Reaper Forces for SWN

I'm adding the Reapers from the Mass Effect as a threat in my campaign, but I'm not using the galaxy harvesting backstory as presented in the games. The Reapers themselves will essentially be gigantic mechs and transports for the various ground forces presented in this article. (The Reapers will be featured in a different article, since I'm still working on them.) I'm also not calling them Reapers, they are (so far) being called the Nano-Terrors.

(Descriptions largely thanks to the Mass Effect Wiki.)

Nano-Terrors
The Nano-terrors are one of, if not the most, horrifying terrors so far encountered in the galaxy. They are an intelligence seemingly born from a plague of rogue nanobots. These nanobots are beyond anything that has been created by any of the known species, both part of the Galactic Concord and not. The nanobots behind these horrors are not too unlike the nanites driving evolution of life on Fatehpur in the Chisholm system, except these nanites are aggressive and are able to draw in other species into their collective consciousness through infection and completely rewriting vast parts of their genetic code.

No one is sure where or how the nano-terrors come from or came about. It is theorized that they could have been born out of Batarian experiments, though the Hegemony disputes this claim adamantly. Others blame a rogue AI subverting nanobot programming, but even then none of the nanobots studied have shown markers to their original purpose. The most widely accepted theory on the origin of the Nano-terrors lie with the mysterious Collectors, who were the first species to utilize Husks. Although, the technology used to create the Husks utilized by Collectors and those used by the Nano-Terrors appears to be somewhat different, but seeing as how they are the only other species recorded as having used anything like Nano-Terror tech they are a logical candidate.

The other big question is where they acquired their frigate and capital ship-sized starcraft. These robotic constructs not only transport nano-terror units around the galaxy, but are also able to fight in both space and ground conflicts, making them the most versatile spacecraft known in the galaxy. Where did these ships come from? Who is behind their construction and guiding their actions?

Species that are brought into the collective are transformed in ways to terrify those that have not been changed. To date, there have been several different varieties of Nano-Terror encountered in the Batarian Border Zone between the Hegemony and the borders it shares with Asari, Turian, and the Sol Alliance-controlled regions. Although, with the Nano-Terrors’ habit of assimilating any dangerous species, many new varieties could appear at any time.

Banshee

AC 17
HD 8
AB +10 (claws), +12 (energy blast)
Dmg 1d10 (claws) or 2d6 + special (energy blast) or 3d6 (shockwave)
Skill +2
Group 1-2
Save 11+
Move 20’ or 60’ Jaunt
Morale 12

Banshees are the corrupted asari often found leading a Nano-Terror strike force. The Reapers create them specifically from asari with active or latent predispositions to becoming Ardat-Yakshi, a rare neurological condition that enhances the asari's psionic power while causing the immediate death of anyone she mates with.

Lumbering as though in constant pain, the emaciated banshees are surprisingly durable opponents. They are devastating psions able to hurl lethal balls of energy and create shockwaves as they regenerate. What Alliance military finds most disturbing is the Banshee's ability to spawn her own warp field and seemingly teleport during combat. Although their wails have no apparent physiological effect, the psychological impact is undeniable.

When banshees die, their Ardat-Yakshi genetics twist against them, causing a biotic implosion to ensure they evade capture as their bodies wither away to dust quickly.

Banshee energy blasts have a range of 100 meters. Since they are slow moving, but hone in on targets, the attack roll when using a energy blast is increased by +2 (factored in above), but the target can make an Evasion save to avoid damage. If a target is hit with an energy blast, he must make a Physical Effect save or be dazed for 1 round. They regenerate 3 hit points per round, and release a shockwave that affects all non-Nano-Terror beings within 30 feet of them after regenerating (and only regenerating) for 2 rounds. They have 15 Psionic Points to use on their Jaunt ability, and these points regenerate at a rate of 1 point per round, even while engaging in other attacks.


Brute

AC 19
HD 10
AB +12
Dmg 2d10 (claw)
Group 1-2
Save 10+
Move 20’ or 40’ Charge
Morale 12

The brute is a hulking amalgamation of turian and krogan victims of the Nano-Terrors. Because tissue from dextro-protein species like the turians is incompatible with levo-protein species like the krogan, implants regulate the brute's body chemistry to combat organ rejection.

It is the fusion of turian military skill and krogan blood rage that makes the brute such a formidable enemy, capable of destroying armored vehicles to get to the soldiers inside. Troops are advised to keep their distance, and, whenever possible, not engage a brute alone.

Brutes are so heavily armored that they ignore 4 points of damage done from any non-heavy weapon. Plus, their claws are so tough that they can ignore 5 points of armor on vehicles (consider Gravtanks to have 12 points of Armor against Brute attacks).


Cannibal

AC 12
HD 3
AB +4
Dmg 2d6 energy pistols
Group 1d8+2
Save 14+
Move 30’
Morale 10

Cannibals are front-line Nano-Terror units created from corrupted batarians. The nickname refers to their propensity to devour the bodies of fallen comrades. This triggers a biochemical process through which the cannibals simultaneously heal themselves and grow new chitinous armor. The transformation also appears to give cannibals a greater awareness of their surroundings, leading to more strategic behavior and careful use of battlefield cover.

When devouring fallen Nano-terror units, cannibals heal 5 points of damage and add 1 point of armor to their AC. They can do nothing else while doing this, and being attacked does not halt the process. They can only add 4 points of armor by devouring fallen nano-terrors.


Harvester

AC 18
HD 13
AB +13/+13
Dmg 4d10/4d10 energy cannons
Group 1
Save 9+
Move 30’ or
60’ fly
Morale 12

The sight of a Harvester in flight nearby is one of the first indications that a Nano-Terror invasion is underway. Their massive wingspan allows them to quickly cover the distance between them and their prey.

In the Harvester's mouth are two heavy guns that fire in an alternating pattern. The Harvester's most fearsome quality, however, is that its appearance guarantees that Nano-Terror ground troops are not far behind.


Husk

AC 13
HD 2
AB +2/+2/+2
Dmg 1d4/1d4/1d6 (claw/claw/bite)
Group 2d10
Save 14+
Move 30’
Morale 12

Husks are the aggressive, mindless foot soldiers of the Nano-Terror armies. They are created by impaling either living or dead humans (and near-humans) on mechanical spikes that rapidly extract water and trace minerals and replace them with cybernetics. These cybernetics reanimate the lifeless flesh and tissue, transforming the bodies into horrifying killing machines.

The Nano-Terrors use large groups of husks to overwhelm the enemy. The husks' inability to feel pain, as well as their tendency to attack in groups, makes them particularly deadly adversaries.


Husk Abomination

AC 14
HD 4
AB +4/+4/+4
Dmg 1d4/1d4/1d8 (claw/claw/bite)
Group 1d2+1
Save 13+
Move 30’
Morale 12

Abominations are Husks that are imbued with explosives that go off whenever they are made non-functional, spreading super-hot plasma over a 40’ area for 2d10 damage. Their bite attacks are more deadly thanks to the high temperatures in their bodies making their already sharp teeth exceedingly hot as well.

The only visual difference between a Husk and an Abomination is some of the cybernetic wiring is red in color. Plus, they give off a very perceptible wave of heat to those in melee range.


Marauder

AC 15
HD 5
AB +7
Dmg 2d10 pulse rifle
Skill +2
Group 1d6
Save 13+
Move 30’
Morale 10


Marauders are harvested turians that command and protect other Nano-Terror troops. The lean, armored creatures present a significant threat in and of themselves, but they are especially dangerous when leading a task force.

Alliance marines have observed marauders fortifying husks and cannibals by enveloping them in a ribbon of energy that forms a scabby shell of armor. For this reason, when Alliance soldiers encounter a marauder alongside husks or cannibals, standing orders are to target the marauder first.

If a marauder does nothing else for one round all other Nano-Terror units within 20’ get a +2 bonus to AC until they are damaged. Plus, due to the hive-mind that all Nano-Terrors share, any Nano-Terrors within 50’ of a Marauder have their actions coordinated, granting them a +2 bonus to attack rolls while a Marauder is still in action.

Marauders also have access to the Stealth skill and can use it with a +2 bonus.


Ravager

AC 16
HD 6
AB +7/+7
Dmg 3d6/3d6 energy cannons
Group 1d2
Save 12+
Move 20’
Morale 12

Ravagers are former rachni that the Nano-Terrors have transformed into heavy artillery through a process of implantation and genetic modification. As walking organic turrets, they can sustain and inflict considerable damage.
Ravagers bear egg sacs that spawn swarmers. If the sacs are destroyed, either during combat or upon the ravager's death, their entire contents burst forth to charge the enemy and explode on contact. A dead ravager expels a caustic gas and an acidic puddle.

Alliance scientists have theorized that it is easiest for the Nano-Terrors to maintain control over units of rachni genetic extraction because of the species' neurological predisposition for hive-mind consensus.

Unless targeted by a called shot, there is a 25% chance each time a Ravager takes damage that a swamer sack has burst. Anyone directly adjacent to a Ravager when a swarmer sack bursts suffers 1d6 points of damage from the acid. See the Swarmer entry for details, but each sack holds 3 swarmers. Once 4 sacks have burst, no others will.


Swarmers

AC 10
HD 1/4
AB +0
Dmg 1d4 (explosion)
Group 3d6
Save 17+
Move 20’
Morale 12

Swarmers are synthetic-organic creatures presumably derived from Rachni Workers and mutated by Nano-Terror technology. Swarmers can be spawned by puncturing one of the large orange sacs found on Ravagers or by destroying Gestation Pods.

