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Finally got my long awaited physical copy of Starblazer Adventures, a (very) space opera RPG using the Fate System (Spirit of the Century), and based on the Starblazer comics (can you say "coruscating beams"; I know you could). It's a massive tome, capable of stopping the charge of a Tarrg (or at least give it something to read while it digests you), and I've barely scratched the surface. Ship design is very similar to character design,* in that you get a pyramid of Skills that defines your ship's abilities/systems (the size of the pyramid is naturally dependent on the size of the ship), which you can then juice up by buying Stunts (such as the "Planet Killer" stunt on the "Unusual Super Weapon Skill," which allows your ship to blow up planets, but makes you feel bad about it afterwards [panel 5]), and Aspects (like "All the grace and beauty of a garbage scow," "Now that's what I call a cannon...," "My ship loves rock and roll," "Regurgitated by a space monster," "She's completely unarmed ... oh bugger," and the justly infamous "Steers like a cow"**). It looks like it could work. Oh well, only another 600 pages or so to reread. Maybe I'll find out what exactly is a rock and roll space opera adventure... * Although it doesn't go as far as the Serenity RPG where almost exactly the same system is used to design characters and ships. It just means that Strength and Agility means something different for characters and ships. I think I prefer the Starblazer Adventures system better. Seems to be less artifice. ** I am ashamed to say that I never got the joke until a friend spent 10 minutes jumping up and down trying to explain it to me... |
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Date: 2009-06-11 12:32 pm (UTC)gone fission -- be back after the interval
Date: 2009-06-11 05:14 pm (UTC)Indeed.
Although I would take it up to the late 1940's or so, with the intrepid scientists of the Republic serials. After WW2 scientists tended to become Reel Scientists you know, those rugged individualists that just happened to be out hunting or fishing in the next valley over from where the aliens invade or giant mutant insects erupt on the surface at long last.