Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 3458645" data-attributes="member: 6777">To be specific, DitV's "Say Yes" isn't about rolling when it's "dramatically interesting." It's an admonition to not bother rolling if there is no conflict of interest. That's a critical difference between that game and Serenity. Serenity is a "roll when the GM says" system.This is pretty much at the heart of my issues with the game.I remember an interview with Jamie Chambers on the now-defunct RPG Radio podcast that was basically an extended ad for the game. He emphasized how his implementation of Plot Points really made the "story" and "flavor" of Firefly come through in the system. However, when I look at it, what I see is a pretty standard task/combat resolution mechanic inherited from the Sovereign Stone FRPG, with a fairly tame fudge point system bolted on.Ergo, when you have a scene where, say, Mal, in a hurry to get off-planet to avoid incoming Reavers, shoots an Alliance fed in the face because the guy is using River as a human shield and Mal just plain does not have time to mess around... well, in Serenity you basically need to make a die roll based on Mal's pistol proficiency with a step penalty for the called shot. Mal needs to max out every die rolled (or hope to massage the results with Plot Points), or the fed fail his Endurance check to stay conscious. The odds are sort of iffy; it's all about a physics simulation.See, what I would have preferred is that instead of Mal's loyalty to his crew being a Complication that exists solely to earn him more Plot Points if his player hams it up and the GM appreciates it (if he even remembers), it could instead be an Aspect of his character (to use some pseudo-FATE terminology). Then, when the scene above happens, Mal's player could say something like, "Man, we don't have time for this. I spend some Joss Points to invoke my You're On My Crew and Alliance Can Bite Me aspects. I shoot the fed in the face. Before he even hits the floor, Jayne and I toss his ass out the cargo doors. Wash, get us in the air, NOW!"Similarly, there would be times when the GM could invoke these same aspects (earning Joss Points for Mal in exchange) when they would get Mal in trouble. "Well, logic tells you that completing the train job with a whole regiment of Alliance on board is plain suicide, but, hey, Alliance Can Bite Me. Take three Joss Points."See, that would be way cooler in my book.</blockquote>

Verification