Chris Spivey to develop Sci-fi RPG game setting for Chaosium

[MOB]

Chaosium is pleased to announce award-winning RPG designer Chris Spivey will be developing a new BRP-based science fiction line to add to the company's suite of roleplaying game brands. 

Last year Spivey's Darker Hue Studios produced the licensed Call of Cthulhu/Trail of Cthulhu supplement Harlem Unboundwhich has received critical acclaim for its groundbreaking treatment of issues of race and the Lovecraft Mythos, and is a nominee for the 2018 Diana Jones Award. 

"I am excited and honored to be brought on by Chaosium. I grew up playing Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, Nephilim and more. Now the chance to fully manage a science fiction line that only previously existed in my own mind has left me speechless, but let's hope not wordless.”—Diana Jones Award nominee Chris Spivey

https://www.chaosium.com/blogchris-spivey-to-develop-scifi-rpg-game-setting-for-chaosium

Edited June 24, 2018 by MOB

[simonh]

That’s fantastic, congratulations Chris. BRP is well suited to modern and SF gaming. Ringworld was a masterpiece and I’ve adapted the system to several SF settings for my own gaming needs.

Ill just echo a comment I made moments ago on another thread. Modern RPGs live and die on their setting and the core activities the game and setting support, as much as the rules. While I loved Ringworld, most GMs struggled to figure out what to do with it. Fortunately Chris comes with excellent credentials on the setting development front. I’m really excited to see what comes from this.

[Sean_RDP]

This is great news. Congrats all! 

[dieselpunk]

Does brp-based mean it's using the rules in the BGB or is it making some derivative aka COC7 ?

[g33k]

30 minutes ago, dieselpunk said:

Does brp-based mean it's using the rules in the BGB or is it making some derivative aka COC7 ?

All of the above & more, I think...

Recall that the BGB is a decade old, now -- source material selections likely frozen a year or more before that -- and "BRP" (as a broad family of related systems) has innovated and developed substantially since; the BGB is no longer "current" (even if it remains the most-comprehensive single-cover BRP volume).

Chaosium's stated policy about new BRP games (of which CoC7 & RQG are the two recent exemplars, with Mythic Iceland 2e coming "soon") is that they will come out with setting + mechanics in the core release, and use a recognizably-BRP engine with specifics chosen by the developers per-setting, with tweaks and/or new rules (e.g. Runes in RQ, Sanity in CoC) as deemed appropriate to that setting.

I suspect that about 80% - 90% of the mechanics will be some version or variant of mechanics from the BGB (given what that volume is)... but complete/100% BGB-compatibility will not really be something to expect from new BRP games (given what that volume isn't).  And thus will BRP grow a tiny bit MORE beyond the limits of the BGB.

But that's just my own (unofficial/non-Chaosium) perspective.

YBRPMV -- mine certainly does!   ;-)

Edited June 24, 2018 by g33k

[g33k]

3 hours ago, MOB said:

... Chris Spivey will be developing a new BRP-based science fiction line ... 

So... if it's not premature to ask...  Can we get any sense of where in the "SF TropeSpace" this is planned?  Licensed IP or (as I think I saw hinted) a new setting (and if new, which IP's (if any) might be "natural" fits)?  Traveller-esque, StarWars-ey, Expanse-ish, etc etc etc?  Just our Solar system, local few stars, stellar quadrant, entire galaxy, etc etc etc?

Edited June 24, 2018 by g33k
oooh! oooh! Julian May's "Galactic Milieu / Pliocene Exile" dual-setting!!!

[simonh]

Setting and the core activities in the game come first. Then the rules should be chosen to serve them.

Having said that, it would make sense to me for new fantasy games to tend towards RQ compatibility, and for modern/future games to tend towards CoC compatibility, as long as doing so doesn’t compromise the first principle.

[g33k]

16 minutes ago, simonh said:

Setting and the core activities in the game come first. Then the rules should be chosen to serve them.

Having said that, it would make sense to me for new fantasy games to tend towards RQ compatibility, and for modern/future games to tend towards CoC compatibility, as long as doing so doesn’t compromise the first principle.

Taking the "Runes" out of RQ and "San" out of CoC, I don't really see one as dramatically-more-Fantasy or dramatically-more-Modern/Future than the other, really.  YMMV.  But otherwise, I completely agree with your "figure out what the game itself DOES, then pick the best rules to DO THAT" approach.