Swarmers are not generally dangerous on their own. Their only attack method is to leap at foes and explode. Their real danger comes from several leaping at the same foe, which can quickly dwindle armor and health.

Using D&D resources with SWN

One of the things that sold me on using "Stars Without Number" for my sci-fi setting was the "old school" feel to the rules. While I may not be as enamored with some of the mechanics of the pre-3rd Edition D&D rules, I vastly prefer the simiplicity and precieved malleability of the rules. There's not as much there to balance. Really, balance is really secondary to getting what you want out of the system, and I like having that pro-GM feel to the rules. It's one of the main things that I missed when the 3rd Edition rules came out. Really, much of this is a matter of perception, but I point to creature stats to solidfy my point. In 3rd edition games, the stat blocks for creatures greatly grew in size. Not only were there more stats, but so many of the stats modifed other parts of the creature entry. If something was miscalculated or simply missed, the creature wasn't "correct" in terms of the rules. In so many reviews of 3rd edition (and beyond) monster books, so much of the reviews dealt with calculation errors made in the statblocks. That's all well and good, but it got to the point (with me at least) that it seemed like so much of the focus was on the math and mechanics that little attention was placed on the thematics. Sure, a statblock may be complete rubbish, but if the fluff of the creature was good the stats could be fixed.

The simplified statblocks for older D&D games, and especially for SWN, are a big boon. I can easily eyeball and throw together some stats for creatures and NPC's on the fly with a the appropriate level of toughness that I'm looking for. Sure, I could do that with D20 games, but since there's less to SWN statblocks, it's easier and quicker to do. Honestly I'd much rather focus on the "fluff" than the crunch anyway. That's where the real fun of creation comes for me.

Since SWN is inspired (mechanically, that is) by older editions of D&D, I've found myself pouring through my old D&D monster books looking for creatures that would be a good fit in a sci-fi setting. "Conversion" is a breeze. Magical abilities can easily be reworked as psionic abilties or general special abilties. Beyond reworking background information, much of the "work" is already done, which frees up a ton of time to focus on the fluff.

So far, I've been working through the Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium Appendix. Here are a couple of the entries from a "Xenobestiary" that I'm putting together for my setting:

Ammut
AC: 16
HD: 6
AB: +5
Dmg: 2d8 or 1d8/1d8 (Bite or Claw x2)
Group: 1-12
Save: 12+
Move: 30’, 40’ Sw, 10’ Br
Morale: 14

Ammuts are named due to their resemblance to creatures from ancient Egyptian legend. Ammuts are found on the desert planet of Qadim, The creature resembles a cross between a crocodile, a lioness, and a hippopotamus in mannish form. They have the tail and scaly legs of the crocodile, the tubby belly and thick neck of a hippo, and the sleek arms and head of a humanoid lioness. They are fat, bloated animals, and they are completely oblivious to their surroundings when feeding.

The ammut can attack either with their vicious bite for 2d8 or with two sets of raking claws for 1d8 each. If they bite, their gaping jaws may be unhinged, allowing them to swallow smaller than man-sized creatures on a natural roll of 20. This process is slow and requires 1d4 rounds to complete. During this time, the creature being swallowed is slowly forced into the ammut’s gullet with its jaws and hands. Creatures being swallowed may attack to inflict double damage at a -4 penalty to hit with small, thrusting weapons such as knives or daggers.

In addition to their physical attacks, ammut can roar deafeningly once per turn. All creatures within 20' must make a Physical Effect saving throw or be deafened for 1d10 rounds. The ammut can undertake no other action during the round it roars.

Ammut are equally at home fighting on land or in water and suffer no penalties to attacks when underwater. Their acute senses of smell and hearing allow them to attack normally in the dark as well, but they must make a morale check and suffer a - 2 attack roll penalty when exposed to sunlight or other bright light.


Buraq
AC: 15
HD: 5
AB: +6/+6 or +6
Dmg: 1d6/1d6 hooves, or 1d12 bite
Skill: +1
Group: 1-4
Save: 13+
Move: 50’
Morale: 14

The buraq are a strange species of equine-like creatures found primarily on Sultus-IV, but some can be found travelling the galaxy with a group of trusted companions. The buraq are dappled grey and white horses with a human-like face. Larger than an ass and smaller than a mule, their coats shine with a rich luster that signals their vibrant health and strength. The buraq’s dappled coat grows more brightly colored on its hindquarters, with speckles of green, blue, brown, and black. Its tail is a long fan of red, green, gold, and blue, with “eyes” like a peacock's tail. Its silverish hooves never need to be shod.

Buraqs are sapient and will observe newcomers for a time before making themselves known. Even though they are sapient, due to their physical limitations they have no technology of their own. Some have been captured and sold into slavery thanks to their inability to truly deal with advanced technology. Some buraq have found passage on starships among groups of off-worlders they trust. While there is little that a buraq can offer a crew in as far as being a crew member, some have found a calling in advising others in matters of politics and business, which it seems they are a quick study.

Although the buraq can serve as a warhorse, it rarely takes any pleasure in such service. When it does serve in battle, it avoids the fray and prefers its rider take a position of leadership without getting entangled in the melee. (A buraq allowing another being to ride it is a sign of great sincere respect and caring for the rider; a boon granted to very, very few.) If necessary, it can strike with its hooves for 1d6 points of damage each or bite for 2d6 points. A foe hit by both hooves is automatically knocked down and trampled for an additional 2d6 points of damage per round until he spends a complete round getting out from under the buraq’s hooves.

Although it is very rare, some buraq have been known to exhibit psionic talent. Most tend to be biopsionics or telepaths, but all disciplines are open to them.


The stats above are changed little from how they appear in the MC, but with just a few tweaks to the background of the creature, and they are good fit for any sci-fi/fantasy campaign. This ability to pull from a vast supply of material made SWN my go-to choice for a sci-fi system. Even pulling in material from D20 sources is rather easy due to being able to eyeball the stats. "Conversion" isn't the chore that it would be with any number of other systems I could have used. Since most of my gaming library is either D&D or D20 System based, I've got a lot of areas to pull ideas from.

WARNING!!! MICROSCOPIC LIFEFORMS ONBOARD!!!

I had plans to get a couple posts fleshing out the Galactic Concord and the History of Mankind posted, but then the flu went through the house like a whirlwind. It started off with the baby Friday morning. Saturday night my wife and I were knocked low by the bug and then Sunday morning my oldest was getting sick. Thankfully, we're all on the mend.

I hope to resume regular posting later on this week. Thanks.

Precursor Species

“Precursor” is a term used to describe the beings that came before the species that now inhabit the galaxy. These long dead beings are a constant source of debate, study, and in some sectors, worry. Some have left detailed records of who they were and what they hoped to accomplish, while others have left few clues that they existed beyond ruins and cryptic writings. In some cases, technology has been left behind with strange and wondrous power, which has set off a gold-rush to discover ancient technologies for both power gain and profit.

Below is a smattering of some of the known Precursor species and some details to their origins and the dangers left behind.

Prothean:

The Protheans controlled a vast empire of worlds that stretched across much of worlds that are now part of the Galactic Concord over 30,000 years ago. They were (are) are an amphibious humanoid species with empathic abilities. Much of their record keeping related to the creation of memory stones that they used to house their memories. Those that touch these items have their minds filled with images and sounds of the Protheans that used the stones before. However, few people are able to make sense of the images they are bombarded with, which can lead to sickness, insanity, and in some cases death due to severe brain hemorrhaging.

In 2254, on the planet Eden, while excavating Prothean ruins, workers stumbled upon a complex that housed 500 Protheans in cryogenic suspended animation. After much study and many months of deliberation among members of the Galactic Concord High Council, it was decided to wake a single Prothean. The researchers were unsure if any of the Protheans would be able to survive after such a long time in suspension, but the revival was successful. However, waking that first Prothean initiated the revival sequence for all of the other pods. The newly awakened Protheans were aggressive when confronted by armed guards and sadly, several died during the initial confrontation. However, peaceful, yet tense, talks were established between the Prothean survivors and the Concord delegation. The revival of the Protheans, while kept secret for many months, was eventually leaked and caused an intense stir among both the public and other stellar governments, even among Concord members that are not represented in the High Council. Shock, awe, fear, and anger spread throughout the galaxy. Some wanted the Protheans kept under strict control, especially when the news that they were an aggressive and sometime ruthless people bent on military dominance to control the species they subjugated. Others petitioned the Concord to allow the Protheans to set up a colony and find their own way in the galaxy. What was finally decided was that the Protheans would be allowed to set up a colony where the current colony of Horizon now stands. (This decision was met with fierce opposition and a couple of terrorist attacks against the colony by pro-Human groups outraged that the human colonists had to move to another location on Eden.) The Protheans now number around 1,500 and are provisional members of the Galactic Concord.

