|
 Polaris RPG(2016) Part 1, introduction Happy new year everybody and welcome to Polaris. This is actually the third edition of the game but the other two were French only and I know nothing about them. The game itself is set in an post-post-apocalyptic version of earth where everybody was forced underwater because of the melting icecaps and radiation on the surface some unknown number of years ago and two since lost precursor empires later, there now exist several underwater nation states where life has resumed mostly normally. PC's will most operate on the fringes of those societies, either socially as part of the criminal underworld or as mercenaries for a hostile country, or physically, travelling into the vast ocean filled with pirates, forgotten ruins full of lost technology and the occasional unspeakable horror, wizard dolphins or enemy battle fleets. It is also blatantly unfinished and more than once, the rulebook only provides a cursory introduction on a topic before telling you to look in an upcoming splatbook for more information despite the core rulebook being over 500 pages thick already and commits many 90's sins such as having rules text hidden in fluff text, placing large chunks of the setting outside the player's reach, excessively simulationist rules, excessive rules in general, implying rules through formulae rather than writing them out, hinting at extra rules that aren't even there, an arduous character generation system that can leave you with an unplayable character by chance, plentiful trap options all around and a largely pointless second game on how submarines work that will leave half the table picking their noses due to role distribution in addition to all the above problems. The core rulebook is split in two volumes, with the first part holding all the fluff, character creation and game rules and the second one being the armoury, vehicles and their rules, the bestiary, character creation and the game rules. No, that is not a typo, both character creation and the game rules are split between two separate books. Decisions like this will become a theme throughout this review.  Both books open with this not all that helpful map of a handful of the game's population centres, without indicating which nation those cities belong to. Later on, there will be a map of the various factions... but with no cities shown so figuring out who a place belongs to requires both maps. Similarly it doesn't show any other potential places of interest. The map is followed by a preface by main writer Phillipe Tessier, explaining the history of the game. Polaris was first created in 1996 and lists Dune, The Hunt for Red October and Battletech among others as it's inspirations. It was originally planned to take place above ground but the writers quickly decided an underwater setting would be more interesting. An undated second edition followed later but suffered from being too complicated(heh). The game almost died if not for some die hard fans but eventually a French publisher, Black Book Editions picked it up and a successful kickstarter was held, resulting in this book. Next, Tessier talks about what he thought were the two biggest challenges with designing the game, namely including the breadth of underwater related technology that the players could come in contact with and properly simulating the effects of the pressure and darkness at the bottom of the ocean. Tessier found his own scientific knowledge to be insufficient for writing the game how he wanted it to be so he brought a physicist on board(well here's a grog game red flag if I ever saw one). Tessier talks about how while "some" might be annoyed by the technical aspects and find it to be getting in their way of enjoying the game, he considers it to be an essential to making the setting coherent. Next, he brought in a third writer to streamline the game mechanics of the 1st and 2nd editions, which makes me curious as to how horrific those must have been because this game is everything but streamlined. He also brings up the advances in technology that happened in the real world since 1996, all of which is included in the book too because realism. The final few paragraphs of the preface talks about upcoming splatbooks and novels, including a offhand mention of a country that isn't even in the book. This won't be the last time this happens and it won't be limited to just the fluff either. Next up, opening fiction! The story starts in medias res, with mercenary pilot Eryan, an expy of a player party, sinking to the ocean floor inside a suit of power armour, thinking back on him getting contracted by the Mediterranean League to test out a new fighter supercavitating fighter craft, capable of operating both underwater and in the air. Shortly after the start of the test flight, a large submarine surfaces nearby which folds out it's pressure hull, turning into a hydrofoil battleship, which sinks the League's carrier and observation ships and shoots down Eryan's plane. He survives due to his power armour but it is too damaged to deploy a distress beacon or equalize it's buoyancy so he sinks to the bottom. While this happens, he spends an entire page lamenting that the suit of power armour