Stargate RPG
Stargate is one of the few shows that actually seem tailor made for becoming an RPG. The show is about a gateway to other world called a Stargate. It is controlled by the American Military and they send out small squads to explore the different worlds. The squads usually number four, the average number of players in a role playing game. Squads that are bigger are not unheard of and actually can make a little more sense. The show is both episodic and story oriented. That is there is plenty of opportunity for one shots or single adventures that do not tier into a huge over all plot, or if the people prefer they can easily have a huge over all plot and have all the missions and adventure follow that. Stargate also is one of the few shows with an overlying plot that can easily be ignored. Despite the fact the show is in the eighth season with a spin-off show there are many planets and other stargates out there the players can deal with. It can be very easy in fact to ignore much of the cannon of the show
The Stargate RPG is a mammoth of a book. It is a bit under five hundred pages with good page quality and full color layout. It is positively packed with information and is a very complete book. It has enough information for many different games and ideas that can easily be expanded on The book seems well designed for those people that are big fans of the show and know it well as well as people new to the show and its concepts. While the game is d20 based, it uses AEG’s Spycraft modern system and not d20 Modern like some people might be used to. There are some differences in the systems but it is easy to learn and master.
The book starts with summaries the first six seasons of the show. There is a lot of information about different show, places, and people that were encountered. Not everything from the first six seasons is presented here but more then enough for many campaigns. There is over a hundred pages of background information on the different people, the friends and enemies of the Earth explorers. The main enemy in the series are the System Lords. These are parasite creatures that inhabit humans and give them strength and healing abilities. They are also very technologically advanced, though they really only use technology from other races and adapt it for their own use instead of just inventing it all themselves. One really cool thing is the Goa’uld, the name of the parasite race the System Lords are, is the connection with Earth mythology. Many of the ancient gods of Egypt and other places were actually Goa’uld pretending to be gods. They used to enslave earth but were chased away. In the process they stole away many humans and they are scattered across many planets. These humans can be more advanced then present day Earth or they could be very much like they were in ancient times. This can bring upon some very interesting encounters bring the modern day explorers to meet ancient civilizations thriving on alien worlds. It also makes languages and understanding ancient writing very important in the scope of the series.
The game allows for a wide range of characters to be played. Options include playing characters from the American armed forces like the Air Force, Army, and Marines. There are options for playing NID personal (National Intellgence Department, a made up organization that is sometimes ally and sometimes enemy with in the government of America). There are also alien options like the Asgard, aliens of tremendous technology from outside our galaxy and basically what alienists call Grays. There are the Jaffa, human like aliens that usually serve the System Lords. There are also many near human races that represent the humans taken from earth and have lived on their own world for many millennia making them slightly different.
The classes allow for the creation of any character that is seen on the show. The military and combat classes are the majority but there are more intellectual classes like the scientist as well. The classes are pretty broad and can do a lot of different things with them. The game also uses prestige classes as more specific archetypes. They are again pretty standard for the show the only one that seems rather odd is the Prime. It is directly from the show and represents the most trusted warrior for each System Lord. Considering how few of them there are it seems the class might actually be a little too specific but it does fit.
All in all this book is just filled with Stargate goodness, It has the full rules to play the game and that does take up a good chunk of the book. But the flavor and detail of the show and its many worlds comes through. As a fan of the show this book does exactly what I want it to do. It lays the groundwork I need to play the game. It sets everything in motion I need but does not require me to follow it. It has great options for creating new human like races as well as great ideas for many worlds.
