Dredj

It once was, for a very short time, but it was no success in the USA, mostly

because of the (for US readers) very unusual format - imagine a small booklet,

about the size of National Geographic, with about 70 pages with only very few

black and white illustrations.

It looks like they are making a PC game from the series that's going to be translated into English: Perry Rhodan - Home Amazon says it's coming out July 7th and will only be $19.99 USD. And it's a point and click adventure (arrrgh! But the price told me as much, anyway).

Maybe Chaosium should just pick up the license for Perry Rhodan? At least it might go over big in Europe. And will fulfill the need for a BRP space opera game everywhere else.

Ah, now I understand what you mean, and agree.

There is a major weekly science fiction booklet series here in Germany, "Perry

Rhodan" (running for 2000+ weeks now ...), where the Terrans have develo-

ped a kind of nucleosynthesis machine providing them with the basic raw ma-

terials for their industry.

However, there is still a lot of trade in blueprints, finished goods and especial-

ly organic chemicals (which are difficult to synthesize from elements).

I guess it's true: there is no such thing as a truly original idea:lol: I'll have to see if this Perry Rhodan series is translated into English.

While I think the replicators would be an interesting idea, I would not like to

have anything of that kind in my setting, because it would very much reduce

(if not eliminate entirely) the need for interstellar trade - and with it a clas-

sic science fiction adventure source.

True, but remember, our own earth is self-sustaining, and many people on this planet would love to be able to explore the cosmos in a starship. I think the PCs will get into interesting situations just because they feel the need to have to do interstellar travel just for exploration (which I think is very much lacking in modern SF). And a trade of ideas and new technology will always be there regardless if a solar system is self-sustaining or not. This is why I had my replicators not be copy machines. They can only replicate raw material, the expertise and such for new inventions will come from outside of the solar system--or on other colonies. So most solar systems or colonies are not going to want to be too cut off from the outside. There will always be a trade in intellectual property.

Maybe the word 'replicate' is the wrong word to use. It would be more like a mining operation except it's recreating basic elements and their combinations from what's being thrown off from a sun. It would simply be mixing and matching atoms and molecules from solar radiation.

One of the things I'm thinking about for a sci-fi setting is to have 'replicators'. But they will be different from the Star Trek ones. If you've read or watched any "science behind Star Trek" stuff, then you know the replicators in Star Trek would take an ungodly amount of energy. My replicators would be set up by a star and protected by force fields. Plus, they can't make copies. They can only produce base elements of the Periodic Table from the energy emanating from the sun. Then they ship the raw material to space colonies for manufacture. Thus making any solar system self-sustaining. And any invasion into a solar system would be idealogical (religious or political--by anyone who thinks they know how to live your life better than you do) instead of economical.

As much of a fan I am of High Frontier space colonies, I wonder if groups of people living in enclosed environments wouldn't lead to some very eccentric societies:confused:

Playing a few games of this game with your group should help you come up with some ideas:shock: social science fiction

This is like the ultimate sci-fi setting generator. I know you're asking for a group-think from the forum, but that game should help a lot.

This site is the best if you're looking for hard sci-fi: Atomic Rocket main page

And my input into the project is that there MUST be High Frontier space colonies: Space Settlement

Don't feel so bad... I haven't gotten a copy yet, either.

I would think yours would be the first one to be shipped out:confused:

Thank you very much for the information and the links !

Although my bank account keeps screaming "No, don't !", I obviously have to

buy this RPG - apart from being a most unusual and interesting game, it could

make an excellent tool to give my water world setting some more depth (ah,

kind of a pun ...).

I always appreciate you appreciating the information and links I provide. This game is definitely one of the most interesting games I've ever come across. And I think it deserves much more notice than it's probably getting. Plus, after playing a session of this game, it's possible you'd have a very original setting for playing BRP in:)

My bank account screams at me so much I think I'm going deaf:lol:

Here's a game I know nothing about beyond the product description, but seems to be in the same vein as Shock.

IPR :: By Genre :: Science Fiction :: Universalis (Revised Edition) But this game seems more like competitive story telling instead of world building like Shock.

My name is Ars Mysteriorum, and I approve of the above statement.

Brought to you by the Council for Advancement From Genre Cliches.

Fantasy Game Consists of:

Game Creator: WIZARDS! SWORDS!

Bulk of Players: YAY!!!

A Few Others, as well as some of the Bulk of Players: FANTASY HEARTBREAKER!

Sci-Fi Game Consists of:

GC: LASERS! SPACESHIPS!

BoP: Dude, lasers are lame.

GC: Oh... RAIL GUNS!

BoP: We have rail guns, NOW. They're kinda lame.

GC: Hmmm... rocket guns!

BoP: Had them years ago. They didn't work at short range.

