Sci-Fi

[Solardog]

Here is another Sci Fi/Space music video:Mastodon - Oblivion

Another Sci Fi comic tip:Orbital. Two agents for Interworld Diplomatic Office, Calen, a human and Mezoke, a sandjarr are sent to the planet Senestam on an diplomatic mission.

[wbcreighton]

I haven't had much experience with the Creative Commons License but I did purchase a pdf of Eclipse Phase. It uses the CCL and describes it as follows:

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-

Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

To view a copy of this license, visit:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

or send a letter to: Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite

300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

What this means is that you are free to copy, share, and remix the

text and artwork within this book under the following conditions:

1) you do so only for noncommercial purposes;

2) you attribute Posthuman Studios;

3) you license any derivatives under the same license.

For specific details, appropriate credits, and updates/changes

to this license, please see: http://eclipsephase.com/cclicense

Now the Eclipse Phase rulebook is 420 pages long and has lots of Transhuman SciFi goodness. It has it's own setting, and as a bonus it is a d100 system. Is there any interest in the text within it ? By my very uninformed reading of the license, the text of the pdf could be extracted and used in a non-commercial publication as long as the proper credits were given. I might be able to supply that text.

[simonh]

I've just come across the rq_scifi draft and I'm goign through it.

I've used BRP to run games set in the Traveller universe several times, but not fully written it up or systematised it. I just used CoC as the rules reference, worked up a character sheet in word, adapted the Traveller/Ringworld weapons tables and went for it.

My first reaction to rq-scifi is that it's appears to be the sum of taking all it's soirces and addign them together, with little atempt to resolve overlaps. Separate PSI and POW stats? Realy? Five optional stats?

But then it also contains some realy useful resources and rules integration ideas. Combat is a bit stuck in an MRQ1 rut. How about moving to OpenQuest as the reference game system?

Simon Hibbs

[wbcreighton]

I've just come across the rq_scifi draft and I'm going through it.

My first reaction to rq-scifi is that it's appears to be the sum of taking all it's sources and adding them together...

But then it also contains some realy useful resources and rules integration ideas.

How about moving to OpenQuest as the reference game system?

Simon Hibbs

I think the author would acknowledge that it really is adding all the source material together, and it is not a finished document. As you mention it has lots of useful material and ideas.

About Openquest: I think there is a scifi supplement for OQ coming out eventually ( or maybe it already has come out ). RQ_scifi and OQ are based on the same OGL, and the same RQSRD with the Traveller SRD add ins for the scifi, so they should be compatible. I bet if you took RQ_scifi and integrated OQ you could come up with something useful. Sounds like a good project for your spare time

[soltakss]

I've just come across the rq_scifi draft and I'm goign through it.

I've used BRP to run games set in the Traveller universe several times, but not fully written it up or systematised it. I just used CoC as the rules reference, worked up a character sheet in word, adapted the Traveller/Ringworld weapons tables and went for it.

Yes, that would work. However, my ultimate aim is to produce a version of the game that works well with SciFi, without having to look at many different and slightly incompatible games.

My first reaction to rq-scifi is that it's appears to be the sum of taking all it's soirces and addign them together, with little atempt to resolve overlaps. Separate PSI and POW stats? Realy? Five optional stats?

Yes, the first thing was to put as much as I could from the other SRDs and then slowly merge them together. Traveller has a lot of good ideas, but a system that I could never understand even after playing for a year. D20 also has good ideas but suffers from being class based. RuneQuest is a good system but suffers from not having SciFi rules or a SciFi setting. Put them all together and you could, in theory, have good rules with many good ideas taken from many different games.

It's not there yet, as I have previously mentioned.

I haven't worked on the RQ SciFi document for over a year, mainly because I have been writing two Merrie England supplements. I want to focus on Merrie England for a while, so probably won't do much for a good few months.

