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New Battlestar Galactica as a setting?

MrMorden

SOC-12
I've been watching the new BSG series, and I really like it. I was thinking about creating a T20 campaign set in the BSG Universe - here are some of my thoughts on how to set it up:

* The colonies were capable of TL15, but the average TL is closer to 13-14. The Galactica is TL12, except that all computers on the Galactica are purposely kept to TL10, with no networking capabilities. Ships in the "ragtag" fleet range from TL9 to TL13, and have various capabilities.

* The Colonial "Mark V" Viper is TL14. The Galactica only has a couple left (most were annihilated during the opening engagement of the war in the series pilot). The "Mark II" is TL11. Both are light fighters in the 10-15 dTon range, and mount two pulse lasers (in the show they use autocannon, so you could state they are auto cannon with the same damage stats as a pulse laser; shorten up the range and give it a finite ammo supply) and a single missle rack.

* The Colonial Raptor is a 30-40 dTon recon/electronic warfare craft designed to scout ahead of the fleet, and to support the fighter squadrons by providing tactical jamming and EW suppression. It has FTL capability (which requires some changes to OTU FTL rules).

* The Cylons are generally TL14-15, but in the area of computer systems they are TL16-17. The typical Cylon Centurion is a TL16 Robot with limited AI capability. The human-looking Cylons are TL17 Pseudo-biological constructs with full AI equivalent to high-intelligence humans (INT 15-18).

* The FTL drive system in BSG is significantly different from the OTU. It seems that jumps do not use a significant amount of fuel, and happen instantaneously. They do seem to be shorter distance than in Traveller. It seems Jump-1 would be the maximum Traveller-equivalent jump distance. So you'd have ships that could jump often, and pretty much instantaneously, but not far. In fact, most jumps appear to be in-system jumps.

Is anybody else intrigued by this setting, as it relates to Traveller?
 
I was thinking about using the d20 Star Wars rules for this instead of Traveller. The SW rules would definitely work better for the old BSG. Just change a few names of classes and get rid of the Jedi. LucasFilm always accused Glen Larson of stealing from Star Wars anyways...

Scout
 
Well considering where the Star Wars plot came from - farmboy avenges family killed then goes on to become a hero, very original.
The ships in both the original and current BSG are interesting. The prison transport looks like an enlarged Subsidized Liner so around the wheel we go.
 
I sure it is only a matter of time before we get a T20 sanctioned BG spinoff (Hunter & MJD, I guess this constitutes a wish list).

Personally, I would favor a hybrid between the old & new series. Could we envision on this fleet that there exists Manufacturing capacity or is the Galatica self-sufficient in this matter. Also, we have yet to see the Galatica in the new series act like a Dreadnaught as it seems to be just a giant carrier. Surely, the Battlestars must have some greater offensive capacity when it is supposed to be defending an entire fleet of humans?
 
Originally posted by kafka47:
I sure it is only a matter of time before we get a T20 sanctioned BG spinoff (Hunter & MJD, I guess this constitutes a wish list).

Personally, I would favor a hybrid between the old & new series. Could we envision on this fleet that there exists Manufacturing capacity or is the Galatica self-sufficient in this matter. Also, we have yet to see the Galatica in the new series act like a Dreadnaught as it seems to be just a giant carrier. Surely, the Battlestars must have some greater offensive capacity when it is supposed to be defending an entire fleet of humans?
Almost certainly true there will be an RPG about the series, but there's no guarantee it will be a d20 game (look at the abominable babylon 5 RPG), or that it will retain the hard science fiction feel of both Traveller and the series.

I'm so in love with Traveller (and have been since 1980), that for most settings I'd rather adapt Traveller rules to it than wait for an "official" RPG that will almost always be inferior.
 
I think rather than opt for a solid rulebook, the producers of the series should look to a gaming platform (which is what I meant to say). And, given what we know about the series thus far...Traveller would be perfect.

This could come in a short booklet format with loads of art and schematics from the show (one of my biggest regrets as a ten year old was not buying something called the Battlestar Galatica Blueprints Book) totally not more than 50 pages and maybe an adventure thrown. This could either be a PDF or Dead tree product.
 
From reading threads about the SG-1 rpg license over on rpg.net* I've gleaned that movie/tv companies don't know or really care about any particulars of a RPG. A good pitch and the potential to make a good return for the licensor are key. Which doesn't add up to d20 in general or Traveller in this case by default.

As for there being yet another T20 licensed product personally I'd like to see some more info on *existing* T20 licensed games and other products in the works products before even dreaming of wanting more. That being said offhand I’ve read a list of changes needed to tweak T20 to run the new BSG and it wasn’t long at all. So T20 could be used for the new BSG but so could several other current RPGs (Space d6 and Lightspeed for starters).

As always, YMMV.

Casey just looking for One Divine Hammer

* including postings by key people who work for rpg companies that have licensed products
 
The BSG jump drive does require fuel. The fuel is not hydrogen however, but something that has to be mined from asteroids and is rare enough for cylons to guard and thus prompt a battle between a Cylon base and the BSG vipers. I'm thinking that's its more like a jump catalyst rather than a jump fuel. I believe the BSG fleet runs on hydrogen fusion, but to get anywhere they need their FTL drive and that requires a catalyst that gets used up in order to work. BSG would make a good T20 campaign however.
 
