The Problem With "Epic" Campaigns

 

Like Hollywood, many GMs are under the impression that the bigger the Threat to Existence, the more compelling the story will be. In my opinion, that's not going great for Hollywood right now and it may not be working great for your campaign either.

What's Bigger?

One problem with Epic storylines is that if you revisit a storyline based on saving All of Existence, your next story has to be even bigger (Dragonball Z)! Because it has nothing else really going for it except spectacle, does it? Sooner or later, you or your players will either get fed up with increasingly outrageous ways to threaten the universe (Star Trek: Discovery) or you'll just reboot or abandon it.

Not every story needs to be about saving All of Existence. Heroes can get just as much or maybe more enjoyment from just saving a village from the Barbarian Raiders. But if the heroes are working to save a village, I bet the village will know about it.

All Alone in the Night

Your heroes fight the spectacular battle with the Forces of Naughtiness, and though it was tough, they prevail. But... I've noticed a trend in Epic Stories where the world isn't necessarily aware it is in any danger, only the heroes and the villains know what is truly going on. And while a heroic victory without seeking glory is very noble, this is a game of Fantasy. Your players might be looking for some positive reinforcement beyond treasure for what they've done. How about a parade, or at least a heartfelt "Good Job" and "Thank You". Your players likely aren't getting thanks in their real life. 

However, all too often the heroes stand alone.

Take Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. During the final battle over Endor, Skywalker has a serious battle of his own going on and the death of Palpatine and Vader may have helped turn the tide of the war. But I doubt anyone except Leia was told about what when down. There are parades for the Rebellion, but not for him. Very noble, the cause is more important than the person.

But! Your players might prefer a different ending, one where the people being saved know that the heroes are there doing what they can. It's all unfolding right in front of them. And when it is all over, the heroes get the recognition they've earned (see Army of Darkness).

All I am trying to say is that if the world is in constant danger of being obliterated every week, what does that say about the world? If the novelizations of Star Wars are to be believed, Republics are made out of tissue paper. 

And the Mandalorian? He just wants The Child back. That's all his story needs.

How to Run a Heist in Any System

This blog is in response to Zee Bashew and Matt Coleville's youtube channels, regarding running a heist. 

You want to run a heist, or your players are about to storm a heavily defended outpost. Preplanning is key, but how do your players know what to plan. I doubt any of them has real-life experience in these areas, but the characters probably do. So how do you cover for your player's lack of foresight?

The following method is a combination of the Leverage RPG system for heists and some suggestions made for Savage Worlds, but they will work for any system. You may have to add the meta-currency (bennies, tokens, fate points, hero points, most games already have one).

Start with some skill rolls. Every player needs to decide what their contribution will be to the plan: The hacker my crack the security systems, the Mastermind might get the layout, the hitter may keep tabs on the security guards, etc. Then everyone gets a skill roll. If the roll succeeds, add a Meta-Token into a pot. If it's a critical success, add two or three.

During the actual heist, any player may take a Meta-Token from the pot and spend it to reroll a failed roll or to conveniently have a tool for a job that wasn't listed on their character sheet. The Meta-Token might also follow the rules of whatever game system you are using. The player should explain how their fore-planning allowed them the advantage on the roll. Keep in mind also, the pot doesn't refill. Once it is empty, the heroes have reached the limit of what their pre-planning can do to help.

That's it. It should be easy to bolt into your game system.

An Issue of Tone...

I've been silent for a while. Part of it is chaotic home life. Part of it is I am still developing Starpunk, now for SWADE. I'm having difficulty gauging how silly I want to make it (leading me to create the meme above.

I'm leaning somewhere between Star Wars Holiday Special and Lilo and Stitch. Honestly, the games usually end up like Stitch, but I have had a few players that want something more "serious". When I do, they still end up playing Stitch.

I'm mulling over publishing Starpunk. I'll need to scrub it. I began this setting using Daring Tales of the Space Lanes. I'll need to scrub out anything that plagiarizes his work.

Starpunk Update

For those that have been following my blog, I have been working on a sci-fi setting called Starpunk. It's kind of like Daring Tales of the Space Lanes but with an actual setting (and I'm leaning more toward a comedic bent). One of the biggest hurdles has been generating starships because the Sci-Fi Companion generator never sat right with me, and I have worked on a lot of Starship generator ideas. Here's what I have discovered:

a) I shouldn't need a starship generator ruleset. The point of the game is to play, not munchkin the ruleset to see what cool combo can be built.
b) The more complicated the starship builds get, the easier it is to introduce overpowered ships and weapons.
c) The more complicated the system, the less F!F!F! it got.

