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Author Topic: Minireview: Starblazer Adventures  (Read 3193 times)

Aos

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« on: February 09, 2011, 12:55:35 AM »
I picked up a used copy of this about a month ago. I was cruising Black and Read in Westminster CO looking for a copy of Buck Rogers XXIV or Gamma World 1e. sadly the store didn't have anything from the 80's except several copies of the Greyhawk set, which I do not want, really.
Anyway at as I've said before, I'm cheap, but at 25$ for a copy of this frekin' colossal hard cover, I couldn't say no.  

Anyway, it is awesome; I will be running it when i finish with my Icons game. I've already outlined my setting.
I think my favorite thing about it is the fact that everything (from PCs to starships  to empires) is built the same way. Normally I'm not so crazy about unified mechanics, but space games are fucking complicated and the less for me to learn the better.
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Cole

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« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2011, 01:00:11 AM »
Quote from: Aos;438902
I picked up a used copy of this about a month ago. I was cruising Black and Read in Westminster CO looking for a copy of Buck Rogers XXIV or Gamma World 1e. sadly the store didn't have anything from the 80's except several copies of the Greyhawk set, which I do not want, really.
Anyway at as I've said before, I'm cheap, but at 25$ for a copy of this frekin' colossal hard cover, I couldn't say no.  

Anyway, it is awesome; I will be running it when i finish with my Icons game. I've already outlined my setting.
I think my favorite thing about it is the fact that everything (from PCs to starships  to empires) is built the same way. Normally I'm not so crazy about unified mechanics, but space games are fucking complicated and the less for me to learn the better.


I want to hear the outline of the setting!

I've been wanting to get this game for a while now, but I have no idea what I'd run with it.
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Aos

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« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2011, 01:16:20 AM »
Well, I'm thinking of a 50-60's style space opera setting, similar in feel to Forbidden Planet, EC Tubb (Dumarest) and Andre Norton stuff from that period (e.g The Last Planet, Uncharted Stars, The Zero Stone and the Solar Queen Stories).

Some elements

Asshole cops that nobody likes (Norton's Patrol)
Free traders as interconnected nomad families/bands somewhat similar to hunter-gatherers or pastoralists (Norton)
Space scouts that behave like US WWII Navy Crews (Forbidden Planet)
Gritty desperation (Tubb).
The Swimmers- several species of aquatic aliens united under the religious banner of a "The Liberator" a messianic figure said to have given technology and space faring capabilities to the Swimmers.  Swimmers and Oxygen breathers compete for worlds and resources. Violence is a common outcome of such conflicts.
Two religions based around artifacts left behind by a long lost race known as the "Iron Mongers"
The Youth Booth- an artifact said to make people young; it is supposedly located on a rouge planet drifting through an area known as the gulf.

So far that's all I've got, but more will come to me as I start putting it together and drawing junk.
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Cole

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« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2011, 01:21:39 AM »
Are the Ironmonger religions species-specific or species-independent?
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Aos

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« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2011, 01:39:06 AM »
I think I'm going to do one of each, actually. Obviously, though, the two sects despise one another.
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The Butcher

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« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2011, 08:31:57 AM »
SBA is a good SF toolkit, if you can buy into FATE 3.0 levels of abstraction (which I'm not 100% sure I can, need more actual play experience).

I find the huge hardback a con. There seems to be a "second edition" in the works which apparently splits the game into a Player's Guide and Story Teller's Guide, with some extra material thrown in. Sounds like a great idea to me!

It also deserves more support from C7, which has a bunch of supplements available for pre-order, and only Mindjammer out.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2011, 08:34:55 AM by The Butcher »

Daedalus

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« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2011, 09:26:59 AM »
I have browsed through SBA and I want to like it, but I cannot.