The discovery of the Protheans shed light on a few mysteries of the origin of some species and served to only deepen the mystery of others. The Protheans were always romanticized as a peaceful and intellectual people. This was due largely to very few artifacts that could be described as weapons were ever found among Prothean ruins, and most of the artifacts were in the form of memory stones and their architecture spoke of peaceful designs with gardens and brightly lit terraces. However, while Prothean cities and settlements were beautiful and peaceful, they subjugated other species by force and admitted to decimating species that “had the audacity” to fight against the Empire. This has lead to many objections among some Concord members, many of whom have suffered under the yoke of oppressive regimes, to their provisional membership to the Concord. Plus, it has complicated matters in a religious sense for some species. The cephalopod Hanar built a religion around worshipping the Protheans (who they call the “Enkindlers”)

Protheans have stated that the Collectors were a mysterious species even in their time, with the same strange requests as they do today. The Stoneburners and Glassmakers were long dead even in their time as well. They also talked of other species that invaded the galaxy from “elsewhere” and were repelled that sounded very similar to the Illithids that attempted to invade the galaxy in 2216. They also revealed that they were not the creators of the Elder Relays, and that their scholars theorized that the relays have been in existence for far longer than the Protheans were a sentient species. Also, they mention a species whose description is very close to what researchers today know as the Prometheans that they had some sporadic and even violent contact with, which puts a wrinkle into the theory that the Prometheans were a driving force in the development and near-dominance of humanoid life throughout the known galaxy.


Stoneburners: (Taken from the Alternity Alien Compendium by TSR) The Stoneburners are a mysterious cephalopod species that left strange, and often times sinister, ruins on dozens of worlds in the Ullarus Sector and especially on the planet Yellow Sky in the Tychus system. Due to the heavily chlorinated atmosphere metallurgy was impossible, so the Stoneburners studied more “esoteric” sciences that seem more like magic to contemporary scientists. They seemingly colonized other worlds by opening dimensional portals. They were also masters of genetic and matter manipulation. Stoneburner ruins have been deemed off-limits to Concord researchers as well as by many other stellar governments. This is due primarily to the strange fluted black spires that comprise the sites are guarded by stasis fields, automated defenses, surviving horrors of Stoneburner genetic experiments, and the danger of the creatures known as Dimensional Horrors. Still, scientists still get funding (and a healthy dose of military back-up) to set up orbital outposts to study these sites in hopes of unraveling some of the secrets of Stoneburner science.


Glassmakers: (Taken from the Alternity Alien Compendium by TSR) The Glassmakers are a seemingly extinct species that colonized many systems throughout the sectors that make up the stellar region known as The Verge. The planet of High Mojave in the Mantebron system (in sector Verge Delta 5) has the highest concentration of Glassmaker sites, with dozens of complexes scattered throughout the planet. Glassmakers are called such because their technology consisted primarily of energy conducting substances not unlike glass. However, the “glass” created by the Glassmakers is much stronger and resistant to damage, with a tensile strength on par with advanced steel alloys. They were also adept as the creation of constructs made from these substances as well. One of the Glassmaker creations, the Arachnon, blurs the line between a living being and artificial construct. The Orbweavers found at the centers of several Glassmaker sites are essentially living fiber optic computers. The Arachnons encountered have all being violently aggressive, but a few Orbweavers have proven to be quite helpful to those that discover them, but are still cryptic with much of their information on their creators and their sciences. Most Orbweavers, however, have been merciless in their defense of their installations. Whether this is a sign that they have intelligences of their own or a sign of differing factions in Glassmaker society is unclear. Virtually nothing is known about what the Glassmakers looked like. It is theorized that they may have been an arachnid-like species due to the appearance of their creations and the web-like construction of their ruins.


Prometheans:

The Prometheans or “Seeders” as they are sometimes called were a humanoid species credited with the evolution of humanoid life throughout much of the galaxy. Very little is known about these beings except that they were an ancient species of powerfully built humanoids that stood nearly 2.5 meters tall. Only a few Promethean ruins have been discovered, one of which contained remains of some members of the species. What is known is that they were a space-faring species that studied heavily in genetic manipulation. They experimented with their own genetic code, which shares similarities with many other species from humans, to vulcans, to even “animalistic” species like the Vargr and Caitians, and even much of the mundane animal life on many planets leading some researchers to suggest that they also experimented with blending their genetics with that of animals as well. This theory of “Promethean Seeding” (also called the “Unified Theory of Evolution”) is still widely discredited, but thanks to research into the extremely adaptable Promethean DNA structure it has gained momentum and even acceptance in the scientific community.

Most Promethean sites are on interdicted planets. It appears that the Prometheans weren’t solely concerned with the creation of intelligent, even benevolent, life, but also created horrors as well. It isn’t certain, but the presence of the dreaded Xenomorphs on several of the planets that hold Promethean ruins seems to suggest they were behind the creation of these terrors.

Much like the Protheans, Prometheans have become the focus of religious cults. While none of their “Seeder Cults” match the size of Hanar Enkindler worship, they can be found in more systems. Few of these cults are connected to each other, and most have vastly different focuses of worship. Most are benign, but some of the cults have been classified as dangerous terrorist groups thanks to their desire to capture and study Xenomorphs in order to “unleash the righteous fury of the Creators upon the sinful galaxy.”


Preservers: The Preservers are sometimes theorized to be the same as the Prometheans, but among scientists that don’t adhere the theory of Promethean Seeding they posit that the Preservers are largely to credit with the vast number of very similar species found throughout the galaxy. These researchers point out the number of planets discovered to house human, fraal, and Eldar-like lifeforms that appear to have developed out of specific societies like the Platonians that appear to have developed from an ancient Greek society, and the Amerinds that have a distinctly Native American culture. Most of these planets have no sign of there having been any other lifeforms present, although Amerind did have an advanced planetary defense system in place to protect the planet from the numerous planet-killer meteors found in the system. Plus, those that scoff at the theory of the Preservers point out that many of these species are different from humans in subtle, yet important ways that can’t entirely be attributed to environmental adaptations. They suggest that certain society-forms are inherent to similar species. In any case, there is little to no physical evidence to suggest the existence of the Preservers beyond the similarities in societies.

Personal Shields for SWN

I'm going to go a head a post this now since I am working on my Xenobestiary and this tech is used in several of the entries, primarily my write-ups on the various forms of Geth from the Mass Effect series of games.

Personal Shield units are Tech Level 5 items that can either be worn on a belt or added to the following armors: Combat Field Uniforms, Assault Suits, Land Warrior Armor, and Powered Armor. These items create a kinetic barrier similar to those generated by Field Emitter Panoplies. They protect against all forms of attack, but the more damage absorbed by a personal shield the more the shield degrades. Personal Shield units come in varieties from 5 to 10. When a wearer is stuck by a successful attack, the personal shield lessens the damage done to the wearer by the shield’s rating. So a soldier wearing a personal shield (5) would take 5 points less of damage than he would have otherwise taken. However, each time that a wearer of a personal shield takes damage that exceeds the protection, the effectiveness drops by 1. Damage that does not exceeds the protection offered by a personal shield does not deplete the effectiveness of the shield. Shields will regenerate effectiveness by 1 point each round that the wearer has not taken damage. Personal shields require 1 Type A power pack to operate for a 24 hour period.

The costs given below are for Standard units/imbedded units. Imbedded units are personal shield units that have been integrated into armor and the price given is the additional cost added to the armor for both the shield unit and the time and expertise to add it to the armor.

Shield Rating: Cost
5: 1,500/+1,650
6: 2,000/+2,150
7: 2,500/+2,650
8: 3,000/+3,150
9: 3,500/+3,650
10: 4,000/+4,150

On the number of Intelligent species...

Some of the complaints I’ve often heard about Space Opera-style games/books/movies is there being too many species and too many humanoid species. I don’t necessarily agree with the first complaint, and I’ll explain why below, but the second complaint has merit. Humanoid aliens, and “forehead” aliens at that, are easy. Take a human, apply some strange or theoretical societal constructs to the beings, add some cranial ridges, and “eureka!” you have a new alien species. For TV and movies this is simply a matter of simplicity as it takes a lot more time and effort to create a believable non-humanoid alien than it does to apply make-up to an actor. However, I still see lots of humanoid aliens in literature as well, even when the hurdle of special effects are removed from the equation. I’m not calling authors lazy, but it is dramatically easier to imagine believable humanoid lifeforms than it is to imagine sentient oozes, crystals, etc. in a believable fashion.

I’ve said that I don’t agree that there are too many alien species, even in a universe as seemingly “crowded” as that of Star Wars or Star Trek. The setting I’m adapting to Stars Without Number is very much a “kitchen sink” setting. There are literally hundreds of alien species in my GM’s bullpen that I can call up to put against the players or allow the players to try out for themselves as a PC. So with the complaint of there being too many alien species (well, sentient aliens that is), I’ve come up with this justification: It is estimated that there are roughly 200 billion stars in the Milky Way. Most of those are believed to have planets, an average of 1.6 planets per star (though that number may very well increase as we discover more and more exo-planets). Now, the chance of there being a planet in the “Life Zone” of a star is pretty small, let’s say one half of a percent. That still leaves us with 1 billion stars that could support life. Out of those billion stars, maybe only 1% (these figures are obviously generous) of those have sentient life, leaving us with 10 million systems with sentient life. Even if the chances were still way smaller than that, there’s still that possibility that maybe the galaxy is more diverse than we ever thought. Plus, with this being a space opera setting, which borders on the fantastic as much as it does the scientific (even more so actually), grand cosmopolitan galactic societies appear a bit more plausible. These figures are also only taking into account that there are planets in the “goldilocks-zone” and therefore is at least in some way similar to life as we know it; not really taking into account lifeforms that may not require water or higher temperatures to thrive.