[tobarstep]

If this setting has the same attention to detail that Harlem Unbound has, I'm already sold.

[simonh]

1 hour ago, g33k said:

Taking the "Runes" out of RQ and "San" out of CoC, I don't really see one as dramatically-more-Fantasy or dramatically-more-Modern/Future than the other, really.  

 Just thinking it’s more likely resources for one game could be usable with another.

[Sigtrygg]

Will it be hard sci fi or sci fantasy? Will it involve spaceships, and if so will they be cinematic Star Wars nonsense or Expanse like almost hard sci fi?

[ORtrail]

An expanded and updated Future World would be awesome.  The gates made the setting stand out to me over games like Traveler, and I think you need to do SOMETHING different to make a setting more interesting to the players.   

I also understand that being able to say, "It's the BRP version of Traveler" would hold a lot of appeal to some groups. 

[theodis171]

The rules system would be of interest to me. Personally, I despise CoC7, am ok with no-frills BRP and really like Magic World/Elric!.

[AJ The Ronin]

Is not "Cthulhu in Space!" but it's a Sci-Fi game using BRP. That's a win.

That said, seem it will be a while before this gets to print. 

[ORtrail]

Yeah, this is a move for late 2019 or 2020, but it helps to know that Chaosium is working to 'fill in the gaps' in their RPG lineup. 

[The Hooded Claw]

Is it a licensed property or something new?

[Tolemykus]

*Jumps in neighbor's Time Machine to get a copy.*

[g33k]

7 hours ago, Pythagoras said:

*Jumps in neighbor's Time Machine to get a copy.*

Careful, man!  A close read of Chaosium's intelligence-briefing reveals that Mr. Spivey has been preparing for your tempoal assault for years.

[Jakob]

Very excited about this - personally, I'm hoping for an original modern space opera setting, something in the vein of the novels of Ann Leckie or Iain Banks; something that deals with interesting concepts of culture, empire, AI,  alien life ... I oculd definitely see that from what I've read in Harlem Unbound.

[Cosmic55]

I believe a sci-if setting can be measured by it's alien races. Variation on humans, animal/human hybrids, fantasy races as aliens...don't get me excited. I think FrontierSpace has the best original aliens I've seen in an RPG.

[seneschal]

If it repurposed Magic World rules they could call it “Advanced Spacery.”  😉

When i was introduced to BRP via GORE my first thought wasnt of Lovecraft or Ducks but of science fiction.  

[Ethereal]

2 hours ago, Cosmic55 said:

I believe a sci-if setting can be measured by it's alien races. Variation on humans, animal/human hybrids, fantasy races as aliens...don't get me excited. I think FrontierSpace has the best original aliens I've seen in an RPG.

As aliens I can agree, yet with all the scientific work being done on genetics I could see animals (dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.) being raised to a companion, comparable species to humans. Possibly even androids, robots or synthetic bionoids could be considered as currently science  can be thought as limitless. I mean they are talking (if not already have done) of growing synthetic meat for food.

[Narl]

I'm really excited for this. I have run a lot of Traveller in recent years, using both the classic Traveller Book and the current Mongoose rules, and as much as I love the Third Imperium as a setting, the rules don't really inspire me, especially the lack of actual character advancement. The whole more credits, bigger guns, and bigger ships escalation gets old fast.

As for rules, I hope that Passions and Augments are included as they are a great way to stimulate some roleplaying.

For the setting, I just hope it includes space travel among the stars and lots of room for exploration and homebrew development. I just want it to feel vast and limitless!

Bring it on!

[Cosmic55]

3 hours ago, Ethereal said:

As aliens I can agree, yet with all the scientific work being done on genetics I could see animals (dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.) being raised to a companion, comparable species to humans. Possibly even androids, robots or synthetic bionoids could be considered as currently science  can be thought as limitless. I mean they are talking (if not already have done) of growing synthetic meat for food.

I don't mind them being options, just not the only options.

Love BRP though...this is very exciting news!

[g33k]

9 hours ago, Ethereal said:

... yet with all the scientific work being done on genetics I could see animals (dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.) being raised to a companion, comparable species to humans. Possibly even androids, robots or synthetic bionoids could be considered as currently science ...

I trust you have seen Eclipse Phase?  🙂

Edited September 2, 2018 by g33k