My biggest problem is FATE which is too rules light/rules barely for me.  I like games with more traditional rule sets where the creation is more clear and isn't just "pick what you want"

I have browsed through it twice but it using the FATE system is and always will prevent me from buying it
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« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2011, 09:35:04 AM »
Quote from: Daedalus;438971
My biggest problem is FATE which is too rules light/rules barely for me.  I like games with more traditional rule sets where the creation is more clear and isn't just "pick what you want"

I have browsed through it twice but it using the FATE system is and always will prevent me from buying it


Mind you, FATE 3.0 still has a decently structured system; Aspects are pretty much "whatever you want" but Skills and Stunts are fairly set. Compare with, say, HeroQuest (the RPG/storygame, not the boardgame), in which every character trait is an Aspect-like user-defined idiom.

I actually like Aspects. I'm just ambivalent towards the concept of conflict resolution (as featured in opposed tests/conflicts with the use of Stress Tracks and/or Consequences) as opposed to the more traditional task resolution systems I'm comfortable with.

I've even considered running my Day After Ragnarok game with FATE 3.0 (Legends of Anglerre, specifically; loved the Powers system), but I've decided against it because, you know, it's Savage Worlds. :D

Daedalus

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« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2011, 09:57:55 AM »
Quote from: The Butcher;438975
Mind you, FATE 3.0 still has a decently structured system; Aspects are pretty much "whatever you want" but Skills and Stunts are fairly set. Compare with, say, HeroQuest (the RPG/storygame, not the boardgame), in which every character trait is an Aspect-like user-defined idiom.


It's still too rules light/rules barely for me and I just cant get into it.  I like games that have a stronger structure

Quote from: The Butcher;438975
I've even considered running my Day After Ragnarok game with FATE 3.0 (Legends of Anglerre, specifically; loved the Powers system), but I've decided against it because, you know, it's Savage Worlds. :D


Can't go wrong with Savage Worlds. ;)
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« Reply #9 on: February 09, 2011, 10:23:32 AM »
Quote from: The Butcher;438961


I find the huge hardback a con.


What do you mean by this exactly?


I love the huge hardback, but a players guide would be really useful.

I'm good with the level of abstraction, actually. I like to make up a lot of crazy shit and the less complicated the rules the better. However, I have long time players who don't as a rule game the system. I could see how a group with less time together or trust issues might want something a little more defined.
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Pseudoephedrine
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« Reply #10 on: February 09, 2011, 11:18:51 AM »
Diaspora's pretty much everything I want from FATE 3.0.
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin's Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
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Seanchai
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« Reply #11 on: February 09, 2011, 12:27:40 PM »
Quote from: Aos;438902
I was cruising Black and Read in Westminster CO looking for a copy of Buck Rogers XXIV or Gamma World 1e.


How is Black and Read? Another member of my group mentioned it last week and while I've thought about heading up there to see what they've got, I'm having trouble getting over some negative impressions of the place I have as the result of interacting with one of their employees.

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Aos

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« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2011, 12:49:16 PM »
Quote from: Seanchai;439025
How is Black and Read? Another member of my group mentioned it last week and while I've thought about heading up there to see what they've got, I'm having trouble getting over some negative impressions of the place I have as the result of interacting with one of their employees.

Seanchai


Smelly, soiled, overstuffed and disorganized*. However they have ton of used stuff- most of it from within the last 20 years, though. I'm in Denver a couple of times a year and I always make the trip up there. Five or six years ago it was better, merely because the time depth of the used collection was greater. However, I usually find something I can't leave without, which is more than I can say for my LGS.


*there's a momma joke in there somewhere.
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Seanchai
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« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2011, 04:14:53 PM »
Quote from: Aos;439041
Smelly, soiled, overstuffed and disorganized*. However they have ton of used stuff- most of it from within the last 20 years, though. I'm in Denver a couple of times a year and I always make the trip up there. Five or six years ago it was better, merely because the time depth of the used collection was greater. However, I usually find something I can't leave without, which is more than I can say for my LGS.


Grrrr. Have you been to Bonnie Brae recently? If so, is it better than Bonnie Brae? I play there every other week and while their selection is good, the store is nice, etc., the trove of older materials they used to have is gone.

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Aos

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« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2011, 04:17:15 PM »
I've never been to Bonnie Brae.
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