he was issued with by the the stingy fucks of the Mediterranean League has a maximum operating depth of 4000 meters and how he'll surely be crushed by the water pressure. Luckily for him, 95% of the Mediterranean Sea is less than 4000 meters deep and he lands safely on the seabed. Once he is on the bottom, he wanders around for a bit until his suit runs out of oxygen but just before he passes out he encounters an underwater structure with a large eye symbol on it. A door opens, light shines out and Eryan slips into unconsciousness. As he wakes up, the structure is gone and he is about to be eaten by a giant eel but is saved by an even larger underwater spider and passes out again. Next, the sailors Eryan is drinking with call bullshit on the story of his survival, finish their drinks and walk off. This turns out to be a reoccurring problem for Eryan, who finds himself alienated by pretty much everybody since his near death experience, caused by a mysterious entity following him around, quietly persuading everybody around him to not engage with him. On the upside, his manipulative stalker also keeps him out of harms way, soundlessly killing two muggers sneaking up on him while his back is turned. Unaware of this going on behind him, Eryan continues to wander the streets of Equinox, the setting's largest city until he encounters a mysterious hooded figure, who tells him to go home, a command which he immediately obeys without really knowing why. The hooded man is a Silent One, not quite human servant of the Geneticians, the oldest and greatest of the lost empires, and has the ability to not be noticed if he doesn't want to. The Silent One is charged with safeguarding those marked by the Eye, unwitting subjects in a mysterious experiment run by the true masters of the ocean. Metaplot! This is the last time that this experiment, the silent ones or their masters are mentioned in the core rules. Splatbooks! Next up: Book 1, Chapter 1: The World of the Deep
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 01:49
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:18 |
|
|
To resolute to be dead! Charm Person and for Already Charming People Firstly, we should take a minute to explain Court Contracts here on pg 149. Whereas the General and Seeming contracts served to make players want to get more-or-less more magical in a way that they already were magical, Court Contracts serve as a very rough "class" element. Court contracts don't come from the Fae- or more specifically, they are said to be based in a promise directly to the seasonal concept to the court's founder. Because of this, instead of using your Wyrd stat, you use your (cheaper to upgrade) Mantle stat1. Further, you are required to possess a Court Mantle of an equal level or a Court Goodwill of two dots higher2 to purchase clauses- both of these are merits, and therefore cheap. However, this does not count for the first Clause; these are "teaser" contracts because Courts like enticing new members. Also to note, is that using a Clause without the appropriate Mantle/Goodwill costs you Glamour when you use it3. Fleeting stands for the emotion of the court, and Eternal stands for the material goals of the court. Sometimes these don't coincide because  and also because the Courts aren't the products of sane, rational people.Also, I hope you enjoy natural language as rules text! Fleeting Spring Cupid's Eye You learn one of the target's desires. The bonus chart for this is really silly because it uses what you WILL learn as a source for bonuses- learning what is at the forefront is "easier", but do you get to apply that choice first as you are scanning their brain or not? The catch is plum easy to trigger if you use french style cheek kisses in greeting. Growth of the Ivy Charm Person (with all the skeeve it implies), but you are typically only changing a desire rather than creating it- giving reason for the first clause above. The bonus list for this one is kinda funny, seeing as a single success works and you're only using Resolve as a defense. The only real major one is if you are creating a desire out of full cloth; and since an exceptional success makes such a change permanent, having a major penalty actually matters. Wyrm-Faced Stranger Disguise self, but only explicitly what the character you are targeting "wants to see the most" i.e. ST fiat. Doesn't alter media pick-up at all. Useful but single-target. Gives some nice avenue to roleplay since the ST hands you a character of their choosing and you have to roleplay it to solve it. Pandora's Gift Extended rolls for Crafting (because C:tL is the most Steampunk splat). 