Well I finally have something worked out, at least for capital scale ships. It borrows concepts from a variety of sources but also required me to change my thinking process.

In every rpg that involves large starships, they have always treated them the same way as they treated smaller vessels: listing each individual weapon and its damage. If you ended up with two capital ships fighting each other, then you were expected to roll for each gun to hit, roll damage for each hit, etc. This takes too long, but thankfully it is rarely ever used since the players don't command these type of vessels in an rpg. What GMs should be concerned about is what affect all of those guns have on our hero's stock light freighter.

Here's my solution:
Don't sweat the details. Worry about the overall effect.

Capital ships have three weapon entries: Port Batteries, Starboard Batteries, and CIDS (Close In Defense Systems).

CIDS are what capital ships would use against small craft. It's treated as a single weapon, but with a RoF. The bigger the ship, the bigger its RoF (rated 2-4). A capital ship can make a single CIDS attack against each enemy fighter or missile per round.

If I do want to run two capital ships duking it out, the the Capital ships fire their batteries at each other. Each battery is considered a single attack roll. A starship can only attack with one side Battery per target unless they draw a face Card, and Ace, or a Joker for their action card. If they do, then the ship has maneuvered in a way to bring both side Batteries to fire on a single target.

Of course, if I'm going to involve more capital ships and fighters, then I would just bring out the Mass combat rules.

Bristling Guns! Or Maybe Not.

Still hammering on my vehicle system, but I had a brain burst regarding weaponry (especially for larger ships). Many starships like those found in the Sci-Fi Companion are designed around a naval or air force analog. Battleships are bristling with guns. Even Starfighters are armed with multiple, forward-facing cannons. Star Wars did it too and there's nothing wrong with that, as it is. After all, I am going for space pulp so realism is optional.

But Star Trek started floating through my mind. The Enterprise wasn't bristling with guns. In fact, in  each series you never saw more than two phaser arrays firing at once. It's not something you get much in RPGs anymore, so it appeals to me.

It also has the added bonus of cutting down the number of rolls you have to make when large ships get into combat. And lastly, big ships firing on smaller ships already have a big advantage of higher damage. Adding multiple guns increases the amounting of pounding they can dish out.

Again, nothing wrong with that. But I would like starship combat with a different feel.

Old Battleships of WWI and WWII needed a lot of guns because of how often they might miss their target. The best option was to saturate an area with shells and pray. Also, since they were firing shells there wasn't any drawback to adding more and bigger guns except the danger of the power of volleys to capsize the boat (and weight cutting down on ship speed).

But in spacecraft that use beam weapons, the only real limiting factor to the cannon's damage is the amount of power you pump through it. There really is no point in having smaller cannons mounted on a larger ship if you can just attenuate the amount of power put through the weapon. At least that's the concept I am going with in this weapon design.

So here is what I've got.


Ships can have as many "Emitters" as they want. However, they can only fire one emitter per round at full power. If they want to attack multiple targets by firing multiple emitters, there is a -2 penalty to damage for every extra emitter fired. So if the HMS Guardsman wants to fire three different emitters in one round, each weapon will deal -4 damage. Of course, it has to have at least three emitters installed.

I like it. It's different and makes you think about how many vessels you are willing to target per round.

RPG Loot Crates - A Cool Idea I Will Never Buy

Who loves presents? Who doesn't?

That is essentially what a loot crate, dungeon crate, rpg crate, any of the new crates or blocks that are rocking the current geek fad are. It's a monthly subscription to a monthly Christmas, and like all Christmases, the gifts may not be quite what you desired.

I admit, I want in. I want to get some blind rpg stuff delivered to me so I can geek out with my new toys. However I just can't bring myself to make the investment. And Here's Why:

• It's all D&D. Well that's a blanket statement, but more or less true. And if I were running a company that targeted RPG players, I would also set my sights on the 300lb Gorilla that is D&D as well. The problem is that I game everywhere on the mythical timeline, and fantasy isn't my favorite. Some crate makers have admitted they do other settings, but very rarely. Therefore I have no reason to buy a year subscription.
• Wrong game systems. As mentioned above, they target D&D heavily, but I use Savage Worlds as my go to. And there are hundreds of other systems that people enjoy that are being ignored. Even the modules and magazines that accompany these crates are for specific systems (such as some edition of D&D).
• Vynil figures. Some people love them, I don't. I am very picky about why I collect, mainly because my ex-wife was a hoarder. If it's on my shelf, it better do more than look pretty. 
• How many dice do you need? This gets included a lot because every gamer needs at least one set of dice, right? But I am afraid that this cheap, useful go to item is going to be in every crate and I purged myself of the great die bucket long ago. 

