(rpg) Star Frontiers -- why did you like it?

[Doc_Klueless]

it was easy, silly, fun.

My brother ran a Traveller game. And I really liked it, but it dwelt more on the nitty-gritty aspects of SF: "Where am I going to get the money for my next fuel-up?" "Or do I skim a gas giant and chance a miss-jump?" "Can I get a landing visa?" "Wha...? Am I being boarded by customs AGAIN?" I LOVE this kind of game, but after a while, I just wanted to play the gliding monkeyman who's kicking Mad-Scientist-working-for-Sathar-ASS!!

Star Frontiers was GREAT for that.

 

[Ironclad]

I got to play a space-monkey with wings...

 

[Particle_Man]

Dralasites are cool. What more needs to be said?

 

[Dagger75]

I liked Vrusks personally.

Zebulan Guide to the Galaxay changed like every rule, had more alien races and better skill system. I stll have it, Knight Hawks and the other box set and Zebulans guide and a whole mess of adventures I will never part with.

Every character I had always had a vibroblade and Gyrojets where my favorite gun.

 

[Ranger5]

As most others have stated I loved the simplicity of the rules but there was something else too. For me (and I mean the 12 year old who first picked up the game back in 1984) that game universe seemed real. I so wanted to see the the huge metropolises of Triad in the Cassidine system or the wet world of Clarion in the White Light system and of course all from the bridge of the tramp freighter Gullwind.

To me there is very little I dislike about the game mechanics. I liked the info of the Zebulon's Guide but I actually did not like the mechanics changes that it introduced.

Overall I think the game itself has stood the test of time. And I am actually working on starting a campaign for my gaming group. Now I am making some minor tweaks to the skill system and am adding in a version of psionics that is mostly like what was in the Ares article "Frontiers of the Mind" with some dashes from the Mentalist from Zeb's Guide and some inspiration from GURPS Psionics to fill in the wholes. And the best part is all the changes I am making will require no other changes to the rules from the Alpha Dawn or Knight Hawks books. And one thing I did change was the prereq's for spaceship skills. Now there are none and it works.

Anyway, as may be able to tell I am a huge Star Frontiers fan.

 

[JediSoth]

I remember playing it a few times, but dont' remember specifics (it was a LONG time ago and I was very young). I liked it 'cause it was Sci-Fi when there weren't any other Sci-Fi RPGs that I was aware of. I was living in Germany at the time with my parents, and the base bookstore didn't stock that many RPGs.

The only thing I can remember not liking was not being able to find a copy of it for myself so I could play it when the only person I knew who had it moved back to the states.

JediSoth

 

[jeffh]

Alien aliens, and detailed but playable space combat. I especially liked that the latter respected Newtonian physics. The bazillion ship counters Knight Hawks came with were what first attracted me to the game - I saw a friend sorting them in the school library and just had to get my own copy. (Eventually he threw out all his SF stuff except the counters, which he gave to me because he knew I got really geeked out on them, so now I have two sets, minus the inevitable handful that have been lost.)

I always found the task resolution and skill systems unsatisfying, though, and that's a big chunk of the game. Also, though there was a lot I liked about space combat, it didn't allow for much interesting fighter-level dogfighting; the low-end ship designs would be something I'd rethink in a major way if I were to run a Star Frontiers based game now.

 

[shmoo2]

The aliens were probably the best part of the game. All the alien races were both fun and well thought out.
Easy, skill based mechanics.
The Volturnus modules were great. Lots of combat, but the players need to negotiate with the new aliens and to do that, understand each race's culture.
While Traveller, at least to start, emphasized mercantile careers, Star Frontiers assumed the PCs were Star Law or government or corporate agents sent on dangerous missions.
Gyrojets, jetcopters, and warbots.

 

[TheLe]

The aliens were probably the best part of the game. All the alien races were both fun and well thought out.

I still vividly remember those drasalite thingees that could shape shift... and the winged race with "opposable thumbs" on their feet.

Good stuff.


`Le

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

It was a blast to play. Traveller was a little too involved for a qick evening of play (Traveller=Star Trek, SF=Star Wars). I didn't play Knight Hawks much but I LOVED theoriginal set. I like d20 modern/future just fine, but SF had such an appeal/style to it that hasn't been duplicated since.