10 minutes a roll but can make anything a subject desires and last for at least a scene, even with no useful materials. Kinda useless? Unless you're making something obscenely useful for a single scene, its kinda meh. Waking the Inner Faerie So you've altered someone's desires with Growth of the Ivy, but that doesn't MAKE them do it, or make them do anything. But this capper clause makes them do it- period. Abandoning all earthly reasons otherwise, they are going to Steal The Crown Jewels (or whatever). In sum, this contract chain is really just three that line up to create a Mind Whammy and two just plum useful clauses. Its a running gag that whenever White Wolf forgot what else they wanted a contract to do, they just had it craft something or alter the weather. Speaking of: Eternal Spring Gift of Warm Breath You heal all bashing damage, sleep deprivation, and food/water deprivation. One of the first clause contracts that use Mantle because , and also because the exceptional lets you gain a pip of Stamina for the scene.New Lover's Kiss Catch of "a mortal" saying that it looks like rain. And you make it rain- up to a flash flood. Because Changeling the Lost. Warmth of the Blood This will be a long one. Cost of a Glamour and a Willpower (which, depending on your printing, it something that the catch will pay for or only cover the glamour section) The catch of "the target has honestly professed a heartfelt and deep love, romantic or familial, for the changeling" Each success turns Lethal wounds into Bashing wounds, and Bashing wounds go goodbye, with a roll that is Stat + Skill + Mantle (meaning you can sling 15 to 17 dice fairly easily). If you Exceptional, you can convert Aggravated to Lethal (for additional Glamour per Agg3, again) This Clause is the lynchpin of C:tL and its assumed setting. Healing within combat is difficult and pretty much doesn't exist outside of the Spring Court; and even that healing isn't cheap unless you snag that catch. The entire Spring court becomes everyone's beau or brother because of how, with a fairly minor cost of XP, every character is a major healer. And this archetype is, well, the go-to for most SOs that are dragged into a game, which brings them something to do and also a reason for people to be more than a little nice to them rather than the creepy abusive rear end in a top hat figure that is typical. If you asked me why, of all nWoD products, C:tL is the most enduringly popular and champion of fan polls4, this elegant piece of a well-thought out mechanic and how it applies to games would be my answer. Yesterday's Birth You grow a plant, animal, or human (for an additional cost which includes a willpower and can't be avoided by a catch5) up to a season's worth of growth. Yes, this solves those statutory implications because apparently that was necessary. I mean, its nice to put a way to not just avoid but justify the elimination of prepubescent sexualization... and oh, I guess you get fresh fruit sometimes too. Also, doesn't use Mantle because White Wolf.6 Mother of All Deaths A nearby plant grapples up to three (sacrificing your instant and defense, respectively) targets with a roll using your Wyrd score. Decent but, well, grappling your opponent isn't the be-all-end-all? Other than Warmth of the Blood, most of the Eternal Spring is kinda meh. You'll use it when it's useful but they don't often come up. At least Yesterday's Birth chains nicely with Mother of All Deaths if you throw a bag of kudzu seeds on the ground Next time: Summer's Court Contracts. 1 - This is a nice little toe-dip in an attempt to break the God Stat nature of nWoD games, even though Wyrd is in general always useful to upgrade. 2 - Which means that its impossible for someone to have the 4th or 5th clauses of a Court Contract without having joined the court at some point. 3 - Please decide whether this means catches count for this Glamour cost before you start your game. 4 - When the (most recent) Dark Ages kickstarter polled to see which gameline would get another entry, Changeling won every single time- even when paired with the unpopular Sin Eaters line. By the end, Onyx Path just plain stopped offering C:tL as a choice to let other splats have an opportunity to be included. 5 - Another little piece to show why the first and second printings of C:tL change the game; a catch being mentioned as (potentially) reducing a Willpower cost. 6 - While I don't know that this clause was cut & pasted from a general contract, it wouldn't surprise me.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 03:41
|
|
|
 Hey folks, we just posted our most recent review, this time of the licensed game built to accompany Babylon 5. You remember that show? It had the almost-Bruce-Willis security chief and Rousseau from Lost wearing a shell on her head? It's called The Babylon Project and you should check it out.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 06:10
|
|
|
theironjef posted:
Hello old friend. I played this a couple of times in high school.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 06:14
|
|
|
I've been watching B5 with friends a couple of times a week. Have a copy of Babylon Project kicking around, too! I still wonder whose bright idea it was to colour code bits of a character sheet in an era when colour copiers were still rare as hen's teeth.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 06:20
|
|
|
Bieeardo posted:I still wonder whose bright idea it was to colour code bits of a character sheet in an era when colour copiers were still rare as hen's teeth.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 07:07
|
|
|
Ugh, I remember having those inkjet printers and how you had to wait forever to keep it from smearing... and sometimes it never does if you did something color-heavy.
