tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post5677596571914667422..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: A Sci-Fi SandboxJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30794580295999093512011-04-20T12:11:27.637-04:002011-04-20T12:11:27.637-04:00After reading Asimov and Fredric Brown this summer...After reading Asimov and Fredric Brown this summer, a sci-fi sandbox campaign sounds really interesting... I'm eager to read more about it!jdebetolazahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16268415411507646640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48846500504219680492011-04-15T21:57:54.044-04:002011-04-15T21:57:54.044-04:00But what I don't get, is why you aren't a ...<i>But what I don't get, is why you aren't a fan of "Firefly"...</i><br /><br>It's a topic I learned long ago rarely admits of rational discussion, so I simply say that it's not to my liking and leave it at that.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71541561375645625832011-04-15T21:50:53.692-04:002011-04-15T21:50:53.692-04:00James, sounds like fun! But what I don't get, ...James, sounds like fun! But what I don't get, is why you aren't a fan of "Firefly"...toddroehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05668825555921002430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52269322731850884392011-04-15T11:49:36.697-04:002011-04-15T11:49:36.697-04:00Er, that's 'reskinned'. Stupid autocor...Er, that's 'reskinned'. Stupid autocorrect. :/Unlikely Lasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291023035573369845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52371830471073678512011-04-15T11:48:18.693-04:002011-04-15T11:48:18.693-04:00I've found that, as James noted, simply drawin...I've found that, as James noted, simply drawing a boundary around the playing area helps immensely. The 'universe' can still be big, but it shouldn't be infinite. <br /><br />I'm also a big fan of planets that can be described in a single phrase: desert nomads, ice planet, criminal syndicate, imperial stronghold. Sure it's cartoonish, but melodrama and stereotypes work in RPGs. I've built several of these types of sandboxes in the past, fairly successfully. My latest effort (since abandoned for several years) is here: http://home.comcast.net/~max.velocity/<br /><br />As to the information question, I like to think of most planets as similar to the third world. Most of them are well behind the Imperial (or whatever) standard of technology, but they adopt and adapt what they can. They're a crazy mix of primitive and modern tech, like Afghan bandits traveling on mules and camels, armed with 50-year-old AK-47s and RPGs fresh from the factory, and communicating with satellite phones.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11677895164302972957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-53571311228642326162011-04-15T11:48:05.608-04:002011-04-15T11:48:05.608-04:00This is reminding me of a thread I vaguely remembe...This is reminding me of a thread I vaguely remember from rpg.net where the entire settings of other game systems were resin Ned whole cloth into individual episode/adventure settings for Doctor Who... :)Unlikely Lasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291023035573369845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-45619393353467813142011-04-15T11:44:55.295-04:002011-04-15T11:44:55.295-04:00It's as if a fantasy sandbox GM were faced wit...<i>It's as if a fantasy sandbox GM were faced with a group of players that could be in a completely different nation every session- or multiple ones within the same session. The only effective solution I've found is to keep a lot of "generic" adventure or social situations on hand and be ready to reskin things in a hurry.</i><br /><br>Yes, which is why it's so important that a SF RPG have copious and easy to use random tables to take a little of the load off the referee in this task. It's one of the things I really like about <i>Stars Without Number</i>.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-11584815207518030152011-04-15T11:40:28.678-04:002011-04-15T11:40:28.678-04:00I think that a lot of the burden of sci-fi sandbox...I think that a lot of the burden of sci-fi sandboxing also comes from the fact that there's so comparatively little that a GM can reuse in a campaign. In one session the PCs touch down on Shen Tian, and the GM has to provide a distinct and flavorful planet for them to explore. But the very next session they decide to up stakes and fly over to Volgrad, and all the work that the GM did to flesh out Shen Tian is now largely irrelevant unless the PCs decide to go back there for some reason.<br /><br />It's as if a fantasy sandbox GM were faced with a group of players that could be in a completely different nation every session- or multiple ones within the same session. The only effective solution I've found is to keep a lot of "generic" adventure or social situations on hand and be ready to reskin things in a hurry.Sine Nominehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18335794366582322514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-13139302165937558452011-04-15T11:29:29.082-04:002011-04-15T11:29:29.082-04:001. I have to say, I am eager for more Thousand Sun...<i>1. I have to say, I am eager for more Thousand Suns -- but I was saddened to see the final cover of the Starships book. The colored starfield of the original rulebook and Transmissions are quiet evocative.</i><br /><br>FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of the cover of <i>Starships</i> either. The revised rulebook and all future supplements will have covers like that of the original rulebook.<br /><br /><i>Fantasy gets to gloss this problem with shared assumptions and a common symbolic language: monsters and wizards and swords and castles and anachronistic faux-medieval trappings. But a horse is a horse.</i><br /><br>This is very true and it's definitely a problem for SF RPGs. I suspect it's a big part of why, aside from <i>Traveller</i>, successful science fiction roleplaying games tend to be licensed ones.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-65007061992427192882011-04-15T11:16:51.020-04:002011-04-15T11:16:51.020-04:00Two comments!