Even if we take a much more realistic view by using the equations devised by Duncan Forgan at the University of Edinburgh (source), by adding in 3 factors for how intelligent life can evolve on a planet (difficult to form but easy to evolve, easy to form but difficult to evolve, and being seeded by an extraterrestrial body) he comes up with a range of 361 to 37,964 different intelligent species in the galaxy. Those odds are nowhere as good, but both equations only think of life as we know it and don't factor in the possibility of silicon-based life or something other than carbon and water-based life (such as life here on Earth). Even then, with the possibility of anywhere from 361 to almost 38,000 intelligent species, I feel like I've got enough wiggle room to add in the species I want and still be within the confines of what could possibly be believable without straying too far into the realm of out-and-out fantasy.

My “justification” for the prevalence of humanoids in the setting isn’t really supported by any science. It’s tied more to the back-story and the mysteries of the setting. There are a lot of similar species, especially where humans are concerned, in the setting. Humans appear to be the “template” for life throughout the cosmos. There are many theories to why humanoid forms, and human forms at that, appear more than other bio-forms. These theories range from humanoid forms represent the most malleable and successful form brought forth through the trial and error of evolution to humans being the template for life selected by the “Precursor” species known as the Seeders or the Prometheans. Nobody know for certain, but with so many near-human species being found throughout the galaxy it is considered one of the great mysteries of science.

Speaking of Precursor species that will be one the next topics I cover in this series about my SWN setting…

Science Fiction RPG's

Last year only saw one post from me. I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to try and make 2013 a more active one here on Worlds Galore. That said, I want to discuss Sci-Fi RPG's.

For a while now I've been in a major sci-fi kick. This is largely due to my entertainment outlets. I've been replaying the Mass Effect series again (just finished my third complete play-through of all three games in order) as well as having just started a Star Trek Online account, reading The New Space Opera Vol 1, and watching Farscape and Star Trek (TOS and TNG) on Netflix. I’ve always loved sci-fi rpg’s, but it’s usually been Star Wars-based and while Star Wars is one of my most beloved universes, I’ve been longing for something else, something a tad bit more science than just fiction. Thanks to this, I’ve been on the look-out for a new sci-fi rpg system.

Just like with fantasy gaming, I’m wanting something that’s going to be easy to run, easy to play, and pretty malleable when it comes to the system. I’ve found that I really like Stars Without Number, even moreso now that Other Dust is out and I can add in mutations to the setting without trying to modify Mutant Future’s mutations rules or entirely creating them myself. However, there are still some things that I don’t like about SWN. First off is that I don’t like the human-centric focus of the setting. This is a focus that is tied very closely to the rules. I like my sci-fi more in the “Space Opera” vein of Star Wars, Star Trek, Farscape, Babylon 5, etc. with lots of aliens and beings all interacting in some capacity. Plus, while I enjoy the idea of mankind crawling out from under the rubble of a fallen civilization, I prefer that more for games like Gamma World or any zombie apocalypse game I should run. Another sticking point for me is that I don’t like the “old-school” AC system. I prefer the contemporary climbing AC rules brought about with 3rd Edition D&D. However, I like how SWN handles starships, starship battles, cybernetics, and so on; things I don’t want to try to re-create or I haven’t found in other sources that I like better. To alleviate these issues, I went through the rules, essentially re-writing them in spots to strip out as much of the setting material as possible as well as to modify the system more to my liking. What I was left with was something much more to my liking while still being able to utilize the great material for SWN as well as other OSR and D20 System-based resources at my disposal.

Some of the changes I’ve made: Ascending AC, modified the attribute bonuses (9-10 are baseline, with a -1/+1 bonus for every 3 points above or below that base, so 11-13 grants a +1 bonus, while 8-6 grants a -1 penalty), and species use a simple -/+ system for attribute rather than having to have a certain score in a stat or stats to play a certain species.

Setting-wise, it is heavily inspired by Mass Effect. I added in the Mass Effect relays (called “Elder” Relays) to the setting to allow for faster intergalactic travel (while still keeping the relays down to only one per sector, so drilling distance can still hamper ships that just can’t get beyond the system the relay rests in). Reapers are there, but I’m toying with changing them from a force that decimates advanced cultures every 50,000 years to a rogue nanobot collective. Still very dangerous, but not one on par with what’s found in the Mass Effect games. The primary focus is on the political play of the Galactic Concord, which is a large, and growing alliance of stellar nations of various species. The Concord is similar in many respects to that of the Federation in Star Trek, though it works more like a UN rather than a stellar nation in and of itself. There are many threats ranging not just from the Reapers, but also from criminal syndicates, invasion remnants (both the Yuuzahn Vong from the Star Wars Expanded Universe and the Illithids of D&D fame have attempted and failed to dominate Concord space and are still found in pockets throughout the galaxy), rogue stellar nations, vast alien intelligences and so forth. As I continue to work on the setting, I’ll provide more detail.

Currently, my work on the setting has been primarily on getting system where I want it. I consider that job pretty much done, so now I’m working on the species found in the galaxy, as well as converting over weapons, armor, creatures, and robots from other games. Since I’ve wrapped up my previous project of characters for MSH, this has become my gaming focus…now if I just had more time to actually play…

Titanic Book of Characters Volumes 1-6 and two other bonus volumes!

It's been over a year since my last post...again...I really need to try and make a more concerted effort to get something up here more often. However, that is not the reason for this post. I have "completed" what is quite possibly my biggest project to date: The Titanic Book of Characters for the Classic Marvel Super Heroes RPG. These volumes are a collection of characters drawn from official sources like the Gamers Handbook to the Marvel Universe series, as well as downloaded from websites like Classic Marvel Forever, Ben Riely's MSH Page, and several others whose names escape me. No background information is listed with any of the characters, just the stats needed for play. Some of the characters' names were changed were they conflict with current Marvel sources. There are also a few characters converted to FASERIP from Mutants and Masterminds, and a handful of homebrewed characters as well.

The primary goal of this project is to build a character base to start forming my own MSH game. It started off simply enough, but ballooned into a massive catalog of characters. I've also got two additional volumes detailing Supporting Cast characters and Alien Races that became part of this sprawling project. I hope to start the actual world-building at some point. I'll likely even post my write-ups here. As it stands, these 8 voluumes aren't even the end of it. I'm already working on Appendixes for both the Titanic Book of Characters and the Supporting Cast book. With thousands more characters out there, I'll be constantly adding more characters to this database.

I want to stress that I didn't create most of these stats. Most were lifted from official sources. The characters from DC, Wildstorm, Atlas, Valiant, Archie, etc. were created by other people. Sadly, I didn't have the foresight to make a note of all the various creators back when I originally downloaded the characters. I take credit only for my own creations. All I've done here is compile the characters into a collected series of books. Because of this, I've hesistated posting these documents, and I'll remove them if there are any objections. Otherwise, I hope you find them to be a good resource for characters for your MSH games.

Here's the links:
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 1
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 2
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 3
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 4
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 5
Titanic Handbook of Characters Volume 6
Supporting Cast Codex
Alien Races

3,557

It's been a looooooong time since I've written much of anything on this blog.  I haven't had much go on in the gaming world, so I haven't had much to talk about.  However, with Margaret Weiss Productions getting the rights to make a new Marvel RPG, it segues nicely into my current monster project dealing with one of my all-time favorite games and my favorite supers game: Marvel Super Heroes, AKA the FASERIP system. 

I started off by making a new rulebook.  I took the Advanced Rules and combined them with the Ultimate Powers Book and the Realms of Magic supplement.  Now with all of my rules in one place, I set to building a one-stop shop (which has turned into 5 stops...) for characters.  After a thumb drive failure that wiped out all but 11 pages of work, I have now cataloged 3,557 characters (heroes, villains, aliens, and supporting cast).  I have around 450 pages spread across five books: Heroes of Legend, Infamous Villains, Supporting Cast Codex, Alien Races, and The Locker (for special items and gear and alternate rules).  These are characters from Marvel, DC, Image, Wildstorm, Atlas, First, Impact, AC, TV, and movies.  I still have yet to go through the Gamer's Handbooks of the Marvel Universe (one of the greatest series of RPG supplements ever put out) and add in characters that I haven't picked up from elsewhere AND I also have about 100 homebrew characters to add as well.  It's been a massive undertaking, and I've still got a ways to go, but I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 

As far as actual play goes, I have a campaign in mind.  I'm even thinking how I want to get the Wiki for it set up (I think that will be the only way I can keep a lot of this stuff straight and moderately coherent). I don't have a lot of details set yet, but I hope to as the massive character project reaches its conclusion. 

BTW, if you're interested in Marvel Super Heroes, check out Classic Marvel Forever, and Ben Riely's Marvel RPG Page (where I've picked up most of my character stats).

Long Time, No See...

It's been a while since I've made a post.  After the group broke up due to a move, I didn't much feel like devoting time to thinking or writing about a hobby I may not get to partake of for a while, so I devoted free-time to wiping out a backlog of video games.  While playing Red Dead, Assassin's Creed II, and others was a fun distraction, my mind has wandered back to unplugged gaming again.  As the talk of Gen Con starting ramping up in June and July, I found myself yearning to chug dice with friends again.  In lieu of finding a game with my hectic schedule of mowing lawns, changing diapers, and all other things that keeps a husband and father from his preferred ways of wasting time, I've turned my eye back to creation. 