GC: How about bullets that explode when they hit a target?

BoP: Bolters in Warhammer 40,000.

GC: Fine LIGHT SPEED!

BoP: Not really feasible due to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, how about using a jump drive or wormholes instead?

GC: Aha! SPACE WIZARDS! LASER SWORDS!

BoP: That's Star Wars.

GC: FINE! A bunch of stupid monkeys take over the planet.

BoP: Planet of the Apes.

GC: *HRGRK*... OK. How about a setting where Androids have rebelled against humanity and now there's a huge war between the two?

BoP: Dune, and, subsequently, Warhammer 40,000, the Matrix, and Blade Runner to a lesser extent.

GC: Dark, evil entities at the edges of space threaten the sanity of mankind!

BoP: That's Call of Cthulhu, and there's a monograph called Cthulhu Rising and another game called Cthulhu Tech.

GC: WIZARDS! SWORDS! IN A MODERN SETTING!

BoP: LAME!

And it goes on.

What's funniest about this whole thing is that Fantasy is considered "original" and maintains popularity provided it adheres to Tolkienesque races. If it gets too original, it eventually fades to a very, very small niche.

But when a creator makes sci-fi, it seems 100% originality is expected, as well as adherence to at least some science. The best one can do is combine ingredients that haven't been around for a while and look "new" enough to appease the public, but not so "new" that players can't relate to it.

This, of course, is coming from my limited perceptions on the gaming market, and thus I may be full of large, wet bags of flaming poo.

This is definitely off subject, but the game Shock:Social Science Fiction has an interesting take on the sci-fi genre: the players come up with scenarios that are based on social issues--or issues that could be social issues. and the game world is created around them. The system itself is not compatible with BRP (or is it?), but it has good ideas and the site has actual gameplay examples shock: social science fiction

Sorry, I'm having a difficult time explaining this game, but I don't have my book by me and I've never encountered a system like this before. However, this could maybe be mined for how to create a sci-fi game that might use BRP.

Actually, here's a review of the game from the site: RPGnet : Review of Sci-Fi Week: Shock: Social Science Fiction

Greg Porter's original gameline (before he shifted everything to CORPS and EABA) had location scatter based on how much you missed by; of course it was more finicky on what constituted a location so a larger percentage wouldn't scatter off the body if you aimed for the center of the chest, for example.

That's the guy who made Timelords, right? Supposedly, his damage and hit location system was/is the most realistic ever in gaming. Played one session of Timelords, once. Geeze that's a complex system.:eek:

Also, the default determination seems random. Just roll some dice, it's where you happen to hit. Like a fighter has no real control. Then if you want to take fighter choice/aiming into consideration, it's yet another level of modifiers, debates, blah blah blah. All this so a character can lose an arm against their will. Pass.

In another game I own, the player says which location the character is aiming for. After the player rolls his attack die, he then rolls for the hit location twice (more if the rolls are on the same spot). The roll that comes nearest or on the location is the one that's kept. I plan on using this rule.

I'm a huge, old school, fan of the classic micogames from the 70's and 80's was thinking about doing a miniatures BRP conversion based on them. Infact, I just found complete scaned rule books, counters and map for the old Dwarfstar microgames that are now legitimately free to download . Heres the link should anyone be interested:

Index Page - Download The Classic Heritage Dwarfstar Boardgames For Free

That looks very interesting. I'm not going to be at my own computer for awhile so I don't want to download them, just yet. However, are they D100 or easily compatible to D100?

I never heard of Warhamster. I would also like a link if you got one.

I already posted in other threads that I love hit locations and they will be great for the splatterpunk games I will be running...so I won't repeat that here:lol:

I was wondering if BRP also has rules for miniatures and skirmish games?

Now that Chaosium has finally received their shipment of BRP, the question becomes: how long does it take to get to the other distributors (namely, Amazon)?

Probably some third world person who when he found out later his coffee beans were pooped out of a Monkey's butt he said to himself, "hmm..not bad. I bet I could sell this to rich people!".

Exotic, rich taste with a distinctive odor...why wouldn't people pay big bucks for it:p

Crazy thing is many herbs help with stuff like congestion, digestion, sore feet, rheumatism.etc. I really need to find more in game effects.

I would suggest looking up some funky New Age herbalism books. You can find herbs that facilitate astral projection and such

For him it could be anything from using a high tech lab with computers and technicians to do his bidding all the way to something as simple as feeding the plant to a particular animal and waiting for it to fully "digest it" if you know what I mean (believe it or not, there's a very expensive coffee that's processed that way with Monkeys here on Earth!) .

I wonder who was the first person to taste test that? Was it a dare?

Since there is talk about settings, I thought I'd toss in a couple that stuck out to me:

RPGNow.com - Precis Intermedia - Steampunk Musha

This is more of a WoD knock-off. But it's worth checking out.