1. I have to say, I am eager for mo...Two comments!<br /><br />1. I have to say, I am eager for more Thousand Suns -- but I was saddened to see the final cover of the Starships book. The colored starfield of the original rulebook and Transmissions are quiet evocative. <br /><br />2. The biggest problem in running an SF sandbox game for me has always been information. The sheer amount of info the players ought to have access to is staggering, and making it all up on the fly (and then keeping it straight (and still being happy with it three days later)) is a real challenge. <br /><br />The problem is only compounded when you realize just how much of it is (or can be) tied to very specific setting details, and just how hard it is to grow that sort of thing in play. <br /><br />Fantasy gets to gloss this problem with shared assumptions and a common symbolic language: monsters and wizards and swords and castles and anachronistic faux-medieval trappings. But a horse is a horse. <br /><br />Then compare and contrast Star Wars, Star Trek, Foundation, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Pulling out the common DNA of two or three SF settings is possible, but it has always felt like you got less of a usable RPG foundation when you did it with SF than you did with Fantasy. <br /><br />YMMV. Shrug.Unlikely Lasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291023035573369845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5372141590635808272011-04-15T09:11:22.781-04:002011-04-15T09:11:22.781-04:00What I hope happens with your upcoming campaign is...<i>What I hope happens with your upcoming campaign is you get the inspiration to support Thousand Suns in the same manner Colonial Gothic is getting supported.</i><br /><br>That's more or less the plan. I was never very happy with the presentation of the original rulebook, so unhappy in fact that I nearly abandoned the game several times. With the revision of the rulebook and a <i>much better</i> layout, my enthusiasm has returned in full force, so you can expect to see more support for the game in the future.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90882650972077388932011-04-15T09:08:59.668-04:002011-04-15T09:08:59.668-04:00I am curious... what form does FTL travel take in ...<i>I am curious... what form does FTL travel take in Thousand Suns?</i><br /><br>It uses a slow jumpline system. FTL travel is point to point and doesn't necessarily correspond to real-space in terms of distance. The numbers on the map are the number of <i>weeks</i> travel between worlds. As there's no FTL communications, many worlds are quite isolated.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16912602400671994912011-04-15T09:07:05.706-04:002011-04-15T09:07:05.706-04:00Does the corrupt but bureaucratic federation refer...<i>Does the corrupt but bureaucratic federation refer to Terry Nation's Blake's 7 or to Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality?</i><br /><br>Neither. It's most heavily influenced by Piper's Federation, with additional inspiration from Chandler's Federation, the late Roman Republic, and a dash of Old Republic from <i>Star Wars</i>.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-54786853094932025352011-04-15T09:05:44.504-04:002011-04-15T09:05:44.504-04:00The Federation claims to have jurisdiction over th...<i>The Federation claims to have jurisdiction over this area of space but those worlds consider themselves independent.</i><br /><br>That's right. The Federation's claim is thin, as they have no presence on these worlds and any colonies there were established without Federation governmental assistance.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-115181331202002972011-04-15T08:31:56.007-04:002011-04-15T08:31:56.007-04:00I feel a bit bad about the self-promotion but you ...<i>I feel a bit bad about the self-promotion but you and some of your readers may not know it's out there, it's free to download and the more feedback that I get on the play-test draft, which includes everything you need for space dungeon exploration, the better the final game will be.</i><br /><br>No need to feel bad about promoting it here! I probably should have done so myself, but I'm so far behind in posting about news that it's slipped off my radar. Thanks for the reminder.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-55573275925917810092011-04-15T08:30:52.102-04:002011-04-15T08:30:52.102-04:00I'd also suggest cracking open Stars Without N...<i>I'd also suggest cracking open Stars Without Number and liberally plundering the world tag and adventure seed sections when the players hare off in a random planetary direction.</i><br /><br><i>Thousand Suns</i> already has a very similar system of "hooks" to describe NPCs, worlds, starships, etc. -- which likely explains why I so appreciated the tags system in SWN. It's a terrific way to spark the imagination with just a couple of dice rolls.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-65911443691576575702011-04-15T08:22:48.216-04:002011-04-15T08:22:48.216-04:00Does Limzano mean anything in Esperanto?