That said, I believe there are some good ideas that can be made better here.

• Truly personalized crates. Have you ever thought of making one yourself to give to a special gamer in your life? Suddenly this can be an awesome birthday/Christmas/ anniversary gift and you can tailor it to the person's preferred gaming. What is more, you know you are getting what the crate is worth and - no buttons, no ads, and no stupid frakking inflatable crowns!
• I am considering a digital loot idea. Imagine a bundled download for purchase from Drivethrurpg that includes a map, paper figures, a one sheet adventure, and a map. I have no idea how I would pull that all off monthly but it would be catered to Savage Worlds, no subscription, and significantly cheaper since I am just creating virtual assets.

Anyway that's my brain hemmorage for today. I am currently awaiting approval for my Cavern Tiles to go live on Drivethrurpg. They can connect to the "Pay what you want" Sewer Tiles I have already uploaded and will cost $1.99. That's a 50 tile set, btw.

New Map - Canyon Maze

I have a new map for sale on Drivethrurpg.com: The Canyon Maze.

It's a 24x30 inch standard size map you put together from 9 8x10 tiles. It comes in grid and non-grid.

I'm not a big fan of site advertising so this blog doesn't generate any income for me except in advertising my own work. Every little bit helps and I will keep up with new freebies sooner or later.

Thanks for visiting my site,

Chad B Jones

Sci-Fi Minis - The Ugly Truth

I've been mulling how I am going to do Sci-Fi miniatures for a while. Here are the issues I have run into:

1) If I make unique aliens, it will be impossible to find pre-made miniatures for them.

2) If I make my own figure flats for them, I am looking at an AWFUL amount of drawing. I am not overly keen on the idea, even if I make a photoshop file where I can mix and match outfits and hairstyles, etc like City of Heroes.

3) I could base my aliens on the minis I can buy but NO ONE FREAKIN' MAKES THEM ANYMORE!

If you were lucky enough to get a large collection of Star Wars minis when WotC had the license, you are golden. I didn't get into them fast enough. And there is such a desire for them that minis online (if you can find them) are going for some high prices.

There are some sci-fi looking wargame minis but they are also darn expensive and generally every alien is covered in heavy armor. There isn't much chance of getting non-military, free-booter alien figs.

It is still possible to get some human sci-fi figs. In fact, Reaper is extending its Chronoscope line and it has a lot of figures I could use. However, not much in the way of alien life forms (unless I paint up the skins in Orion green and Andorian blue).

That may leave me with adapting D&D/ Pathfinder minis into sci-fi races. I am not certain how well that is going to look.

But if there are any mini-makers out there: YOU HAVE AN UNTAPPED MARKET!

If anyone out there has overcome this issue with some creativity, please share!

And yes, I have considered legos but I think I want something that looks a little less silly.

Economies - A New Way To Play?

If you are a fan of Savage Worlds and you haven't been tuning in to the Savage GM's Hangout, you should. 

So here I was wallowing in a lack of inspiration to get back into writing my blog or diving back into Starpunk, then I listened to their podcast on Money and my brain has reopened.

The podcast touched on an interesting point about in-game economies, and that is the fact that you don't necessarily need one. 

Here is the problem I tend to have with game economies like D&D. The players go out, defeat monsters, gain enough treasure to technically retire, and come home. When the next adventure starts, the hero has lost no money for living costs, just the money he has spent on his equipment. His treasure hoard builds and builds.

Some people like this style of gameplay. They need these rewards to feel like they have gained something at the end of each adventure. In fact the accumulation of wealth starts to be the focus instead of the adventure. Case in point - "I loot the bodies".

But can a game be played without monies and prices? Yes, and in fact some games have been doing it for a while: Military and Espionage games. In these games, a characters gear is usually picked or assigned to them by the agency they work for. But what about regular games where the heroes aren't a part of a wealthy organization? Games like Starpunk? Well...I'm thinking of just applying common sense to the problem.

Starting Gear

The hero starts with whatever gear makes sense for the character. If he's a bounty hunter then he will have a weapon, handcuffs, and possibly some armor. I might make it a simple armor if he's just starting out. If a player wants their character to start out with something a little more advanced, then they should make a compelling argument. It will likely give me something in their backstory that I can use against them later.

Buying Gear

If a hero wants to get a new piece of gear for some reason and it's believable that an average person could afford it, then they buy it. If they have the Poor hindrance then you might be more stingy about what they get. If someone has the Rich edge, that's going to open up a lot more options to the group. Getting special or illegal items may still require a Streetwise roll.



Voila, no bookkeeping.

