I'm surprised the link still works (as my provider changed the path). Still
haven't fixed all the links (well, any of the links) from my new frontpage
yet.
Keep in mind that this was written a *long* time before FMA Skirmish was known
to exist.
It has a very "classic traveller" feel when played, as the average soldier has
about a 20% chance of dying without armour if hit and a second hit will often
kill them.
Stats = SG/DS Quality die
Skills = SG/DS FP die
So each time you roll a skill, you roll two die (even if one of them may be
a d1 if unskilled/minimal skilled.
The skill side is very sketchy as it is expanded from the combat system.
However it has flexibility in how you want to run your game. The harder the
task, the bigger the target die used.
Wounds = physique die type (so d6 = 6 wounds). This die is downshifted for any
physique based tasks while wounded (last sentence under "damage" before the
example).
Example NPC:
Combat: d6 - Small Arms d6, Melee d6
Starcraft: d4
Technical: d6 - Small Arms d4
Science: d4 - First Aid d8
Vehicular: d4 - Driving (Wheeled) d4
Physique: d6 - Endurance d6, Unarmed Combat d4
This NPC rolls 1d6+1d6 vs range die using a rifle; 1d4+1d4 vs difficulty
die when using first aid (suggested target = closest die to # wounds); and
1d6+1d6 vs difficulty number for a forced march using Endurance.
When shot, he can take up to 6 wounds before dying. Your high end FP:3 I:d10
rifle can easily do this against an unarmoured foe (as you roll 3d10 against
armour 1d4; the odds are good for some major hits, hence 2 wounds).
Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies
http://home.pacific.net.au/~southernsk/
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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI think I may work
from it. Last night I was looking through an RPG I had written several years
ago and realized why this has a problem, the same problem my RPG has. It's a
set of mechanics that are slightly more detailed wargaming rules. It doesn't
have anything to encourage roleplaying.
It needs some rules to allow the heroic characters to have a chance of
survival. I'm thinking of fortune points. I'm not sure what they should do
yet.
I'm also thinking of a system where the _player_ describes the negative
results of a bad role.
This is a quote from Ken Burnside of Ad Astra Games:
" 3) When performing an action, the sequence is this: Describe it! (go for
that Upshift, it's why it's there!) Roll the dice. If the player rolling the
dice succeeds, the GM describes what happens. If the player rolling the dice
FAILS, the PLAYER describes what happens, and can, by clever description,
mitigate the result. "
I'm looking for more suggestions of this sort.
One of the drivers is I would like to GM Stargate, it makes for easy
one-off
sessions and 1/2 my group lives 5 hours away in
Atlanta. The other driver is a platoon of GZG Dutch painted in Desert Camo. I
need to get as much use out of these guys
as possible. Now if I could only find not-Jaffa. Heck, I'd be happy to
pay an extra USD per fig to buy licensed 25mm Jaffa, but that's just me.
Roger
> On 4/20/06, Robertson, Brendan <Brendan.Robertson@dva.gov.au> wrote:
Roger Books said:
> It needs some rules to allow the heroic characters to have a chance of
Increase die rolls or allow re-rolls. Spending one eliminates the effect
of a hit. Spending one allows the character to "find" something among their
equipment they hadn't originally written down (within reason; no "Oh, look! An
M1 Abrams! Where'd that come from!")
Basically, heroes should be luckier -- when it counts -- and "have the
scriptwriter on their side".
> Roger Books wrote:
> survival. I'm thinking of fortune points. I'm not sure what they
On 4/21/06, gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
> <gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 09:29:59 -0400
> I think I may work from it. Last night I was looking through an RPG I
Unless you want to retain the feel of GZG miniature games (i.e. a variant of
the FMA system), your best bet is to take an "off the shelf" RPG and graft the
Tuffleyverse background onto it.
This approach has several advantages. One is that you don't have to invent the
game mechanics. Another is that it allows you to concentrate on the
Tuffleyverse and see if it's "deep" enough to support a roleplaying game. I
suspect it is, but I also suspect you'll end up having to invent a lot of
stuff as you go along since an RPG is played at a different level of detail.
For instance, what does the Tuffleyverse use for currency? How does health
care work (i.e. can a NAC citizen just walk into an NSL hospital and expect to
be treated for burns?)? What level of crime is there? Is there gun control? Is
there poverty? Does a NAC colony feel pretty much the same as an ESU colony,
except with different languages? Is the food on passenger starships delicious
or barely edible? You get the picture...
A proper Tuffleyverse roleplaying game could have dozens of supplements. It
might be fun to set up a wiki to handle this, allowing people to contribute
and play with the universe. It would probably be a lot easier to do as a wiki
than to think of everything yourself.
As for game systems, there are tons of them out there that could be adapted
for a Tuffleyverse RPG. Some suggestions:
- GURPS: The obvious choice for many, but a bit too crunchy for others.
- Chaosium's BRP: Currently a little bit of a pain, as only the
Ringworld books fit the time frame, but later this year they are releasing
"Deluxe BRP" which will make it a completely generic game system.
- genreDiversion: a "rules light" game, from Politically Incorrect
Games. Very inexpensive. I picked up EarthAD (post apocalypse), Hunger (you
play a zombie) and Coyote Trail (Westerns). Usually around $5 for
an entire game system. Nice, clean system. Hard Nova II (their sci-fi
game) is $4.95 for the basic game as a PDF, and $7.50 for the full set.
