Firefly the Role Playing Game
POSTED BY: NomAnor01
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 8, 2006 04:59
VIEWED: 23977
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I picked up the game from GenCon last week
It's similar to D6, the attributes and skills are defined as die types, advancement is gained by increasing the 'size' of the die (ranges from d2 to d12, above d12 you add another die d12+d2). skills are expressed seperately from the attributes and follow the same convention as the attributes. this allows your mechanic to roll Alertness + Mechanical Engineering to find the problem and Intelligence + Mechanical Engineering to fix it.
There's a detailed Asset/Complication system (talents/flaws), in fact every character is required to have one of each.
character creation is a point system, everything costs points, the points are based on the level of the campaign.
Ships are built like characters, they have stats and traits, I've only glanced at the section for now
Added bonus is a reference section in back with three pages of chinese translations of words and phrases, including some curse words.
All in all, it is well done, a lot of attention was paid to keep the feel, in fact the text will drive english teachers nuts, there is heavy use of 'western' or 'boondock' terminology and word use; they do a good job at butchering the english language.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Chaman:
I picked up the game from GenCon last week
It's similar to D6, the attributes and skills are defined as die types, advancement is gained by increasing the 'size' of the die (ranges from d2 to d12, above d12 you add another die d12+d2). skills are expressed seperately from the attributes and follow the same convention as the attributes. this allows your mechanic to roll Alertness + Mechanical Engineering to find the problem and Intelligence + Mechanical Engineering to fix it.
There's a detailed Asset/Complication system (talents/flaws), in fact every character is required to have one of each.
character creation is a point system, everything costs points, the points are based on the level of the campaign.
Sounds a little like GURPS/ character creation to me, although the game mechanics seem different. Would they difficult for a GURPS/ gamer to learn? What dice would be needed? Is there a lot of paperwork (i.e. forms) required?
Quote:
Ships are built like characters, they have stats and traits, I've only glanced at the section for now
Can these stats and traits be translated into real world characteristics such as max cargo mass and volume (both official and actual), thrust and manuverability, power generation, life support capacity, purchase price and/or mortgage payments, operating and maintenance costs, etc.? How much explanation of the tech is there? (I'm a bit of a gearhead and while Joss's "western in space" was excellent drama, the lack of tech details left my inner geek a bit hungry.
) Quote:
Added bonus is a reference section in back with three pages of chinese translations of words and phrases, including some curse words.
Is there much detail in the book about just how bilingual/bicultural the Alliance really is?
Quote:
All in all, it is well done, a lot of attention was paid to keep the feel, in fact the text will drive english teachers nuts, there is heavy use of 'western' or 'boondock' terminology and word use; they do a good job at butchering the english language.
How about the Chinese language?
Would it be a good resource for writing Firefly fanfic?
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I haven't had a chance to play GURPS (though I should look at my Disc World book, if I can find it...)
Dice: you pretty much need a set, two sets would be prefered (I'd wait to see how well you liked it, as a third set would be good when you characters got to be 'big damn heros')
I haven't had a chance to get to the ships yet, that's the chapter I'm starting. So I'll skim it real quick, give you the attributes they use and I'll give you more detail when I finish. I had kind of skipped forward before and was reading the prose, lots of nice material discussing various ships systems and operating a ship (really detailed explaination of how gravity controls affect space travel, great for the geek). The main attributes are the same as characters, though they're changed a little to reflect a ship:
Agility is reaction and maneuverability, Strength is determined by size and tonnage (but there's some flexibility), Vitality reflects her general state of repair, Alertness reflects the ships comms and sensors, Intelligence determines the abilities of the flight computer (there are no sentient bots in Firefly), and Willpower is a measure of the safety of the ship and any redundant systems.
They suggest looking up the stats of historical ships from 1850 to 1950, look for one that that is of the same type, the specifications will be about the same even though the tech won't
most of the normal specs are covered, there's a section on 'ship traits' which are assets/complications for the ship
some ships detailed, some have plans
Aces & Eights (mid-sized transport / yacht)
Hotaru (a firefly)
Escape pod
short range shuttle
alliance short range enforcement vessel
small transport (Wren class)
homestead transport (bumblebee class)
another Firefly
Serenity
Alliance patrol boat
independent blockade runner
Cargo Liner
Alliance Cruiser
El Dorado (passenger liner)
the GM chapter has the following sections:
a Technobabble chart
26th century slang
western
in with the old, and in with the new (mixing techs, like the holographic pool table)
in the 'Verse guide
lots of history
some important groups
a map of the known planets and pics of the planets
overview of the planets
Last is the appendix: Gorram Chinese
there's a discussion on languages, cussin' fightin' words frontier slang a primer on basic rim world speech, frontier slang, space slang, underworld slang, technical slang and three pages of chinese phrases
Someone at another forum had problems finding the book, here's the ISBN: 1931567506 (should be ten digits). Give this to you local bookseller (at B&N, B. Daltons, or Doubleday, the title is listed as "Serenity RPG"), it should be out the first week or so of next month, so you can order it now. oh, at B&N stores (which includes the other two), you're under no obligation to buy, you can order it and change your mind. the price is 39.99.
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Thanks for your response. It looks like the game will be well worth the money and a great reference for Firefly fanfic writers. If the series ever returns to the tube (not likely I know, but hope springs eternal), maybe it could be used as the new "series bible." I don't suppose the "Gorram Chinese" section has a translation for the question "What's happening?" or "What's going on?" (such as what one might ask when entering a room at the tail end of a strange conversation). I have one for "What's the matter?" but that question implies a problem is expected.
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What: Shuh Muh?
they're supposed to have a webpage at www.serenityrpg.com
but they got sidetracked by GenCon, as did a number of authors/designers
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On the Borders page with Amazon.com they have the rpg for $26.39 saving $13.60 plus shipping. Just sent in my order.
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Anyone know when the www.serenityrpg.com is going to be up.
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Soon.
** Jamie
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We bought it at Dragon*Con ($40), and were able to have Margaret Weiss sign it (she wrote the fiction bits in it). Now hubby is obsessing over it, creating his own blank sheets for tabletop gaming. The GM in him has reared it's ugly head. LOL.
BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."
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