Babylon 5
- Thread starter Markn
- Start date
RangerWickett
Legend
. . . *snert* Sorry. I can't help you, but I can't resist an amusing typo. Baby-loin. Mm mm tasty.
wingsandsword
Legend
The d20 Babylon 5 RPG is pretty good. It does a good job of capturing the feel of Babylon 5.
It goes out of the way to get the gritty atmosphere of B5 really down pat. Characters get few HP (ever play Weird Wars? Similar HP system to that), so that even a high level character has a chance of being brought down by one PPG hit (like Garibaldi at the end of the first season). There are a lot of PrC's created specifically to reflect things from episodes (like a True Seeker PrC from the episode "Grail"), and it's clearly written by people who know B5 well and know d20 well.
Avoid the trap that some people play when playing a d20 Sci-Fi RPG of making it "D&D In Space" (which is a trap I've seen some Star Wars games fall into), B5 characters aren't superheroic, and weapons kill. Remember, on the series, the characters duck and take cover when shots fly.
Avoid at all costs "The Babylon Project", the failed original B5 RPG. I could go off on a rant on how poor it is, but suffice it to say it wasn't even a good reference work on the show, much less a decent RPG.
It goes out of the way to get the gritty atmosphere of B5 really down pat. Characters get few HP (ever play Weird Wars? Similar HP system to that), so that even a high level character has a chance of being brought down by one PPG hit (like Garibaldi at the end of the first season). There are a lot of PrC's created specifically to reflect things from episodes (like a True Seeker PrC from the episode "Grail"), and it's clearly written by people who know B5 well and know d20 well.
Avoid the trap that some people play when playing a d20 Sci-Fi RPG of making it "D&D In Space" (which is a trap I've seen some Star Wars games fall into), B5 characters aren't superheroic, and weapons kill. Remember, on the series, the characters duck and take cover when shots fly.
Avoid at all costs "The Babylon Project", the failed original B5 RPG. I could go off on a rant on how poor it is, but suffice it to say it wasn't even a good reference work on the show, much less a decent RPG.
Neo
Explorer
It is an excellent RPG, that is very true in feel and mechanic to the atmosphere created by the series.
It is a game by the fans of the shows universe for the fans of the shows universe.
As has been mentioned in previous posts combat is deadly, if a gun fight starts it rarely lasts long and cover or concealment is a must.. get stuck in the open and chances are your toast.. And due to this it is a game where you are constantly challenged to find other ways to resolve situations than the dreaded fire fight.. and that as I see it is a definite plus to any system.
So far the RPG has covered all the major races (EA, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, LoNAW etc.), and factions (Rangers, Technomages, Psi Corp), and all five series of the Bab 5, as well as the Crusade incomplete series.. A book covering the first ones, and the vorlon and shadows is out soon which answers a lot of "why" type questions for Bab 5 fans too..
The game is top notch.. what issues it did have will be cleaned up, fixed and/or replaced for the second edition when it is released.
simply put if you liked the series, you'll love the RPG..
It is a game by the fans of the shows universe for the fans of the shows universe.
As has been mentioned in previous posts combat is deadly, if a gun fight starts it rarely lasts long and cover or concealment is a must.. get stuck in the open and chances are your toast.. And due to this it is a game where you are constantly challenged to find other ways to resolve situations than the dreaded fire fight.. and that as I see it is a definite plus to any system.
So far the RPG has covered all the major races (EA, Minbari, Centauri, Narn, LoNAW etc.), and factions (Rangers, Technomages, Psi Corp), and all five series of the Bab 5, as well as the Crusade incomplete series.. A book covering the first ones, and the vorlon and shadows is out soon which answers a lot of "why" type questions for Bab 5 fans too..
The game is top notch.. what issues it did have will be cleaned up, fixed and/or replaced for the second edition when it is released.
simply put if you liked the series, you'll love the RPG..
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
wingsandsword said:
However, I'd recommend a supplement for the game (the only one, I believe, except for a GM screen) - the Earthforce Sourcebook. The reason I recommend it is because it contains a nice starship combat game, based on the legendary Full Thrust.
Markn said:Has anyone gotten into the Babylon 5 RPG? What were your experiences? Any good sites for info?
Edit - Fixed the title....
Hold on to your cash for a little while longer ... the 2nd edition is in the works and won't be backwards compatible with (or at least, there's no conversion to) the current edition.
The current edition is D20 System and requires a WOTC PHB. The new system will be OGL and will be standalone.
Hope this helps.
ddougan said:
I haven't seen anything on this...Where did you learn this? Any idea when it will come out?
For those who have played how have you gone about it? Do you follow closely to the series plot, do your characters replace the main people or do you create your own stories not tied to the B5 plotline? The reason I ask is that I have a hard time seeing the game emulate the series in anyway if you don't follow the plot or exchange the actions of the major characters with the actions of the PC's and vice versa if they do then you could potentially suffer from Dragonlance syndrome with people reading the books (or in this case watching the series) and not deviating from what happened. What have you done?