One big reason I like this idea is that the price of equipment always seemed like an artificial barrier to me. Being poorly equipped should be a function of whether or not the character is prepared as opposed to what the character can afford.

Encumbrance

This is one that I will be keeping an eye on. If characters could conceivable acquire a great many tools and weapons, the player may mistakenly think that he/she has access to it all at any time. Nope. Like any adventurer he/she is going to have to pick and choose which gear they are likely to need and hope for the best.

So it's a simple idea and I don't see much that can go wrong. If a player wants a piece of equipment that you feel may unbalance the game, then money doesn't really come in to it (especially since in most games the players have hoarded enough money to buy the item). So balance issues will come up whether you are counting pennies or not. In the end you will still have to GM your way through game balance.

Leave a comment if you find a fault in the idea.

Starpunk - This will be a tough post.

My mojo-block is at it again. I have the gear and the starships and the arcane background. The time has come for some adventures...and nothing. Creative block.

It's not total block as I have plenty of ideas for D&D-esque adventures, even adventure ideas for Star Wars. Something about Starpunk specifically is blocking me, so it's time for more self-examination/ blog therapy.

As near as I can tell, the problem is that I am working in a vacuum. Established settings already have a life to them. If I want to run an adventure against a crime syndicate in Star Wars, I know that I can grab the Hutts for it and that my players will have a good idea of the environment, the alien mentalities, everything that makes the adventure breathe. The bulk of the work has been done for me in these settings and I don't really have to explain anything.

But in building my own universe, I have to start from scratch. This is complicated by my avoidance of the Planet of Hats Trope. I didn't want to pigeon-hole my aliens into specific stereotypes, but as a result I destroyed any short-hand I could use for myself and my players to establish the feel of the setting. I am discovering that trying to build a setting as huge as infinite worlds with infinite aliens, a type of short-hand might be a necessity I shouldn't have over-looked.

So now I have infinite choices with nothing established for me, and I'm getting mojo-lock. What's worse is I am beginning to question whether or not I have lost my creativity. As an artist, the very idea scares the sh#t out of me. My dogged determination hasn't let me quit but the more I push, the more I'm stuck. I have spent hours of time coming up with nothing.

Fortunately everything I have done in the way of equipment and rules is good and generic enough for a space-fantasy style game. But it is clear that I am going to have to completely rework my setting idea if it's going to be of any use to me. I'm also going to have to get over my desire to stay away from tropes used in other common games if I am going to make this setting accessible to my players.

It's also possible that Sisyphus is clawing at my brain again. I though I would save myself work by creating racial templates, which is true, but what I also did was get rid of any setting flavor that individual races might introduce. One piece of advice I came across on the net was to "build 4-5 major races and let other aliens be background set dressing". In other words, flesh out a handful of core races, and I can add new races as I see fit as set dressings for adventures. If the design is popular, then I can always add said race to the core with a more fully fleshed out background.

Ugh. I thought that creating a homebrew setting would be easy. At least it's giving me stuff to write about.

Starpunk- Dumping Psionics

Yup. I'm dumping Psionics.

Why?

Because everyone that wants a little "magic" in their sci-fi setting uses "psionics". I really want a setting with a more unique flavor. If I'm just retreading a "typical" sci-fan setting then why even bother getting out of bed? I need to put a different shine on those abilities.

Another problem was that I approached psionics as strictly mind-affecting powers. It's not original but still a nice twist since everyone tends to go the "kitchen-sink" route with powers. However, in a sci-fi setting where there is gobs of technology that is immune to mind alteration, the setting was weakening the "magic".

I'm trying to let loose my logical side and get into that 70's/ 80's groove. I was re-watching the good episodes of Buck Rogers (80's version), and in between ogling Wilma and Ardala I noticed that the people with "powers" in the show typically just had one power. Even in the original Star Wars, there were only a few powers on display. It wasn't until the EU and the prequels that Jedi really became unstoppable badasses. Okay, Luke did do a lot of butt-kicking against Jabba's boys. The point is that these "powered" characters did a lot with just a little.

I think that I want that charm again, where even having one power made someone special. Looking at the SWDEX, the Arcane Background (Super Powers) fits the bill. I'm going to re-skin it to AB (Anomaly). I wanted to use Abberant but White Wolf beat me to the name. It will also be Spirit based in my setting since I want willpower to be driving these powers. AB (Anomaly) will be available to all races, but they are rare. Also, cultures will view Anomalies differently so there's role-play shenanigans to be had. Then there is the mystery of what causes Anomalies. Could be a nice sized adventure arc.

