In a sci fi setting of alien species it kinda makes sense!
Box arrived today, as expected it is very nice. Not sure if I will run it or strip it for parts - great value either way.
Quote from: S'mon;1086902In a sci fi setting of alien species it kinda makes sense!
Box arrived today, as expected it is very nice. Not sure if I will run it or strip it for parts - great value either way.
Greetings!
LOLOLOLOLOLOL! :D
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Quote from: S'mon;1086902In a sci fi setting of alien species it kinda makes sense!
Box arrived today, as expected it is very nice. Not sure if I will run it or strip it for parts - great value either way.
Hey, y'know, I'd really, REALLY like to believe that the reason they included a special pronouns box was for alien diversity reasons, but somehow I just can't beyond the suspicion that it's Virtue Signalling. On a character sheet.
Blatant Pandering.
I don't even like filling out "gender". I usually leave it blank.
I'm kinda interested in getting this. How well would it work as a replacement for the core rulebook? (Considering it's a beginner box)
It doesn't bother me that they include it. If the group wants to use it, more power to them. If not, it's not like the PC Police will come knocking down their door.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1086918I don't even like filling out "gender". I usually leave it blank.
I'm kinda interested in getting this. How well would it work as a replacement for the core rulebook? (Considering it's a beginner box)
Well I checked on Paizo's SF board and several complaints that there are a lot of system differences - tighter skill list and no Stamina score were the big ones. The BB has a very nice tight playable system, not too surprised to hear that regular SF does not!
It should make a great E4 game - I did up some rules, will post shortly.
The big lacuna is no starship combat rules. I plan to adapt those in White Star as they are simple and look fully compatible. The ones in the SF SRD look insanely complicated.
Simon's Starfinder Beginner Box House Rules
Epic-4 Rules module
The Box has 4 levels. This module allows for long term play using just the box.
At Level 4, every additional 3,000 XP earns one Advance, chosen from the following:
i. Add one to your primary class attribute, to a maximum of 18.
ii. Add one Feat (pg 52-55) of the 27 listed.
iii. Add one Skill (pg 46-51) of the 10 listed.
iv. Add +1 to one Saving Throw (Fort, Ref, Will).
Character Generation rules module
This module is intended to create more interesting, and somewhat more heroic, PCs than the default rules, without greatly affecting the balance of play. Additional hit points make level 1 more viable.
1. Roll Attributes on best 3 of 5d6 in order - ST DE CON IN WI CH.
2. Optionally, replace any one Attribute number with a 16.
3. At first level, add your full CON attribute to your starting hit points. Additional hit points at levels 2-4 are gained normally.
Combat Module
Many SF weapons do d4 damage, while many monsters and NPCs have a lot of hit points. This is a tweak to make the game play faster and somewhat more deadly. It works well with the increased PC hit points in the Character Generation module.
1. Weapon do maximum damage. On a critical ('20') they do double damage, as normal.
Weapon Die > Damage
d4 > 4
d6 > 6
d8 > 8
d10 > 10
d12 > 12
Quote from: S'mon;1086936Well I checked on Paizo's SF board and several complaints that there are a lot of system differences - tighter skill list and no Stamina score were the big ones. The BB has a very nice tight playable system, not too surprised to hear that regular SF does not!
It should make a great E4 game - I did up some rules, will post shortly.
The big lacuna is no starship combat rules. I plan to adapt those in White Star as they are simple and look fully compatible. The ones in the SF SRD look insanely complicated.
Mmm. Considering I play Starfinder Society, sounds like it's not a product I'd get much use out of.
I'd definitley consider it as a intro for a new group, though.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1086949Mmm. Considering I play Starfinder Society, sounds like it's not a product I'd get much use out of.
I'd definitley consider it as a intro for a new group, though.
With all the pawns, pawn bases (inc Large bases!), dice and flipmat, you get your money's worth even if you put the rule books in the bin.
I really wonder how this is going to work in the future (or near present). Will everyone be forced to wear a nametag with their chosen pronouns?
Starfinder has had the Shirren race since the beginning so yeah different pronouns are not a new thing.
