While working on Strange Stars stuff, I keep looking for the "Goldilocks system"--the perfect rpg to run it. There are a number of system with a number of good points, but I still haven't made a decision. This week, I've been looking at Starblazer Adventurers, promoted by positive reviews from John Till over at FATE SF and conversation with Michael from the Metal Earth.
I'm still reading it, but there are several things I like from the outset. It seems like it's a fairly easy system to create alien species in but also reasonably detailed. It has a power Supermind that seems perfect for the ibglibdishpan.
The spaceship creation system also seems pretty cool. It's less geared toward the technical design of something like GURPS Vehicles, but more about making up ships with character like the Millennium Falcon. In fact, ships are made up much in the same way as characters.
Anyway, more to read. I'll probably say more as I get more into it.
Ideally, what would you like to see in a rule-set for this?
ReplyDeleteIt's my desert island game, for sure, a real Encyclopedia Galactica of an RPG! And the aliens in the art really hit the spot.
ReplyDeleteI like that even though it is huge but the chapters are short and easily digestible. The art is great too.
ReplyDeleteIt almost smushed my miniature dachshund once.
ReplyDelete@Metal Earth - Definitely. My only complaint so far is the number of new terms they have to come up with. It seems like theie trying to be distinctive when familiar rpgs terms would have worked justed well and clued you in to what some mechanical bit was analogous to.
ReplyDelete@Jack - Good question. It's a bit "I know it when I see it", but in general I would say for science fiction of this sort I prefer: (1)a system with skills, (2) some detail on technical things like equipment/ships, (3) easy of modelling new aliens or character types, (4) not too much prep time. I guess 3 and 4 would apply to almost any game I play.
For instance, while I like WaRP for Weird Adventures, I want a little more crunch or mechanical differences for science fiction. However, I don't want robot characters to be made in too different a way than standard biological ones, because that slows thing sdown.
Please continue to share your opinions about this. Sounds like we are on the same page for what we are looking for. I just haven't been able to Grok Fate yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the exact same boat. Yesterday I bought FATE Accelerated my FLGS, The Source. I've been wanting to play Starblazer Adventures for a long time. I have a PDF, but the print publication remains elusive.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to have a look at Fudge. FATE is basically Fudge with a bunch of new-fangled narrative stuff added. Given that you seem to like old-fashioned stuff a fair bit, it might be worth looking at.
ReplyDeleteThe notes for my recent space opera campaign at Obsidian Portal -- https://vortex.obsidianportal.com/ -- have example characters, races, and ships. I've found FATE to be easier to run and focus on story over other systems, including GURPS, D20, and Savage Worlds.
ReplyDeleteCool! Thanks. I'll check those out.
ReplyDelete