RPGNow.com - White Wolf - Cold Hands, Dark Hearts

And here's a bunch from a single company I plan on using for settings when I get my copy of BRP. Especially the StarCluster setting.

Flying Mice LLC RPG Page

Which is why I suggested that something along the lines of Mercenaries, Spies

and Private Eyes is more appropriate. A sourcebook/game that can handle

anything from Bond to Mack Bolan to Clive Cussler to Sam Spade to real life

stuff. It would have optional rules tied to genre, which could be used at will

in any genre if desired.

If I had more free time, I would work on doing a port of the old Victory Games

James Bond 007 RPG as a basis, I already have ideas for Seduction,

Persuasion and Torture using the 007 rules, but adjusting to BRP. I also have

ideas on how to move over the fabulous Q Manual stuff as well, the vehicle

rules from the Q Manual coupled with the chase rules from the core are very

well done. Fate Points used as Hero Points, Ease Factors moving into modifiers,

and for the Bondish style of play, keeping the Ease Factor bidding. Since the

core is already a percentile based/skill based system, it will actually port

quite well.

-V

I've never heard of Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes before. But that would be an awesome supplement as those as I would like to do Bond, Clive Cussler (even though I've never read any of his books) and Mack Bolan and, of course, Rogue Warrior, etc.

I have no experience with the James Bond rpg. It's actually a percentile system? I would really like to see a James Bond-style rpg for BRP, too. But, like I said, I would like to do hardcore, "real life" type of spy playing, also.

I was on Shikoku, in Kagawa-ken, Zentsuji-shi.

I was there for six years teaching at a small private university.

Shaira was also a former resident of Japan, but alas, we never met one another.

Geeze, and I can't even get out of stinkin' Wisconsin;-(

I must be thinking wrong... because real world spycraft always seemed dull to me... mostly seems to be wiretapping and surveillance... avoiding combat at all costs until it's time for obliteration.

To trigger my imagination it has to float into less plausible/possible realms... like the Jason Bourne novels or Our Man Flint or James Bond... fancy globe-hopping guys who get up close and personal with the colorful villains... rather than just calling in an airstrike from a couple miles away.

Like, tracking down Osama Bin Laden isn't the sort of thing I'd want to game... it seems tedious... he's not very interesting compared to Dr. No or Goldfinger. He doesn't have a big secret base in a volcano or under the sea... most likely he's hiding under an outhouse somewhere.

His mooks don't have steel fangs or razor-sharp bowlers or interesting double-entendre names.

You probably never get close enough to trade witty barbs with him... just locate him and point out which rathole to send the missile at.

Ever read any of the Rogue Warrior stuff by Richard Marcinko (he was one of the creators of the Navy S.E.A.L.S.)? I would suggest his books as edited/ghostwritten by John Weisman as the best of his books. If you can get your hands on his book Red Cell; that's his best fiction book.

Richard Marcinko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then there's video games like Syphon Filter that the rpg could be based upon. There's a lot of action in that game. Of course a really good spy rpg would allow for Bond villains and the like:)

Spies and spec ops can always do assassinations or kidnappings, or just trying to find contact(s) in enemy territory; which could be quite tricky. And remember, the characters must get out of the area just as they had to get into the area to do the assassination, etc. The rpg could be made around S.W.A.T. and spec op tactics.

Investigative action looking for the enemy spy or just finding the enemy or information to steal could make for good role playing. So could just trying to get access to the building you must set up the surveillance equipment in.

And sometimes to call an airstrike, or set a bomb, a person has to get very close to the enemy.

I would love to see a BRP (or hell, non d20) spy-based game.

I'd really like to see a straight-up spy, spec ops game that's based on real world events and stuff. Maybe somebody can resurrect the Top Secret S.I. damage rules (percentage-based) for use with BRP--if it's compatible enough. And if copyrighting would allow it.

I think he meant hardcopy Dredj, not hardcover. It's not available in hardcover as yet. Not that I am aware of.

My copy is softcover.

No, I think he meant hardcover, as everyone would have their hardcopies sent to them by now:lol:

I think the hardcovers must be print on demand and drop ship directly from printer to the customer. That would explain why you have yours and everybody who is waiting for the mass printed TPB version to reach Chaosium is still waiting.

Where's the pre-order for the hardcovers?

I'd forget EDU, even for PCs. Just give 'em an INTx5 roll, if they have a skill relevant to the area of knowledge in question.

Yeah, I always thought of EDU as something you roll if nothing else matches what's being rolled for; but the character might know something about whatever is being rolled about, anyway.

Like, maybe the character looked up igloos and how to build them some time back and now needs to build an igloo for real. At least that could be the back story you'd give if you made your character's EDU roll.