Quote from: Shasarak;1087023Starfinder has had the Shirren race since the beginning so yeah different pronouns are not a new thing.
yeah, they have like 7 different genders or something like that.
Quote from: remial;1087241yeah, they have like 7 different genders or something like that.
Checking the BB it says 3 genders - male, female & host.
Edit: According to https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uje9?Shirren-Gender-Pronouns the Host gender uses They.
The little box where you can write "dude" or "chick" is enough for me.
Quote from: JeremyR;1087016I really wonder how this is going to work in the future (or near present). Will everyone be forced to wear a nametag with their chosen pronouns?
It's getting there. I work in a corporate environment, and I'm seeing people put their pronouns in their company email signatures.
My preferred pronoun is filthy stinking rich, but I can't get my bank to agree.
Quote from: BrokenCounsel;1086912Hey, y'know, I'd really, REALLY like to believe that the reason they included a special pronouns box was for alien diversity reasons, but somehow I just can't beyond the suspicion that it's Virtue Signalling. On a character sheet.
Rather obvious Virtue Signalling... on a character sheet. This is though Paizo so this is actually normal stuff now as they added more and more of this stuff into material. Used to be it was pretty low key. Just there for a lark or it fit somehow. Now? Dont believe for a second its not a marketing ploy.
Why can't we just discard gender pronouns entirely and refer to everyone as a "he"?
Speaking of aliens, can we see conversions for the aliens from the old TSR scifi RPGs like Bughunters, Spelljammer, Star Frontiers, Star*Drive, and Galactos Barrier?
The thing I find interesting about the pronouns is, if I'm talking to you, I'm going to use your name, or I'll call you "you". I may call you Sir, Mister, Miss, Ms. or Ma'am, but that's not a pronoun.
The only time a personal pronoun would be used by someone is when they are referring to you when speaking to someone else. Sure, that could be in your presence, but in that case, could just as easily be replaced with the possessive of your name. I remember when using someone's name was preferred as using a pronoun to refer to them in their presence was considered somewhat rude.
The purpose of the preferred pronoun seems to be to force people to refer to you a certain way outside of your presence as a means of behavior modification to change societal norms, and really have nothing to do with simple respect.
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1087637Speaking of aliens, can we see conversions for the aliens from the old TSR scifi RPGs like Bughunters, Spelljammer, Star Frontiers, Star*Drive, and Galactos Barrier?
Dralasites were usually referred to as "it" since at any given point in their life cycle they might be the equivalent of male - sending out spores, female - receptive to spores, neutral - not in the reproductive phase, or the equivalent of pregnant and currently sprouting off a new "it"...
But due to personality quirks you'd see some referred to as he or she. I'd have to dig out my two EQ SF books to see what they did there.
Quote from: CRKrueger;1087640The purpose of the preferred pronoun seems to be to force people to refer to you a certain way outside of your presence as a means of behavior modification to change societal norms, and really have nothing to do with simple respect.
One sociologist put forward that it isnt Social Justice, it is really Social Engineering. And increasingly so.
Quote from: Omega;1087668Dralasites were usually referred to as "it" since at any given point in their life cycle they might be the equivalent of male - sending out spores, female - receptive to spores, neutral - not in the reproductive phase, or the equivalent of pregnant and currently sprouting off a new "it"...
But due to personality quirks you'd see some referred to as he or she. I'd have to dig out my two EQ SF books to see what they did there.
A number of the TSR alien races had alien reproductive cycles.
- The raptikis (Galactos Barrier) were apparently all "male," with the "female" of their species being spawning pools on their home worlds. After reaching sexual maturity, the raptikis fertilized the pool by jumping into it and dissolving.
- The slathorp (Galactos Barrier) were basically the same as the dralasites, giant amoebic blobs that inseminated others with airborne pollen. In possibly the craziest world building I've ever seen: the pollen was used in anti-slathorp security systems because pregnancy was really energy intensive for them.
- The humma (Star Frontiers) were both male and female at the same time. Nothing special in scifi, but still really alien by human standards.
I use pronouns which are grounded in reality. I'm not calling a man a woman, nor am I calling a woman a man. I refuse to salute someone else's freak flag.
