The New Game

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
November 11, 2017 - 7:10am
Got my copies, anyone else picked up the game yet?

The New Books
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?
Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 11, 2017 - 8:22am
Not yet, was going to order hard copies but just bought tickets for Portland Symphany for me an a date so might delay buying them and get them for Christmas.

I do have access to an electronic copy Bill made available to me to review but I hate reading books on screen and prefer a hard copy.

and here i thought from the thread title that you were advertising a new game to play in PBP maybe...
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
November 11, 2017 - 10:22am
Sorry about the confusion. I also hate reading on the screen whichi why I got an inkwell printer and print out alot of drivethrurpg things. I also buy binders in bulk at Sam's Club.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 11, 2017 - 11:03am
I just bought a hard bound copy of HARP Sci-fi from drive thru as it was only 4 dolars more than the soft cover figuring what the hey might as well. Felt like getting a AD&D hard cover in the mail. Love it.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
November 11, 2017 - 11:50pm
I've read both books as I did the index for them.  Don't have my physcial copies yet as I'm waiting for the Referee's Handbook to be available in print and then I'm going to order both.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
November 25, 2017 - 1:18pm
My DH got me the game for Yule, I just skimmed the PDFs that I downloaded, real books will show up before Yule. Looks fun and has a bit of everything in it. Going to fiddle with the rules latter today. 
 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

KRingway's picture
KRingway
November 26, 2017 - 12:47am
I need to get this and the newest version of the White Star RPG (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222119/White-Star-Galaxy-Edition-Swords--Wizardry). I'm currently writing an adventure for the latter which I hope to publish. I'm also planning on making it convertible for Star Frontiers.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 26, 2017 - 6:53am
KRingway wrote:
I need to get this and the newest version of the White Star RPG (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222119/White-Star-Galaxy-Edition-Swords--Wizardry). I'm currently writing an adventure for the latter which I hope to publish. I'm also planning on making it convertible for Star Frontiers.


Cool beans. we always welcome any converstion material to the magazine and have never considered them exclusive star frotniers
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

KRingway's picture
KRingway
November 26, 2017 - 10:42am
I'm planning to publish the adventure via DTRPG. That said, I do have another adventure specifically for SF, but to publish that in the magazine would mean it would have to be chopped up into numerous parts as it has quite a long plot arc Wink

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
November 26, 2017 - 2:53pm
Cool. I have been digesting the rules, looks good. The more I read, the more I like. I have started my ocd comparing bits of the two the games. I will work on abilities and movement stuff of PCs first. I have been finnishing up a couple partly finnished blog articles that been sitting in my draft box that have to do with Star Empires and stuff. I am trying to figure out why oh why I can or can not get it to preview right or post right or why I can totally work on it no hassels on the lap top but on the iPad it will not scroll the page... ugh... slowly making progress. Eventually I will get some fun stuff posting over there.

I will probably start posting minor conversion info as I figure it out. 

 At least I got the really rough TSL info up from SE. Trying to combine the info on that turned out to be interesting in an odd way. 


 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

jedion357's picture
jedion357
November 26, 2017 - 9:09pm
KRingway wrote:
I'm planning to publish the adventure via DTRPG. That said, I do have another adventure specifically for SF, but to publish that in the magazine would mean it would have to be chopped up into numerous parts as it has quite a long plot arc Wink


Thats not a problem, 2,3 or 4 serial instalments is fine

and knowing what future content is can help with themes in that if say part 3 had to do with pirates we'll save any pirate submissions for that issue and possibly do a pirate theme
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
November 27, 2017 - 8:42am
KRingway wrote:
I'm planning to publish the adventure via DTRPG. That said, I do have another adventure specifically for SF, but to publish that in the magazine would mean it would have to be chopped up into numerous parts as it has quite a long plot arc Wink

Actally, no.  If we put it out under the Star Frontiersman banner, which I want to use for adventures anyway, I can do it all in one go.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

KRingway's picture
KRingway
November 27, 2017 - 11:40am
Ok, I'll need to write it all up. And make maps. And artwork Wink

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
November 27, 2017 - 4:13pm
Okay I have been through both books and love them both. The Player's Handbook is a tremendous SF clone and presents a more modern and realistic and playable universe. The examples of equipment, vehicles and spaceships to use are great. The playable races are given much better backgrounds and interactions.

