Firefly RPG?!?!?

[Wombat]

I do wish there was something that clearly dominated the sci-fi game market, with an established set of norms. It would really stregthen the genre as a gaming sphere.

I think this is one of the major fall-downs of sci fi in gaming -- no one can really define it.

I love a lot of science fiction writing, and even some of the films and tv shows. But where fantasy has certain "known elements" (usually magic, usually pre-gunpowder, often with dragons, vaguely feudal style governments, etc.), sci fi runs the gamut from something as whizbang as Star Wars to something as gritty as Red/Green/Blue Mars. Some sci fi includes flying between planets, others does not; some is very militaristic, some is not; some is grim and gritty, some is light and airy; and the sheer range of technological possibilities is all over the board. Do you consider how much technology changes society, or do you have medieval Europe in outer space?

Much as I love sci fi, I don't believe there ever will be a single game that dominates that way, simply because of the openness of the concept.

 

[Wraith Form]

If by Whedon you mean Joss Whedon the Buffy guy my guess is it will be in Eden's system.

Yes, that Whedon...and no, as mentioned it's being published by Maragret Weiss' company.

 

[ShrinkyLink]

Much as I love sci fi, I don't believe there ever will be a single game that dominates that way, simply because of the openness of the concept.

Again, I think Star Wars could have been that game--setting aside for now how true sci-fi it is--but WOTC dropped the ball in supporting it. In terms of cult appreciation, I think Traveller dominates, but it still remains known only fully in gaming circles. Firefly seems ready made for RPGing, though: its central focus is character, it seems to have a well grounded rules basis in terms of story, and doesn't rely on a gazillion alien races. It's Aces and Eights in space. I just hope it receives good support, and it's boosted by a strong movie this fall.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Actually, Firefly is more of a western than sci-fi, although it definitely has a sci-fi aspect to it. It's blended together so nicely.

 

[kenobi65]

Again, I think Star Wars could have been that game--setting aside for now how true sci-fi it is--but WOTC dropped the ball in supporting it.

We could certainly have a chicken-and-egg argument about this, but SWRPG has apparently never had the sales levels that WotC had hoped for, and its future is now up in the air.

 

[vrykyl]

Serenity RPG

Overe here on RPG.net, Jamie Chambers talks very briefly about the Firefly/Serenity RPG that we suspected was in the works after a call fro playtesters last year.

I wonder what system it'll be for?

It's a new game system -- making use of neither the d20 System or OGL. I have nothing against d20--quite the opposite, as most of my published designs use the system--but it did not support the "feel" of the 'Verse. While it's nothing truly revolutionary in terms of mechanics, I think the application and presentation should feel fresh for a lot of players, and most importantly our playtests have really captured the feeling and mood we're going for with it.

Those of you hitting the conventions this season should definitely sign up for one of our demos or grab our Quickstart Rules. (They will also be available online, so stay tuned for announcements regarding our new website!) And for those available and willing to help out, we are still recruiting a few more Game Masters for Origins, San Diego ComiCon, Gen Con, and Dragon*Con -- which gets you on the playtest group and allows you to earn credits toward free merchandise. Please e-mail me if you're interested.

I hope you guys give the game a try when it hits the shelves. It's easy to learn yet has enough depth to make campaign-style play fun, and has some features that are just too gorram cool. And the book will be pretty, featuring plenty of stills from the film and some original artwork to boot.

The trailer for Serenity hits on Tuesday! Head over to the Apple Move Trailer site to check it out.

Jamie Chambers
Vice President
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
games@margaretweis.com

 

[ShrinkyLink]

We could certainly have a chicken-and-egg argument about this, but SWRPG has apparently never had the sales levels that WotC had hoped for, and its future is now up in the air.

Well, I won't argue with that. And I think a perfect evening would be fresh coffee and good arguments about just where WOTC went wrong. Star Wars is just so universally well known that a decent RPG should have done better than it has. I always felt a lack of published adventures was one of the reasons. What do you take in your coffee again?

Screeching back on topic.....I can't wait to see the Firefly rules. I want to roll dice in the 'Verse mighty bad.

 

[Olive]

Really, it just comes down to how you look that things. There is as much diversity in fantasy as there is in Scifi from what I've seen.

Of course there is, but I think there's less diversity in mainstream fantasy than there is in mainstream sci-fi, but I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Of course, while I think of it, that probably wasn't always true. In fact the oppostie was probably true at one point (ie. all sci-fi had spaceships and lasers and aliens and not all fantasy had elves and dwarves) But I think it certainly has become so.

It's a new game system -- making use of neither the d20 System or OGL. I have nothing against d20--quite the opposite, as most of my published designs use the system--but it did not support the "feel" of the 'Verse. While it's nothing truly revolutionary in terms of mechanics, I think the application and presentation should feel fresh for a lot of players, and most importantly our playtests have really captured the feeling and mood we're going for with it.

Cool, thanks for the info Jamie, and thanks also for the serenity trailer heads up.

 

[Eolin]

Screeching back on topic.....I can't wait to see the Firefly rules. I want to roll dice in the 'Verse mighty bad.

Then do it! You don't necessarily need the sanction of Joss to play in the world. Take some liberties and have fun with something as close to it as you want.

My friend and I were going to do this a few months back. We each decided individually that it was a perfect RPG. There were enough characters for it to likely be a two PC to one player sort of game. Which we've done before, and it would have been fun.

We ended up not doing it -- we decided it was going to end up just being emulation, as all of our character ideas seemed either completely taken from firefly, or derivitive and not as good.

Maybe that was just our limitations and this'll be better than we were doing. I hope so.

 

[vrykyl]

We ended up not doing it -- we decided it was going to end up just being emulation, as all of our character ideas seemed either completely taken from firefly, or derivitive and not as good.

Because we feel that Serenity is all about character-driven drama and action, we made a decision in the beginning not to use "generic" sample characters. We created an entirely new crew for a completely different ship, with detailed descriptions and histories--written by New York Times best-selling author Margaret Weis. The new group is quite different than those of Serenity. It gives groups in the game a choice to either play the crew of Serenity, our new sample crew, or create an entirely new group using the character-creation rules. We're putting lots of emphasis on character-development on both the GM and player side.

I agree that those willing to do the work could use the game system of their choice -- but we're offering some good stuff in the new game. I hope you'll check it out!

Jamie Chambers
Vice President
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
games@margaretweis.com