It means ...<i>Does Limzano mean anything in Esperanto?</i><br /><br>It means "frontier."James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90013317838751604802011-04-15T06:58:23.601-04:002011-04-15T06:58:23.601-04:00Jim,
Good to see you coming over from the Dark Si...Jim,<br /><br />Good to see you coming over from the Dark Side. I agree Sci-Fi gaming is where its at for me too. Really for the longest time I just didnt get D&D form a DM's perspective so I was much more comfortable with sci fi games. <br /><br />Kudos on Thousand Suns - Its a great game. What I hope happens with your upcoming campaign is you get the inspiration to support Thousand Suns in the same manner Colonial Gothic is getting supported. I love the dedication to Colonial Gothic. <br /><br />Also I'd +1 to Kevin Crawford's suggestion to use some support from his wonderful SWN. In deed I'd can see a great mirage comeing from that and you keep some OSR flavorful too only with 12* giving tags more depth as hooks ...Eponymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11995993219753602719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-46141165619995185382011-04-15T04:47:22.132-04:002011-04-15T04:47:22.132-04:00A side-point re layout: it looks like the backgrou...A side-point re layout: it looks like the background was a star field that you then inverted, so that the black lines between planets would show up.<br /><br />I don't think this works very well: it looks more like old parchment, which isn't very science-fiction.<br /><br />I'd leave the planets as they are, and invert everything else (so the routes between planets, their names, and the numbers are all white, and the background is mostly black). Then perhaps put a white line around the planets if they don't show up well enough.<br /><br />This is assuming it's for publication.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75117428654640187632011-04-15T04:14:31.329-04:002011-04-15T04:14:31.329-04:00@rentagurkha: Cool too! No doubt things will gain...@rentagurkha: Cool too! No doubt things will gain shape* as they enter your story.<br /><br />* Probably pear.Reverance Pavanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01217657347160811310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-76758309124846110422011-04-15T03:21:05.254-04:002011-04-15T03:21:05.254-04:00I am curious... what form does FTL travel take in ...I am curious... what form does FTL travel take in <i>Thousand Suns</i>? Or is that yet to be decided as well? (I see the sector map has numbers on the routes between systems, so I am assuming there is some kind of framework there.)Duglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04952607750940479779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-64942913078466100882011-04-15T02:45:32.462-04:002011-04-15T02:45:32.462-04:00Does the corrupt but bureaucratic federation refer...Does the corrupt but bureaucratic federation refer to Terry Nation's Blake's 7 or to Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality?Jay Duggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10181402451119462976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-3927174410562544302011-04-15T01:51:30.041-04:002011-04-15T01:51:30.041-04:00I've got a few science fictional rpg elements ...I've got a few science fictional rpg elements you might like. I'm not tooting my own horn here but you never know. http://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/Needleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-1840268806777784072011-04-14T20:56:07.476-04:002011-04-14T20:56:07.476-04:00Does this make the remaining states protectorates ...<i>Does this make the remaining states protectorates or client states (without actual representation in the Federation)? And we know how most democracies treat the disenfranchised, don't we...</i><br /><br />We'll probably see how that works as we go along, but my impression right now that they're neither. The Federation claims to have jurisdiction over this area of space but those worlds consider themselves independent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5164748717125773942011-04-14T20:41:19.294-04:002011-04-14T20:41:19.294-04:00As you have a sci-fi itch, I think you might enjoy...As you have a sci-fi itch, I think you might enjoy my new game Humanspace Empires. It's set in Tékumel's ancient star-faring past and runs on a rules system that is mash-up of OD&D by way of Labyrinth Lord and 1975 EPT.<br /><br />I feel a bit bad about the self-promotion but you and some of your readers may not know it's out there, it's free to download and the more feedback that I get on the play-test draft, which includes everything you need for space dungeon exploration, the better the final game will be.<br /><br />It can be dowloaded from by blog <a href="http://ixians.blogspot.com//" rel="nofollow">ix</a>The Drunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05292082916107221498noreply@blogger.com