Showing posts with label White Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Star. Show all posts

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Star Wars

I feel the need to make an obligatory Star Wars post today.
But yet I am not quite feeling the excitement.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Star Wars movies and had a blast with all of them.  I loved everything Star Wars growing up too.    I still have a couple of Boba Fetts (one I had to save proof of purchases for, one I bought) sitting on my desk.  I went from being a hard-core fan to a more relaxed one.  I did like the newer movies despite HUGE plot holes (the first movie was about a trade agreement?? really??) and my kids love them.  My adult tastes went more for Star Trek.

I really enjoyed the d20 Star Wars game.  I know "heresy"! How dare I say anything was better than the d6 West End Games version.  I have (or rather my son has) the Revised d20 version.  It is a bit like D&D 3 and so we have been adding it off and on to our regular D&D game.

To me, d20 and Star Wars seemed a perfect match.  I think back to the late 70's and early 80's and what my obsessions were; Star Wars and D&D.  Having played the game a bit I can see why some people don't like it and why some still prefer the WEG d6 version (I don't), but to me it just works. Stars Wars and D&D share history, they share a common place in the Gen X collective sub-conscious right there next to video games.  To me, D&D/d20 and Star Wars just belong together.

Not only was it out at the same time (more or less) I discovered D&D. It became so much a part of my experiences as a kid that is hard to tease out where one influence begins and the other ends.

This movie has: A boy who would be the hero, a swashbuckling rogue, a princess to rescue, a wise old man/wizard/jedi, an evil warrior, an impenetrable fortress, magic, fights, side-kicks, monsters, sword fights and epic battle.  Everything here IS D&D.  They even meet the rogue in a bar!

Yes this another retelling of the monomyth or The Hero with a 1,000 Faces.  That's why it works so well.

Also, I have a long history of dissatisfaction with Sci-Fi games.  It's odd really.  I love Sci-Fi, but the RPGs I have tried (Traveler, Star Frontiers, Alternity) have left me feeling flat.  Star Frontiers was my favorite.   So I guess to me then, the perfect Sci-Fi game would have elements of Star Wars, Star Frontiers and Alternity all powered by the d20 system.  That is also easy to do.  I am a touch surprised I have not tried that yet.

I was talking about this with my wife last night in fact. We are not going to see Star Wars right away, but we are much more excited for the new Star Trek movie to be honest.   She also suggested I pick up the hardcover of White Star and play with that for a while, or even stick with Starships & Spacemen.  Though it is more "Trek" to White Star's "Wars".

Maybe what I need is a solid hook first for some good Sci/Star Wars/Star Trek gaming.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Magic Girls Monday

A couple of products came up on my radar. Since I had some credits burning a hole in my pocket over at RPGNow I figured I'd pick them up.

These games are all of the "magical girl" type in one way or another. So if you like stories like W.I.T.C.H., Sailor Moon, or even Steven Universe then these are good choices.  The systems under the hood is different in each case, but there are some familiar names here.

Star Sailors: The Magical Girl Supplement for White Star RPG
Oh, this one is a fun.  This little book (11 pages, including cover and OGL) is packed full of great material.  Basically this presents a Magical Girl class, the Star Sailors.  Each level the Star Sailor gains a "Heart Power" of a different color. Very cool.  They also get a "Starlight Blast" that is blasted out of her "Star Sailor Starlight Wand".  I know this all sounds silly, but trust me, this is exactly the sort of thing you would see in a Magical Girl show or book.  I also love how each power has a catchphrase.  I would totally make my players say these to activate each attack.
The powers are described, with effects. Also some background on the Starlight Entity.  The sailors also can have mascots, aka pets.
There is also a great monster/big bad for the sailors to fight, the appropriately named "Gloom".
While the book is overtly for White Star it includes some ideas for Modern Times and S&W.
Really, really fun.  The art also really fun and appropriate.
Don't like Magical Girls?  You could, with minor tweaking, turn this into a Green Lantern like organization.