I snagged a copy of ICONS.  It's a super-hero RPG from Steve Kenson, the brilliant mind that brought us Mutants and Masterminds and DC Adventures (not to mention a ton of other really great RPG material).  ICONS has a light (MUCH lighter than M&M) feel that is reminiscent of the old Marvel Super Heroes game of the 80's and 90's mixed in with the FATE system's Aspect tagging.  I like FATE, but Aspect tagging felt like it was weighing the system down needlessly.  Really that's my only complaint about ICONS.  It's a superb game, go pick it up if you want a great, easy-to-run supers system. 

I've been converting MSH characters to ICONS a lot lately.  The conversion is a breeze.  However, as I churned out character after character I found myself wanting to play MSH more than ICONS.  However, my biggest complaint with MSH is the damned color chart.  It's easy to deal with, but it's there when simple die mechanics should totally make it unnecessary.  The thought of replacing the mechanics of MSH with that of ICONS took root in my head.  It would be easy.  I could totally tweak the vast amount of MSH powers to the ICONS system with little to no problem, and end up with a supers-game that was both robust and easy to run.  So that's become my primary project of late.

In other arenas I got a lot of new boardgame material for my birthday and anniversary.  I got All Things Zombies and the Hero Pack and Survival of the Fittest expansions for Last Night on Earth.  I haven't gotten around to trying them out yet, but ATZ looks like it would be ripe and easy for expansion with the addition of Left 4 Dead style super zombies and the like. 

I'm trading some games and books that aren't seeing any use to Noble Knight Games (NKG is a great company and I highly recommend them).  There are a few things that have caught my eye of late and what better way to add to the collection, but to get rid of stuff that just isn't that great in the first place?  I definitely want to get the Hero Pack and Something Wicked expansions for A Touch of Evil.  The new Castle Ravenloft board game has been getting some great press and has my curiosity piqued.  Flying Frog has another horror genre game coming out in the fall called Invaders from Outer Space that I think my wife is looking forward to even more than I am.  There is the new edition of Dungeonquest and other boardgames like Claustrophobia and Cadwallon: City of Thieves that I really want to get my hands on. 

On the RPG front, I'd love to pick up Alpha Omega and the Encounters book.  Eclipse Phase sounds interesting as well.  However, I don't know if I'd ever get to play them and I tend to like my Sci-Fi systems to be more generic anyway. 

The big thing on the horizon is that I've talked my wife into going to Gen Con next year.  We're thinking of take a week and going to Chicago for a couple of days to see some cousins there and take our son to the aquarium and then head into Bloomington, just south of Indy to stay with some other cousins and have that as our "home base" for excursions into GC.  It'll be my first GC and I'm really looking forward to it!

Another Month, another post

This is getting to be a bad habit.  I'll try to change that. 

Anyway, there have been some things going on.  I've gotten to partake in a little gaming (well, of the face-to-face variety, LOTS of video gaming, but I digress) and various projects are in the works, which seems to be par for the course for most gaming aficionados.  So let's jump into it shall we?

We had another Game Day with the old group 3 weeks ago.  We played Warhammer Quest and got soundly pummeled after a roll of 1 on the Power Die yielded two stinking minotaurs to appear on top of the goblins and spiders we were already dealing with.  However, we then played Last Night on Earth after that, which went much better (for the living that is).  We were playing the rescue scenario and weren't having any luck finding survivors until the last 4-5 rounds when we FINALLY uncovered the last 3 we needed.  It was close, but the living won the day.  All in all, it was a good time and even though my wife was enamored with WQ ("the game won, that sucks") her love affair with LNoE gives me hope that I can turn her into a total gaming geek in time. 

We're having another Game Day tomorrow.  Probably no board games since we'll be playing at our house this time with our 20 month old son, who has to get into everything, running about.  We're going to hearken back to the olden days of the mid-90's where we'd spend hours upon hours playing Mario Kart 64 and the like.  We'll be breaking out the PS3 to play some Rock Band, SEGA All-Stars Racing, and likely some Super Street Fighter IV and Soul Calibur IV.  Plus, since it's supposed to be a really great day tomorrow, we may actually partake in a few rounds of washers.  Sadly, this may be the last Game Day with the old group.  Time is growing short and my dear friends, Mike and Cynthia will be moving away.  I'm sure we'll get together upon occasion, but a 6 hour (give or take) will separate us rather than a mere 1 and a half hour drive. 

Why have I not been around much lately?  Well, there's not real good reason.  I've been frantically trying to beat several games that have been taunting me for some time now.  I finally got through Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction and was trying to complete Resistance: Fall of Man (I'm so close).  However, then I picked up my pre-order of Red Dead Redemption, the newest offering from Rockstar Games, the near-infamous developer of the Grand Theft Auto series. 

How is Red Dead?  Simply fan-freaking-tastic!  Westerns don't nearly get the play they should, and the blending of the Wild West with the sandbox style of gaming that the Grand Theft Auto series help perfect is a stroke of genius.  Granted, GUN did it first, and while GUN was a great game, RDR is a billion times better in every way.  The single player mode is engaging with plenty to do, but not so much that you totally forget that you do have a job to do.  The multi-player mode has been the real meat of the game for me though.  It's a blend of the single-player game, a massive online game, and the typical shooter match play.  You've got it all, levels, lots of ways to display yourself (however, the character models are pre-set and you have to level up to unlock more models/horses/titles), death-matches, etc. or you can roam the world hunting bandits or bears and completing various missions ranging from hunting to picking flowers.  Yes, picking flowers.  Plus, it plays great.  It's rare that I have any connection issues at all.  AND it is gorgeous!  If you have a current-gen console, pick it up.  You can thank me later. 

So Red Dead has been taking a lot of my time, but that's not the only thing.  My D&D Master rules project is still going, albeit at a snails pace.  I have just a little bit of work left, but I keep getting pulled in other directions.  Thanks to Red Dead, I've been hankering a good Western RPG, not that I'd ever get the chance to play, but I'm looking anyway.  Boot Hill 3rd edition was alright, but I keep hearing good things about Aces and Eights.  Too bad that one is hard to find.  Savage Worlds does a good job with westerns, but I'm more looking towards a system truly devoted to the genre.  Sadly, once again, that's tough to find. 

My other big project is finally putting together a "master set" of Warhammer Quest material.  WQ may be the extent of my gaming for a while, so I thought I'd finally get all of the material I've collected over the years from both the few official items I have to the great fan material found on the web.  The monster book is nearly done, and I haven't even started on the Character book yet.  There's a lot in my WQ folder.  This is going to take some time.  I do plan on collecting the various monster conversions I put together back in the 90's when I played WQ the most in the books as well. 

It looks like the upcoming Castle Ravenloft adventure game is going to have solo rules.  Since the game is going to be (at least loosely) based on D&D 4th edition, maybe I'll get some ideas on how to effectively build a WQ styled D&D 4E.  I still think that could be an excellent way to play 4E. 

It's been a while...

Yeesh, not an update since the 31st of March?  That simply will not do!  Anyway, just a quick update and some musings today.

My house ruled Basic D&D/Labyrinth Lord rules are pretty much done.  I still have a few touches left to add in the character section (mostly a few more races), but after that I should be done.  The first creature book is finished, however and ready for play.  171 pages of text covering much of Basic D&D product line all in one tome!  I'm already forming my conversion list for the second creature book.  I'm also looking at possibly adding in firearms rules as well, but that may wait for an update sometime in the future. 

I've also been formulating a plan to do a "Master" rulebook for Marvel Super Heroes, but I'm not so sure about that.  I never house-ruled the FASERIP system like I did D&D so there may not be much point.  I'm been reading through my old, beaten up copy of the Advanced Rules lately and want to play it again.  While I think that Mutants and Masterminds is a better, more robust system for playing super hero games, MSH is quicker to get into with new players.  That's really my only gripe with M&M, it's an absolute bitch to get new players into at first.  I can sit down and whip up a character in no time, but I'm well-versed in the system.  Players new to the game, especially those new to RPG's in general, no so much. 

However, it may be a moot point since what possibly may be my group's last game day is coming up in 3 weeks.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get one in in June, but it sounds like their house is going to sell and they'll be moving sooner rather than later.  Not sure what I'll do for a gaming fix then.  My wife will play boardgames, even games like Last Night on Earth and A Touch of Evil, but she's still leery of RPG's.  Even then, it's tough to run a good game with just two.  I guess I'll either just take a break for a while and work on my various "vanity" projects, or actually delve into finding a new group.  Le sigh...

Anyway, what will be on the menu for possibly the final Game Day?  Well, I've been itching to run Mutant Future, but the votes have been resoundingly in favor of something zombie flavored.  (Mmmmm, tastes like dessication!)  Instead of merely playing Last Night on Earth, I'm thinking a little Savage Worlds will be in order.  I wrote up some basic zombie rules for SW a while ago, which may let me (finally) get my wife into RPG's to see if she likes the idea or not, but still give the group the zombie apocalypse they are craving.  (They really are a twisted bunch.) 

Until next time....

