Serenity

[Kaelaroth]

Hey!

My brother, who is nearly as big a Whedon-fan as I am, wants the Serenity RPG for his birthday. Is it worth it? And does anyone know how much it costs?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, but the RPG is worth slightly less than a stinking dung heap.

My suggestion: GURPS can run a passable Firefly game. Try it instead.

[mikeforte123]

I heard their working on a firefly MMORPG....

I CANT WAIT!:smallbiggrin:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I heard their working on a firefly MMORPG....

I CANT WAIT!:smallbiggrin:

ugh...

"So I hear you got a deal for me?"

"STFU N00b, i r leet dienowkkthxbye"

[mikeforte123]

O.o

HAXXORZZZ!!!!!!!



I forgot about that ¬¬

[Icewalker]

I've greatly considered making my own Firefly d20. Probably combining it with elements from the Reality Dysfunction book series.

[AlisdairM]

Oddly - I loved firefly as it seemd the embodiment of one of my favourite RPGs, classic Traveller. The mix of low tech, high tech and Western Frontier is a perfect match for the Spinward Marches.

Unfortunately I am so far from contact with a gaming group I have no idea what became of the game. I recall a collected edition was available a few years ago, and I believe there was a Gurps edition too. Not sure it ever transferred to D20 though.

[Tekraen]

I've greatly considered making my own Firefly d20. Probably combining it with elements from the Reality Dysfunction book series.

...So you'd have the dead posessing the living and throwing fire at everyone, taking entire planets out of physical space?

*shiver*

[Iball]

I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, but I found the RPG to be extremely good fun to play...so there you go. :D

I'd like to hear why you think it's so dreadful, Shneekey, because personally I've found it to be exactly what I wanted. At the moment I'm trying to get the captain father to withdraw his death warrant on us, before the pilot has another of his 'little incidents' and sends the ship into a death spiral, again...

[Steve_the_ERB]

I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, but I found the RPG to be extremely good fun to play...so there you go. :D


I agree. It has its flaws (specifically examples that don't cover all the options or don't match the rules exactly) but it wasn't that bad. Its simple and fast paced. I used a lot of the stuff from the online community, which while technically house rules, came from a lot of the people who worked on the game itself. Not to mention they just announced a new edition (I think) and two new books for equipment and ships (this I'm sure of).

[Dairun Cates]

It's important to mention that the Serenity role-playing game was not meant for heavy battle at all. If you get shot, you will be injured and need medical attention. As such, there's a heavy focus in combat on strategy and getting the first shot in. That is very important to consider when running it. Otherwise, it's a slightly flawed system with an interesting dice rolling mechanic, and chocked full of setting and flavor. Even if you don't want to use the system, there's some nice ideas in there.

[GenLee]

It's not bad at all. If you're more into GURPS, or Traveller, I'd say stick to those.

[skreweded]

I personally love the system to bits. It just clicks for me, and my whole group. D20 kinda is.. bothersome now. I mean, sure its flawed, but I find it much better than d20 myself, just more fun. It is VERY (and I mean very) dm based, on what to roll. DM decides what needs to be rolled, moreso than D20. It gives a single example of what a roll might be, such as a hard (14, i think) might be worth in piloting, then its DM choice from there. Make sure you have a trustworthy DM. But I say it is worth it, if only for the fluff.

[Leper_Kahn]

I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, but the RPG is worth slightly less than a stinking dung heap.

My suggestion: GURPS can run a passable Firefly game. Try it instead.

I'm not sure what he's talking about... I like it.

[Fuzzy_Juan]

The system is an interesting system...but it does have it's flaws...and is not very well written in places. It places extreme lattitude with the GM to modify the system on the fly...which is cool and all...but players like to have a bit more control over their character...more importantly, people like to know what they are signing up for...something that is kinda impossible when their diepool can be arbitrarily switched from dex to sta or strenght...even perception...and that is not counting any of the random modifiers that can be placed at random for just about any reason.

A few more 'hard' rules might do the system some good in terms of universal appeal...but all in all, a good system once you get the bugs worked out for your playgroup and all figure out what is going on and how things will be run.

[Krelon]

it depends on the DM.
if he wants to be an jackass he can make you roll your lowest attributes at the most unfitting moments. One big problem of the system is that no matter how good you are, there is always a good chance to roll horribly low. Things just don't go smooth in this universe.

However it is fun to play and the focus is on role playing, doing cool stuff, not getting into fights, except when you have full cover and surprise on your side. We did some group optimization in our group. A captain, a noble, a doc, a mechanic (all with quite good values in shooting guns) and one gun crazy cowgirl "security specialist". We really try to survive on wits but we hold our ground when it comes to shooting.