Robindaybird fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Jan 3, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 07:31
|
|
|
Babylon Project's UK release solved the lifting-ink problem...but for some reason couldn't or didn't use all of the US edition's internal artwork. So it copy-pasted stuff to fill the gap, giving you silliness like three EarthForce characters all using the same portrait image. I guess Earth has a lot of multiple births in the future?
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 11:32
|
|
|
Polaris I don't think I can remember any games with those 90's esque fiction interludes which I actually enjoyed, except possibly All Flesh Must Be Eaten, which had some pretty decent fiction interludes. It probably helped that they were never more than two pages of pretty large print, in readable text, and tended to end with the protagonist of said fiction dead, dying or about to be dismantled by corpse-puppeteering aliens, rather than being the a special snowflake or the author's Elminster. Eclipse Phase had a couple of them which were alright, too, but also a lot that definitely weren't. I liked EP's little social media sidebars/pop-ups all over the place, though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 13:17
|
|
|
theironjef posted:
I haven't listened to the episode yet but Babylon 5 was great despite the studios screwing them over during the 4th season. It's also the basis for Star Trek Deep Space Nine, the pilots are identical, but DS9 distinguishes itself with a larger budget and a mandate to go as long as they wanted in a Star Trek golden age brought on by The Next Generation. A Call to Arms was the best game to come out of Babylon 5. It was so good that Mongoose tried to make it a standalone and a version for Star Fleet Battle. It had a great deal of variety and a good campaign framework too. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Jan 3, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 13:40
|
|
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:I haven't listened to the episode yet Don't bother, the first 45 minutes are just one of the hosts saying at length how much he hated the show and how he didn't watch it so hard that he has a loooong catalogue of faults to list. I started skipping 10 minutes at a time and still lost interest long before they even started talking about the game. ACTA was excellent, although it got horribly bloated after a while. The Star Trek (or rather, Star Fleet Battles) version had a solid core but was badly rushed to meet a Christmas launch date; the Federation and Klingon factions are well-balanced but the others are painfully unfinished or just plain don't work.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 15:39
|
|
|
Loxbourne posted:Don't bother, the first 45 minutes are just one of the hosts saying at length how much he hated the show and how he didn't watch it so hard that he has a loooong catalogue of faults to list. I started skipping 10 minutes at a time and still lost interest long before they even started talking about the game. Accurate.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 17:06
|
|
|
Babylon 5 seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it show, even on this very subforum. I remember hppayfle bitching me about about declaring the show stupid and dropping it after only seeing one of the TV movies. The thing about the game is that you pretty much have to talk about the show and make fun of it. The game itself is a pretty unremarkable, by-the-numbers deal, much like the Firefly game and plenty of other adapted games. The Farscape game was D20, and while 99% of D20 is crap, you can always remark on how D20 adaptations/conversions cram things into the D20 mold.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 17:11
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:Babylon 5 seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it show, even on this very subforum. I remember hppayfle bitching me about about declaring the show stupid and dropping it after only seeing one of the TV movies. This is just gonna turn into another Stormbringer, I imagine. Our bona fides: Jon hasn't seen any Babylon 5. I was trying to watch it when Netflix cut it. I think I got about as far as season 3 starting. My most vivid memory of the show is that there was an evil space wizard at one point, which I appreciated as some out-there thinking you wouldn't get in the Star Trek colossus. Of course he was portrayed by a sentient ham loaf which didn't help much.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 17:19
|
|
|
theironjef posted:This is just gonna turn into another Stormbringer, I imagine. Our bona fides: Jon hasn't seen any Babylon 5. I was trying to watch it when Netflix cut it. I think I got about as far as season 3 starting. My most vivid memory of the show is that there was an evil space wizard at one point, which I appreciated as some out-there thinking you wouldn't get in the Star Trek colossus. Of course he was portrayed by a sentient ham loaf which didn't help much. I've watched B5 a bunch of times but for the life of me can't remember this episode so I'm going to assume you mean the guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:03
