Worlds Beyond

[rust]

Such a thing would be nice to see, but is there even a market for such a supplement?

According to Chaosium's poll, 20 % of the voters want a Science Fiction set-

ting for the new BRP, and even Fantasy has got only some more votes than

Science Fiction.

If the poll is trustworthy, almost 300 persons have already declared that SF

would be their favourite setting, and this should be good enough to try a PDF

monograph with SF material, I think.

And Ashes to Ashes could well be an example that Chaosium is able to move

faster than a glacier. With Worlds Beyond, Ringworld, Future World at hand

it should not be extremely difficult to produce a PDF within an acceptable

time frame.

[Conrad]

According to Chaosium's poll, 20 % of the voters want a Science Fiction set-

ting for the new BRP

If the poll is trustworthy, almost 300 persons have already declared that SF

would be their favourite setting, and this should be good enough to try a PDF

monograph with SF material, I think.

And Ashes to Ashes could well be an example that Chaosium is able to move

faster than a glacier. With Worlds Beyond, Ringworld, Future World at hand

it should not be extremely difficult to produce a PDF within an acceptable

time frame.

The poll might not be all that trustworthy if a certain SF fan repeatedly evened up the score with the fantasy voters.

Maybe Cthulhu Rising should be given higher status than just being a monograph? Maybe Chaosium would do well to issue it as a lavish supplement?:thumb:

Ashes to Ashes is fantasy by the way:focus:

Edited July 20, 2008 by Conrad

[Guest Vile Traveller]

So, who wants to do what?

[Conrad]

So, who wants to do what?

That depends on what needs doing. Starships and space combat have already been done really well here:

http://www.cthulhurising.co.uk/downloads.php

Dustin Wright on Worlds Beyond:

The answer to your question is "perhaps."

I've had some difficulty in contacting the author/publisher.

We live in hope.:ohwell:

Edited July 20, 2008 by Conrad

[FunGuyFromYuggoth]

I would submit that a very robust ruleset is freely available from the 1980s for the Star Frontiers game. It is available as a resource to be mined for GM's (especially those who remember with affection the old Star Frontiers game).

The rules are convertible (deduct the setting specific information) and theoretically usable "out-of-the-box" with BRP because they rely on percentile dice ratcheted to a six level system on four skills: Piloting, Astrogation, Engineering, and Gunnery. A possible conversion could have Levels 1=1-15%,2=16-31%, 3=32-47%, 4=48-63%, 5=64-79%, and 6=80-95%) from here, but of course I am speaking about Knight Hawks (their starship rules). An explanation of how they can post it online without the Powers that Be raining locusts, blood, and lawyers on them here. I would not recommend the full-on wargaming experience in the advanced rules, but you can have some fun with their rules for economics (how to make and lose money), mining, movement--and of course, combat!

A second boxed set called "Knight Hawks" followed shortly. It provided rules for using starships in the setting and also a set of wargame rules for fighting space battles between the UPF and Sathar. Included were counters for starships, two-ten sided dice, a large folding map with open space on one side and on the other a space station and starship (for use with the included adventure), and the adventure SFKH-0: Warriors of White Light.

Edited July 21, 2008 by FunGuyFromYuggoth

[Nightshade]

Though I wasn't overall impressed with Star Frontiers, Knight Hawks wasn't actually that bad. It might not be quite generic enough, but it'd be a good starting place.

[FunGuyFromYuggoth]

Though I wasn't overall impressed with Star Frontiers, Knight Hawks wasn't actually that bad. It might not be quite generic enough, but it'd be a good starting place.

We had a Traveller campaign, but in those old days could not fathom why there wasn't a character advancement system. It was fixed eventually, but back then, the only other choice was "Space Opera." Our FLGS didn't sell it.

In this case, I think the very sketchiness of "Star Frontiers" and the emphasis on percentiles was a selling point for us and helped to prepare us for BRP and its percentile based system.

[Solardog]

One year since the last post!

Has anyone played or read the Double Edged Sword and Double Edged Sword Part Two: Rats in a Maze adventures for Worlds Beyond?

They where published in the Vortext magazine.

[Conrad]

One year since the last post!

Has anyone played or read the Double Edged Sword and Double Edged Sword Part Two: Rats in a Maze adventures for Worlds Beyond?

They where published in the Vortext magazine.

I didn't know these two scenarios existed till now. Apparently from the write up on rpg.net they were a three part Traveller set of scenarios converted to WB. They were published in issues 7 and 9. The last scenario "Dogs of War" was never published.

There is also an article called "Sher'tazi ... A Closer Look", in issue number 1 of Vortext that looks interesting. I would love to track these down.

Thanks for telling us about them Solardog.:thumb:

Edited July 21, 2009 by Conrad

[Conrad]

After seeing Mindjammer ( for Starblazer Adventures) I hope one day that Sarah Newton will write something like it for BRP.