Troll Lords are giving away STAR SIEGE on PDF this week.
It's the sci-fi toolbox for Castles & Crusades.
Quote from: JeremyR;1087016Will everyone be forced to wear a nametag with their chosen pronouns?
This nonsense is being pushed at conventions.
To me, it all reads "narcissistic totalitarian asshole"
But hey, fuck Paizo...for so many reasons.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1087710But hey, fuck Paizo...for so many reasons.
At least buy them dinner first, geez.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1087709Troll Lords are giving away STAR SIEGE on PDF this week.
It's the sci-fi toolbox for Castles & Crusades.
Hm. I did not know this existed. I'll have to check it out.
Quote from: BrokenCounsel;1086912Hey, y'know, I'd really, REALLY like to believe that the reason they included a special pronouns box was for alien diversity reasons, but somehow I just can't beyond the suspicion that it's Virtue Signalling. On a character sheet.
Nope, a Big NOPE.
The game has the option to play Androids - who can dabble at being either 'gender'. Back in November I played a pre-generated character of one of those. Remember the TNG episode where Data cremated an offspring and he gave it the ability to choose its own gender?
- Ed C.
Quote from: Koltar;1087725Nope, a Big NOPE.
The game has the option to play Androids - who can dabble at being either 'gender'. Back in November I played a pre-generated character of one of those. Remember the TNG episode where Data cremated an offspring and he gave it the ability to choose its own gender?
- Ed C.
Data is fully functional and programmed in... multiple techniques.
Quote from: Koltar;1087725Remember the TNG episode where Data cremated an offspring and he gave it the ability to choose its own gender?
- Ed C.
No I do not recall the episode where Data burned up a kid? :eek:
ahem...
To be fair RPG character sheets have had boxes for gender since nearly the start. Mainly because the players gender and the characters gender did not have to be the same. So was a good idea to note that down somewhere. Well that and there was that pesky girdle.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1086949Mmm. Considering I play Starfinder Society, sounds like it's not a product I'd get much use out of.
I'd definitley consider it as a intro for a new group, though.
Yep. RPG collectors will buy it no matter what similar rules they've bought already for a game.
Quote from: CRKrueger;1087640The purpose of the preferred pronoun seems to be to force people to refer to you a certain way outside of your presence as a means of behavior modification to change societal norms, and really have nothing to do with simple respect.
Made up genders are for people to use who are already talking to others in 3rd person in rude society.
Just don't let democrats at your table is all. Problem solved.
Quote from: Omega;1087732No I do not recall the episode where Data burned up a kid? :eek:
Nothing that cool ever happened on Bore Trek.
Quote from: Omega;1087732No I do not recall the episode where Data burned up a kid? :eek:
ahem...
To be fair RPG character sheets have had boxes for gender since nearly the start. Mainly because the players gender and the characters gender did not have to be the same. So was a good idea to note that down somewhere. Well that and there was that pesky girdle.
I think we now see gender used so much because back when forms had a box for sex, people would write, "yes please", or "as often as possible" or similar. Oh, come on own up to it, you know you did at some point. :p
Quote from: Toadmaster;1087753I think we now see gender used so much because back when forms had a box for sex, people would write, "yes please", or "as often as possible" or similar. Oh, come on own up to it, you know you did at some point. :p
I had a Star Frontiers character sheet back in the day with general personal information and movement rates (Daily/Hourly/Turn) side by side, and ordered such that it read "Sex: Hourly". As a teenage boy, I derived endless amusement from that one.
Quote from: Toadmaster;1087753I think we now see gender used so much because back when forms had a box for sex, people would write, "yes please", or "as often as possible" or similar. Oh, come on own up to it, you know you did at some point. :p
There's been a shift from using gender instead of sex because anyone who lives on planet Earth can see that there's two sexes. Whereas there can be an infinity plus a zillion genders, since it's a subjective concept of personal identity.
Quote from: Koltar;1087725Nope, a Big NOPE.
The game has the option to play Androids - who can dabble at being either 'gender'. Back in November I played a pre-generated character of one of those. Remember the TNG episode where Data cremated an offspring and he gave it the ability to choose its own gender?