|
|
|
I just love those licensed RPGs that were terrified that a player might kill an iconic character and bends over backwards to make sure you will never be as good as Darth Vader or Ash Ketchum or whatever. It's even better when the rules are so badly written that despite the author's precautions it's possible to make a character that can one-shot these off-limits NPCs anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:04
|
|
|
SirPhoebos posted:I just love those licensed RPGs that were terrified that a player might kill an iconic character and bends over backwards to make sure you will never be as good as Darth Vader or Ash Ketchum or whatever. It's even better when the rules are so badly written that despite the author's precautions it's possible to make a character that can one-shot these off-limits NPCs anyway. And of course, if you're playing a licensed game, odds are good your players WANT to hang with/deal with/shoot the canon characters in the face.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:05
|
|
|
Loxbourne posted:Don't bother, the first 45 minutes are just one of the hosts saying at length how much he hated the show and how he didn't watch it so hard that he has a loooong catalogue of faults to list. I started skipping 10 minutes at a time and still lost interest long before they even started talking about the game. Yeah, how dare a comedy podcast make jokes about it's subject matter 
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:09
|
|
|
LongDarkNight posted:I've watched B5 a bunch of times but for the life of me can't remember this episode so I'm going to assume you mean the guest appearance by Penn & Teller.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:10
|
|
|
Night10194 posted:And of course, if you're playing a licensed game, odds are good your players WANT to hang with/deal with/shoot the canon characters in the face. That or they want to completely avoid any mention whatsoever of the canon characters, which is a problem when licensed games tend to write with the contrary assumption that you want to hear about the canon characters and have them play big roles in the plot.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:23
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:That or they want to completely avoid any mention whatsoever of the canon characters, which is a problem when licensed games tend to write with the contrary assumption that you want to hear about the canon characters and have them play big roles in the plot. "Rumor has it that there is an alliance of rebels out there trying to overthrow the Galactic Empire. There's no concrete proof, though..." Doresh fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Jan 3, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:50
|
|
|
Doresh posted:"Rumor has it that there is an alliance of rebels out there trying to overthrow the Galactic Empire. There's no concrete proof, though..." Or like "Can we do Rogue One, only with no cameos from Vader/Leia?"
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:54
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:Or like "Can we do Rogue One, only with no cameos from Vader/Leia?" Of course. My hypothetical Star Wars RPG doesn't even mention Jedi. Doresh fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jan 3, 2017 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 18:57
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:Babylon 5 seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it show, even on this very subforum. I remember hppayfle bitching me about about declaring the show stupid and dropping it after only seeing one of the TV movies. Firefly or Serenity? Not that the former was some amazing example design, but I don't know if I'd call it by the numbers. It was one of the better books at explaining how Cortex Plus should work at least. Serenity was a tirefire, and was downgraded to technically playable once they released the second book.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:10
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:Or like "Can we do Rogue One, only with no cameos from Vader/Leia?" thelazyblank posted:Firefly or Serenity? Not that the former was some amazing example design, but I don't know if I'd call it by the numbers. It was one of the better books at explaining how Cortex Plus should work at least. Serenity was a tirefire, and was downgraded to technically playable once they released the second book.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:25
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:The cameo from Leia is vital. It drives home the same point as the ending of A New Hope: everything gained from the revolutionaries' sacrifices are in the hands of this liberal bureaucrat class that may betray them. Is this a reference to an article I missed?