The only powers that will be off limits for this setting will be:

• Banish 
• Detect/ Conceal Arcana
• Drain Power Points
• Quickness - Too powerful and allows one player to dominate combat.
• Smite
• Summon Ally
• Warrior's Gift
• Zombie

If your itching to enlighten me to the existence of the Super Powers Companion, I already own it. It's a great supplement but I want a lower power level. Also I want to stay with just one book requirement, namely the SWDEX.

Updated Starships Doc

After some feedback I decided to expand the weapons systems available to starships besides just one cannon type. There are a few other changes as well, including prices for ships and ship cannons.

I opted for a very Slipstream approach to starship weaponry where vehicles have turret "slots" and the heroes can add in the weapons they choose. I'll add more weapon options if I come up with them.

I really envy the Savage Worlds GMs Hangout for actually having a group of people to bounce ideas around with in real time.

New Starships Doc

Designing My Starships

Why? Seriously, with the Sci-Fi Companion out now, why would I put myself through this pain?

Answer: To save myself some headache and heartbreak later. There is a lot that I do not need and do not want from the sci-fi companion for my setting. 

• I don't need star-fighters, or a hundred different scales of ship
• I don't need armor and AP (especially since one typically cancels out the other in the SFC)
• I don't need mega-weapons that kill with a single hit, or a ton of weapon varieties. 
• I don't need complicated rules for building a ship from the ground up since my players won't be focusing on that in-game.

This left me with a lot of streamlining.

• I have only one style of cannon for starships and it deals 3d6 damage (with no AP). This let me balance the Toughness of all of the starships that were roughly the same size. I might add different starship weapons later but they would have very different gameplay effects. 
• I built a basic chart of starship statistics, then adjusted them by applying a template (passenger liner, courier, military, etc).
• Capital ships exist, but they don't have stats. They are like the Death Star, huge and bristling with weapons. A typical starship has no hope of taking on one of these behemoths so I use my own version of the Obstacle Rules for when heroes flee these things.
• By homogenizing the starship scale, I can allow heroes to modify their ships capabilities.
• I don't need rules for how many escape pods or crew quarters a ship has. It is assumed that the ship is designed adequately for its roll.
• Ships have a Toughness and Shields act as armor. I decided to keep things simple at first. I may add more shield maintenance rules if it seems that starship combat needs more things to do.

So here are my Staship Rules and designs. Sorry no art for this yet but It's still a work in progress.

Starpunk and Cybernetics

I've been reviewing my ideas about using cybernetics in my sci-fi setting. It's odd considering I am also listening to the "Savage Daddy" who is building an actual Cyberpunk setting with the Savage Worlds Rules.

I've decided to drop "cybernetics" from my setting for a few reasons.

• This is future-tech, where cellular regeneration is common-place. They can regrow your arm if you lose it. We are actually closer to this technology now than we are to mind-controlled power suits.
• Cybernetics represent an ability to purchase a better character with credits. Like super powers, it's great when that is the status-quo. However, it goes against the feel that I am looking for. 
• I don't want to dive into the transhumanist angle.

So in my setting the merger of mind and machine never happens. You can get prosthetics that act like normal limbs and are controlled through muscle twitches, but they don't offer greater strength or super agility. They are just cheaper than having a limb-regrown.

I've created Prosthetic (Minor) hindrances that halve the penalties of the One Arm, One Eye, and One Leg hindrances.

Building a Universe

I have been frying my brain over the details of my sci-fi setting. Sisyphus had made me his bitch. keep in mind that this setting is a huge universe of planets where the heroes could go anywhere. My mind was abuzz with the history of this galaxy, and what made it unique and what are its people...

Then I took a walk to clear my head.

That's when a credo I used to live by, but had been long-forgotten, bubbled up in my brain-pan.

Question: How much of the game world do I have to prep?
Answer: Only what the character's see.

I shouldn't be busting my butt designing things that are outside the heroes' experiences. Who runs the Stellar Authority? Who cares, the heroes will never meet them. And if they do, it will be revealed in the adventure so I should worry about it then. The players will experience the setting through the adventures I create so there is no point designing the worlds they will never visit. It is enough for them to know that they are out there.

That said, what do I need to build using the Savage Worlds core book to make this setting work?

An Elevator Pitch - The heroes are average-joe scumbags and privateers out to make a quick starbuck and stay out of jail while working for a secret society outside the government that is trying to end corruption and protect civilization from collapsing to darker forces.

Races - I've built templates but the rules for creating alien races is already in the core book.

New Edges and Hindrances - Only if I need something to help capture the feel of Eighties sci-fi. So far all that comes to mind is the ability to mod a starship.

