Monday, January 14, 2019

Gaming Reflections with some New & Old (but new to me) Sci Fi RPG Goodies!


     Due to some truly sad stuff my gaming group is no more.  It just didn't feel right to continue after what happened.  I spent the holidays and surrounding weeks taking a break from gaming, and just reflecting on life and things.  My friend and I had been working up a joint 5E game, with his passing, I just don't even want to look at my notes about it. Maybe one day I will return to what we were working on.  I do however, find myself in the mood to game again, I decided I wanted to do something new and different.  With the gaming group dissolved, I have started a new quest to rebuild/create a new gaming group and to play something different from what I have done in the past. I've played and DM'd a ton of fantasy over the years and a lot of P.A. gaming, but my experiences with GMing Sci Fi has been limited ( a bit of Traveller in High School, does Rifts count as Sci Fi??) So I am looking at the Revised Edition of Stars Without Number. I posted a good bit about Stars Without Number (original version) several years ago. But other than one game at a con I never got a chance to GM a session. With some Christmas money I purchased the hardcover rules for SWN and the new Codex of the Black Sun, which gives you the option of tossing some magic into your Sci Fi.   I had wanted to give Starfinder a try, but goodness that is way to much crunch for my schedule these days.  The new books are sweet!  I'm digging into the core rules and then will delve into Codex of the Black Sun.
      I also recently picked up Hard Nova II and Core Command Armory book for an unbelievably great price.  I will likely see if I can adapt some things from both HN II and CC Armory to use in my hopefully upcoming SWN Campaign.  Hard Nova II seems to be a rules lite system and Core Command has conversion rules to 3.0 OGL, so I should be able to work it out. SWN is fairly rules lite so it shouldn't be too hard to extrapolate some conversions.
     I intend to start posting here again semi-regularly, I had migrated to G+ but that is soon to be no more, so back to the blog it is. I am on MeWe, but I like having stuff available on my blog for others to view, so blogging it is. 


10 comments:

  1. Not to be too off-topic, but what the heck IS happening with G+? I keep hearing it's going away, yet it seems to continue.

    Oh, wait: I see it's only going on till August. Okay.

    RE You new enterprise: More that a system, I think it's important you decide just which kind of SciFi genre you want to emulate for your game. SWN (for me) feels a lot like a B/X version of WH40K (complete with easily expendable PCs), which may not be exactly what you're looking for. If you have a particular genre, book/TV series, or film franchise you enjoy, I'd say take the time to find the right fit first, then tweak the system as necessary. It'll make for smoother (and more satisfying) sailing.
    ; )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think but not sure, they changed it to April.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, last I heard G+ will go away in April.

      Delete
    3. Hey JB, thanks for the comments. I actually like the B/X elements of SWN. I want exploration and discovery to be a big part of what I am looking for in this Campaign and I think SWN definitely has the tools for that. Combat can indeed be deadly in SWN, which I'm ok with. Having ran a good bit of 5E, I'd like to run something wherein the players have to really carefully consider tactics and especially resource management. Thanks again for the feedback

      Delete
  2. Glad you're still posting Bill! I hope there's more to come as G+ seems to be teetering near the brink of extinction!

    I like Starfinder for he ideas, but I agree, generally too much "crunch" for me as well. Though there's a Beginner Box coming out (like they did for Pathfinder). Hoping that has some streamlined version that could be adapted easily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Jay, thanks for dropping by and commenting. Shame about G+.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Alex, thanks for the comment!
      More Sci Fi goodness to come!

      Delete