Vrylakos said:
Not to be overly Devil's Advocate-y, but I'm just not sold on your reasons for B5 being a better option for gaming over SG-1.
In my mind, SG-1 has one thing over B5: its currently in production. However, with B5, it goes back to the complexity of the universe that was created. In 5 years of B5, they were able to do what Trek hasn't done in a combined 26 years of television, which is to create a story arc that is designed to last throughout the entirety of a pre-determined run (yes, they planned to end the show after 5 years), and then not only make it happen, but make the universe large enough that it is suited for roleplaying. Sure, I can't bring the special effects or the excellent alien designs to the table, but the universe is just so incredibly rich.
The other thing that some RPG's based on movies or shows suffer from is the fact that the characters you play aren't involved in the main storyline in any huge way. Star Wars can be summarized as being the story of the Skywalkers. If you aren't a Skywalker then the character is going to be always on the sidelines doing something of minor importance while Luke is off saving the galaxy. The same could be said for Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, etc. If you aren't in the center of the action, you feel left out. This isn't the case for B5. This is a universe where any character can take command of a starship, find themselves in diplomatic positions, and otherwise find themselves at the center of their own story arc that is every bit as important as the one in the show.
Some possibilities right off the top of my head for B5 are: looking for a cure to the Drakh plague (sure there was Crusade, but we only know how the first 13 episodes go, there could be more later), negotiating treaties between new worlds that are entering the Interstellar Alliance, being grunts assigned to smaller specific peacekeeping tasks, running cargo from various space stations, exploring the rim, being rangers, getting involved with the various factions of power and playing them against one another (or biringing them together for a common purpose), fighting the psi-corps, and so on. A good campaign should have many elements from the above list and then some. The universe was structured so that there was a lot more going on other than just what was in the show. About the only exception to this is the Shadow War, during which a party could play an important role in information gathering, fighting the shadows directly, or even tending to the situation between B5 and Earth, which took a back burner while the shadow war was going on.
Maybe you could make the case fow why SG-1 would be the better RPG...?
BTW, I actually didn't write a letter of protest over the cancellation of Farscape. This last season has been extremely weak, the writing seems to have greatly suffered, and it seemed like they should have wraped it at the end of season 3 when Crais and Talyn blew up Scorpy's command carrier. I will miss the show when its gone though.