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:26
|
|
|
Kavak posted:Is this a reference to an article I missed? It's a CineD thing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:31
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:Or like "Can we do Rogue One, only with no cameos from Vader/Leia?" The Leia cameo I could take or leave, but Vader actually served a purpose in the movie. I mean, his first appearance was not needed, but just mentioning him as this powerful thing hanging over everyone, the greatest weapon the Empire can deploy, served to ground the movie's scope. If Vader had shown up to fight the Rogue One team, they would have lost. As soon as Vader arrives on the battlefield, any Rebel ships left are all but doomed. It makes a good contrast to the other movies, where Jedi and Sith battle on even footing, to have that same enemy be an unstoppable monster. Just... just don't have him make puns. Vader should not be punny.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:34
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:I actually can't remember which, but it was from early in the life of the Cortex system. One feature of the system I remember was that you could only take a base skill up to D6, and beyond that you had to specialize. This was bad because some skills don't have meaningful specializations (like unarmed combat) and more importantly, because it has never mattered in a Firefly episode that Jayne is only really good with certain guns, or that Zoe is only really good at piloting certain kinds of future-truck. I don't remember it having any of the genre/narrative features of Smallville or Leverage. Just a very basic straightforward iteration of Cortex. That was Serenity, also known for having unclear rules on how to shoot people in a space western. The second book fixed that enough that it was much clearer to know how to shoot people, but it still wasn't great. Firefly was the Cortex Plus version, and while it isn't an amazing game-changer, it was head and shoulders better than the original Cortex version.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:36
|
|
|
And I think I really ought to rewatch Babylon 5 again. Hard to tell whether it was better or worse than DS9 when I watched the latter like two years ago, while I haven't seen the former in at least a decade or so.Halloween Jack posted:The cameo from Leia is vital. It drives home the same point as the ending of A New Hope: everything gained from the revolutionaries' sacrifices are in the hands of this liberal bureaucrat class that may betray them. Rogue One was an adventure. The murder hobo rebels were PCs. Leia is a NPC and that steals the spotlight and metaplot at the end.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 19:37
|
|
|
Vader's stupid pun joke reminded me of the Vader from the Star Wars Radio Drama, who has to narrate his poo poo because you can't see what's going on. Radio Vader is hilarious.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:10
|
|
|
MollyMetroid posted:Vader's stupid pun joke reminded me of the Vader from the Star Wars Radio Drama, who has to narrate his poo poo because you can't see what's going on. Radio Vader is hilarious. Video killed the Alderaan star.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:14
|
|
|
Doresh posted:And I think I really ought to rewatch Babylon 5 again. Hard to tell whether it was better or worse than DS9 when I watched the latter like two years ago, while I haven't seen the former in at least a decade or so. DS9 is much better because it had more time and hit it off well with the Dominion. The Dominion were good opponents, a caste based empire that moves like the Mongols across space, subjugating those that surrender and eradicating those who defy them based on the racist ideology of the Changelings. The Changelings using uplifted and genetically uplifted races for tasks was a nice change too other than being caricatures of second world powers. There are shades of the Vorlon and Shadow's conflict but it's not focused on too much, which is good. The Dominion War is really good and handled the grey areas of war and things like PTSD well. DS9 is also much more progressive. B5's problem is that they had to cram two seasons into one and then get told they got renewed for another season after shooting the finale to season 4. They had to then come up with a season 5 and it's awkward. The CG was terrible, even for the time period it wasn't good because they focused on CGI instead of having models like Star Trek. Star Trek also had the best effects people in the TV industry working for them while B5 wasn't as lucky. The acting suffers in the first season of B5 but they all hit their stride once they lose people and the remaining actors just cop to the fact that B5 is here to stay. The same thing happened in TNG but Patrick Stewart brought everybody up who wished to stay and naysayers like Denise Crosby left. The problem is B5 has no Stewart and is nowhere near as good. The whole review is par the course for System Mastery and I enjoyed it. Bruce Boxleitner was in Tron btw, both Tron and Tron Legacy. He played Tron and Jeff Bridges' friend at ENCOM who created Tron. The whole half-Human/half-Minbari thing is because Humans and Minbari have the same souls and can change back and forth through a process. It's the main reason why the Minbari stopped their war on Earth before they curb stomped humanity into extinction. There's also some other plot things around it that I believe all goes back to the Vorlons creating the Humans and Minbari like that progenitor race in that episode of TNG that is never addressed again. Londo becomes emperor because he made a deal with the Shadows for the position and it's essentially a deal with the devil. You also can't play a Vorlon because they're godlike plot devices that just show up to save the day or ruin it. Just because they believe in free will doesn't mean they're good.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:31
