Guardians of the Galaxy

Jay has been posting up a storm about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, this movie is really getting me excited.  I've been a big fan of The Guardians of the Galaxy comics (old and new) for a long time, so this should rock!  I don't see Bug from the Micronauts in the lineup though so that's a bit disappointing.  Anyways I think this will be my next Sci Fi Campaign!  Now to decide on the rule system to use; X-plorers, Stars Without Number, Rogue Space, Machinations of the Space Princess, Savage Worlds..so many choices!!  I did do an X-plorers conversion for Rocket awhile back, course I've also done a ton of Marvel  Aliens conversions for Stars Without Number...my recent foray into Rogue Space showed me I can run crazy off the cuff adventures (which is very much in the spirit of Guardians of the Galaxy), hmmm decisions decisions...

Long time followers of my blog know I'm a fan of Sci Fi and Lego and I just saw where there will be Lego sets for Guardians of the Galaxy!  Can't wait to see how these look!  I'll be using them for minis in my Campaign!

Rogue Space The Devacryl

One thing I like in my Sci Fi is different aliens.  As a further testing of the Rogue Space rules I thought I'd work up an alien race for my game, based solely on the below picture I found on the internet.  So here goes!

Devacryl

Archetypes: Technician or Scoundrel, add +1 to Science or Acquire (the vast majority are Scoundrels)

Abilities: Never without a Lock pick: Devacryl can pull one of their Quill-Feathers and use it as a Lock pick with a +1 bonus to their lock picking attempts.

Master Manipulators: Devacryl are master manipulators and schemers.  They are quite skilled at reading those around them, particularly when they are "working a target" they gain +1 to persuasion based rolls.

Description: Devacryl are a humanoid race, averaging  5 1/2 to 6' tall.  They tend to be slightly more slender than humans with large ears and quill-like feathers instead of hair. 

Planet

Devac , the planet of the Devacryl, is a temperate world slightly smaller than earth with a thick but breathable atmosphere.  They tend to not permit outsiders on their homeworld so little else is known about it.

Technology

The Devacryl spend their time developing technologies to help them one up the other races.  This consists of a great deal of theft.  Again why spend years developing a technology that you can steal from others.  They will then sell this tech to other races at a hefty profit.  They particularly enjoy outmaneuvering the Aelfar.

  Culture and Laws

This is a race of schemers, connivers and manipulators.  Why work hard at something when you can trick someone else into doing it for you.  Even Devacryl technicians spend much of their time "acquiring" the technology of others. Devacryl are also quite vain, the average Devacryl spends at least an hour every day primping, preening and making sure their Quill-Feathers are just right.  To a human the quill-feathers look no different after this primping, but to other Devacryl the changes are quite noticeable. It is even rumored that Devacryl have a secret code based on the positioning of their quill-feathers, Devacryl neither admit nor deny this rumor.

Weaponry

Devacryl prefer to be subtle.  Big heavy guns, Cannons, grenades etc.  are crude and obnoxious to the refined (at least in their eyes) Devacryl (although they have NO issues with selling such weapons to other races).  They prefer slender elegant weapons, needlers are very popular with the Devacryl .  They have developed several neuro-toxins to coat their needlers with.  To add insult to injury they have developed a special Needler that humans have dubbed "Barbies"  these Barbed Needlers have wicked barbs on them that require surgery to safely remove.  Non-surgical attempts to remove these barbs cause an L damage (which armor obviously doesn't absorb).  While the barbs are imbedded the victim suffers a -1 to any rolls involving physical exertion attempts, due to the barbs painful digs into the soft tissue.

Ships

The Devacryl prefer small, fast ships well armored, but not so heavily armored that they sacrifice speed.  Their preferred combat tactic in space is to try to either talk or flee at top speed.  They often will try to manipulate other races to do their fighting for them.

Relations to Humanity

Humans don't trust the Devacryl, but find that they can often acquire certain technologies and information that would otherwise be unavailable to them.  The Devacryl see humans as just another ripe race to use to their own devices.

Using them in Rogue Space

The Devacryl make excellent rogues and tricksters, but can also be an excellent source of information, weapons and technology, just watch yourself when dealing with them! 

Are You Ready For Some Sci Fi!

I didn't realize how many Digest Size Sci Fi gaming books I had!  Most are from the old Justifiers game, but there are some others as well.  : )

Rogue Space Session 1 Epilogue

The last post in my Rogue Space Playtest Series
Mini-Review
Intro
Rogue Space Post 1 
Rogue Space Post 2
Jupiter Zeus Character Stats

Epilogue

Elsewhere

Mang entered the dark chamber, silken curtains covered the walls.  A aelfar female approached nodding submissively.  You did well my apprentice.  The female responded, "but master the Clawtron was destroyed?"  Mang smiled, "yes… it was, but I learned much".  He nodded and said no more. 

Back on Persephone Station

Jupiter Zeus knew the Aelfar alien had messed with his mind.  The whole thing had been a set up… a test of some kind.  He'd get back at her and that bastard Mang, but he needed a patron of his own, someone just as connected and diabolical as Mang.. .He needed the Phantom of the Space Opera!

 

Jupiter smiled as he drank his Rigellian Green Whiskey, sure the drink would turn his fur green for a few days, but it was worth it…

Game Notes

This was my first time playing Rogue Space; I had a lot of fun.  As I've said before in other posts it is a rules lite system.  This session ran very smoothly, the rules faded into the background and didn't get in the way of the story at all.  For the story I used Rory's Story cubes random dice rolls and grabbed some toys (er.. I mean collectibles) from my shelves and went to it!  I did kinda pause when the vehicle part came up in the game, I was looking for a Driving skill or agility or something, but there wasn't one, I just went with a Fighting roll and after checking with the author today, he indicated that is what I was supposed to do.  I did also run into a situation where there were several rounds of misses between Jupiter and the Android, they were both closely matched stats-wise (my intention) and both had high Fighting skills so they kept being able to avoid one another's hits. I allowed my character's force screen to stack with his natural armor and vacc suit, not sure I did that right, but it worked and didn't seem unbalanced.  Once I finally scored a serious hit that the Clawtron couldn't avoid the combat was over quickly.  A few times I wondered if I needed more rules, a bit more crunch if you will.  I don't want much, certainly nothing like Pathfinder.  It's quick and easy and doesn't get in the way with the fun.  I really love the open toolbox feel of it.  There is no setting really there.  That was one of my issues with Stars Without Number there is an implied setting and while you can ignore it, it is built into the game to some degree.  I would like to see some alien abilities listed out to help you create your own races and maybe a more expansive bestiary, along with a few vehicles stat'd out, but that can be done yourself, so it's definitely not a deal breaker for me. I am probably going to look at the Savage Worlds Sci Fi Compendium before I decide for certain, I recently picked up Savage Worlds Deluxe.  But for now Rogue Space is a top contender for my Sci Fi game time, especially if you're looking for a quick game to knock out with your buddies.  

Good Gaming -B