Weapons - Use the same stats for modern weapons, but ignore AP. Assume Blasters can penetrate any armor. Just give the guns spiffy sounding names. For instance the shotgun is now a Disintegrator Gun.

Gear - The current fad is combining, (my phone is a computer, camera, radio, tv, news, and weather device). So roll up all of the ubiquitous tools into a single device.

Starships - Okay this will take some work. This is the heroes primary base of operations and transportation. The rules for this may play a big deal in the setting. Also their are a lot of things in the sci-fi companion that I either don't need or doesn't fit the feel I am looking for. This is where I will be spending most of my work time.

I'll post what roughs I have when they are presentable. Right now my notes are scattered all over the place.

What Sisyphus Can Teach Us

From Wikipedia:

"In Greek mythology Sisyphus... was punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever."

So I've been going through the process of creating races for my sci-fi game when I realized just what a Sisyphean task it is to try and populate an entire galaxy with individual alien races. Especially since I have already noted that space fantasy tends toward specific alien tropes. 

So what separates reptilian alien A from reptilian alien B? In games that cover a huge multitude of alien races like Star Wars, the difference comes down to the Planet of Hats trope. For those unfamiliar, it's when we say things like "All Jawas are mechanics", or "All Trandoshans are hunters". It defines an alien race down to a specific stereotype that rarely leaves any room for diversity. But what if I wanted to play a Jawa farmer, or a Trandoshan technician? The rules in many games say I would be better off playing the stereotype because I would be handicapping my character by making him individualistic.

You could argue that cultures have given rise to specific types of specialists (Sparta) but I want my players to have the freedom to create characters that are interesting and varied. I don't want Race to become a substitute for a D&D style class system. Wow, there's a whole lot wrong with that sentence.

The game High Space for Savage Worlds had an interesting way of handling it. They created racial "Templates" that you could just plug in to any trope alien and let the differences between the races be trappings. I'm going to follow that philosophy in my game design because frankly I have neither the time or willpower to make 3 different reptilian races with unique traits, let alone a billion.

So what can Sisyphus teach us about setting? That if you spend all of your time pushing the rock up a hill, you have no time left to play. Unless you really enjoy the never-ending-boulder-roll game.

Wednesday Sci-Fi! - Starpunk Races Part 1

So I thought I'd display some of the reworking I've done to player races for my campaign. Following the trope races I posted earlier, here are the Archemedians (space elves/devils), the Dvargen (space dwarves), and my version of Droids.

Archemidian

Archemedians are tall, lithe humanoids with pointed ears, cranial horns, and skin of varying hues. Their society is founded on barter and contracts which resulted in a race of very shrewd wheelers and dealers. Archemedians always honor their contracts to the letter, but you might want to check the fine print twice before entering into a contract with one.

·   Agile (+2): Elves are graceful and agile. They start with a d6 in Agility instead of a d4.

·   Low Light Vision (+1): Elven eyes amplify light like a cat’s, allowing them to see in the dark. Elves ignores attack penalties for Dim and Dark lighting.

·   Quirk (-1): Always honors a contract.

Dvargen

Dvargen are short, stout, hardy people who come from the high-G world Dvargus. Dvargens are well known for being doing things larger than life as evidenced by their huge monuments, week-long binge parties, and lakes of vomit.

·   High-G Worlder (+2): Dvargen come from a high gravity world, making them stronger than other races in standard gravity. Increase Strength die by one step.

·   Slow (-1): Dvargen have a Pace of 5”.

·   Tough (+2): Dvargen are stout and tough. They start with a d6 Vigor instead of a d4.

·   Zero-G Phobia (-1): Dvargen are accustomed to knowing which way is up and the feel of sturdy ground beneath their feet. They suffer -2 to their trait tests when caught in zero gravity.

Droid

Droids are sentient machines with a variety of appearances. Some appear almost human, some are purely mechanical. They are built as servants to their “masters” and typically fill the rolls of butler/maid, personal assistant, mechanical repair and construction, and in some cases they are “personal companions”. Advances in artificial intelligence have gone so far as to give droids “Genuine Sentient Personalities” making it act just like a typical sentient being. Rest assured that when your droid screams in a panic, it is doing so at 150% efficiency.

·   Asimov Circuits (-2): The droid cannot harm, or by inaction bring harm to sentient beings. This gives him the Pacifist Hindrance (Major).

·   Construct (+3): Droids are immune to poison, disease, and psionic effects that target the mind. Droids cannot heal naturally. To heal a droid requires the Repair skill—which is used like the Healing skill only with no “Golden Hour.”