Witch Girls Magical Minutia: Crossover
This book for Witch Girls Adventures previews a bit of the rules we will see in WGA 2.0 and the upcoming super hero games from Channel M. WE are introduced to Nemsis Earth, an Earth populated by superheroes and some differences in history.  Chapter 1 covers the details of this new Earth and it's features, both magical and tech.
The book is presented from the point of view of a Witch Girl travelling across the dimensions.
There are plenty of new equipment for Witch Girl stars and even a new heritage (Half-Metahuman).
Chapter 3 covers Channel M's new "Youthquake" team of superpowered teens.
The general feel of this "Crisis on Two Earths" and honestly I really like that. I wish I had had this back when I was working on Season 3 of my Willow & Tara game where I crossed over to a super powered Earth that resembled the Earth int he DC universe.  While reading this I was also wishing I had an Icons version of this.  Same ideas, characters and text, but Icons as the rules.  They would mesh together rather nice I think.
If you are a fan of supers and Witch Girls Adventures then this is a good buy.
One issue. I hate to bring this up, really. I love Malcolm's work but he should really hire a good proofreader and editor to help clean up his work.  That leaves him to focus on the big ideas and let others do the editorial work.

Sparks of Light
At 110 pages this is the largest of the books I have picked today. No surprise, this is a complete system-sort of.
Sparks is a light hearted game of Magical Girls. I uses the Fate system, but it can be used as a guide for any magical girl game regardless of system.
I think the most important thing about this book is how do the characters relate to each other and too the NPCs.  This is the key feature of any magical girl story whether or not it is Sailor Moon, W.I.T.C.H., Cardcaptor Sakura or even Charmed.  It is the relationships that define the character.  Take someone like Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, he is (let's be honest) useless. But he does have relationships to the rest of the cast and that makes for drama.  Would it make for a good game? No, maybe not, but consider Angel in the first season of Buffy. He was basically Tuxedo Mask.
I also really liked the Hope Points mechanic.  Magic Girls rarely see last death or injury (Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune not withstanding), so hit points don't really make a lot of sense.  Plus the Darkness is not about killing really. It's about snuffing out the light or hope of the heroes.
In this respect it might make it a better game for little kids.  Don't get me wrong, I have played D&D with grade-schoolers and they are a vicious, blood thirsty lot. But they don't have to be.
If you like Fate then is a good game to try out, especially given the price.
If you like Magical Girls then this is a must buy (even if some of this is covered in other books as well).

Personally I think Sparks of Life makes for a great addition to Star Sailors.  Get both books and use them together. Star Sailors for the basic game and ideas and then Sparks of Life to expand on them.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Throwing my hat in

I have been pretty busy this week.  Have a few projects I HAVE to get off my plate.

So what do I do about it?  Simple.  I start writing a new campaign setting for White Star.

I am not ready to reveal what it is yet, I just only got started.  But here is what I can say:
- It is called "Children of the Stars"
- It is Earth-humanity based.
- It is very, very 70s in feel and ideas.

I am not replicating any of the rules from White Star and I am going to assume that you can use everything from the core rules and leave it flexible enough to use anything else. 

It is based on a few things I have posted here over the years and I think I have something new, different and fun.  Art is going to be the issue. I have not found any I really like.

I just hope I can get it done before the blush is off of White Star!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

PWWO: Wildstar Corvette + OSR SciFi Games

During my brief foray into scifi games in the 80s I had managed to create one thing, the FTL Lucifer.
The Lucifer was a Corvette class spaceship, small, light but deadly.  The historical Corvette was also a class of small war ships just larger than a Frigate. It had a small crew of officers (aka PCs) and enlisted personnel  (hirelings).  It is a perfect vehicle (pardon the pun) for a game.
A good friend of mine drew a picture of a ship for me and it was perfect.  Well....it was perfect because it was what I used and was fond of the drawing.

I lost the drawing years ago, but I kept the Lucifer.
Over the years I expanded on it and wanted to use it in a Star Trek game that never got going.  It was the first in a line of ships all named after devils in various myths.  So there was the Baalzebul, the Fek'lhr and the Kosst Amojan.

Recently I discovered Wildstar Class Corvette/RPG Battle Maps by Wydraz.
It's not perfect, but it is really, really close.   These maps are largely system free, though there is a solid hint of both d20 and Star Trek influences.  That is fine by me.

Since I am unlikely to recover the original drawing of the FTL Lucifer, this is a good substitute.
But this only gives me the basics;

Length: 340'  (104 meters)
Beam: 230' (70 meters)
Height: 80' (25 meters)
Tonnage: 18,000 (16,300 metric tons)
Cargo Capacity: 2,000 tons (1,815 metric tons)

Main Batteries: 2 dual plasma cannons
Crew Cabins: 4 Officers Quarters, 20 double crew cabins
2 Shuttles, 10 Escape Pods.

