechanic anyway, but that's the way I see it.

The random P-rating I wasn't fond of *but* I liked that they included a way for people to start at whatever P-rating they choose. Even so, I'm not so sure a class-based system works for B5 telepathy - but I'd want to see the telepathic abilities before judging.

On a similar note, the description for Enhanced Telepathy is goofy. It's strongly implied a P5 (Lyta) can not break through a P12 block (Bester). It's impossible for her until she gets altered by the Vorlons. Again, this depends on the Telepath feats, and I can't judge until I see them. But the weakest P12 should always be able to block and break blocks from the strongest P5 - and I hope the system reflects that.

Other random musings:

The Lurker class - why Lurker? It should have been something more neutral IMO - not every adventure in the B5 universe takes place on B5. I really don't see a need for the Worker class, since it would just be a "Lurker" with a decent ability score putting all their skill points into one or two areas. But again, I'd need to see it.

Feats: "Green and Purple" doesn't make much sense to me - the Drazi are definitely what I would define as a chaotic race. They are belligerent, hold grudges, and generally random. Why would they be good at working together? Mobs aren't powerful because they help each other, they're powerful because there's lots of them. "Liturgies of the Heart" also baffles me - only G'Kar was eloquent, not the whole race. That's why G'Kar pretty much became a saint - he was that charismatic. He moves everyone, not just Narn, on many an occasion.