|
|
|
thelazyblank posted:That was Serenity, also known for having unclear rules on how to shoot people in a space western. The second book fixed that enough that it was much clearer to know how to shoot people, but it still wasn't great.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:32
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:The funniest thing about the Serenity RPG was that they were only allowed to use stuff from the movie, not the TV series. The funniest thing about it is that all the planets in Firefly and the movie are in the same star system, which comes down to 20 or so habitable planets in a star system. I really want to know the process they used for that or what licensing rules brought that about.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:35
|
|
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:The funniest thing about it is that all the planets in Firefly and the movie are in the same star system, which comes down to 20 or so habitable planets in a star system. I really want to know the process they used for that or what licensing rules brought that about. fake edit: from Wikipedia quote:According to The Complete and Official Map of The Verse, the Verse is also known as 34 Tauri (2020), although it should be noted that the real 34 Tauri is not a star, but an object accidentally cataloged as a star by astronomer John Flamsteed in 1690 which was later determined to be the planet Uranus. A PDF file titled The Verse in Numbers, accompanying the map on its official website, and from which the map is based, states that in 2020 Earth astronomers discover that 34 Tauri, up until that time thought to be a single star, was actually a cluster of five stars and several brown dwarfs, and soon numerous Earth-sized planetary bodies are discovered. Plans to colonize the system were underway by the mid-21st century when conditions on Earth became so bad that it could no longer support human life and humanity needed to find a new home. Terraforming technology, tested on Earth's moon Luna and the planet Mars, was eventually developed to a level capable of increasing the surface gravity of a moon-sized body to around 1G (Earth standard) and hold surface water and atmosphere necessary to sustain life.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:43
|
|
|
Halloween Jack posted:Pretty sure he means Elric the Technomage. (I know what that is because I watched a few episodes of Crusade. More than I've seen of B5, strange as that is.) Yeah. Elric may as well be shouting "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!" smugly in every scene he's in. But it's not a convincing conceit- it's just written as magic. I mostly remember rolling my eyes until I could see my own brain. Still, I don't think B5 gets the credit it deserves for basically giving us the serial format that's become the norm for a lot of genre shows. For all of its aging effects and hammy performances, most genre shows now resemble B5 more than Star Trek. That being said, the RPG was hobbled by a odd system (that roll mechanic is bizarrely unintuitive) and licensing issues (IIRC they were limited to only having a certain number of screencaps, for example, and I think they couldn't add anything to the setting).
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:45
|
|
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:DS9 is much better because it had more time and hit it off well with the Dominion. The Dominion were good opponents, a caste based empire that moves like the Mongols across space, subjugating those that surrender and eradicating those who defy them based on the racist ideology of the Changelings. The Changelings using uplifted and genetically uplifted races for tasks was a nice change too other than being caricatures of second world powers. There are shades of the Vorlon and Shadow's conflict but it's not focused on too much, which is good. The Dominion War is really good and handled the grey areas of war and things like PTSD well. DS9 is also much more progressive. The Dominion War also plays into DS9s biggest strength: The big focus on non-Federation characters. I think even the biggest Trekkie will admit that those Starfleet officers can get a bit stiff and idealistic at times, so it's interesting seeing the setting through the lens of guys like Quark or Garak who are noticably more self-serving. RocknRollaAyatollah posted:The funniest thing about it is that all the planets in Firefly and the movie are in the same star system, which comes down to 20 or so habitable planets in a star system. I really want to know the process they used for that or what licensing rules brought that about. That must be one hell of a big habitable zone.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:50
|
|
|
Doresh posted:Video killed the Caridan star. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 03:18 |
|
|
We do not talk about the EU.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2017 20:52
|
|