Sunday, September 30, 2007

Planet Side

Well we ran the third session today. There were only three players again. But that's OK. So once again it was Omar the Yarizian Merc, Gesh the Dralasite Medic, and Loran the former military man. They are approached by a man in the bar they are hanging out in.





This man here. He has a simple proposition. He would like to hire the characters to deliver six crates no questions asked. To a mining camp out in the wild lands. He offers them 3000 credits up front and 3000 after delivery. They bargain with him and he pays them 4000 credits up front and 2000 after delivery. He gives them directions to a warehouse on the outskirts on the city. Tells them to talk to Roy. Well they go across the street to Crazy Ralphy Mays Rental Center. Who as you can guess is quite a character. Hes a large dralasite that wears an oversize foam cowboy hat. They negotiate with him. He shows them a hover truck and some other vehicles out back. While talking with him they see his guard pigs which are huge hogs with big tusks. Finally they rent a ground car, a PGC Escort sedan to be specific. They finally proceed to the ware house. Its a large tan stucco building. Out front is a human in a blanket poncho and large hat leaning against teh wall. They approach him and he turns out to be Roy. Roy unlocks the door to the building, shows them the crates and returns to the front of the building. Seemingly going back to sleep. They enter the building. Which seems to be filled with years worth of boxes and junk. In one corner are six green crates. They proceed to load the crates into the car. Half way through the process. Another car pulls up. Three men dressed in grey suits (similar to the type wore by Mao Zedong). They tell the characters to give them the crates. The players are less then responsive, as you can guess. Well the gangsters pull guns. So the characters respond in kind. A shoot out ensues. Two of the gangsters are hit by a needler pistol. Knocking them out. The last is killed by gunfire. They search the gangsters and find some ammo. Then take their watches and a big gold ring. They lock the two knocked out gangsters in the trunk of the gangsters car. Telling Roy that he might want to get rid of the car. They finish loading up the car and head out to the wild lands. Following the coordinates they are about half way. When they see a vehicle approaching them. They stop the car and get behind it using it as cover. A hover bike zooms up on them. With a rider dressed in green helmet and leathers. Spraying the car with bullets from an auto pistol. They return fire. Injuring the rider. Causing him to lose control. The hover bike noses down. Tumbling, sending the rider rag dolling across the hard pack desert. They search him recovering several ammo magazines for an auto pistol. They get back in the car and continue to the mining camp. Once they reach the camp it is not like any other mining camp they have seen. It is surrounded by a chain link fence topped with razor wire. Behind that they also have the beginnings on a burm. Being constructed, using the dirt dug up from the mine. On the main gate there is two guard towers. Equipped with machine guns. They are told to halt by security. Which look to be mercenaries dressed in brown Merc Co uniforms. They are armed with gyro jet rifles. they are checked out then let in. They are directed to the main building. They are greeted by a head guy. He inspects the crates. Revealing that the contents were a sonic devastator and a heavy laser. He tells them that he will contact Rolento. To let him know that they successfully received the crates. So the characters can go back to him to get paid. As the characters are going back to the car. They see something headed toward the camp. The head guy tells them its nothing to worry about. As they have been raided a couple times. That they are ready for them. Suddenly the fence explodes. It appears they didn't expect that. Four hover bikes rush in. Piloted by men in green leathers and helmets. Each one has a rocket launcher mounted to the bottom. One of them heads right at the characters blowing up their rental car. They engage the biker. They hit him but he moves out of range behind some buildings. Another approaches which they kill. The hover bike slamming into the burm exploding. Explosions happen around the camp. The characters acquire a hover truck. They then play chicken with on of the hover bikes. They miss him with the truck. But get a shot off on him as he passes. Sending him careening into a building. The Merc Co, guys seem to have things under control at this point. The characters examine the bike and body. The guy in green leathers has Galactic Task Force Incorporated markings on them. GTFI is the enemy of Streel and Merc Co. GTFI works for the Pan-Galactic Corporation.