Also, I had an idea for a setting, but those ideas have changed quite a bit recently. I wasn't sure if the setting would work and was reluctant to work on it for that reason. When I flesh the setting out in my mind, I will need an SRD to back the game up and will continue work on the RQ Scifi document in earnest.

But then it also contains some realy useful resources and rules integration ideas. Combat is a bit stuck in an MRQ1 rut. How about moving to OpenQuest as the reference game system?

Combat is stuck in MRQI as it was taken from the MRQ SRD. I would struggle to add Combat Manoeuvres as MRQII has not been released under the OGL. That doesn't really matter to me, as anyone could use the MRQII Combat Manoeuvres with a RQ SciFi setting with no real problems.

I wouldn't use OpenQuest because that specifically doesn't use Hit Locations and the RQ SciFi specifically does. However, they are both based on the same SRDs and are generally compatible.

I will be coming back to RQSciFi within a year and will be able to merge a lot of things together. What I will do is to create a very general SciFi SRD and then produce a version for a SciFi Setting. However, that won't be for a year or so.

In any case, it was more of a proof of concept to show that RQ could be used for SciFi and would make a good SciFi rules system.

[soltakss]

Also, 5 extra characteristics? Were their 5? I can remember splitting SIZ into MAS and LEN, which make a lot of sense in SciFi games. PSI is different to POW because I would like these rules to cover Space Fantasy which has magic as well as Psionics. ROB for Robotics is useful in a Cybernetic game. Was there a fifth? I can't remember. EDU? No, just checked the previous posts and SOC is from Traveller. I am ambivalent towards SOC, it makes some sense for a socially stratified setting.

In any case, I like extra Characteristics. My Eastern games have CHI as a Characteristic. I would have preferred PTY (Piety) to be a characteristic in Merrie England. EDU makes sense, in a way, and has been accepted in many games.

Edited December 18, 2010 by soltakss

[Solardog]

A Comic tip, Missile Mouse: Rescue On Tankium3 (ISBN: 0545117178) is out. Enjoy!

More Sci-Fi inspired music videos.

[wbcreighton]

To the document file you should probably add:

High Guard System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.

Mercenary System Reference Document Copyright © 2008, Mongoose Publishing.

[soltakss]

Thanks - I thought I had included them. Perhaps they came out in the second batch of SRDs so I might have forgeotten to include them in the correct place.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Did you actually use those in your sci-fi document, Simon? I thought you finished it before MGT High Guard and Mercenary came out, but my memory of events is hazy.

[wbcreighton]

Simon had brought out his first version before the HG and Merc came out but then he updated the doc to include at least parts of them. Especially the char creation.

[soltakss]

Yep, I noticed that they had come out and strip-mined them for as much information as I could.

[KingSkin]

@Solardog: If you're interested in SF themed music then Fear Factory's Oblivion album is pretty cool. It's a sort of cyberpunk concept album. But by far the best I've ever heard is the Deltron 3030 album by Del Tha Funky Homosapien. He appears on quite a few Gorillaz tracks so you may well recognise his voice. It's another concept album with a loose story running through it but it's very cool with a lot of great tracks. I've linked a few below on YouTube:

Battlesong

He was supposed to be doing a follow-up album but so far it hasn't been finished. Hopefully next year although I've been saying that for about the 5 years now...

[Solardog]

Thanks for the links, KingSkin. By Goggling the Deltron 3030, i learned about afrofuturism.

Yes i now, fear is the mind killer and the

RIP,Ian Loveday.

Oh no, the evil space invaders from the outer space is coming.Hit'N'Hide - Spaceinvaders

[KingSkin]

Never heard of Afrofuturism but I read the wikipedia entry and there's some really cool shit in there. Parliament, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton and Herbie Hancock all rock (Herbie's Headhunters album is awesome). Also, Samuel Delaney's books are cracking. Dhalgren, while not strictly SF, is one of my all-time favourite books and is so well-written I just marvel at his ability to combine words.

Another cool SF hip-hop track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quqlpDpqtiU.

