Serentity/Firefly 'verse using MGT
- Thread starter GamerDude
- Start date
In-System travel times make for an interesting enough environment. If you consider the 'verse to be a multiple system (kind of has to be to provide earth-like sunlight on worlds in so many orbits) then you've got a gaming space that takes weeks to cross....
It also means you don't have to have a ship that's a twenty percent gorram fuel by volume....
Sounds good. I'd include Anti-Rad as a permanent effect as well - remember they run without core containment.
S&P 57 has stats for the Reptii ships, which include a harpoon grapnel gun. Load them up in tripple turrets and you've got the perfect reaver armament.
Actually, it looks like the closer you get to the core worlds, the more you get the Chinese influence, whilst the further out you get, the more Americanised it is. Which..sort of makes sense. The most distinctive bits of Chinese culture are the urban/imperial bits, whilst American self-image hangs a lot on the frontier spirit. I'd probably push that a bit more - which wouldn't be hard to do as we hardly ever see the core worlds (for obvious reasons).
alex_greene
Guest
I can well imagine lunchtime on the Firefly set, the cast tucking into their sandwiches ...evo said:
Nathan: What've you got?
Morena: BLT.
Jewel: Er, beef.
Alan: Chicken. Well, it tastes like chicken.
Summer: Bear ...
alex_greene
Guest
This next bit of news will send shivers down the spines of people who imagine the possibility of reuniting the cast of Serenity.
This July 24, Summer Glau will turn thirty.
This July 24, Summer Glau will turn thirty.
Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
GamerDude said:
Why bother? Really, the big problem with Serenity is the background is, frankly, unimaginative and dull. Mock cowboys from a (failed) mock confederacy gets real booring. Bonanza in space.
There are better ideas out there, or write your own.
The thing is, writing Serenity up for MgT is too easy (yes, I did it as a test of how well I understood the MgT rules), about a side of hand written A4 paper (the rest, planets, star charts etc is just fluff). For what it's worth, a TL10 society (though some folk use archaic weapons, 6 shooter and rapiers for stylistic reasons), though outer worlds have lower available tech, in a dense cluster of systems where almost every star has at least one earth size planet that can be quickly terraformed. I did think about using hyper drives rather than jump, and using the HG rules for lower tech space ships, but it's probably not worth redesigning the ships.
With a ye har and a yippy aye yay
Egil
Edited for clarity
GamerDude
Cosmic Mongoose
Just to chime in as the original poster... I've taken my "serenity" universe in a new direction. Actually I've mentioned my project several times on the forums.
I had what I thought was some really good stuff, but damm every group and every convention I run at I get the Serenity version of Traveller or StarWars canonistas. People who even after I've said that "This is close but some things Joss did didn't make sense, and I've gone throught he movie and episodes about a dozen times checking things. Please don't try to correct me ok?"
Gawd the arguments these people are determined to have no matter what I say. I have a rule against players using computers at table, and after telling a group this one dude just insisted he was going to run his (crawling under the table and BETWEEN my legs to get to the damm outlet) and it was his buddy that argued with me for 45 minutes on where the airlocks are on a firefly AND where the adventure said they could dock on the other ship.
SO what I have been doing is detailed background... extensive time line... radical concept in how certain tech was developed, a few twists from the standard Traveller OTU/TPTU, Totaly new ships, what I think is an intriging stellar-political situation (yes, STELLAR, not just 30-something 'terraformed planets' in one system).
I had what I thought was some really good stuff, but damm every group and every convention I run at I get the Serenity version of Traveller or StarWars canonistas. People who even after I've said that "This is close but some things Joss did didn't make sense, and I've gone throught he movie and episodes about a dozen times checking things. Please don't try to correct me ok?"
Gawd the arguments these people are determined to have no matter what I say. I have a rule against players using computers at table, and after telling a group this one dude just insisted he was going to run his (crawling under the table and BETWEEN my legs to get to the damm outlet) and it was his buddy that argued with me for 45 minutes on where the airlocks are on a firefly AND where the adventure said they could dock on the other ship.
SO what I have been doing is detailed background... extensive time line... radical concept in how certain tech was developed, a few twists from the standard Traveller OTU/TPTU, Totaly new ships, what I think is an intriging stellar-political situation (yes, STELLAR, not just 30-something 'terraformed planets' in one system).
According to Quantum Mechanix, and the Arc of the 'Verse, there are 5 systems and 250 terraformed planets and moon. The "one system and 30 planets" was only the emerged part of the iceberg. Do not limit yourself to what you saw in the series. It makes a bigger playground.
Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
evo said:According to Quantum Mechanix, and the Arc of the 'Verse, there are 5 systems and 250 terraformed planets and moon. The "one system and 30 planets" was only the emerged part of the iceberg. Do not limit yourself to what you saw in the series. It makes a bigger playground.
So the daftest thing in Firefly/Serenity moves even further from any realistic sense of astrography. The astro-physics of Narnia
Egil
Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
GamerDude said:
Good. The thing to do is something original, perhaps along the lines of "liked Serenity?, you will love the new "Pleasent Valley" MgT setting".
(Should avoid all the whinges from obsessed fans)
Egil
And ? what's the problem ?
I am not an astrophysicist. I'm a *GAMER* (and fan of the Firely series, a good mix between SF and Western). And as such, the QMX Atlas of the 'Verse is great. Obviously, I do not have the same opinions as you, but unlike you, I remain open-minded. If your only pleasure in this topic is to spit on the face of Serenity / Firefly fans, being sarcastic and contemptuous, that's sad. Please spare us your negative comments.
Thank you.
Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
evo said:
The "problem" is when it claims to be "SF and Western". Fantasy (like Narnia, or Buffy), fair enough.
The "Verse" and it's background is cliched and derivative, sorry if that unsettles what appears to be your closed minded adoration of it.
Oddly enough, I saw the Serenity movie yesterday (second time), it's fun, but, to be honest, there are many much better westerns, SF movies, and, for that matter, more coherent fantasies.
Egil
I like serenity. I love it's characters and some of the background. But much of universe is decidedly silly. Unfortunately this really can detract.
I recently re-watched the series and... other than a few episodes, a lot of it isn't that great unless mal, jayne or kaylie is talking... It just isn't fantastic media. It's certainly good, and it's certainly enjoyable, but it has gained a level of fan adoration which is a little silly.
I recently re-watched the series and... other than a few episodes, a lot of it isn't that great unless mal, jayne or kaylie is talking... It just isn't fantastic media. It's certainly good, and it's certainly enjoyable, but it has gained a level of fan adoration which is a little silly.
Egil Skallagrimsson
Mongoose
barnest2 said:
Absolutely agree.
Egil
About the noted planets and systems, have a mix of the tip of the iceberg and the full lot, just hit somewhere in the middle - clearly in my eyes there are too many planets terraformed in that amount of systems and such, but also, its up to the GM, I mean screw it, just use what you like and limit the star map by whatever is comfortable.
Also I like the idea of China having more of an influence in the inner systems and America in the frontier-like outer systems, I have a similar outlook in my Cstars games with Mercury being purely Chinese owned and some presence (in lesser degrees each time on each world further out) and the frontier past the Asteroid Belt as the ol' American frontier 8)
Also I like the idea of China having more of an influence in the inner systems and America in the frontier-like outer systems, I have a similar outlook in my Cstars games with Mercury being purely Chinese owned and some presence (in lesser degrees each time on each world further out) and the frontier past the Asteroid Belt as the ol' American frontier 8)
What I blame you is your behavior. You seem to be sarcastic and contemptuous. But I could be wrong, since English is not my mother tongue. I like the Firefly serie and Serenity movie, but I'm not a fundamentalist, worshiping "thrice blessed holy Whedon". And I like them for the reason you describe : that's full of clichés, and derivative. I do not want strange races (like in Star Wars or in the 3rd Imperium), I don't want eccentricities. I want a conventional universe, that my players can easily refer (close to Alien, Pitch Black, Sunshine, etc.). Serenity fills the contract, and I find that the Map of the 'Verse is a pleasant medium to lean on in game.
In brief : low tech and free minds on the frontier !
Right. I think actually there are too many terraformed planets. Unless the TL in terraformation field is far superior compared to the average TL. I do not know how many of habitable planets I will place in *my* universe.
You could also have a "system" as a subsector and do it that way, obviously its not a solar system, but at least that way you're not going against canon hugely, and you could just use "system" as a Serenity Trav term, plus you could play a whole campaign in the one "system", making the game seem more "local" than it would be, adding your mix of Chinese and Americana for flavour 8)
Egil Skallagrimsson said:
And Traveller is quite cliched and derivative of Poul Anderson, H. Beam Piper, C.J. Cherryh, Jerry Pournelle, Isaac Asimov, etc., etc. Doesn't make it a bad background. It makes it easier to explain to the players, and they know what the genre conventions are.