- Ed C.
Androids in Starfinder are bizzare. I'm still not quite sure if they're cyborgs, replicants, technoranic robots or what.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1087799Androids in Starfinder are bizzare. I'm still not quite sure if they're cyborgs, replicants, technoranic robots or what.
Pathfinder, like most 3e content, has a problem with what I like to call "backwards world building." That is, rather than use the rules to support the setting, they bend over backwards to write the setting around the rules. And not even in a good way like
Eberron having magitech, but in a stupid way like treating the arbitrary monster taxonomy as an inflexible law of physics.
Because of "game balance" or whatever, which doesn't actually exist in 3e due to poor design, the writers tried to create a variant of warforged that wasn't "unbalanced" by a laundry list of racial benefits and then wrote the fluff around the rules.
The
Starfinder androids seem to be based on the early 20th century conception of "androids" being artificial human beings, rather than intelligent metal machines.
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I also hate the setting because it exemplifies the worst aspects of the backwards world building, in this case there being an arbitrary distinction between magic and nature. That is, reality operates according to how modern science says it does (or at least how Paizo misunderstands this) and then magic is crudely tacked on to let you cheat physics when convenient. There are constant references to ecology, evolution, and other modern scientific concepts (and the setting implicitly assumes that the medieval peasants composing most of the fantasy populace have a modern education in these subjects, as well as the absurd idea that any kind of ecology can support the bazillion highly destructive monsters in the bestiaries) as well as fictional concepts like outer planes, elemental planes, angels, demons, nigh-omnipotent gods, intelligent design, spontaneous generation and other stuff that clearly defies real physics. As a result, the world building taken as a whole is completely nonsensical and falls apart readily.
These complaints may be leveled at D&D I suppose due to its "fantasy kitchen sink" deal, but
Pathfinder is particularly egregious about it. I don't know about Paizo, but I prefer world building that is holistic and consistent rather than haphazardly invented on the fly.
I'd be happy to discuss devising a more coherent cosmology if anyone is interested.
As a bisexual, I would like to apologize to my fellow roleplayers on behalf of the LGBT community.
Had we known our movement would eventually be hijacked by delusional crybully trannies who deny the very basic concepts of human biology, we would've never let the transgenders into our community.
We just didn't want to be criminalized because of what we did with other consenting adults in the privacy of our own homes.
It was not our goal to allow militant dangerhair lesbians and disgusting transgender sociopaths to take over the LGBT movement and become every bit as hateful and oppressive as the Christians, Jews, and Muslims who hated and oppressed us many decades earlier.
I guess Nietzche was right when he talked about those who fight monsters.
It's sad that in this day and age, the cult of moral authoritarians and religious zealots has gone from redneck Evangelicals (who usually had green eyes, Celtic surnames, and family trees that did not fork) and stuck-up Protestant Anglo-Saxon church ladies to a collection of Anarcho-Communist dangerhair sows, Neo-Bolshevik hipsters, tranny crybullies, anarchist punk rockers with no concept of personal hygiene, and the Silicon Valley technocrats who support them because they thought 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm were instruction manuals and are thankful that their Millennial SJW pawns don't read anything other than Harry Potter books and Marvel comics.
At least the radical Islamist goat-fuckers are still consistent in their moral guardianship and insane cult zealotry.
The Left used to be the supporters of free speech and free expression, now they're even bigger tyrants than the Christian Right they railed so hard against.
I used to be a left-winger back in the day and I still hold those same liberal principles of freedom that I held back then. The rest of the Left does not.
I didn't abandon the Left, the Left abandoned me and sold out.
Quote from: Ratman_tf;1087799Androids in Starfinder are bizzare. I'm still not quite sure if they're cyborgs, replicants, technoranic robots or what.
Well in the case of that game - it was fun to play one.
I haven't been able to just 'play' in years - most of the time I am the GM running a game. If another play asked me what pronoun to use I might have said "Just use my name until we know each other better." I figured part of my characters back story was a small bag of partsand tools to 'change' things if romantic interest was shown.
- Ed C.