Haven't listened to EON for ages. There was a time back in the 90's when there were some sweet rave/sci-fi fusions. Like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKduhUXa0rg. Not his mosty overtly sci-fi influenced piece but I listened to it obsessivelyback in the 90's because of the Running Man/Monty Python samples.

I've a feeling this is veering wildly off-topic now though. Just time for me to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsV500W4BHU. (Oh, and the lead singer is Rob Zombie's little brother).

[Questbird]

Off the top of my head:

• Better Psionic rules
  
• More Psi Powers
  

I know it's BRP/CoC but John Ossoway's psionics rules in 'Cthulhu Rising' are pretty good, and come in a roundabout way from original Traveller, so they might be usable with his permission.

[soltakss]

Thanks - I'll try and get hold of a copy.

[rpgstarwizard]

um I started porting the PSI stuff from Space opera, have you taken a look?

[soltakss]

um I started porting the PSI stuff from Space opera, have you taken a look?

I haven't done any work on this for quite a while - I've been too busy with other stuff.

Is Space Opera OGL/Downloadable? I'm not buying any RPG books at the moment, so am being very limited in where I can get ideas from.

[rpgstarwizard]

Sorry, I created a psi system based on Space Opera and few other sources, it isnt finished yet completely but it is in the files here. The Psi system is based on "levels".

[Solardog]

Laser weapon or Gauss weapon? Nope i will use the land shark gun. Muahahaha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHPvT8zVXT0

More interesting/insane/peculiar weapons from Armed and Dangerous .

World's Smallest Black Hole:

The Topsy Turvy:

No TPS with out an machinegun.

The Flemming Machinegun

Invented by the tea baron Hironymus Flemming for the protection of his crops, the Flemming Machinegun spits out ammunition like nobody's business (10 bullets per second) and can maintain continuous fire due to its 100 round clip. Meant for clearing crows of rabbits and other tea predators, this old standby is used by farmers, thugs and gun enthusiasts alike. You can carry a maximum of 1000 extra bullets.

BRP stats for the Flemming Machinegun: Skill: Rifle Base:20 Dmg:2D6+2 Attk: 1 or burst Special:Impaling Rng: 90 Hands: 2 HP: 12 Parry: No STR/DEX: 10/6 Mal: 00 Ammo: 100 Value: Expensive Siz/Enc: 2,5.

After an Future Worlds adventure this weekend, one my players asked if we could do an adventure in the Armed and Dangerous universe. And i answered, why not. Humour and violence is always fun.

[soltakss]

An update from the Mongoose Thread:

Sci Fi for Legend should come out as a POD book some time next year, or the year afterwards, unless someone beats me to it. So far, I have converted the entire Legend ruleset to a SciFi format, which wasn't that difficult. Now, all I have to do is to put together rules for specific SciFi elements such as basic ship design, cybernetics, psi powers and equipment. Half of them are done, but need tidying up. Then comes editing, layout and artwork, which might take some time.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Are you using the Mongoose Traveller SRD for the SF elements, or are you making stuff up specifically for Legend? Or are you doing something else?

Any idea about page count so far?

[soltakss]

Are you using the Mongoose Traveller SRD for the SF elements, or are you making stuff up specifically for Legend? Or are you doing something else?

Everything is based on the Legend SRD.

Character Generation is Legend, but LifePath for Legend would be available as a free download.

Legendary Abilities would be based on the RQSciFi documents.

Spaceship combat would be a combination of standard Legend/Pirates of Legend/new SciFi.

Equipment just does a job, so is system-neutral. Some equipment will give a bonus, others just allow you to do something.

Psionics would be part-based on the RQSciFi document with some odds and ends coming from various Legend magic rules.

After all, it doesn't matter where a rule comes from, only that it works.

Any idea about page count so far?

Probably about the same size as the Legend core rulebook. I don't want it to be much bigger and it won't be smaller, and that's a fact!