RPG Net?
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Roger Calver
Guest
No idea sorry, its been AWOL all day now.
R
Roger Calver
Guest
Notice on RPGnet.
"Our forums have gotten too big! We're doing some repair work to resolve this, but because of the aforementioned size of the forums, it may take all day."
"Our forums have gotten too big! We're doing some repair work to resolve this, but because of the aforementioned size of the forums, it may take all day."
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Roger Calver
Guest
It's starting to come back up, some of the sections are online now but no forum yet.
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Roger Calver
Guest
Yeah just seen that to, IMO I blame the hiver with the screwdriver
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Malenfant
Guest
Nope, 500,000 posts - half a million! Which apparently is everything since October 06. That board clearly gets a lot of traffic.
R
Roger Calver
Guest
Its showing a data base error now but that may just be that their working on rebuilding it.
Rhialto the Marvelous
SOC-13
And we're back!
Whew. I was beginning to see white mice crawling out of the desktop...
Whew. I was beginning to see white mice crawling out of the desktop...
Lord Iron Wolf
SOC-12
Rhialto the Marvelous...If you're going to use a Jack Vance handle on this forum try Kirth Gersen. It would be much more appropriate.
LIW
LIW
Rhialto the Marvelous
SOC-13
You know, I had to google that name... I haven't read the Demon Princes.
But it sounds as though I should--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Princes
Were the books ever turned into an RPG? The setting sounds retro-exotic in just the right way to feel kinda fresh today.
But it sounds as though I should--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Princes
Were the books ever turned into an RPG? The setting sounds retro-exotic in just the right way to feel kinda fresh today.
Lord Iron Wolf
SOC-12
Hi RTM,
To my knowledge the books: Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face and The Book of Dreams; were never turned into a RPG. Traveller-especially Classic-has the flavor of them and it would be easy to use the rules to create the Gaen Reach.
Definitely treat yourself and read them. If you can't find them in used paperback stores, Science Fiction Book Club has them in Omnibus edition.
LIW
To my knowledge the books: Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face and The Book of Dreams; were never turned into a RPG. Traveller-especially Classic-has the flavor of them and it would be easy to use the rules to create the Gaen Reach.
Definitely treat yourself and read them. If you can't find them in used paperback stores, Science Fiction Book Club has them in Omnibus edition.
LIW
rogermccarthy
SOC-12
With its free frader crews counting every credit, its technologically minimaxed mercenaries and its general Space 1977 feel Traveller seems a very bad match for Vancean SF to me.
For a start the Oikumene/Gaean Reach settings are really one loose confederation with no military to speak of (although there are interstellar police forces that sound rather more Scout- than Navy-like) - so you're not going to find the standard CT chargen system much use.
Traveller random UWP's are also incapable of expressing the sheer weirdness of Vance's societies - or that his inhabited planets are all very earth-like in terms of atmosphere, gravity etc (though not flora and fauna which is as weird as his societies).
In the end Vance is just not interested in the hard-SF, high-tech stuff that Traveller obsesses on and his starships, computers, rayguns etc are purely 'speed of plot' devices which have no value other than to put the characters where he needs them to be.
If I had time to adapt it my own rules choice would be the Dying Earth RPG with starships treated pretty like magician's manses (i.e. they are largely abstract offstage entities that allow the owner certain benefits), an abstract wealth system, very little emphasis on military hardware and combat and a focus on social interaction.
Heroquest (another Robin Laws system) could also do the job if the generic Questworlds version with SF rules ever actuallty comes out.
Haven't played it yet but from what I've seen of the rules the Serenity RPG probably would also be a closer match to Vance's SF than any version of Traveller.
The point being that to represent Vance's fiction properly you need a system that allows you to play out the stuff that an RPG like Traveller would have to abstract - and which abstracts the stuff that Traveller insists on you playing through in gruesome detail.
For a start the Oikumene/Gaean Reach settings are really one loose confederation with no military to speak of (although there are interstellar police forces that sound rather more Scout- than Navy-like) - so you're not going to find the standard CT chargen system much use.
Traveller random UWP's are also incapable of expressing the sheer weirdness of Vance's societies - or that his inhabited planets are all very earth-like in terms of atmosphere, gravity etc (though not flora and fauna which is as weird as his societies).
In the end Vance is just not interested in the hard-SF, high-tech stuff that Traveller obsesses on and his starships, computers, rayguns etc are purely 'speed of plot' devices which have no value other than to put the characters where he needs them to be.
If I had time to adapt it my own rules choice would be the Dying Earth RPG with starships treated pretty like magician's manses (i.e. they are largely abstract offstage entities that allow the owner certain benefits), an abstract wealth system, very little emphasis on military hardware and combat and a focus on social interaction.
Heroquest (another Robin Laws system) could also do the job if the generic Questworlds version with SF rules ever actuallty comes out.
Haven't played it yet but from what I've seen of the rules the Serenity RPG probably would also be a closer match to Vance's SF than any version of Traveller.
The point being that to represent Vance's fiction properly you need a system that allows you to play out the stuff that an RPG like Traveller would have to abstract - and which abstracts the stuff that Traveller insists on you playing through in gruesome detail.
rogermccarthy
SOC-12
Just found this reference on www.siriusfiction.com:
Vance Space (1997) is a booklet surveying a few dozen of the many planets in the science fiction of Jack Vance. From "Aerlith" of The Dragon Masters to "Zeck" of Wyst: Alastor 1716, featuring a star map of the Oikumene and a Timeline tracking historical events of thirty novels. It measures 5.5" x 8.5", 52 pages. Out of print as of 3/2001.
It's by Michael Andre-Driussi (GURPS New Sun) and appears to be as unobtainable as it would be indispensable for anyone planning a Vance RPG...
Vance Space (1997) is a booklet surveying a few dozen of the many planets in the science fiction of Jack Vance. From "Aerlith" of The Dragon Masters to "Zeck" of Wyst: Alastor 1716, featuring a star map of the Oikumene and a Timeline tracking historical events of thirty novels. It measures 5.5" x 8.5", 52 pages. Out of print as of 3/2001.
It's by Michael Andre-Driussi (GURPS New Sun) and appears to be as unobtainable as it would be indispensable for anyone planning a Vance RPG...
Rhialto the Marvelous
SOC-13
QuestWorlds, I'm waiting for that also... it may yet be the first generic RPG that Can Do Anything (tm).
I have Gurps New Sun... that too could use a (new) treatment. It'a sourcebook of facts, not an RPG supplement, really. There simply is not a shred of mood in there. That has its uses, but I'd sell my sandestin for a truly atmospheric New Sun RPG.
I have Gurps New Sun... that too could use a (new) treatment. It'a sourcebook of facts, not an RPG supplement, really. There simply is not a shred of mood in there. That has its uses, but I'd sell my sandestin for a truly atmospheric New Sun RPG.
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