Serenity Role Playing Game. What is the good, the bad, and the ugly?

[Dark Mistress]

It's a so so system. Not great but it works for what it was made to do in Serenity RPG. Which was to be a lose frame work to allow one to play in the setting. Personally I think it works far better than D20 works for the setting, but then thats not saying a lot. Since I am not a fan of D20 for anything but DnD. As for better systems to use for the setting? Not sure, I don't think it would work well with a lvl and class bases system, nor a very detailed system. The game and show just had and I think should have a fairly lose feel to them, to do it right.

 

[Dragonhelm]

It was a test run for the company's ruleset (Cortex I believe?) that they also crammed into BSG.

Actually, the Cortex system has been around for quite some time. It was originally used for the Sovereign Stone setting before it went d20. Margaret Weis Productions revamped it for Serenity, which is where the term "Cortex" comes from. That's basically the house system for MWP these days.

If the Cortex system is not your cup of tea, you might try Savage Worlds. I've heard great things about it, and it was pretty fun the couple of times I've played it. At a glance, it's fairly similar to the Cortex system, so conversion should be a snap.

 

[The Eternal GM]

Actually, the Cortex system has been around for quite some time.

Corrected! However... If the system has been around a while, why does it seem to unfinished? While using Serenity as a test-bed wasn't great, the idea that the rules have been around a while and still aren't up to a lot is hardly better.

And I've got no shortage of systems, nor any need for one for Serenity. Savage Worlds is a pretty nice system, but we're not playing Serenity now, and won't be for a while all considered. I'd certainly say it's an improvement on Cortex for those who are still doing Serenity campaigns... But I could say that about most systems honestly.

I maintain, the only real value of the book is that it looks quite pretty and has some nice captures from the film. It's not worthless as a game, but it isn't remotely a good option either.

 

[Crothian]

Corrected! However... If the system has been around a while, why does it seem to unfinished? While using Serenity as a test-bed wasn't great, the idea that the rules have been around a while and still aren't up to a lot is hardly better.

While I'm not big fan of the system the rules work for the game. When I played it on our own it managed poorly but after playing it at some cons with people who knew what they were doing I saw the system work a lot better.

 

[diaglo]

the system blows huge waddy chunks.

i got to be an ENnies judge. and i couldn't give this piece of junk away.

i can't say enough bad things about it.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

One of the problems, I think, was that the open-ended nature of the skill system worked against it. The attempt to allow players to use skills creatively was laudable, but I don't think it works well in practice. Plus, it over-emphasizes stat dice vs skill dice. If I were to try and run it again, I would spend some time and explicitly lay out what the subskills were and under what circumstances they would come into play. Or, just eliminate them entirely.

My bigger gripe was that there really wasn't jack for setting info, and that's what I really wanted out of the game. And there hasn't been much if anything since -- I think one adventure and that was it.

 

[buzz]

i can't say enough bad things about it.

I concur, but hope to be a bit more diplomatic about it. For the record, I've read through the corrected 4th printing and have played four sessions of the game. All this is IMO.

Basically, there's a RPG and a license crammed into the same book, and neither really have anything to do with each other. Any Firefly-like story you get out of playing the game isn't going to happen because of the rules. If anything, it will happen in spite of them.

On top of this, the rules felt really shaky to me. The task resolution is very basic pass/fail and very random, even with use of Plot Points (the game's "fudging" resource for players). It was also really easy for our group to twink PCs for combat effectiveness. Advantages (whatever the term is in this game) of the same cost are all over the place in effectiveness. Ditto equipment; e.g., there is no reason not to wear ballistic mesh that we could see.

The GM advice also really honked me off. It felt very '90s to me. Based on it and some comments from Jamie Chambers here on ENW, it seems to me that, like a lot of '90s-era "lite" RPGs, this is a game that intends for you to largely ignore the rules and let the GM push you through a predetermined plot. Which begs the question of why you'd shell out the $40 for the book.

My advice: skip it, and pursue alternatives. I sold my copy.

If you want to go the traditional route, there's nothing that Serenity does that your d20 RPG of choice won't do better. GURPS would probably do fine, too. Even HERO if you dial things right.

