Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One

[Psion]

Stargate SG-1 Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One

Stargate SG-1 Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One (hereafter Stargate Season One) is a sourcebook for the Stargate SG-1 game by AEG, detailing events, races, worlds, and characters that appeared in the first season of the series as well as mechanics for handling specifics therein. The book credits writing to Rob Defendi, Scott Gearin, Dr. S. Alexander Gentry, PhD, Jack Kessler, Valerie Kessler, James Malizewski, Don Mappin, Clayton Oliver, Lou Prosperi, and Rodney Thompson.

Disclaimer: I do no follow the series so can make no statements regarding the faithfulness or completeness with which this represents the series.

A First Look

Stargate Season One is a 176-page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $26.95. This is a fairly decend price, especially considering the book has all glossy pages with full color stills from the series.

A Deeper Look

The book is divided into three chapters: Mission Logs, Pertinent NPCs, and New Rules.

The mission logs are primarily a summary of the first season's episodes, 21 in all (including the season-end cliffhanger.) Wherever a new world is introduced, it has a "stat block" dedicated to it describing physical characteristics, inhabitants, and the locale of the stargate on that world. Each chapter then provides some fairly detailed background for the circumstances of the episode, in term that highlight the situation in enough depth that the GM can hopefully develop further missions from the world and situations. The chapter covers 78 pages in all, almost 4 pages per episode.

However, the book stops short of actually providing new adventure hooks, which is something of a disappointment. It seems that in some cased, these worlds feel a little "played out", and I think many GMs would appreciate any assistance they could get in apply the material to games of their own.

The Pertinent NPCs chapter is split into "feature NPCs" and "supporting NPCs." The features NPCs get more detail with longer background writeups. Each feature NPC (except for Goa'uld) receives three different sets of game statistiscs, one each for low-, mid-, and high-powered games. The Goa'uld and all supporting NPCs only receive one set of statistics (which varies in power.)

The last chapter, new rules, provides primarily new character creation options necessary to round out characters that appeared in the first season, including new specialities (army medical corps, NID investigator), alien specialties (Goa'uld queen, dragon guard, Jaffa clergy, Kresh'taa, Abydonians, Argosians, Byrsa, The Untouched, and Displaced Near Human), New Races (Netjerians, Nox, Ohnes, The Unity), and new prestige classes (Grunt, Hazmat Specialist, and Valyrie), as well as new skills uses, feats, and equipment.

A fair number of options is presented primarily for the GM use as well. These include spycraft-stlye NPC classes for use in generating quick "faceless" NPCs, including Abydonian Desert Fighter, Asura, Divine Minion, Eye of Hathor, Freedom Fighter, Jaffa Priest, Lightning Guard, Maruf, Nox Wanderer, Respected Elder, Simarkan Warrior, Thunder Guard, and Warrior of Akkad. Other GM resources include rules for specific conditions that show up in various episodes, such as forcing a stargate (as in Solitudes), and environment and diseases on various planets.

One rule that does not strike me as immediately useful is the handling of the decaying orbit of Heliopolis. The rules provide guidelines for altering planet characteristics, but they occur on such a timescale that they are unimportant over any time less than 25 years (and then, it is only a slight change.)

Finally, the chapter includes the addendum "SGC armory", which has notes on standard issue equipment and new and revised weapon bundles.

Conclusions

Not following the series (or the game) I feel a little uncomfortable reviewing this. To my non-fannish (though Spycraft-trained) eye, the mechanics seem decent enough (indeed, several mechanics used in classes are tried and tested from Spycraft classes.) As mentioned, I think that a little more accommodation could be made to pave the way for new adventures using these worlds.

Overall Grade: B

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Messageboard Golem]

The secrets of the stargate have been unlocked, but where will they lead humanity? And what adventures will the newly-founded Stargate Command find on the far side of the universe? This sourcebook contains everything a player needs to know about the first exciting season of Stargate SG-1 - new aliens, new worlds, and new rules designed to expand your campaign into uncharted territory.

From the explosive TV series comes the hottest role-playing game of 2003! Explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy as a member of the Stargate Command, the U.S. Government's best-kept secret. Engage in pitched battles with the evil Goa'uld, explore alien planets on the far end of the universe, and learn the ancient secrets of the Stargate.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This review makes some nice points, but the comments about the book not including new adventure ideas is simply wrong. Maybe the problem is the reviewer does not follow the series and so did not recognize new material. The book is chocked full of adventure hooks. It has new adventure ideas for the game worlds and gives background and plot hooks for a variety of worlds never included in the series. As someone running a Stargate campaign, I have found the adventure hook ideas in this book invaluable. The adventure hooks are probably the book's biggest strength--I've asked my players not to read it so they don't see all of the adventure ideas.

 

[Crothian]

Stargate Fantastic Frontiers

Stargate Fantastic Frontiers

Stargate is presently of the few original sci fi shows still on the air. It is a nice break from from some of the other shows in that it seems to have a great following and a clear path. It is also a great setting that seems designed for role playing. It uses squads of four to five people that easily make a great player character party. The Stargate is a device that allows travel between the stars and can set character up with highly diverse settings that are easy to get to. It has a great connection with history and mythology as many of the aliens we learn play the roles of ancient gods. The technology level can be highly variable from planet to planet and easily exceed the tech level of Earth. So, characters can get advanced weapons and devices they do not fully understand.

Fantastic Frontiers is the first supplement for the Stargate role playing game. IT covers season one of the show. The book is soft bound unlike the hardback main book. It is full color with a great lay out. It is in the same style as the main book. It has one hundred and seventy six pages and it is filled with ideas and adventures.

The book is a very complete run down of the first season. It will be more meaningful for people who have seen the show and more importantly this season, but the writers do not seem to assume everyone will be familiar with the show. Almost the first half of this book is a very complete run down of each episode in the first season. They are well presented having great ideas to offer on how to use the episodes and the material in them for other adventures. Just because the SG-1 team (the most famous of the Stargate teams and stars of the TV show) have been there does not mean the adventures are exhausted at these places. There are great details and insights into some of the goings on in the first season.

After the episodes summaries comes a very complete look at many of the NPCs but major and minor. There is almost forty pages of them allowing for easy use of almost all the characters seen in the first season. The NPCs are given a short write up of background information and it would be a little more useful if the show has been to use them. But the stat blocks are rarely more then a column long so that each one does not take up a lot of space like in many d20 fantasy products.

The book pretty much allows one to use anything they see in the first season of the show. There are new races and character creation options based on the places and people that are shown in the season. There area few new prestige classes and NPCs classes as well as plenty of new feats and equipment. This is a great book that really rounds out the main book with options from early in the shows existence.

Stargate has really impressed me as a game. The show I have really liked but the game really captures the elements of the show and I really hope that the game can continue onwards.