·   Programming (+2): Droid begin with a free d6 in one skill, representing their original programmed role.

·   Genuine Sentient Personality (-1): To make droids appear more like sentient beings, mental faults were programmed into the cortex functions. Droid characters start with one minor “personality” hindrance from the following list: Big Mouth, Cautious, Death Wish, Delusional, Greedy, Habit, Mean, Phobia, Quirk, or Yellow.

Bonus! - Character Creation Addendum

This addendum concerns Robots. As written, this race is very powerful. Even in the Sci-Fi Companion the beefed the racial cost +8. The Shaken and Wound bonuses are awesome, but don't really fit in with a C-3P0 style droid. So I'm making the following changes to the Construct racial ability.

Construct (+3): Droids are immune to poison, disease, and psionic effects that target the mind. Droids cannot heal naturally. To heal a droid requires the Repair skill—which is used like the Healing skill only with no “Golden Hour.”

I'll bring back the "+2 vs Shaken" and the "ignore Wound modifiers" for NPC Warbots, which will also remove the Asimov Circuit in favor of a Slave Circuit (that forces them to obey their commander's orders, even unto their destruction).

So standard Droids have the following racial abilities:

• Asimov Circuit (-2): Pacifist (Major) hindrance.
• Construct (+3): as noted above.
• Programming (+2): One skill starts at d6.
• Recharge (-2): Once per day or suffer Fatigue.
• Low-Light Vision (+1)

Sci-Fi Wednesday! - Character Creation

Eye candy brought to you by "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe".

Races

I'm not going to knock the Sci-Fi Companion. It's a very detailed book full of a lot of good information. However, I don't want to cherry pick rules from it and DTotSL. I need to keep this down to the Core Book and one supplement.

DTotSL handles aliens as either starting with a free attribute bump instead of a free edge, or using the rules and races in the SWDEX (perhaps with some name changes). 

So what kind of races will I use? Well let's look at the common trope aliens of 80's sci-fi. You'll probably recognize many of these as the better races to come out of Star Trek.
Humans
Space Elves (Anybody seen my Vulcan?)
Lizard-men (Oh my Gorn!)
The Vermin-Men (I luvs me some Jawas)
Cat-Men (I should say "beast-men" since I don't want to go through the entire animal kingdom and make obvious human-earth animal hybrids)
Squid-Men
The Big Strong Brutes (the Sc-Fi Companion has the Yeti which is brilliant, so I'll have to go a different direction)
The sexy Aliens (Twi'leks meet Orions and have a wet T-shirt contest)
The Bugs
The Greys (or something that would equate to definitely not a human/animal hybrid)
And Robot-men. Players won't be playing combat models unless they purchase upgrades, basically an arcane background where powers represent system upgrades.

Hindrances

Any physical Hindrances cannot be fixed with cybernetics. Doubting Thomas will have to go since the supernatural isn't a big enough part of my setting. Which reminds me of that episode of Buck Rogers where there was a space vampire. That episode hurt my feel-bads.

Edges

Champion, Holy/Unholy Warrior, and Wizard just don't fit the setting. I don't see the need to create any Professional Edges since many of the character tropes can already fit into reskinned edges. Deep space scouts would use a reskinned Woodsmen edge, etc.

Arcane Backgrounds 

I see using three different types of ABs: AB Psionics, AB Cybernetics, and AB Upgrades (Robots).

The Psionics AB would operate the way it is stated in DTotSL. One of the key features I like is that your Psionics skill can't be increased after character creation. It represents your maximum Psi-Potential (like a P12 in Babylon 5). The available powers will be Beast Friend, Blast, Blind, Bolt, Boost/Lower Trait, Burst, Confusion, Detect/Conceal Arcana for free, Dispel (Psionics), Farsight, Fear, Fly, Havoc, Healing, Mind Reading, Pummel, Puppet, Slumber, Stun, Succor, and Telekinesis.

AB Cybernetics and Upgrades would essential operate the same way. Both would be based off of AB Magic and would use power points, but in this case the power points represent their internal battery system that is tapped to energize these upgrades. It would use the Weird Science mishap chart. The available powers will be Armor, Blast, Bolt, Boost Trait (Strength or Agility, self only), Burst, Damage Field, Darksight, Entangle, Environmental Protection, Farsight, Fly, Invisibility, Light, Smite (self only, unarmed damage), Speed, and Wall Walker.

Next week will either be a Planetary One Sheet, or maybe some eye candy.

Sci-Fi Wednesday! - Back to the Sci-Fi Design!