They are approached by this woman. Who appears to be the head of the camp. She is very rude and short with the characters. She gives the characters the truck to replace their car. Then pretty much tells them to get the hell out. So they do. They return to Magh Mar city. They head to the warehouse that they picked up the crates. They wanted to pick up the gangsters car. So they could give Ralphy May a car back. But the car is not where they left it. They ask Roy about it. He tells them that he put it around back. They go out back to find the rear end up on blocks with some kids stealing the wheels. This angers Omar a great deal. He pulls his pistol. The kids run. Omar fires a burst killing one. The other immediately gives up. They make him put the wheels back on. They ask him what he is going to do with the wheels. He tells them that they were going to sell them to Wild Bills Pawn Emporium. After the kid puts the wheels back on. Omar gives him the ring he stole off the gangster. He tells the kid he owns him. That he owes him. And will ask him to do something, someday. Then tells him to get his friends body out of there.they check on the gangsters. They are still in the trunk. They then question them. Asking what they were going to do. They said that their boss was hired to get the crates by a man in green leathers. Our boss sent us to get them. Then take them to a warehouse on Green street. They close the trunk and drive the car, and hover truck to Crazy Ralphy Mays. They give him the gangsters car in lew of the one he rented them. As its blown up. Ralphys a little hesitant at first. But then agrees. As hes checking out the car. He finds the gangsters in the trunk. He says and I quote "Hey fellas you forgot your luggage." Or if you want I can get rid of it for you. For a nominal fee of course. So they pay Ralphy to get rid of the gangsters. They also sell him the hover truck. They ask Ralphy if he knows a good pawn shop. He tells them he sure does. His brother Wild Bill of Wild Bills Pawn Emporium. They then go across the street to the bar where Rolento is waiting for them. Rolento greets them. Gives them some line about easy money. This sets Omar off. He punches Rolento. Who responds by hitting him with his stun stick. Knocking him out. He pays the characters the remaining amount of money. Telling them to get the hell out. They do so. They then hail a cab. Being picked up by a Rastafarian Yarizian. He drives them to the pawn shop. They arrived at the pawn shop. they are greeted by Wild Bill the Dralasite. He buys the watches from them. For 30 credits each. They then haggle with him over some magnigoggles. They tell him hes asking to much money and leave in a huff. They then decide to check out the warehouse on green street. So they hail another cab. Which is driven by a human with a bronx accent. He takes them to green street. Its now getting to be dusk. So they wait till night to approach the warehouse. The warehouse is built out of corrugated steel. It looks as old as the city. Theres an overhead door and an entry way door. Both have a mercury lamp above each. Omar takes his needler and shoots out the lamps. A guy in green leathers stick his head out the entry door to see whats happening. Omar tries to shoot him. But misses. So he quickly ducks back in. They go up to the front of the building. Omar picks the lock. They open the door and gesh tries to throw a grenade inside. But it ricochet and lands at there feet. So they dive around the corner of the building. It explodes. Omar looks around the corner and sees the overhead door opening. So he tries to throw a grenade, and misses like Gesh. So it explodes out front. Then several hover bikes fly bout of the hole now in the front door. they throw a tangler grenade at them but it misses the mark. (everyone seems to have problem with grenades today) They have no vehicle so are unable to pursue. So they check out the ware house. Its full of crates with ammunition, weapon parts, a hover bike, and drums of something. Well they start to check out the place and discover a bomb. Well they high tail it out of there. An explosion destroys the warehouse in a fiery blast. The characters decide to cut there losses and hail a cab. Returning to their hotel.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Beerfest, the game


I've often though it would be fun to play a one shot or a short series of adventures of The Big Lebowski. Not nessisarily the actual characters fromthe movie. (Although perhaps as NPC's) But as their own people gettingin crazy adventures, and bowling. Well with my interest in Oktoberfest. I came to a startling conclusion. I should run a Beerfest game. What ever the system. Have a drinking skill. Quarter bounce skill. Ping Pong skill. Bluff people. Taunting, and what not. It could be fun as hell.
But that leaves questions. What system? Would quarter bounce and ping pong be dealt with as skills? Or as a modified version of combat?
Hmmm... Definitely some things to ponder.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Now for something completely different










Well I'm going to interrupt my normal RPG posting to talk about something else. Yes I know my post as of late has been a little sparse. I got a lot on my plate what can I tell you. Anyways I want to talk about one of my more recent mild obsessions. Oktoberfest. I have to go. Since I cant afford to fly to Munich, in Germany. To go the the real Oktoberfest. I'm going to have to settle for something local. Hell I'm drinking a Warsteiner Premium Verum right now. For those not in the know. Its a tasty German beer. I like beer. I like the accordion. I'll wager dollars to doughnuts. That you cant swing a dead cat with out hitting a polka band, or accordion player during Oktoberfest. Women in, cleavage baring traditional Bavarian garb. And did I mention the beer? Great big huge mugs of tasty German beers. This is all awesome. I must enjoy this first hand.

Items cards 3






Well I'm hopefully going to start making more item cards for the D&D game I play in. Bungee let me barrow his Encyclopedia of Magica. Which is a second edition product I do believe. But its full of good stuff. I cant wait to read through it. I'm sure it will give me all kinds of stuff for cards.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Rules to GM by

I thinking yesterday after reading some stuff. What are some of the rules to GM by. Not like rules of the game or system. But rules that a GM can apply to his gaming.
A couple I thought of,

-Players always do what you dont expect. Be ready.

-Players will sell you there characters mom for enough credits to buy a warbot.

What rules do you have? Or have come to find true.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Big Lebowski











Well those of you that know me. Know my love for all things Big Lebowski. Its one of my favorite movies. I happen to come across these T-shirts. So I thought I would share.




Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Chase

Well as you may remember from last time. Deputy Agent Tom of Star Law has deputised the group. In order to go after the freighter "The Star of Dramune". Well before they could do that Loran voiced so concerns of not dropping off the cargo and getting paid. Tom assured him he would get paid. Regardless if cargo came into damage. Loran didn't believe/trust him. Had him forge a deal before they would go after the ship. While loran was being played in character. As he doesn't trust the military, or Star Law. So he demanded to get paid in advance for their cargo. Which honestly wasn't what I had in mind for the scenario. But since I was going to make sure they got paid for their cargo regardless. It wasn't a big deal. Then Kane (who plays Loran) wanted to know what was their incentive to chase after the ship. Because chasing down the evil that had invaded and f'up the galaxy twice, evidently isn't enough incentive. So Deputy Agent Tom told them they would get their ships engines overhauled for free. Again this was not a big since I was going to give the characters this as a reward anyways. It just pushed up its appearance in the story. This was enough to get the boys on board. Before they left Tom gave them two automatic rifles, and a gyro-jet rifle. Along with a frag grenade each.
Well they climbed aboard the "Chubby Virgin" and quickly caught up to the "Star of Dramune". As the "Star" is equipped with ion engines, and the "virgin" is equipped with atomic engines. They stayed to the rear of the "Star" and docked with it entering in the aft engineering section. Octavian stayed on the "Virgin" as his player didnt show up so his character stayed on the ship with Billy the pilot. They immediately encountered two robots. Humanoid in form with an auto rifle built into their right arms. Well they battle and destroy these combat robots. They then disable the ships engines. Then while exploring the deck they find a workshop it looks like the robots were assembled in. They proceed up the main access to the forward engineering deck. They fight another robot there. They climb to the next deck. Which is the aft crew quarters. They don't find any more robots just dead bodies of the crew. The bodies look like they have been there a couple weeks. That look like they were murdered. The next deck they find another pair of robots. They dispatch these quickly. The find more bodies of the crew. They move on to the avionics deck. In the computer center they encounter not robots. But a human Sathar agent, and, a Sathar! They shoot it out with them and kill them both. (Just as a note I wish they would have just wounded the sathar and tried to take him prisoner. So they could watch him shoot itself in the head. As opposed to being captured.) So they secured the ship and headed back to the station "Arcas". When they arrived they found it a startling change. It was full of personnel. Things where being made right. As the ship was being over hauled they were flown by shuttle to the planet Mahg Mar. Before they could leave though. They had to give the rifles back. As rifles and heavy weapons are not aloud on planet. With the promise of a free return trip. They were flown to the only city on the planet. Mahg Mar city. The eastern portion of the city consisting of the University of Mahg Mar. The planet itself is a rough place. Hot and dry. Mostly barren dirt or sand. With Rock outcroppings. The only vegetation being spots of prairie grass and small scrubby trees. As soon as they hide the surface they start looking for places to spend there hard earned credits. They find an Army/Navy surplus store. Where they buy skein suits and ammo. From there they proceeded to the nearest bar. It was mostly deserted. They were approached by a man who recognized them as the men who helped to free the space station. He came to them with a proposition. We ended there to continue next week.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Have you ever....

Have you ever thought up an NPC. Only to realise their not going to fit in the game you've cooked up? I have an awesome idea for a Dralasite/Rastafarian/Bronx NY style cab driver. But the city they will be visiting may not be big enought to justify a taxi. Maybe I can work him in. I just think a dralasite with a rasta style striped wool hat. A fat cigar in his mouth. Saying things like "Ya man, everytings I're." I think that would be fun. I can see him being a reacuring dude. I figure I'll stat him up. He may prove useful. I'll post him when I get a chance.

Tag I'm it

Well the Chatty DM has tagged me to leave a social meme. So what the heck.

Last four jobs (Not including current)
Fry Cook
Lawn Care
Car Porter/Detailer
(No fourth)

Movies
Bladerunner
Maltse Falcon
Heat
Ronin

Places Ive Lived
Lansing (Well close enough anyways)

Favorite TV programs
Survivor man
Dexter
Myth Busters
Simpsons

Places I've vactioned
Washington D.C.
Northern Virginia
Sandusky, Ohio (Cedar Point Amusement Park)

Favorite Foods
Chinese Food
Cornbeef and Cabbage
Pot Roast w/ potatoes
Big Johns Steak and Onion Sandwich

Favorite Drinks
Coffee
Coca-Cola
Beer (Prefferably, Boddingtons Pub Ale)
Single Malt Scotch (Prefferably Glennlivet Archive 21 year old, but seeing how thats a little pricey its usually the 12 year old for me)

Where would I rather be
Roleplaying
At home asleep
At home on the computer
At the gun range

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Loran Morgaine


Kane sent me his background story for his character Loran Morgaine. I thought, I would share it here on the blog. (I plan on posting everyone elses as I get them. Like I did with the GI Joe game.)