Updates and Zombies

Work proceeds on my Basic D&D Rules Bible (for lack of a better word).  It's nearing 200 pages now.  Beyond the rules here's what is has in it:

Races and Classes
Amazon Warrior (from OD&Dities)
Barbarian (from OD&Dities)
Bards (from OD&Dities)
Beastmen (from the Hollow World boxed set)
Brute-Men (from the Hollow World boxed set)
Bugbears (from GAZ10)
Clerics
Druids
Dwarfs
Elves (with options for Warrior-Elves from Hollow World, and Shadow Elves and Shadow Elf Shamans from GAZ13)
Fighters (with the usual options of Paladins, Knights, and Avengers and a new option for Druidic Knights from OD&Dities)
Gnolls (from GAZ10)
Goblins (from GAZ10)
Halflings
Hobgoblins (from GAZ10)
Hutaakans (from Hollow World)
Kobolds (from GAZ10)
Krugel Orcs (from Hollow World)
Lizard Men (these are the Malpheggi Lizard Men from Hollow World)
Magic-Users
Mystics
N'djatwa (from Dragon)
Necromancer (from OD&Dities, I believe)
Ogres (from GAZ10)
Orcs (from GAZ10)
Psionicists (from OD&Dities)
Rangers (from OD&Dities)
Shaman (from GAZ12? I can't remember right off hand)
Thieves
Trolls (GAZ10)
Warlocks (a class I pulled off the Vaults of Pandius site)
Finally an option for Non-human Clerics and Magic-Users

All classes are full 36 level classes.  I tossed out Prime Requisite experience bonuses, minimum stat requirements for classes, and for now I'm not going to add the skill system at all.  Thieves and a couple other classes will be the skill monkeys with a couple races like Dwarfs and Elves able to do the searching they've always been able to. 

With all these classes, the Spells section has expanded quite a bit.  There is Elf Magic, Necromancy, Shaman Magic, Song Magic, etc.  Plus, I plan on adding a lot from PC1, 2, and 4 (3 will likely get left out since we don't tend to play any aquatic-based games), that's on top of the races from later editions I plan to add to the mix (Dragonborn, Warforged, Goliaths, etc) so there's still a lot to go.  After the mammoth rules and player's book is done, I start in on the monsters which will house a combination of those found in the Rules Cyclopedia, Creature Collection, various adventures, as well as a few choice conversions.  Lots of work ahead, but I can honestly say that I should be done with the rules/player's guide within a week or two. 

Sadly, this project has put a momentary halt on my Mutant Future, Alternity, Star Wars, and Dragon Range projects.  I honestly haven't had this much fun going through old rulebooks in a long time. 

In other news, AMC is going forward with a TV series based on the Image Comic: The Walking Dead that (primarily) follows a sheriff who wakes up from a coma to a world where the dead have taken over.  It's an excellent series that once again shows that comics aren't just kids stuff.  It's well worth the read.  I have my doubts that AMC can capture the brutality and insanity of a world filled with undead since they do edit out violence in some movies (TWD can be VERY brutal at times, just a word of warning to the squeamish), but with Frank Darabont (director of The Mist and The Shawshank Redemption) at the helm it ought to be good even if it still misses the mark.  Johnny Miller (Hackers) is the front-runner to play sheriff Rick Grimes, which is an alright pick, but it's still early in the process so there's not much else to say.   I am looking forward to this series, even though I feel HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, or Starz would have been a better home for this series. 

Back to Basics

I haven't written much this last week.  Too many things going on a work, home, etc...  The only gaming I've done of late is playing through the Dragon Age Awakenings expansion pack.  It's a little light on content (most play-throughs have been around 15-20 hours, so I'm likely nearing the end since I'm at 12 hours) for the $40 price tag, so if you're on the fence you might want to wait for a price drop.  All in all, its a good expansion though.  The story takes the Darkspawn to the next level, the party members are pretty interesting (even if I do miss Shale and Morrigan) and their in party talk is pretty amusing. 

In the case for Awakenings, there was a card with the bloody dragon mascot for the line with the date "2.01.2011."  Sounds like a release date for Dragon Age II!  I can't wait.  If you haven't picked it up, definitely give Dragon Age a try.  It's the best fantasy CRPG put out in a long time. 

On other fronts, I've started slowly collecting my various Basic D&D houserules into one tome.  It will eventually be my D&D bible.  I'm changing a few things here and there like removing ability requisites for playing certain classes/races, using the rules for all classes to reach level 36, adding some new classes and races, and so forth.  It's going slowly, but it's getting there.

In sports news, my NCAA bracket is busted into a million pieces.  KU's loss destroyed what was already a pretty shot group of selections.  Even though I'm going to lose my $3 (yeah, big money) in the office pool, this has hands down been the most exciting tournament I've seen in a long time, if not ever.  Lots of great, close games.  This is why I like college basketball. 

Game Day

We just got back from a Game Day/Family Day.  Didn't get to run Mutant Future like I hoped because one member of the group wasn't going to get back until late.  That got pushed back to the next game day next month.  Instead, we tried out "A Touch of Evil" from Flying Frog Productions, which I picked up last week.  It's a pretty fun game. 

The premise of AToE is that it's the late 18th century and the players are trying to protect the town of Shadowbrook from supernatural evil in the form of a Vampire, a Spectral Horseman, a Scarecrow, or a Werewolf.  Each boss monster has minions and nasty tricks up their sleeves.  You have 20 rounds (to start with) to amass allies and items to allow you to take out the monster.  You can play either as co-op or trying to be the first to take out the monster.  We played co-op each time. 

The first game we (my friend, Mike, my wife, and myself) took on the Spectral Horseman.  It came down to the last round, but we were victorious.  With only my outlaw, Katarina, left standing (barely) at the end of the fight. 

The second fight was against the Werewolf.  There were 5 of us playing this time around: Mike, my wife, Mike's wife Cynthia, and my cousin Danielle.  Holy crap, it was a bloodbath.  It came down to the last round again (poor decision on our part), only this time we got slaughtered.  Three of the city elders turned evil on us and joined forces with the Werewolf.  Plus, since we were playing co-op, the Werewolf was extremely tough (29 hit points and 7 attack die that hit on a 4+).  My wife and I were both slaughtered handily in one round.  Mike never got into the fight to begin with.  Cynthia and my brother Dan (who took over for Danielle after she had to leave) lasted two round before getting slaughtered.  In the end the Werewolf took over Shadowbrook having only lost 10 hit points and the three evil town elders.  Ouch. 

All in all, everyone enjoyed the game and it's going to be a staple of our game nights along side games like Last Night on Earth (another Flying Frog game), Trivial Pursuit, and Runebound.  Check it out if you're looking for a great boardgame to add to the mix. 

Blah

I've been fighting a case of sinusitis for the last few days, which has sapped much of my desire to do much of anything.  I have added background information for several species on the Space Lords wiki.  There is now info about the Bhruu, Deepfallen, Eldar, Kroot, Riglia, Tau, and Xe'reen. 

Getting the finishing touches and tweaks on Saturday's Mutant Future trial run.  We'll likely also play a round of A Touch of Evil from Flying Frog, who also make the extremely well done Last Night on Earth boardgame.  If AToE is half as good as LNoE, it'll become a staple of game nights with my wife (she LOVES LNoE!).  I was also looking at picking up a copy of Claustraphobia from Asmodee which looks interesting.  We'll see.  With the group breaking up, I'm looking more at boardgames for the time being.  I'll still work on my Space Lords and Dragon Ranges settings...just in case. 

Until next time...

Alpha and Omega

I'm going to run my first session of Mutant Future next week.  I may only get to run it one other time.  I found out today that the couple my wife and I play games with is moving away due to some crap that I'm not going to get into here.  We're going to try and get together once a month at least between now and the end of May, but it looks like the campaign is going to end before it really even gets off the ground.  It a bummer for my tabletop gaming time, but a much bigger bummer to have to see two close friends leave the area. 

Sorry, just a little bummed out tonight. 

Just a Quick Update

Work on Space Lords is progressing, albeit at a snail's pace.  I've posted some basic information about mutants and their place in human society.  Some basic info about humans and a full write-up on the Fraal. 

In other news, I still need to get the two random creatures I rolled up the other night completed and posted, so look for that soon (hopefully).

The Return of Alternity

For some reason, I've been on a big "get back to my roots" slash "find lighter systems" kick.  I've gotten sucked into Mutant Future.  I'm working with Dungeonslayers to see if that will be a good fit for lighter fantasy games. However, light sci-fi just never feels right.  Star Wars Saga is a great system, but it does suffer from the game issues as most D20 system based games: bloat.  Even just sticking to the core rules, there can be a lot to keep track of.  Compared to games like 3E D&D and D20 Modern, Saga is much lighter, but there's also the issue that it's so tied to Star Wars that it's tough to separate the system from the setting.  Well, it's not tough, just more work than I care to do.  I'd much rather focus on writing setting material or the occasional stats. 

That brings me to Alternity.  Alternity was a great sci-fi game put out by TSR in their dying days.  It had and interesting die mechanic of rolling a control die (d20) and a situational die (which was anything from 1d4 to 3d20).  It played pretty quick once you got the hang of it, although damage was a little funky.  It was my RPG of choice for several years until I fell into the D20 craze. 

After I started brainstorming on making a more generic setting using the Saga rules, I opened up my old Alternity Player's Handbook on a lark.  I had forgotten just how much I liked the system.  It has everything I'm looking for: cybernetics, psionics, robots, and aliens.  Space Lords is switching gears and moving into Alternity mode!

Space Lords Update

After toying with the idea of moving the Space Lords (and Dragon Ranges) Wikis to another site and then figuring out why things weren't working right, I've started to slowly get some information posted.  So far, it's just a page for Species and a listing of the more populous species in the galaxy.  No information on them yet, but it's going to start appearing shortly. 