If you want to branch out a bit, I think Spirit of the Century is a great fit for Firefly.

If you want to go crazy-hippie, I'd suggest Primetime Adventures. I've heard people have had success with hacked Shadow of Yesterday and HeroQuest, too.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Corrected! However... If the system has been around a while, why does it seem to unfinished? While using Serenity as a test-bed wasn't great, the idea that the rules have been around a while and still aren't up to a lot is hardly better.

I can't say. Cortex was originally created for Sovereign Stone, and it's sat on the shelf for a few years. Now it's been adapted for Serenity. I wasn't really involved in the playtesting or rules design.

You know, it just occurred to me that the Star Wars Saga Edition rules may work well, minus the Jedi class/Force powers. And even some of that could explain River. *shrugs*

I maintain, the only real value of the book is that it looks quite pretty and has some nice captures from the film. It's not worthless as a game, but it isn't remotely a good option either.

Even if you don't like the Cortex system, I think there's a lot of value in this book. You've got character backgrounds, a whole new crew with which to adventure, tons of setting info. Plus, the section in the back on the lingo of the 'verse is priceless.

 

[The Eternal GM]

Even if you don't like the Cortex system, I think there's a lot of value in this book. You've got character backgrounds, a whole new crew with which to adventure, tons of setting info. Plus, the section in the back on the lingo of the 'verse is priceless.

Not a huge deal though really is it? Character backgrounds for the main crew are covered already, setting info is minimal and there's not a lot to say that you can't guess ahead of time since Firefly's world is pretty removed from space opera fantasy where giant slugs are crime lords and so on.

The lingo? Fair enough... Not paying £20 plus to insulting my players in Chinese, not when babelfish exists.

I know I'm really becoming repetitively negative here, but that's just because the game felt like a big let down (heh, so it was the perfect tie-in to the film after all eh?) and most of that came across as rushed, untested and up against a print deadline. But I'd be very surprised it we ever see a revised, errata'd or second edition.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

I know I'm really becoming repetitively negative here, but that's just because the game felt like a big let down (heh, so it was the perfect tie-in to the film after all eh?) and most of that came across as rushed, untested and up against a print deadline. But I'd be very surprised it we ever see a revised, errata'd or second edition.

And yet they've managed to sell through 4 printings of the book according to this:
http://www.serenityrpg.com/features_articles.htm

And the first product (adventure) that's mention on that page got reviewed by 2 different people here at EnWorld, and each gave it 3 stars. That might not be "OMG!!1!1! RUSH OUT AND BUY THIS!!!", but it's not a steaming pile of turds either.
http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3378682
http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3308075

I get that you don't like it. But it's been selling well enough for MWP to have sold through multiple copies of the the rules, sell an Adventure that was nominated for an Origins award and not just sell but sell out of it, so now they're planning on printing a corrected 2nd printings, and they managed to secure the license for Battlestar Galactica.

It's not a flawless system. I don't think anyone is claiming that it is. It _does_ seem to have done the job it set out to do, and done it well enough for enough people. So I'd say it's more than a "remotely good option" for folks out there. And the system _has_ been around for a while. It first came out as part of the Sovereign Stone Game back in 1999. They modified it and so forth for Serenity. And my understanding is that they're taking lessons learned from Serenity and revising the system further for Battlestar Galactica. In fact, here's a recent review of the Battlestar Galactica RPG:
http://www.nuketown.com/games/reviews/battlestargalacticarpg

And here's the same fellow's playtest from back in Sept:
http://www.nuketown.com/games/playtests/battlestargalactica

Note: I don't have a problem with the system, but I do have systems I like better. Myself, I'd go with Spirit of the Century, or Unisystem Cinematic and a nice article out of Eden Studios Presents.

You don't like the game, that's groovy. It doesn't work for you. Heck, I don't like default D&D. I play in a game where the GM houserules D&D into something we like, and I run a d20 based game... however, straight D&D by the book doesn't work for me.

But going on about how awful the rules are just because you don't happen to like 'em is a bit different. I don't like a number of things about default D&D, but I don't automatically declare 'em to be awful. I'd say that WotC's continued existence proves that the rules work well enough for enough people.

I've said my bit, I'll bow out now.