Loran Morgaine Baston, grew up in the large city of Port Loren, on Gran Quivera. He spent most of his child life in poverty, his mother had died during child birth and left Loran's Father to care for him. Loran's Father, Lothar Baston was a landsman at one of the city's large shipping ports. While Lothar was never the kind of man who wanted to be a father, he tried his best to make sure Loran knew right from wrong and tried to provide a future for his son. Many hours at the docks Lothar worked to ensure his son might be able to go farther then he had. It was the many long hours that may have help to contribute to the accident that took Lothar Baston's life when Loran was 14. The men who came to the school that day told Loran that his father was dead, and he was to come with them. In the hovercar Loran over heard the men talking about how after the rogue engine lifter was switched off, there wasn't enough to tell it was even a man once...
After all the court hearings on the accident and the later moves from foster home to foster home, Loran was eventualy made a ward of the state and placed in a UPF training academy for youth's. He spent the next 4 years of his life learning to forget the problems that life had dealt him, and focus on the world around him. The military life was a good fit for Loran, he excelled at all his studies, being small weapons and martial arts training, to technical and biosocial sciences. After he graduated from the youth academy at the age of 18. He was suddenly faced with a decision, to continue with the military life that he loved so much, or go off into the private sector where he had a small fortune saved in a trust fund in his name. Lothar Baston couldn't give his son all he wanted, but in death and life, he left his only boy with a sizeable fortune in the money that he had put away while he worked, and with the trust fund set up in his sons name upon his death from the insurance company that quickly wanted to cover the malfunctioned cargo lifter accident that had killed Loran's father.
Some may have taken this new found money and started a life in the frontier paving their own way, but Loran Baston knew he was not for the civilian life, and cared little for the blood money of his poor blue collar father. He bought a one way shuttle pass to Prenglar, Morgaine's World, where the UPF has one of its finest academy's. His past youth training academy scores where well high enough to allow him to enter the UPF military academy and after 4 more years of training and testing, Lothar Baston was assigned to a outpost unit on the outer frontier planet of Laco.
For 12 years Loran served the Federation with pride and honor, being on a outpost planet like Laco, there was many chances for one to see action, there was ever the shipping pirates, local bandits and even encounters with mysterious hostile ships that would seemingly come out of no where and for no purpose other then to destroy the outpost. This was the normal life of a lieutant of the UPF, some action, some down time, and Loran loved it, and never thought it would end, but saddly Loran and happyness seldom last long.
At the age of 34 Lt. Baston was a decorated pilot and military profesional, but seldom did he pursue his accolades to their fullest, where some men may have taken every promotion and new assignment, Loran did not, he was happy being a outer rim fighter pilot and that was good enough for him. This made his younger superiors abit stand-offish to the "old man" and caused rifts in the chain of command in the outposts small UPF force. On a routine solo patrol of the outer quadrant of Laco, Loran found himself under attack from 3 unknown and much stronger ships. They came from seemingly no where and before Loran could do anything his cockpit was blasted open and he found himself floating in space strapped to his ejection seat. To make matters worse, his helm had been damaged during the attack and had not shut the blast sheild down in time to protect his face from the imploding cockpit. The blasting hot plasti-steel cut into his face and caused a life long scare on his left sife of his face. The attackers where gone as fast has they had appeared, thinking their prey was now just a floating hunk of blasted metal. Loran floated in space, bleeding in his suit for a full day before a passing patrol ship picked up his ejection seat's emergency beacon.
Two weeks later Lt Loran M. Baston was released from the hospital on Morgaine's World, and found himself honorably discharged from the service. It seems the Laco commanding officers took Loran's accident as a sign to cut back on fighter pilots and offer early retirements to officers who where of age and or served in hostile encouters. Loran tried and tried to appeal the discharge, but there was no hope, the military he had loved so much had turned its back on him and now he was faced with the cold hard reality of civilian life.
Five years have pasted, five long years of civilian life... Loran first tried his hand at mercenary work on the outer rim, but found he disliked their unorganized manor and love of money. He later worked as a cheif of security for a star cruise line, but got bored with that after a few years. Loran now is 40 and is but a shell of the once proud man he was, his life, almost to have seemed to have gone full circle now, disgruntled at the UPF and finding solace in the bottle of a bottle, he feels the end of his rope coming. Tomorrow he is to report to a vrusk owned company for a quick job off planet to deliver some goods to some other far off planet. The employment office says its good quick money, but Loran cares little for the money, the ship will take him to some place new, that he has been to many times before, the next bottle and maybe closer to a final answer his life is missing....

Sunday, September 16, 2007

In to Space


Well we started the Star Frontiers game today. I thought it went well. The scenario I put together was/is pretty big. But hey got through more than I expected. It kept our attention. As it was kind of like o'crap its 5 o'clock. Well we'll wrap it up here for today. It was a good place to stop anyways.
First off lets talk about the players characters.
Ryan is playing Omar an aggressive Yarsian mercenary. Armed with an auto-pistol.
Scott is playing Loran a Human, disgruntled former UPF military man. Also armed with an auto-pistol.
Robert is playing Octvian a Vrusk businessman. Assigned to the ship. Armed with a pair of swords.
Pat is playing Gesh a Dralasite medic. Armed with a gyro-jet pistol.
The fellas are supposed to flesh things out better in a back story. When I get it I will post it here.
Together with Billy (NPC) their pilot they are the crew of the "Chubby Virgin". A small container freighter. Which means the ship carries its cargo in containers/pods outside of the hull. Much like a container ship in reality. They have a corporate contractual lease. What this means is that. The characters are leasing the ship from a company. The company takes a larger portion of the profits. Because part of the money is going toward purchasing the ship. Sort of a rent to own deal. It also give the characters the backing of the company to purchase cargo. o that they can deliver it to wherever they can get the most for it. The company they are in contract with is a small Vrusk shipping company named Prospect Shipping. Prospect has offices a couple different systems.
The characters are delivering food stuffs, and toiletry's. To the planet Mahg Mar in the Waller Nexus system. They are delivering to the space station. The planet itself has a small educational/research center. The station orbiting the planet is mainly a distribution center between transports, and the planet. The station is named the "Arcas". It a small station. But it has a little of everything. Including restaurant's, shopping, health club, and a small hotel. It is a cylinder which ships can dock at. Near the top there is the ring. This spins giving gravity. This is where the shopping and stuff is located. The command center being at the top of the cylinder.
As they approach the station they receive an automated docking message. Which the pilot remarks as being a little strange. They also see a lone ship leaving the station. It is a lone Indiaman class freighter. Named "The Star of Dramune". So they dock and enter the station.
Everything seems fine, except that it seems deserted. Till they get half way up the cylinder on the freight elevator. The notice something strange on the air lock door. They stop and investigate. Its blood on the door and floating in the air. As the cylinder is zero g. they try to use the intercom to contact security. But all they get are goofy automated messages.
They continue up the elevator. With the goal to go to the cargo wholesale office in the shopping area. Get their money and get out. So they get to the elevator room and head to the shopping center. As they are riding the elevator down they notice some strange slime on the floor. When the doors open they see a slime trail to the right. The players decide not to follow this and head to the left toward the cargo office. Its very strange there are no sounds of activity. As the shopping center is usually far busier than this. As they head to the cargo office. They notice in the first shop. which is a clothing retailer, someone moving around in the back. Behind a counter. They go to see who, or what it is. When from behind the counter comes out a reptilian humanoid. That seems to have cybernetic attachments on its head and back. The creature has an auto pistol. Which it raises as soon as it see the characters. They shoot it out with the slavebot. They fairly quickly take it down. They take the extra magazines of ammo off its corpse.
As they move closer to the office. They see no one. The restaurant across from the shopping area has table pushed over and is generally in a state of disarray. They finally get to the office. Finding it empty. With no way to get paid. They decide to go to the control room. But not before they raid the sporting goods store next door to the office. They find some ammo for the auto pistols. Along with a couple semi-auto target/sport pistols. They also liberate a baseball bat, a cricket bat, and a golf club.
They get to the elevator and see the slime trail again. they decide to follow it. They get up to the restaurant. Which has a glass wall separating it from the hallway. they see a large slug like creature. About 2-3 feet high. And about 4-5 feet long. It appears to have cybernetic attachment mounted in what appears to be its head. The characters open fire on in through the glass. It returns fire with a flamethrower. Striking Octavian hurting him pretty bad. The characters one by one charge the slug. Stabbing it with a sword (Octavian), and bludgeoning it to death with the bats and the club.
They decide to high tail it to the control center. So they take the elevator back to the elevator hub. To get to the control center they must pass through the shuttle lounge. Which is where to arrange and wait for a shuttle to take you down planet side. As they com in to the lounge. They find them selves in a cross fire from two of the slavebots with auto pistols. They battle taking a fair amount of damage. Gunning one down and charging the other beating it to death. They regroup and Gesh the groups medic heals them up a bit.
They then bypass the lock on the door and enter the command center. There they find a cyboslug, and a strange pedestal bolted to the floor. With a clear top with electronics and bio organic stuff inside. They engage the slug in combat. Stabbing it to death. (the slug had the worst rolls ever and missed every time it attacked.)
As they turned their attentions to destroying the pedestal. It mocked them and started a countdown. Well Omar defused the bomb. It talked some more trash and they felt the station start to shift. The box had started to move the station to crash it into the planet. The killed off the pedestal and regained control of the station. Putting it back to orbit. After they destroyed the pedestal and regain control. Multiple system started to come back up. They saw that a shuttle was heading up to them from the planet. They hailed it. Deputy Agent Tom of Star Law responded.
They greeted him at the docking bay. Deputy Agent Tom looked like R. Lee Ermey. (The drill Sergeant from Full Metal Jacket). He seemed angry wanting to know "What the hell is going on hell!" and held them at gun point till he saw the evidence of the slavebot corpses. He wasn't alone though. With him were a dralasite named Sancho and a human named Petey. Both armed with rifle style weapons. Tom the group went back up to the command center. Tom in his expert opinion figured this looked like the work of Sathar agents. They checked the station records. The Star of Dramune was the only ship to have been at the station in the last two days. Figuring they must be the source of the slavebots and such. Determining that Deputy Agent Tom deputises the group. Commandeering their ship to chase after the The Star of Dramune. That's where we left off. Next week "The Chase".