Space Lords...or something like that...

I've started a new Wiki to deposit ideas for my "Star Wars without Star Wars" setting I was mulling over a couple posts ago.  It's at http://spacelords.wikispaces.com/.  No, I don't play to stick with "Space Lords" as a title, because, well, that's a bit too cheesy, but I'm tired and it's the only thing that came to mind. 

I just created the wiki, so there's nothing there yet, but there will be soon.  I'll try to keep everyone updated here about anything exciting going on there.

Up Next: I rolled up two new random creatures (both are actually kinda gross) that I'll get finalized and posted before pouring my free time into playing Heavy Rain on the PS3. 

The Boys of Summer are back...

For those of you that don't know, I'm a big baseball fan, hell, I'm a HUGE baseball fan.  Every winter in mid-February I start to feel reborn.  Spring Training is starting.  The season is full of promise (or in my favorite team's case, the Royals, the season is full of hopes ready to be dashed, but whatever).  I love it.  Then, every October, well early November nowadays, after the last out of the World Series I go dormant, waiting for the arrival of spring. 

A few years ago I picked up a copy of Strat-O-Matic Baseball.  This is a baseball game played with either dice and cards with charts depicting ballplayers, or in a computer game set-up.  While I own a copy of both ways to play the game, I vastly prefer chugging dice.  It's just a more visceral feeling.  It does an amazing job of simulating play.  Plus, you can easily play a full 9 inning game in about a half hour.  This is a game that many pro ballplayers have even played and credited to teaching them fundamental tactics. 

After getting the hang of the game, which doesn't take long at all, I ordered the special edition Hall of Fame so I could have cards of my favorite ballplayers like Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and my personal hero, the incomparable George Brett, without having to buy a bunch of team sets from seasons past.  Once I had that set in my hands, my brother, who is an even bigger baseball geek than myself, spent an entire day (starting around 10 AM and ending around 1AM) drafting 40 teams from across my sets to form my Super League.  After a break to sleep, we started in on playing through the schedule I had set up in an Excel spreadsheet. 

I got about a quarter of the way through the schedule when life got in way.  My wife was pregnant with our son, we were house hunting and then packing up and moving and then shortly after that our son was born.  With Donovan here, Stat-O, along with just about all gaming, took a back seat to feedings and changing diapers.  I haven't rolled up a game in about 2 years.  Wow.  It staggers me to see that typed out.  Now that my son is a precocious 16 month old, who is becoming more and more of his own person everyday, and he's FINALLY sleeping through the nights, I find myself in the position to roll up a game every now and then.  I had to refresh myself on the rules, but it was practically like riding a bike.  I've missed it so much. 

Strat-O holds a strong place in my heart not only for being a great baseball game, and an all-around awesome game as well, but it also was a way for my brothers and I to spend time together and bond.  My brothers and I all have divergent interests, but we all love baseball.  That's one thing we can always agree to spend time together on.  Whether it's rolling a game of Strat-O or going to game, baseball is the great equalizer.  We may argue about so-and-so being better in clutch situations or the what the Royals should do to get out of this monstrous funk they're in, but as long as we're talking about "the game" it's all good.  I've had a lot of fun sitting around the kitchen table rolling game after game with my brothers.  It's time that I'll always cherish and I look forward to bonding with my son over games of Strat-O in the coming years.  If for nothing else, that is why Strat-O will forever trump all other gaming as my favorite game. 

Brainstorming: Star Wars without Star Wars

I finished my first playthrough of Mass Effect 2 the other night.  If you haven't checked it out, do so.  It's among one of the best CRPG's I've ever played.  Hell, it's one of the best video games I've ever played.  Period.  It's just simply brilliant.  It got me thinking about wanting to play a sci-fi game.  For those that haven't tried it out, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition is a spectactular system.  Not only is it a great Star Wars system, but it's also my favorite D20 system game as well.  Even though I love Star Wars and I love playing in the setting since I think it's a great place for games of a space opera/sci-fantasy bent, I've been wanting to play something that's not really tied to the Star Wars universe.  I still want the Force.  I still want some of the species.  I still want the feel.  I just don't want the baggage of it being a "long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" because my players know what to expect.  There are certain pre-conceived notions that come with playing Star Wars based on the era the game is taking place in.  Even though there is enough leeway to be able to run any number of adventures in any era, players still come in knowing more about the setting than I've come to want them to know.  Plus, by using the Saga system there's every little I'd have to add to the game mechanically to get the proper feel I'm looking for. 

I've been batting around some ideas in my head, but haven't written anything down (until now).  I want to craft my own setting that still feels like Star Wars, but doesn't have all the Jedi/Sith stuff; travelling across the galaxy isn't as easy as simply having a hyperdrive; and never has there ever been a Jar-Jar Binks.  The Force is easily handled as psionics.  However, I don't want the distinctly Light vs Dark spilt that is a given in the SW universe.  There is simply this source of power, and while some may be more inherently good or evil the true distinction is how they are used by the individual.  I haven't decided how I will handle the Force powers that deal with specific lightsaber training.  There almost needs to be an order like the Jedi that is devoted to using the Force to weild a lightsaber to block blaster bolts, but I don't want anything as strict as the Jedi Order.  I want the Force/psionics to be looked upon as being feared and dangerous.  Those that weild this power are looked up with fear in most cases.  I just haven't figured out how to do it yet. 

As far as space travel goes, I think I'm going to go with something akin to Mass Effect Relays.  These will allow nearly instantaneous travel to other relays in the galaxy, and possibly beyond, but while there are many of them found in the galaxy, and like many more yet to be found, there is still vast areas of the galaxy that can take long periods of time to get to.  However, Mass Effect Drives allow travel faster than the speed of light, but they are nowhere close to instantaneous.  Travel from a system that is home to a Relay to a nearby system using a Mass Effect drive can take days or even a month or more.  The Star Wars universe has always hand-waved the travel requirements in lieu of telling a great pulpy story.  However, it's made the SW setting feel much smaller than I've come to like for a somewhat "harder" sci-fi setting. 

As far as species go, I'll likely use the massive tome of species I mentioned in an earlier post.  However, I'll give the players a list of the major species that can easily be found throughout the galaxy.  They can still play as a really strange and rare species of creature, but if they want something that is going to be more easily found they'll have the list.  Plus, I want mutations.  There are several sources for mutations in the various D20 system games.  Those found in Darwin's World will likely fit the bill pretty well, and likely won't take too much change to fit them into the Saga system.  Beyond that, most everything else that players will need to create their character are already a part of the Saga rules from bionics to cybernetics. 

That's it for now.  Future posting will get into more of the details like organizations and threats. 

Absence due to video game fever

I haven't posted much in the last week, obvoiusly.  It's not because of work or family concerns, but because I've been knee-deep into Mass Effect 2.  I'm just about ready for the final fight, but I'm going to scour the galaxy for every scrap of adventure I can find.  Not out of some need to be the most powerful guy in the galaxy, but because the game is just that damn good.  Bioware has been putting out great games for a long time now.  I tore through the classic Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games in the late 90's, loved Neverwinter Nights (but wasn't as crazy about NWN 2, even though it was still a decent game), and have been eating up the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games.  Plus, they've already announced the next chapters in both franchises for early next year, not to mention the expansion for Dragon Age coming out next month.

Bioware epitomizes what I love about western CRPG's: choice.  Both Mass Effect games and Dragon Age have a dizzying array of ways to craft your own story beyond just playing the game as a good guy or a bad guy.  The interactions between your character and your party are nothing short of amazing.  The characters have depth not really seen in most eastern-influenced RPG's.  The mark of a great game is after you've beaten it, you want to start it back up again with a different character (or in the case of Mass Effect a different style of the main character).  Dragon Age was that way for me.  I played through each of the background storylines before I selected the character I was going to go through my first play through of the game with.  Once I was done, I went back and continued with another character.  As long as Bioware keeps this trend up, I'll happily be their lapdog. 

I didn't get much done this last weekend.  My wife and I went out Saturday night to catch a movie and go out to eat, and her folks were in town.  However, I did find time to beat Bayonetta and then do some wheelin' and dealin' down at Gamestop.  First off, let me say that Bayonetta is a fun game.  Everything about it is slick, polished, and oozing with style.  If you enjoyed the Devil May Cry series, you'll likely enjoy Bayonetta.  That said, there were a few reasons why I traded it off as soon as I finished it.  The first is that the story was goofy.  It's not a matter of poor translation of themes from east to west.  There aren't any themes that are obscure to western audiences.  The story wasn't cohesive at all.  It jumped around all over the place.  It really took away from my enjoyment of the game.  Plus, about three-quarters of the way through the game, the style of the game shifts away from the button mashing combo-builder to wild car chases and even air combat style game.  It really threw off the pace and feel of the game.  By the time I got into the last 3 or 4 stages, I was sick of the cut scenes even.  Even with these gripes, I still enjoyed the game.  I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend picking it up, but I'd certainly either rent it or pick it up once it drops in price. 

Along with Bayonetta, I traded in my PSP and the games.  I simply didn't turn it on anymore and figured I'd turn it into some credit towards other games that I'd end up enjoying more.  I came home with the Classic Rock Track Pack for Rock Band, LEGO Star Wars the Complete Series (which is the 3rd time I've picked up a SW LEGO game, once for the PS2, once for the 360 and then now), Brutal Legend, Darksiders, Resistance 2 all for the PS3 and then got my pre-orders for both Heavy Rain (PS3) and Dragon Age: Awakenings paid in full.  Not too bad of a haul. 

