clarence

Excellent research.

Yes, combat style traits are cool. You can do a lot with them. Good to hear they work so well in your campaign @dragoner!

(I posted this on TDM’s forums but I’m repeating it here for clarity). Hi almenac, I’m happy you’re considering M-Space for your campaign. I’ve played some GURPS over the years but never used Savage Worlds. As you say, GURPS can model almost anything. The problem is its complexity and that it can be time consuming to make all the right choices - both for the GM and the players. I designed M-Space partly as a reaction to the complexity of GURPS Space and Traveller. I wanted a quicker, more intuitive system that didn’t turn simplistic. For special abilities, there are several ways to go. The easiest is to re-cast the system for mystics in the Mythras rulebook. A second option would be to use the feat mechanic from Chaosium’s Blood Tide. Both are flexible enough to use in many types of campaigns. When I worry about the deadliness of a campaign, I usually up PC’s Hit Points to a straight CON+SIZ. Or give them more build points at character generation. Installing an advanced autodoc in the PC’s ship will also help if they get into serious trouble. Regarding droids and AI, I’m working on a modular system that will cover both. It will be published in M-Space Companion, to be released at the end of the year. It will also have a new magic/gift system that might suit you. Your campaign idea sounds fun. How much of the hostility will come from the enviroment and how much from aliens?

Now there’s a PDF available from DriveThruRPG as well: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/263569

Anders Blixt, elder statesman of the Swedish RPG industry, has unearthed an old manuscript - Thriller - a BRP-based roleplaying game he wrote in 1983. BRP has a unique position in the Swedish RPG community. The very first Swedish RPG, Drakar och Demoner, was released in 1982 and was a slight reworking of Chaosium’s Magic World. For more than 10 years, BRP dominated Swedish roleplaying, easily outpacing Dungeons & Dragons. One of the earliest and most proliferate contributors to the fledging Scandinavian RPG industry was Anders Blixt. He proceeded to write for several classic games, both domestic and international titles like Traveller and MERP. Now, he has released Thriller, a BRP-based game set in the world of spies, secret agents and ‘explorers of parallel worlds.’ He wrote it on a typewriter 36 years ago and has scanned the original manuscript to make it available for purchase. This is as old-school as it gets – no layout, no artwork, only the raw typewriter text in facsimile edition. A lovely piece of BRP history. The game was pitched to Titan Games in 1983 but was never published back then. Titan Games went on to produce the Swedish translation of Dungeons & Dragons instead. Thriller is published in Swedish on Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/dp/9185277940

Good work as always from Colin!

Long-time user Mallet is looking for players to his Play by Forum game on RPG Geek. He will run The Wayward Patient, the introductory mystery in Odd Soot. If you are curious about the 1920s sci-fi in Odd Soot, this is a good way to find out more. Be prepared for investigations into the supernatural, strange aliens and the looming threat of The Soot. Check out Mallet’s thread at: https://rpggeek.com/thread/2113284/recruiting-play-forum-introductory-scenario-waywar

Nuveri body recycling is a fascinating topic poorly understood by human scientists. In general terms, empty bodies come from someone who die of old age. As a nuveri dies a natural death, internal organs wither. Soft tissues dry out and withdraw from the body ’shell’. Organs can then be extracted by a gentle pulling of the head upwards and all the internals follow (it looks somewhat like a jellyfish, with the head at the top). The paper body is left empty, ready for someone else to occupy. Ethically, this procedure is acceptable to the nuveri. As long as the person is already dead, it is not viewed as an act of violence. In general, a nuveri will have to take whatever body is available. But as The Soot spreads, some retrieve bodies in advance, just in case. And, as you point out Jakob, this has the potential to turn into a market. Who wouldn’t want the body of a hero or a successful businessman? Scientists are experimenting with ways to turn sterile nuveri eggs into functional outer bodies but they have not succeeded so far.

Sweet!

Excellent work!

I’m not much for best-of lists. But Lifehacker’s recent list of sci-fi caught my eye. The theme - books that changed sci-fi - is interesting in itself. Every entry also comes with a short description, including comments from reviewers or other writers. Like Ray Bradbury’s comment on Jules Verne: "We are all, in one way, children of Jules Verne. His name never stops. At aerospace or NASA gatherings, Verne is the verb that moves us to space." I miss a book or two on the list but otherwise it's quite comprehensible. Any particular titles you would add? https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/11/17-science-fiction-books-that-forever-changed-the-genre/

I prefer to use Drive for all motorised vehicles and Ride for animals. Pilot handles all flying objects.

20% off all our books on DriveThruRPG and Lulu on Black Friday! And yes, that includes the newly released Odd Soot. Follow the links below. DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10544/FrostByte-Books Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/frostbytebooks What Reviewers Say About Odd Soot: 'The most innovative SF I've seen.’ Alex Greene, RPG writer 'Equal parts alternate history, H.P. Lovecraft inspired settings, crazy characters and a serious science fiction vibe, this game is a blast,’ EN World review, David J Buck Clarence Redd

The old Nightmare in Norway is probably out of print but I think it contained rules for snow etcetera. How about Beyond the Mountains of Madness?