Friday, September 14, 2007

Aces & Eights

I just picked this game up. I had only heard a little bit about it. Then some folks started talking about it on theRPGsite. It really appealed to me. Then the level of support that it seems to have. Jolly and Mark from Kenzer & Co both have posted on theRPGsite. Answering questions and talking about it. Not to shill, but serving a wanted purpose. I have never seen this kind of support and enthusiasm from a company. I had to check this out for my self. Well I didn't buy a book as much as I bought a Tome. This is the most amazingly complete game I have ever seen. It is fantastic. Basic rules along with more advanced rules that can be mixed and matched any way you like. You can totally customize things for your self rules wise. And did I mention complete. Holy god friends. This thing is the greatest (Bar none) western game or supplement I have laid hands on. The info and the sheer amount of it, is astonishing. If it were not for the fact I'm starting a Star Frontiers game sunday. We would be doing a western game. Do your self a favor go to Kenzer and companies site. Dont just take my word for it. Check this thing out.



Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Steve dont eat it!

You have to check this out!
Steve Dont Eat It

Star Frontiers, Ships Name

Well I'm giving the characters a ship to start off with. Figured it should have a name. So I thought I would put it up for a vote. So here are the nominees:

Ming's Comet
The Scotsdale
Lutefisk
Bad Mother Fucker
The Carp
The Breaker
The Star of Dramune
Zeypher
Dragon Lady

Well there they are vote for your favorite. Leave a comment telling me which one you like. Dont see an obvious choice? Or have a better one? Tell me in a comment.
Thanks for your vote in advance! :-)

(Cross posted at theRPGsite)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Star Frontiers

Well unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding of when we were going to play, and more than a few people were just unavailable. So we will play this coming sunday. Which actually works out a little better I think. Gives me time time to flesh some things out better. Man am I excited about this. Which is a good thing. I wish I could tell you what Ive planned for the players. But as I know for a fact a few read this. I cant let the cat out of the bag. So I will definitely post a summary after we are done sunday.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

The Game


Well as I posted before I sent the players a tone of choices of stuff I would like to run. It came down to two choices. Conan or Star Frontiers. I chose Star Frontiers, as I was feeling it more. And truth be told. I was kind of drawing blank thinking of adventure hooks, and etc for Conan. Which drives me crazy. I'll probably think of ten different things in the next couple days.

