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RIVER OF HEAVEN - Science Fiction Roleplaying in the 28th Century


Trifletraxor

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Really optimistically Easter, pessimistically Summer.

But somewhere along the line there will be a Pre-order and pre-orderers will get the pdf a good couple of months before the general release.

More details soon, when I've got D101's production schedule sorted out.

Head Honcho of D101 Games
Publisher of Crypts and Things/Monkey/OpenQuest/River of Heaven
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain

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I just read through the blog about this game. It seems like it's heavily influenced by Dune. Is that true?

Its one of the influences. Alistair Reynolds' Revelation Space books are another. But I've just looked at the References chapter of the game and John lists a good three pages worth of books, films and TV shows that have inspired him while writing River of Heaven.

Head Honcho of D101 Games
Publisher of Crypts and Things/Monkey/OpenQuest/River of Heaven
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain

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Guest Vile Traveller

"No, John, I said to list three inspirations, not threepages of inspirations!" :P

Will there be a PoD some other form of hard copy as well as PDFs?

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The game will be available in hard cover, soft cover, pdf and print/pdf bundles for definite. PDF will be fully bookmarked.

Given that its a Sci-fi game other publishing formats are being looked at ;)

Edited by Newt

Head Honcho of D101 Games
Publisher of Crypts and Things/Monkey/OpenQuest/River of Heaven
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain

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Its one of the influences. Alistair Reynolds' Revelation Space books are another. But I've just looked at the References chapter of the game and John lists a good three pages worth of books, films and TV shows that have inspired him while writing River of Heaven.

Hullo,

Yes - Frank Herbert’s Dune is a great example to me of an advanced non-Singularity interstellar human civilisation, and the feudal make-up of the Houses definitely is an influence on the political structure of the Kentauran Hegemony (which is the default campaign setting). I also draw on the Byzantine Empire and several other sources, including the Crusader states of the middle ages. Likewise the Guilds. There are several guilds controlling space travel though, rather than one.

There is no interstellar empire, no big worms, or spice melange though ;-)

As Newt has said, I wear my influences on my sleeve, and try to list them all at the back of the book.

River of Heaven - Science Fiction Roleplaying in the 28th Century

http://riverofheaven.d101games.co.uk/

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In my opinion, piloting a small, nimble spaceship, perhaps a fighter, INT + DEX, piloting a very large, unwieldy spacecraft, perhaps a freighter or liner, INT x 2.

[EDIT]Oops, you are asking about the skills used in the supplement.[/EDIT]

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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In my opinion, piloting a small, nimble spaceship, perhaps a fighter, INT + DEX, piloting a very large, unwieldy spacecraft, perhaps a freighter or liner, INT x 2.

[EDIT]Oops, you are asking about the skills used in the supplement.[/EDIT]

Yeah, I was asking about the skills in the supplement, but I'm interested in how others would go about it to make it "realistic". Piloting a spacecraft would be much different than piloting a terrestrial craft. I was also thinking about (INT)2+DEX divided by 2 or 3. While DEX would be important, INT would be moreso.

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... but I'm interested in how others would go about it to make it "realistic".

For piloting small ships and fighters I use INT+DEX, but for piloting big ships

I use INT+EDU. With something which reacts much like a modern supertanker

dexterity does not influence the ship's movements significantly, there a good

knowledge and understanding of the ship's design and systems seems more

useful to me.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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Also, will there be weapon charts that have modern weaponry as well as futuristic weaponry? Is there any charts of the OpenQuest system for modern contemporary weaponry?

Not to derail the thread from John's River of Heaven, but Rik's The Company, also from d101 games, has an impressive and well illustrated collection of contemporary weapons.

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Not to derail the thread from John's River of Heaven, but Rik's The Company, also from d101 games, has an impressive and well illustrated collection of contemporary weapons.

I didn't see anything that I could download. But I like what I see nonetheless. I can't wait for this one to come out as well.

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Also, will there be weapon charts that have modern weaponry as well as futuristic weaponry? Is there any charts of the OpenQuest system for modern contemporary weaponry?

There are some modern weapons but nowhere to the detail of The Company.For example modern guns are simply "Slug pistol" or "Slug rifle" .

Head Honcho of D101 Games
Publisher of Crypts and Things/Monkey/OpenQuest/River of Heaven
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain

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Really optimistically Easter, pessimistically Summer.

But somewhere along the line there will be a Pre-order and pre-orderers will get the pdf a good couple of months before the general release.

More details soon, when I've got D101's production schedule sorted out.

As long as it's the completely finished product, I'll probably be making a pre-order soon.

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Btw, since this is a hard sf setting, what are the spaceships like? Are they torch ships, or are the much like what's found in most space opera?

There are no FTL ships. There are torch ships though yes. There are also high-tech ships called 'Step Ships' that utilise a 'stellar-tap' - one end of a wormhole in a star, one as an engine exhaust, to provide limitless (or as good as) reaction mass. The technology to manufacture these engines is beyond the capability of human civilisations though, as they are acquired tech from an apparently long-dead alien civilisation.

The Machine Civilisation has developed wormhole tech, and for their own reasons one machine faction has provided several to the more advanced human civilisations.

RE: weapons - I have tried to keep weapons generic, classed together as things like 'slug pistol', 'slug rifle', 'plasma rifle', 'standard infantry rifle', 'smart rifle', 'needler' etc etc rather than have lots of makes and models.

Edited by Ottomancer

River of Heaven - Science Fiction Roleplaying in the 28th Century

http://riverofheaven.d101games.co.uk/

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No pre-order yet, still a way to go with production - fulll proof and art is the next bit before I even touch layout.

Damn... I just want to give you my money (in return for the book of course)! :P

Marcus

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still learning to spell... yes even at my age!

Stormbringer! - Exploring the worlds of the Eternal Champion at http://www.stormbringerrpg.com

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you want a taste of the game I'm hoping to be out and about at several UK gaming conventions this year running River of Heaven adventures... :)

While I'd love to - as I'm based in New Zealand - it's a bit far to travel! Of course, if you're rich enough, I'd happily host you here!

I guess I'll just have to wait for to its official release :;t)

Marcus

Stormbringer! - Exploring the worlds of the Eternal Champion at http://www.stormbringerrpg.com

Unbound Publishing - Bringing back the fear - http://www.unboundbook.org

DCtRPG.info - Supporting Dark Conspiracy across the decades - http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.com

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