Before that group, for a very short time, we had a more combat oriented group and we bit the ground in the third fight because all failed the save vs. one single grenade. This lead to the opinion that fighting in Serenity is almost as deadly as in RL and should be the last resort.

I heard there going to be a new edition with many fixes. It will be definitely worth the money, so I'd wait just a bit.

[Fuzzy_Juan]

it depends on the DM.
if he wants to be an jackass he can make you roll your lowest attributes at the most unfitting moments. One big problem of the system is that no matter how good you are, there is always a good chance to roll horribly low. Things just don't go smooth in this universe.

However it is fun to play and the focus is on role playing, doing cool stuff, not getting into fights, except when you have full cover and surprise on your side. We did some group optimization in our group. A captain, a noble, a doc, a mechanic (all with quite good values in shooting guns) and one gun crazy cowgirl "security specialist". We really try to survive on wits but we hold our ground when it comes to shooting.

Before that group, for a very short time, we had a more combat oriented group and we bit the ground in the third fight because all failed the save vs. one single grenade. This lead to the opinion that fighting in Serenity is almost as deadly as in RL and should be the last resort.

I heard there going to be a new edition with many fixes. It will be definitely worth the money, so I'd wait just a bit.

I crunched the system in several permutations to see 'on average' how deadly combat can be...it is a pain in the ass...and if people have really good gear, which is suprisingly 'cheap'...it can be even deadlier especially to those who wear no armor. The 'second wind' rule can save someone by getting rid of enough injury fast and if you have been saving hero points (or whatever they are called) then you can be reasonably safe from a random roll of good fortune or bad.

Since our games in any system usually have lots of combat, I made sure that I understood the system well enough in that regard and was able to effectively defend myself in such a system even with a non-combat focused character. I really think that in that regard, the gear helped more than anything else...as 'big damn heroes' we had plenty of cash to buy newtech gear that the ST allowed...fine mesh armor that was the equivalent of a plate vest but full coverage and no penalty, d12 weapons (gun and 'vibroblade'), 'sap gloves' d6/leathal as brawl damage with retractable poison needles. Multiple targeting and bonus damage from targeting specific locations left few dice for attack, but the 'normal' soldiers were heavily encumbered by their armor and couldn't dodge for crap...you'd be suprised how much more effective called shots can be when you get all that bonus damage...I was able to drop 3 guys in a single round and still dive for cover since the wounded penalty and the armor penalty combined to reduce their agility to 0...too wounded to move...:smallbiggrin:

I did realize very quickly though that if any of our enemies had been more skilled or similarly equipped, things would not have been anywhere near as easy...

The system for combat is really neat, but it does make things very 'real' in that you can get wasted in the blink of an eye. It really puts an emphasis on defense and positioning, carefully choosing tactics and targets and of course being the one who gets the first strike. Because everyone is so vulnerable...it lends itself to a more 'realistic' style of tactics in order to ensure safety of the party...always wear armor if guns are involved...overwhelming numbers and firepower unless suprise and/or stealth can be combined with terrain to alter the battle...those who don't use cover will die...a dead man removes one from the fight and enrages the others, while a wounded man unable ot move or fight removes at least 2 men from the fight (the wounded and the medic or extractor). (wounded in a party of persuers will not only remove persuers, but also remove people to tend and guard the wounded further reducing numbers. Don't shoot the doctors...they can bring you back...if only for questioning...also, if they have a doctor/medic handy they are more likely to break off if they have wounded (having a doctor means you have hope for the wounded if you break off, no doctor means that you MUST end the engaguement without chance of reprisal to bug out and noone local can help the wounded so they won't risk as much to get them immediate attention)

[cattoy]

I heard their working on a firefly MMORPG....

I CANT WAIT!:smallbiggrin:

Personally, I wonder what the craft-grind for Companions is going to be like...
^_^

[Fuzzy_Juan]

Personally, I wonder what the craft-grind for Companions is going to be like...
^_^

while amusing in theory...I bet it will be similar to 'dancer' in Star Wars: Galaxies. They even get 'exotic' as a dance type later on, but it is pretty lame. More than likely, a companion will have bonuses to dealing with people, speachcraft, ettiquette and such, and be able to take someone aside into a blacked-out room for a short time and give them a buff of some sort.

then again...that assumes that they use 'classes' as a means of defining characters. Have classes been confirmed?

[Krelon]

the Serenity RPG is not using such concepts as classes, which makes it quite unique compared to most other games out there.

My guess: probably the MMOPRG will be a bit like the old privateer games, that would fit nicely.