But I am totally cool with Star Frontiers. I've had the link to the Star Frontiersman here in my blog, and in my signature at theRPGsite for a while now. I'm glad I can finally run something in it. It is such a fantastic game. Its really a simple game to run. Something I can really get things flowing without a lot of crunch bogging me down. There are two things that I'm a little nervous about though. First off while I've played it many times. It will be the first time I get to run it in a long time. Secondly one of my players is the person that introduced me to the game. Somewhere like twenty years ago. (Wow. I'm flippin old fart now. Son of a bit....) He is one of the first GM's I ever had. So i guess I kind of wonder what he will think of my game. As every ones game is a little different. Well I got to finish up some work for the game. I'll try to post a recap of the session if I can tomorrow.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Hiatus

So I've decided to put the GI Joe game on hiatus. I'm afraid I could burn out on it. With not playing for almost a month. Then the point the players are at in the game transitioning into the Angola portion. I think this is a good place to take a break. So I sent out an email with a bunch of choices of stuff I would like to run. Asking the players their opinion. I repost it here for you to read. (Oh, and yes I ripped a lot of stuff from wiki as I was in hurry. Not to mention I figured if would be easier, plus has all the links built in it.)


Ok this is the follow up to the last e-mail about sunday. I'm going to run a game this sunday. I would like a little bit of your input on it. I have several ideas. So let me throw them out at you. Please look them all over. Follow the links as they provide more info. Then if you could please e-mail me back. Let me know if your interested in playing sunday and what sounds interesting. Again I'm sorry for the short notice. Things have been kind of crazy.

Thundarr - The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin!Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn... A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super science, and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil. He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!
Loosely inspired by R.E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian , Thundarr the Barbarian was set in a future (at the time of production) post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories--the majority of which are ruled by wizards--and whose ruins typically featured recognizable geographical features from the United States, such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mount Rushmore, New York City, or Washington, DC . Other episodes with recognizable settings are located in Central America, while one is in London. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon is now in two pieces, though both pieces still orbit in proximity to one another, and seem to orbit at roughly the same height as the intact Moon once did. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were supposedly caused by the passage of a runaway planet between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth's climate, geography, and tidal effects, the latter presumably because of the damage to the Moon. However, by the time period in which the series is set (2000 years later circa 3994 A.D.), the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new balance.
In this setting, Thundarr, a muscular warrior, and his companions Princess Ariel (who was a formidable sorceress) and the Wookiee-like Ookla the Mok travelled the world on horseback, and battled evil wizards who combined magical spells with technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. Other enemies included werewolves, a predatory, malevolent alien being, humanoid lizards, and mutants.

Roadwarrior -
The story is set in Australia in the near future, depicting a poorly-funded police unit called the Main Force Patrol (MFP), which struggles to protect the Outback's few remaining townspeople from violent motorcycle gangs. The film depicts the future Australia as a bleak, dystopian, impoverished society that is facing a breakdown of civil order, the causes of which are not detailed in this film but which the sequel explains as being caused by widespread oil shortages and a war following the shortages. The film introduces a young MFP police officer, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), who is considered to be the MFP's "top pursuit man". Max has become disillusioned with the MFP's dangerous and ill-matched fight with the violent biker gangs, and has given the MFP notice that he intends to quit the force. Max has another reason to stay out of the line of fire; he has a wife and a new baby at home.
One of the biker gang members, nicknamed the Nightrider, manages to escape from police custody and steal a police car. Max pursues the Nightrider in a high-speed chase, which results in the Nightrider's death in a fiery explosion. After this dangerous chase, which resulted in injuries for a number of officers, Max reminds his commanding officer that his days as a police officer are numbered. Max's commanding officer offers Max an incentive to stay: a customized, black Ford XB Falcon "Pursuit Special " with a powerful 600 horsepower, supercharged V8 engine.
The biker gang, which is led by the Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) plans to avenge Nightrider's death by killing MFP officers. Toecutter's young protegé, the biker Johnny the Boy, sets a trap for Max's close friend and fellow officer, Jim Goose (played by actor Steve Bisley). When Goose's vehicle is flipped over, the bikers burn him alive ("the Goose is cooked") in retaliation for the Nightrider's death. After seeing Goose's charred body in the hospital's burn ward, Max becomes further angered and disillusioned with the police force. To recuperate, Max takes a leave from the police force to spend time with his wife and infant son in the relatively peaceful areas north of their region.
Meanwhile, the gang's vicious leader, the Toecutter, is still thirsting for revenge against Max. The two once again cross paths when Max and his family are on vacation in a remote beachfront area. The gang runs down Max's wife and son, leaving their crushed bodies lying in the middle of the road, and Max arrives too late to intervene. His son is pronounced dead on the scene, while his wife suffers massive injuries to her internal organs.
Filled with a burning, obsessive anger, Max once again dons his leather police outfit and straps on his sawed-off shotgun. Driving the supercharged, black Pursuit Special, he goes out to avenge the death of his family. He hunts down and kills the gang members one by one, including the Toecutter. When Max finds Johnny the Boy, he handcuffs his ankle to a wrecked, overturned vehicle with a ruptured gas tank. Max lights a crude time-delay fuse and gives Johnny a hack saw. He says "The chain in those handcuffs is high-tensile steel. It'll take you ten minutes to hack through it with this. Now if you're lucky, you can hack through your ankle in five minutes. Go." Soon after, an embittered Max drives off into the desolate Outback as the fuse he constructed explodes behind him, leaving Johnny's fate unknown, although a previous scene in which Johnny tries to act tough by burning himself with a lighter and 'wimps out" would suggest that he probably lacked the fortitude for such a gruesome means of escape.

Criminal - Now we've tried this one before. But I think we all learned a lot from it. I think we need to have an agreement of what kind of criminal game we;re going to run. Violent like a Guy Richie film (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch). Or others like Layer Cake, Way of the gun, Get Carter, Lucky # Slevin or Payback. (Which by the way is based on Point Blank) Or do you want to run more of a criminal with a heart kind of thing. Like the Italian Job, Sneakers, or Oceans Eleven.