I kind of copped out by using Daring Tales of the Space Lanes. I really should forge my own setting if I'm going to blog about. However in my brain I'm hearing "If it ain't broke..." Daring Tales hit the mark so well for the type of game I want to play that trying to build a new set of rules is pointless.

To make this design post-worthy, I need to design something that doesn't already exist for Savage Worlds (a prospect that is getting harder as time goes on). Now while DTotSL does give me all the rules I need, what it lacks is a defined setting. So if I continue these design posts, I should focus my energies there.

Concept

A bit of a recap but I want to make it clear what I want from this game since sci-fi is a huge subject.

• The setting shouldn't take itself too seriously. Capture the feel of late 70's early 80's TV sci-fi. Great examples are Buck Rogers and the original Battlestar Galactica, as well as the original Star Wars trilogy.
• Aliens should be fun in appearance. It isn't necessary to make aliens so alien that you wouldn't want to date one let alone know which way it's facing.
• All space ships and no star-fighters. Yeah, it goes against the tropes of the shows I listed above but rpg games should be more about teamwork. Plus I want more of an "age of sail" or Flash Gordon feel to space travel. The ships should have crews.
• The heroes are freelancers that work for a guild of troubleshooters that often get hired to solve the problems that the government either can't, won't, or is causing. Missions will vary from finding ancient relics to saving kidnap victims to ending the career of evil governors. All while contending with local law enforcement who hate the heroes for butting into their business, to rival mercenaries, to the high halls of the government itself.
• Keep in mind that the heroes are not well trained, well disciplined soldiers and agents. They are desperate and slightly mad freebooters that have a heart of gold, empty pockets, and an aversion to the Stellar Authority.

Map Zones of the Galaxy

• The Core Worlds: These are the home-worlds and seats of power for those races that control the Stellar Authority. The closer you get to the core, the more paperwork you will need to file and the more restricted general freedoms become. These worlds are clean, well developed, oppressive, and sterile (in both environments and attitudes). The best tech can be found in the core worlds but it isn't always shared with the outer systems.
• The Outer Systems: These worlds are made up of those races that have been annexed by the Stellar Authority. Rules are slightly looser here as the reach of the Stellar Authority begins to show. Freedoms vary depending on the regional governors, and the loose grip of the Stellar Authorities allows these governors to pursue their own agendas.
• The Rim: The Stellar Authority has a much harder time maintaining their grip on the Rim worlds due to the lack of technologies and resources. The Stellar Authority could build up these worlds, increasing their tech and their foothold but it runs the risk of letting those technologies slip into the hands of more rebellious elements. The Stellar Authority prefers to keep the Rim as low-tech as possible to keep them dependent on the Stellar Authority trade and ensuring they will never be strong enough to become a threat. The SA prefers to keep local warlords on their payroll and turn a blind eye to how a world's resources are exploited as long as the SA gets its share. SA warships maintain patrols but the won't get directly involved in a planet's problems until a warlord grows to be a potential threat. 
• The Wild: These planets are un-settled worlds that harbor wild dangers and ancient secrets. Some have become the refuge of criminals or those seeking to escape the SA. While beyond the typical reach of the SA, SA scout ships can be found keeping an eye on the Wild for external threats to their empire.

Now that we have a concept, it's time to look at what sort of optional rules I might want to use in this setting.

Key Factions

• The Stellar Authority: Basically the government. It is a bloated, self-centered bureaucracy made up of many core world races but ruled by a race known as the the Executives, who prize order and efficiency over all things. While the SA has brought order to the Core and Outer Worlds, it comes at the cost of personal freedoms. And despite the Executives promises of efficiency, corruption within their ranks threatens the enforced peace they have created.
• The Criminal Syndicates: Capitalizing on the growing dissatisfaction within the empire, criminal clans have risen to bring illicit pleasures and stolen goods to the populace. Some Executives have even joined the ranks of these clans, seeing better promotional opportunities as well as a more efficient method of governance (provided murder doesn't make you squeamish). The Syndicates run their operations from the Rim but frequently smuggle and occasionally pirate closer to the Core.

Optional Rules

I will use the following optional rules from the core book.

• Critical Failures: I want some good humor in this action-y, pulp adventure game. In fact, I typically use this rule in any game. For me, it's good to let the heroes fail to keep the game interesting.
• Joker's Wild: Again, it's just a fun rule.

I considered using the Multiple Languages rule but it gets fiddly trying to role-play it. All Stellar Authority races will be able to understand Galactic Trade so actually learning another races native language should be uncommon and a big deal.

So now that the concept is locked down in my head, it's time to start looking at character creation. See you next week.

Bonus!

Why not share some of my generation's music?

One of my favorite "one-hit wonders" of the eighties.