I played the Heavy Rain demo before deciding to pre-order it.  If you have a PS3, I HIGHLY recommend downloading it and giving it a shot.  The control scheme takes some getting used to, but before long you'll have the hang of it.  It's gorgeous.  The character animations are among the best I've every seen.  For those who don't know, it's a mystery game played from the vantage point of four different characters: an old private eye, a reporter, a father trying to save his kidnapped son, and an FBI agent.  It's got that dirty/gritty look found in movies like Seven.  It boasts a storyline that with change with your choices, and if a main character dies, the game continues on without him/her.  I'm really looking forward to it.

As I look at the calender, there's a ton of games that have piqued my curiosity on the horizon and on into next year: Final Fantay XIII (even though I won't be picking it up at launch after all, I know I'll pick it up in time), God of War III, Metro 2033 (I wish the English translation of this book would hit before the game), Splinter Cell: Conviction, Super Street Fighter IV, Red Dead Redemption, Lost Planet 2, Neir, Modnation Racers (the beta is fun, but they still need to add some polish to the game to make it a great kart racer), Max Payne 3, Dead Rising 2, Gran Turismo 5, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum II, Crysis 2, Dead Space II, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, and of course, Diablo III and Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Even though the down economy is forcing fewer games to be released and to be spaced further apart, which is pushing some games back to way later in the year, the future still looks pretty damn good on the video game front for quite some time to come. 

Random Creature!

This is something that I hope will become a regular occurrence (time permitting), I'm going to roll up a totally random creature for use with Mutant Future/Labyrinth Lord.  I'm using the Random Esoteric Creature Generator from Goodman Games to generate the creature.  (I highly recommend this book if you want to throw something really different at your players.)  The first entry in this series is: The Porcupocalypse!!!!

The Porcupocalypse
No. Enc.:                     1 (thankfully)
Alignment:                    Chaotic
Movement:                  120' (40')
Armor Class:               -3
Hit Dice:                      17 (I kicked off this process by rolling a d20 to determine base HD)
Attacks:                       1 (Spines)
Damage:                      2d10
Save:                           L20
Morale:                       8
Hoard Class:               None

The dreaded Porcupocalypse is only talked about in hushed whispers across the wastelands. It is said to be a massive, 30' tall porcupine that walks on two legs. Its spines are said to be like massive spears that can skewer a man with but a swipe of its powerful arms. It supposedly feeds on the fear is causes. As it strides across the wastes, blood rains down on the ground from its body; fouling the air and marking its path. However, few ever seem to get a good look at the creature as its form is blurred as if it's not totally in sync with this reality. That may explain how it's able to vanish into the wastes after leaving a settlement trembling in fear or worse.
The Porcupocalypse is a terrifying foe with a dizzying array of mutations/abilities. First, for its size, it's quick. This gives the creature a +3 bonus to attack rolls. The blood that drips from the creature is corrosive, so with each successful hit, the target's AC is worsened by 1 point. Plus it deals an additional 1d6 points of damage on a critical hit. If that wasn't enough whenever a character is hit by an attack, he must make a save vs poison or contract a blood disease that will kill him in 2d10 days unless some cure is found (so far none has).

It's not fully part of this world, so the first attack against the creature always misses, but after that it fully enters the world and can be attacked normally. However, attacking the creature isn't a good idea. When it's hit, it splits into two versions of itself, each version with half the total hit point total (round down). Each time the creature is struck it splits.

As if all this isn't scary enough, the Porcupocalypse can forgo attacking in a round to focus its malice on a foe. That foe must make a save vs. stun or run away in fear for 1d4 rounds. The creature only takes half damage from acid.

The Porcupocalypse is cunning. It typically starts combat with a charge attack if there is not already a foe adjacent to it. This charge attack deals double damage if it hits (in addition to all the other horrible effects of a porcupocalypse attack). If it has its choice of targets, it will go after those that appear to be less armored in the group.

Mutations: aberrant form (xenomorphism), gigantism, special.

Wow.  That one was a doozy.  I was surprised that the rolls made sense.  It actually disappointed me a little.

The Birth of a Campaign (hopefully) or How to K.I.S.S.

I mentioned that I've been working on getting a game of Mutant Future going.  This will be my wife's first real taste of RPG's.  The closest she's come so far is a session of old school Hero Quest.  She enjoyed it, but we didn't get to play a second dungeon and she was wanting to continue playing her elf.  She's always balked at playing in the past since she thinks "my games are too complicated".  That's why I'm going for Mutant Future.  It's pretty wild and crazy, nothing too serious, and it's easy to play.  I would really like to play some Star Wars Saga, but the Saga system, while easy to play and run for those that are old hat at this sort of thing, may be a little too much to throw her way.  I would like her to focus more on the game rather than having to add up modifiers and such. 

I have an idea for the game in mind.  It will start off in what's left of Marshall (or M'shall as it's called in the post apocalyptic future), the town were we're going to be.  It's a rarity in the wastelands in that it counts many species as citizens from pure humans, to replicants, to mutants.  All in all not a completely horrible place to live in the wastelands.  M'shall is in trouble.  Drought has set in on the one fertile land.  The food stores are drying up, people are getting sick, and to top it off slavers have picked up on this and have doubled their efforts to take the town down.  The players (my wife and 2 or maybe 3 others) are picked to go on a mission to find a G.E.C.K. (yeah, I'm ripping off Fallout), which will help to ensure the town's survival.  Supposedly, one was delivered to the vault in KayCee, far to the West, but no one knows if it was ever used or not. 

Not too shabby.  It's pretty basic stuff, but hopefully it will hook the players enough to go on the quest for the G.E.C.K. and lay the foundation for crazier stuff to come.  My main problem, which has been a problem since my days of playing AD&D, it that I'm trying hard to force myself to Keep It Simple, Stupid.  I tend to over-plan campaigns, detail stuff that my players will likely never encounter, and then almost get burned out on the game entirely before even sitting down to play.  I'm trying hard to just go in with a barebones approach like back when I first sat down with Hero Quest or Basic D&D back in the day.  I need to realize that the Devil is the details and just go in with a mind to focus on the fun.  I'm not writing some grand epic, I'm playing a game with those I love.  Keep it loose, keep it fun.  It is hard though.  I looked through some of my old Rifts and Darwin's World material and ideas are flowing, but I need to just let the game go where it will. 

The Death of the JRPG?

The first true computer RPG I played was Final Fantasy on the NES.  I guess The Legend of Zelda would count, but I consider it more of an action/puzzle game, but anyway.  I spend countless hours playing and leveling my characters until I beat the game.  That started me down the wild, and often times weird road of loving computer RPGS.  For the longest time, the only RPG's I could find were those made my Japanese companies.  Even now and then an Eye of the Beholder or the classic Gold Box D&D games would come out, and that was pretty much it for Western developers (at least that I got to see as a kid). 

Don't get me wrong.  The Gold Box games were good, but story wise they never matched up the epicness that was Final Fantasy II (IV in Japan) or Final Fantasy VII.  Japanese developers really knew how to put together a game that even though you had little control in the plot, you simply didn't care.  You wanted to see where things went.

That's where things went wrong. 

It wasn't until Final Fantasy 10 came out that I realized that somewhere, they lost me.  I still enjoyed the spectacle of the FF games (hell, I've had FFXIII on pre-order since November), but I almost wished they would just go ahead and make the games into movies.  Seriously, combat is simply the commercials to break up the movie.  There is really no exploration (FFXII did a little better at this, but it was still a railroad), and the only reason to level up is so that you can survive to the next beautifully rendered cutscene.  I, the guy who shelled out the money to buy the game isn't really getting much game to play.  I essentially just dropped $60 for a 4 hour movie that's going to take me 20-50 hours to watch.  That doesn't really excite me anymore. 

When the Baldur's Gate games came out, I had an epiphany of sorts.  Here's a game, that while still laid out a set of clear goals before me, A to B to C, had little extra stops along the way that didn't have to be done just because I was in the area.  I had a modicum of control over the story.  That got kicked up another notch when Planescape: Torment was released with its ambiguous moral issues and multiple endings based on what choices you made during the game. 

Fast forward to today and many games are wide open to the player to craft his or her own story.  I love reading and discussing Dragon Age: Origins because so far, nobody I've discussed with has had the same experience.  We've all made widely different choices at different parts of the game.  Even though the exact story is not our own, we're still reading the script presented to us, we're getting a level of control on the direction that we've never had before.  Those sandbox style games are all coming from Western developers. 

I would love to see some honest-to-goodness collaboration between developers like Square and Bioware to develop and RPG with the epic sense of scale and emotion that JRPG's convey with the player-driven storylines that are so prevalent in western RPG's.  THAT would make for one helluva game. 

So is the JRPG dying out?  From the looks of FFXIII, no, there's still life in it.  While I expect one helluva experience with the latest edition of the greatest CRPG franchise in history, I have my doubts that I'll either tear through it they way I did Dragon Age (or how I'm currently tearing through Mass Effect 2) or want to play it again once I beat it just like I did when I completed Dragon Age.  That's honestly the true measure of a video game: once you're done with it do you want to start all over again?  I haven't felt that way about any JRPG in a long, long time.