Conan - 'Know, o prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyberborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.' The golden age of fantasy is brought back to gaming as Conan and Hyboria stride into the realms of gaming once again. This 360-page, lavishly illustrated book realises the world of Conan as never before.Exhaustively researched, Conan The Roleplaying Game features new innovations to ensure combat, magic, character creation and development reflect the epic writings of Robert E. Howard. From the shores of the Western Ocean, to the Sea of Vilayet, the countries of Hyboria are explored, detailed and illustrated. The cultures, religions, traditions, legends and more are all explored to ensure this is the most definitive Conan roleplaying game of all time. This complete roleplaying game lets players and Games Masters alike step into the world of the greatest fantasy hero of all time and shake the world of Hyboria
This is a D20 based game like D&D. So i know all of you will be familiar with the rules. It does change a few things. Like armor absorbs damage as opposed to making harder to hit you.

Mech Warrior - The BattleTech universe
BattleMechs in combat on the cover of Storms of Fate by Loren L. Coleman. Art by Fred Gambino.
The breadth and volume of material written for BattleTech has yielded a fictional universe with a richness and complexity that rivals Star Wars and Star Trek. A detailed timeline stretching from the 21st century to the mid-32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history. Individual people remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, but feudalism is wide spread, with many states ruled by hereditary lords and other nobility, below which are numerous social classes.
A key feature of the BattleTech universe is the absence of non-human intelligent life. Despite one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the only sentient species, making the incessant warfare among humanity's feudal empires seem a more realistic and direct extension of the past and present. Though not the norm, fictional futures in which humanity is alone have been explored in a number of other popular series, including Frank Herbert's Dune, Isaac Asimov's Foundation, Grant Naylor's Red Dwarf, and Joss Whedon's Firefly.
Above all, the central theme of BattleTech is conflict, something to be expected given the franchise's wargaming core. Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles, factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests and duelling, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.
History
Main article: History of the BattleTech universe
Most events in BattleTech occur during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages, including a technical readout describing 2750s-era technology. MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in the first half of the 32nd century. [5][6] [7][8]
Technology
Main article: BattleTech technology
The level of technology evident in BattleTech is an unusual blend of the highly futuristic and the nearly modern. Radically advanced tech like faster-than-light interstellar travel and superluminal communication mix with such anachronisms as internal combustion engines, projectile weapons and artillery. Artificial intelligence , nanotechnology, androids, and many other staples of future fiction are generally absent or downplayed. Incessant war is generally blamed for the uneven advancement. [9][10]
Political entities
BattleTech's universe is governed by numerous interstellar human governments that vie for supremacy. Described below are the major areas into which these factions fall.
Terra
Main article: Terra (BattleTech)
Terra is the homeworld of mankind (no longer called Earth) and former capital of the Star League. Many planets around Terra were rendered uninhabitable during the first two Succession Wars, and surviving planets suffer from the damage even centuries later. Several dozen of these worlds, in what came to be known as the Chaos March, briefly gained their independence between 3057 and 3081. Historically, whichever faction controlled Terra has held more political power than any single Great House. Several groups have held Terra, including the Terran Alliance, Terran Hegemony, ComStar, Word of Blake, and Republic of the Sphere; most of these nations fought bitter struggles upon Terra, scarring the motherland of mankind.
The Inner Sphere
Main article: Inner Sphere
The Inner Sphere, heart of the BattleTech Universe, contains all worlds within 500 light-years of Terra. It is dominated by five "Great Houses": House Davion, House Liao, House Marik, House Steiner and House Kurita. (The term "Inner Sphere" sometimes refers to these houses collectively). The leader of each Great House claims to be the rightful successor to the rule of the Star League, and so their nations are known as the Successor States.
BattleMechs on the cover of Patriots and Tyrants by Loren L. Coleman. Art by Fred Gambino.
There are few other significant nations in the Inner Sphere. The St. Ives Compact was a short-lived state that broke away from the Capellan Confederation after the Fourth Succession War, and was reabsorbed following a brief war in 3062. The Free Rasalhague Republic was created in 3034 by a deal between the Draconis Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth. It rivaled the Capellan Confederation for size, but by 3052 it had been almost entirely conquered by the Clans; in the 3070s, much of it was incorporated into the Ghost Bear Dominion (which is known as the Rasalhague Dominion by 3130).
The Periphery
Main article: Periphery (BattleTech)
The space surrounding the Inner Sphere contains a number of independent nations, known collectively as the Periphery. The largest of these nations (the Outworlds Alliance, Taurian Concordat, Magistracy of Canopus, and Rim Worlds Republic) predate the Star League and rival the Successor States themselves in size, but are inferior economically and militarily. More moderately sized nations, such as the Marian Hegemony or Bandit Kingdoms, also lie near the Inner Sphere. The Periphery contains countless other independent nations, many consisting of a single star system each and rarely playing a significant role in Inner Sphere politics. The mostly uncharted space beyond the nearby Periphery states is known as the Deep Periphery and contains numerous pirate havens and lost Star League colonies.
The Clans
Main article: Clans (BattleTech)
BattleMechs on the cover of The Legend of the Jade Phoenix by Robert Thurston. Art by Fred Gambino.
During the Fall of the above-mentioned Star League, the Star League Defense Force exiled itself and eventually settled in the Deep Periphery. They reformed into the Clans, a warrior-centric caste society relying on genetic manipulation and artificial birth. The four strongest of these Clans returned to the Inner Sphere as would-be conquerors in 3049, were reinforced by three more Clans a year later, and were joined in the late 3060s by another two. Of the original twenty Clans, by 3067 three were absorbed, two were annihilated, two fragmented, two defected, and one was abjured. The Clan Occupation Zones together occupy a region roughly equivalent to one of the Successor States. [11]
Mercenaries
Main article: Mercenaries (BattleTech)
Inner Sphere has many private military companies. Some of them are quite powerful, and their actions have influenced the history of the known universe. Among the most famous mercenary groups are the Wolf's Dragoons, Eridani Light Horse, Kell Hounds, Northwind Highlanders, Gray Death Legion, and McCarron's Armored Cavalry. [12][13]
The Mechwarrior game would be divided in to two parts. The normal RPG with normal characters and etc. When it comes to Mech combat and vehicular combat. It will be done with Mech Warrior clicks.