Take a look at the setting: http://www.cubicle-7.com/acrobat/mj01_intro.pdf

I meant to include the quote originally Posted by Shaira in this thread (see below). Worlds Beyond, Cthulhu Rising and Future World are all a bit dated in the type of setting they represent. Mindjammer is a more modern type of space opera with more transhuman elements, but not to the point of some games, such as Transhuman Space.

Edited March 4, 2010 by Conrad

[cjbowser]

After seeing Mindjammer ( for Starblazer Adventures) I hope one day that Sarah Newton will write something like it for BRP.

Take a look at the setting: http://www.cubicle-7.com/acrobat/mj01_intro.pdf

Sarah did write The Chronicles of Future Earth, which is being released for BRP.

[Conrad]

Sarah did write The Chronicles of Future Earth, which is being released for BRP.

This is technofantasy, not modern space opera.

i.) The impact of extreme longevity on humankind

ii.) Ubiquitous and cheap AI

iii.) Easy geneering

iv.) Ubiquitous PSI or pseudo-PSI*

v.) Stop being impressed by computers - the future probably won't even perceive them as discrete objects, they'll be everywhere and invisible

vi.) Heaps of artificial lifeforms, and blurring of distinctions.

vii.) Dimensional technology, including instantaneous travel in certain cases, harnessing of gravity, as yet unknown tech, a la Rudy Rucker

viii.) Relativistic effects meaning temporal integrity is not required in societies - people may be out travelling for 10 years whilst 1000 years pass locally. Different evolutionary / technological levels constantly clashing, returnee culture shock, etc.

ix.) Extreme evolutionary, social, philosophical and linguistic divergence as humanity spreads out over millennia. Not just Asimov-type divergence, but *major* freakout stuff.

x.) Money as an interstellar lingua franca, but not really used within societies themselves.

*This is pretty much round the corner right now. Some of the brainwave-reader control interfaces for PCs, contact lens sized HUDs, direct optical nerve transmission, and spatial interaction interfaces mean that transmitting messages or control directions by thought and receiving data, imaging, etc, directly into the optic nerve are probably less than a decade away. I'd expect a half-decent SF setting to be wayyyyy ahead of this.

All of the above would blow the Traveller OTU out of the water, which is as it should be as the OTU is very 70s-retro. I'd really like to see a SF RPG which sets its sights *ambitiously*. We should be able to play something which raises the same issues - and allows you to play through them - as a good SF novel. We demand as much from fantasy**, so why not SF? :thumb:

This is what I want to see in a BRP setting, and this setting looks good too: http://d101games.co.uk/2010/02/22/d101-presents-the-river-of-heaven/#more-510

Edited March 4, 2010 by Conrad

[Bygoneyrs]

I'd rather see good old hard SciFi, and drop the Opera part.

Penn

[Conrad]

I'd rather see good old hard SciFi, and drop the Opera part.

Penn

Do you like it HARD then Penn?

Maybe we aught to take a poll of how many of us would want to see a BRP supplement like the setting in Mindjammer? Or is Cthulhu Rising sufficient for a space setting?

[Bygoneyrs]

Actually I guess first we should define exactly what each "term" for the type of SciFi Space game really means to make sure that when folks vote they really truely understand what they really do enjoy best. For me I like Traveller game system style...what one calls that...I think it is HARD science Space gaming!

Penn

[Conrad]

Actually I guess first we should define exactly what each "term" for the type of SciFi Space game really means to make sure that when folks vote they really truely understand what they really do enjoy best. For me I like Traveller game system style...what one calls that...I think it is HARD science Space gaming!

Penn

Most of the settings mentioned on this thread are hard sf space opera. It is the age of some of these settings that limits new types of characters, such as starships and their avatars, cyborgs of varying levels of augmentation; and the idea that computers will still be discrete units not embedded in practically all structures in a future society. Mindjammer balances the transhuman elements with the good old space opera elements. It is modern space opera.

Edited March 4, 2010 by Conrad

[Solardog]

I didn't know these two scenarios existed till now. Apparently from the write up on rpg.net they were a three part Traveller set of scenarios converted to WB. They were published in issues 7 and 9. The last scenario "Dogs of War" was never published.

There is also an article called "Sher'tazi ... A Closer Look", in issue number 1 of Vortext that looks interesting. I would love to track these down.

Thanks for telling us about them Solardog.:thumb:

Any luck finding the Vortext magazines?

[Conrad]

Any luck finding the Vortext magazines?

I keep looking but I haven't found them yet :ohwell:. I thought Noble Knight games might have them, but they have the wrong issue. I really want to read the Sher'tazi article in issue 1, so I'm going to keep looking for the magazines. If I get them you'll be the first to know Solardog.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Conrad