Maybe they need a heavy metal or the like as a reaction mass in their ion drives. Fusion provides the power, the tylium provides the mass.
 
Seems to me that if They don't have FTL, what their fusion drives can do wouldn't make much of a difference. Traveller has some substance needed to make jump drives. FTL drives are just about impossible, so perhaps we need some rare fantasy substance like tylium or dilithium crystals to make the FTL drive operate. Aside from that, I'd rather just use fusion or fission drives to manuever within system. It was even mentioned in the episode that they had enough tylium to make one more jump. How far this jump was was not stated, so for RPG purposes we could make it what ever we want. In many episodes the BSG location doesn't seem to matter much as the action appears to occur within the fleet. I'm not sure if the BSG is moving further and further from Caprica or is just in hiding, this is of some import to Helo if he ever gets of Caprica. Now how is he going to find the BSG if the Cylons can't.

The solution seems to be to wait until the Cylons do find the fleet and Helo can follow the Cylons, hopefully without being detected, and then join the fleet before in makes its escape.
 
That is the only way that I can imagine him returning to the Fleet. The BSG Fleet is trying to evade the Cylons, so naturally it won't be easy to find for a lone human and a renegade Cylon-human
 
Actually, the drive systems seem to be chemically based. I recall from the old series about how "obsolete" nuclear power systems are.
 
MrMorden,
I've integrated old BSG material into my traveller campaign with many twists...not close to being a traditional campaign.
I generally agree with your direction with one exception. Having TL10 computers on a TL12 ship because they're not networked doesn't make a lot of sense. My TNE era campaign does not have significant networking on its ships for the very reason that Galactica doesn't. However, if your trying to closely follows the show, I'd suggest that TL12 computers, systems and ship would be appropriate. It does appear that the new Galactica uses a heavy duty, hardwired voice communications system.
Savage
 
I'd be inclined to agree. Odds are that there's a series of smaller systems (one for each function) rather than one giant mainframe to run everything.
 
This could open into an interesting conversation actually. If one was doing a "true" to the SciFi Series RPG would the cylon humanoids be AI at all?
They seem more like Borgs. Human shell with some machine upgrades...as though Cylons tried to fix the human frailties... The AI is still a mystery. We don't know if its mechanical (positronic) or biological. I'd say none of the tech I've seen is TL16-17. Although the cylons have experimented with biological engineering. Perhaps based on Colonial bioengineering...tough to say at this point.
 
Originally posted by Savage:
MrMorden,
I've integrated old BSG material into my traveller campaign with many twists...not close to being a traditional campaign.
I generally agree with your direction with one exception. Having TL10 computers on a TL12 ship because they're not networked doesn't make a lot of sense. My TNE era campaign does not have significant networking on its ships for the very reason that Galactica doesn't. However, if your trying to closely follows the show, I'd suggest that TL12 computers, systems and ship would be appropriate. It does appear that the new Galactica uses a heavy duty, hardwired voice communications system.
Savage
Speaking strictly of the new series, there were two reasons I chose TL10 for Galactica's computers:
1) the networking issues already described, and
2) the Galactica is at the end of its service life and is still sporting some obsolescent equipment.
 
Originally posted by Savage:
This could open into an interesting conversation actually. If one was doing a "true" to the SciFi Series RPG would the cylon humanoids be AI at all?
They seem more like Borgs. Human shell with some machine upgrades...as though Cylons tried to fix the human frailties... The AI is still a mystery. We don't know if its mechanical (positronic) or biological. I'd say none of the tech I've seen is TL16-17. Although the cylons have experimented with biological engineering. Perhaps based on Colonial bioengineering...tough to say at this point.
I'd say that the intentional "rebellion" of the Cylons implies intelligence. Also, the Cylons have FTL drives in their fighters, which is something the Colonials can't do.

I'd say overall the Cylons are TL15, but in certain areas like computing they have some higher TL abilities.
 
MrMorden, was that a shadow I saw behind you?? Probably, just lights playing tricks.. :eek:


YTU is yours...we're just trying to help because you asked...

Your running a SF BG campaign so it would be different than what I've been doing...however;
1) yeah exactly....they don't have networking. They have phone communications and each computer is independent. We can do the basics today.
2) Yes. Galactica is old...in the original 200yrs old. We know that lower tech vessels have shorter life spans. I'd say many of the vessels from T20 would show up in classic but TL10 is too low. Also, A high tech fleet wouldn't have problems hunting a TL10 battleship. One other note, the refueling episode gave them 1 yr of fuel. What's your workaround?
next note:
3) I felt the opposite. To become intelligent the cylons built biological machines...however they really have failed. We see their biological models programmed around a specific emotion...lust..etc
Their reaction to attack their masters was programmed not intelligent. It's based on a sentiment that their superior (stronger, more technical, more loyal to god, etc...). So they
should exist not the colonies.

Here's a thought. What happens if the 3rd imperium builds a ship that intended to last and not just cutting edge. In my campaign, like real life, ships can have refits and life extension. It looks like the SF BG has been refitted.

So say we all!
 
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