Star Frontiers -
Setting
Star Frontiers takes place near the center of a spiral galaxy (the setting does not specify whether the galaxy is our own Milky Way). A previously undiscovered quirk of the laws of physics allows starships to jump to "The Void", a hyperspatial realm that greatly shortens the travel times between inhabited worlds, once they reach 1% of the speed of light (3,000 km/s).
The basic game setting was an area known as "The Frontier Sector" where four sentient races (Dralasite, Humans, Vrusk, and Yazirian) had met and formed the United Planetary Federation (UPF). The original homeworlds of the Dralasites, Humans, and Vrusk were never detailed in the setting and it is possible that they no longer existed. The Yazirians were native to the Frontier Sector. A large number of the star systems shown on the map of the Frontier sector in the basic rulebook were unexplored and undetailed, allowing the Gamemaster (called the "referee" in the game) to put whatever they wished there.
Players could take on any number of possible roles in the setting but the default was to act as hired agents of the Pan Galactic corporation in exploring the Frontier and fighting the aggressive incursions of the alien and mysterious worm-like race known as the Sathar. Most published modules for the game followed these themes.
Sapient Races
Dralasites are short, gray amoeboid creatures capable of changing their form to a limited extent by extending and retracting pseudopods. Lacking a digestive system, they consume their food by surrounding and absorbing it. A network of nerves and veins intersects at a Dralasite's two eye spots. They cannot see colors, but have a well-developed sense of smell. They have a sense of humor that the other races often find strange or quirky, and a love of bad puns.
Humans are a race of beings virtually identical to Earthly humans. The most notable difference between these and earth humans are that the humans of the Frontier have a 200 year lifespan (possibly due to the advanced technology of the setting).
Vrusk are an insect-like (arthropoid) race with eight walking legs and two five-clawed manipulating arms. Their ant-like heads included two antennae and two mandibles. They are omnivorous. They are noted for their logical minds and their society is structured as commercial ventures. Many Vrusk give their company name before their given name.
The Yazirian race are somewhat reminiscent of apes. They are muzzled, lightly furred, and have membranous wings stretching between their arms and legs which they can use to glide over short distances in low gravity (their home worlds are all low-gravity). They are descended from a nocturnal species, and prefer to wear tinted goggles to protect their eyesight during the day. They are said to be rather violent and pushy, and have a custom to choose a "life-enemy", which could be anything; a company, person, or a concept. The fictional species was rehashed as Shadow People in TSR's later Dragonlance series of campaign modules. Both the Yazirians and the Shadow People also bear a strong resemblance to the High Martians of GDW's later Space: 1889 RPG. Yazirians bear a passing resemblance to Wookiees in Star Wars especially in the matter of battle rage or a berserker state of mind.
These races were altered slightly and reused in TSR's Spelljammer , and have now been republished in original form for d20 Future by Wizards of the Coast.
The Sathar are a race of mysterious, worm-like beings who are the enemies of the UPF (they are not intended to be used as a player race). They have wormlike bodies of 3 to 4 meters in length with two tentacular arms that end in fine tentacles for manipulation and two tentacles that end in paddles that can be used for heavy lifting (including acting as "legs", lifting the front of the creature off the ground in a humanoid-like stance). Their eyes have two pupils each, giving them good peripheral vision. The races of the Frontier know little about them other than their basic anatomy and the fact that they are hostile, as no live Sathar has ever been captured. Some of the behaviors and motives of the Sathar were revealed in the printed adventures for the game, and adventures commonly featured mercenaries working for the Sathar to undermine the UPF as villains.
There are also other non-player races in the Star Frontiers universe, including many in the printed modules, but these five are the only races who developed space drive technology within the Frontier.
There are many different directions we could go in this. The group could be free traders. Running there own ship. Shipping cargo across the galaxy. This could a legit business or it could be shadier not unlike Han Solo and Chewy. Or maybe somewhere in between. Or the character could work for law enforcment. Or the military, and/or special forces. Or as Mercenaries. Skies the limit.
The Star Frontiersman is a fantastic resource for star frontiers. It even has all the books ever made for the game. Cleaned up and mader as PDF's.

Planet of the Apes - Now it doesnt just have to be the movie. It could be a different post apoc future. Where the humans and apes battle. The monkeys being less high tech. Or a pulp adventure in 20's africa. Or maybe like the movie Congo. Or the apes are invaders from an alternate dimension. Perhaphs intstead of playing humans you play the apes. Heres a sampler of the possibilities and system.

Zombies - Ok this can be a no brainer.(Ha, Ha, ya get? Thats a joke son.) Surviving the zombie hordes. Perhaps fighting zombies in WWI, or WWII. Or many other themes. Shop smart shop S-mart.

WW II - lastly but certainly not least WWII. Play any of the factions. You could be grunts or special forces. Perhaphs pilots, or tankers. Africa, Italy, Europe, and the South Pacific. Are but a few of the locals we could focus on.