The Referee"s Handbook is a wonderful guide to creating a science fiction universe in any of several different genres. The benefits and flaws are fun for personalizing stuff. The guides for creating lifeforms, planets and adventures and charts charts charts make it fairly simple to get started.

My question is why do I feel like I bought books for two different games? The Player's Handbook is very specific and ties all the elements in the book together extremely well. The Referee's Handbook is so general it can apply to about any Sci Fi game from Traveller to Gamma World to Cthulhutech to Mutants and Masterminds.

There is almost no expansion of the setting given in the Player's Handbook in the Referee's Handbook. So is the referee supposed to use their handbook to create an entirely new setting for the player's and ignore everything in the player's book? Or is the referee supposed to use the information in the player's book and expand it for the adventures they want with the referee's book but this means alot of material in the referee's book is not necessary (4 pages on stellar data tables).

Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
November 27, 2017 - 5:56pm
I think a little of both.  The Referee's book was very generic, I agree.  I think Bill intends referees to be able to use it to both exand the preliminary setting presented in the Player's Book, create their own if desired, and expand the frontier to new sectors if they want. 
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
November 27, 2017 - 7:35pm
What I have read so far looks great. I think TerlObar is right the Ref book is so the Game Master has maximum freedom but the PHB has setting ideas to get people started playing right away.

I have been considering how I want to integrate SF with FS. 


 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

KRingway's picture
KRingway
November 28, 2017 - 7:36am
I think it's probably following the same lead as White Star, i.e. keeping things pretty much as a sandbox. This means people can start building up their own systems, settings, etc as they see fit. But, like White Star, it might need a steady stream of adventures to give it any legs.

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
November 28, 2017 - 10:38am
There's one in the works (I'm giving it an editing pass for Bill right now) and several more planned.  Also, a member of the Star Frontiers Facebook group has a series of adventures he was writing based on Star Frontiers that he is going to shift over to FrontierSpace (since he can sell them and earn some money).  So there will be adventures.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
November 28, 2017 - 11:15am
I understand the freedom of choice and allowing people to create many different adventures. I am looking at this like the Fallout 4 or Grand Theft Auto games. There is a great deal of freedom in those games even to the point of ignoring the main plot line and just playing the dozens of minor and subplot adventures. The but is that there is a consistent feel and style to the games. The Player's Handbook gave us this consistent style. The Referee's Handbook took it away and went with total freedom. I would have prefered the books to be supporting each other and not working against each other.

For example, an adventure comes out with the Evil Lavothian Empire cruiser is harrasing the shipping lanes in the Dragoth system, can the adventurers stop them?

Players reaction: What the? Two adventures ago the Lavothian were a minor race on Mir, we saved their President's wife, when did they go evil and get cruisers? Hey last adventure we barely escaped from the Yar Clanarchy after that firefight with the Yar Bloodguard why are we helping them now? 
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
December 13, 2017 - 6:52am
So the first adventure module is out for Frontier Space. Dark side of Loridian. 

I will say I like it best of the material released so far. It is a pretty straight forward adventure in the vain of the Hepplewhite crash and can be played as just that. There is also alot of background material on the planet and its solar system and the megacorp the players work for and plenty of adventure hooks that can easily lead to a full campaign that may or may not be part of the main adventure. Probably my favorite is the introduction of a character who is not a master villian but who can become a reoccruing opponent or ally or who can easily flip from one role to the other in future adventures.

Oh it it can be pretty easy to convert it to not only SF but most other sci fi RPG games.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

Shadow Shack's picture
Shadow Shack
December 13, 2017 - 10:45am
rattraveller wrote:
Probably my favorite is the introduction of a character who is not a master villian but who can become a reoccruing opponent or ally or who can easily flip from one role to the other in future adventures.

No campaign would be complete without a Bargle the Infamous.








For those not in the know --- Bargle was introduced as a nemesis in the sample dungeon adventure in Mentzer's Basic D&D boxed set. Later on TSR released the Gazetteers in conjunction with the Companion/master sets tht featured Barlge as (IIRC) a lv-18 MU. Pretty much anyone & everyone that ever got their hands on a Mentzer rule book has used Bargle as a recurring bad guy...I don't own any Gazetteers but I did acquire the aforementioned rule books and I used him in my Moldvay/Cook B/X campaign. ;)
I'm not overly fond of Zeb's Guide...nor do I have any qualms stating why. Tongue out

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