- Eden Studio's Unisystem: mostly used for horror games, but All Flesh
Must Be Eaten hits near future and does a reasonable job. Probably need extra
rules for weapons, etc.
- D20 Future (or Spycraft 2.0): Not your daddy's D&D, but it's still
fairly crunchy, and a lot of people detest character levels and classes.
- RISUS: a free, generic "rules light" game. It keeps the mechanics
simple while concentrating on roleplaying.
- Savage Worlds: too "heroic" for what I think of the Tuffleyverse,
but generic enough and quite popular.
If I had to choose, I'd probably use Hard Nova II, or Unisystem (Unisystem is
the better system, but would require more work).
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lThat's exactly what
I'm trying to do. I want to use this with Stargate. The advantage of having a
consistent path from RPG to Skirmish to Platoon level to DS would be very
beneficial. I think it would be easier to bolt an RPG onto the FMA system than
it would be to bolt large scale combat onto an RPG.
Roger
> On 4/21/06, Allan Goodall <agoodall@hyperbear.com> wrote:
I favor Star Hero, but again too crunchy for some.
_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI like the Hero
Games, but would like an FMAish game for this.
Just as a rundown:
Loved GURPs v1.0, it's gone the way of SFB, entirely too complex, at least
they could have gone metric.
I like Ringworld, but back-fitting to Stargate might be a problem.
D20, fine for D&D, other than that I detest character levels and restrictive
classes.
I considered Traveller, Fudge, Spacemaster, and even, for a moment, Space
Opera.
I _like_ the feel of FMA and like being able to go larger scale
trivially.
I really like the Stargate RPG as background material, but really don't want
to play D20.
> Allan Goodall wrote:
> On 4/21/06, gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
I'd suggest Traveller 2300AD for a near future RPG with a Tuffleyverse feel to
it. Game mechanics were okay, but the supplements were amazing and you can
still find them on the web and Ebay for mostly reasonable prices. I regret
selling mine a few years ago. Too bad there aren't any Kafer minis...
On 4/21/06, gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
> <gzg-l-request@lists.csua.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 11:17:04 -0400
> That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I want to use this with
I haven't looked at other attempts at an FMA RPG, but I'd be tempted
to go with a "skill die + attribute die" system. Rate attributes by
die type, rate skills by die type, and all skill rolls involve rolling two
dice. You could set difficulty as a target number (something I did with my SG2
quick play house rules for armour, see
http://www.hyperbear.com/sg2/sg2-house-rules-quick-dirty-fire.html),
or an opposed die type.
Personally, I think there are too many limitations in using the FMA system for
an RPG. There are only 5 die types, which doesn't give you much
differentiation between characters. I think Savage Worlds has
stats and/or skills based on die size, though, so maybe it is feasible
and I'm just being pessimistic.
I forgot to mention these:
- _NEMESIS_: this is a free (well, it's only free because some of us
paid the ransom on it!) modern horror RPG by Greg Stolze (and written by Greg
Stolze, Dennis Detwiller, and Shane Ivey). The game mechanics are their ORE
(One Roll Engine) system. It's a very cool system. Combat has lots of options,
but can be resolved in a single dice roll.
It's the game system they used in their _Godlike_ game. Some work
would need to be done on futuristic weapons, but the game has the right pace
for a combat game. I'm planning to test drive it in a
future _Delta Green_ scenario.
- _Serenity_: when I think of the Tuffleyverse I think of the
technology and "lived in" feel of the _Firefly_ TV show. I have the
RPG based on the show, but haven't done more than glance through it. It looks
pretty good, but there are some short comings and there has been next to no
support for it.
- DP9s Silhouette system: I looked at this way back when I owned Heavy
Gear. This might work for SG2 (it has the right tech level, I believe). I
can't say for sure as I no longer have the game. I got peeved with DP9
switching figure scales just as I was starting to get into the game, and
dumped all my HG stuff on eBay.
> Roger Books wrote:
Well I only know FMAS from the games that get described on this list, which
seem to involve general chaos, lots of explosions, sheep, and just about zero
probability of survival for all concerned. I'd recommend the Paranoia rules,
either classic 2nd edition bought second hand or
the new Mongoose Publishing edition :-)
But you sound like you're planning something sane and sensible.
I really think GURPS is the best available choice. Yes, it's got a bit more
complex in the newest edition, but
not markedly so and not nearly as bad as AD&D/D20. You
can toss out the bits you don't want to bother with very easily without
worrying that doing so will break game balance.
Most of all, GURPS has some good space setting books already written which you
can fold, bend, and mutilate into your GZG setting. It's much easier to come
up with interesting games when someone else has already worked out the boring
but necessary bits like how many crew are needed to pilot a luxury planet
hopper.
Transhuman Space is non-FTL earth and a lower level of
starship tech than the GZG universe, but with a higher (I think) level of AI
and biotech. Good if you want to concentrate on settled planets, especially
the wierder ones presumably existing on the fringe of GZG space.
GURPS Traveller retains the feel of classic Traveller with new game mechanics,
and is probably the best match
to the GZG setting. The top level politics/structure of
the Imperium obviously don't match, but all the material about spacesports,
common types of starships, character roles, even character equipment, should
translate very well.
Hope this helps.
cheers,
Hugh said:
> Well I only know FMAS from the games that get described
Those are only MY games. Other people have run games which are much more
sensible, or at least survivable.