Nice little ship.

But to use it a game I will need some stats.  Thankfully I have some games I can stat it up in.
Let's see how it Plays Well With Others.

White Star
+James Spahn
The FTL Lucifer
Corvette Class Warship

ARMOR CLASS: 2 [17]
HIT POINTS: 100
SHIELD STRENGTH 10
Movement 9
TARGETING +1
ATTACK Dual Laser Cannon x2 (4d6)
Range 14
MODIFICATIONS Faster-Than-Light Drive, Proton Missiles (optional)

Cost: 100,000 CR
Crew: 4 Officers, 40 enlisted max.

Starships & Spacemen
+Dan P
The FTL Lucifer
Corvette Class Warship (CC)

Crew complement: 44
Command Rank: Lt. Commander ("Corvette Captain")
Power Pile Base: 150 energy units (one-half pod)
Teleporter Capacity: 2 at a time
Beam Banks: 2
Ion Torpedoes: 1
Shuttle Ships: 2
Sick Bay Capacity: 6

Stars Without Number
+Kevin Crawford
The FTL Lucifer
Corvette Class Warship 

Cost: 6.1m
Speed: 1
Armor: 5
HP: 40
Crew Min/Max: 10/40
AC: 6
Power: 50
Free Mass: 20
Hardpoints: 5
Class: Corvette

Fittings: Advanced nav computer, Auto targeting system, Drive 6 upgrade, 10 life boats, ship bay.
Weapons:
Dual plasma cannons (2 hardpoints each), 4d6 each, Power 10
Torpedo launcher (1 hardpoint), 3d8, Power 10
Defenses:  Augmented Plating

Machinations of the Space Princess
+James Desborough and +Satine Phoenix
The FTL Lucifer
Corvette Class Warship

Crew: 40
Attack: +2
Scale: 6
Hit Points: 5HD (22 hp)
Armour: 1d4
Defence: 6
Speed: Moderate
Weapons: 2 dual plasma cannons, 1 torpedo launcher
Toughness Save: 7
Reflexes Save: 5
Power Save: 8

Customisations: Can't Land, 10 escape pods, medical bay, science suite, shields, shuttle bay.


I like how each game gives a slightly different view of this space ship.
So who is ready to board the Lucifer and do some exploring!

Friday, May 15, 2015

Review: X-plorers

This really has been a lot of fun going through all of these OSR flavored Sci-Fi games (or are they Sci-fi flavored OSR games?) anyway. I am going back a bit to 2009 and X-plorers which comes to us from +David Bezio and  Brave Halfling Publishing.

X-plorers is somewhere in the middle of Starships & Spacemen and White Star. Both thematically and in terms of rules.  There is a more of an old school vibe of this one.  So to continue my analogies to the point of breaking, X-plorers is more Buck Rogers, the old serials and 50s sci-fi movies.

The book itself is 41 pages. This includes cover, title page, ogl page and a trademark license.  The trademark license is nice.  You can make content that is "X-Plorers Compatible" as long as you abide by the license.  Yes other games do this too.

Characters have class, hit points, and levels just like most OSR books.  The characters in X-Plorers though only have 4 attributes; Agility, Intelligence, Physique and Presence. They are still ranked 3-18. There are also four classes; Scientist, Soldier, Scouts and Technicians.  Personally I think some sort of Royalty or Ambassador class might have been a nice inclusion as well.
There are some multi-classing rules too which are nice to see.

Equipment is covered next.  The basic unit of commerce is the credit (cr).  It functions largely the same way the gold piece does.  Gear and weapons are covered, but also vehicles and robots.  Near the end we cover skills as well.

Chapter 3 covers running the game.  This includes saves, combat and skill checks.  All similar territory to other games.

Chapter 4 details Space. This covers ships, buying and outfitting with crew as well as combat.  Each phase of combat is discussed, so the gunner, engineer, pilot and so on.  This reminds me of some the of old school Naval ship battles.  Ship repair is also covered.

This is followed by a referee's section.  This covers creating a game and running one.  There is a small section on Aliens and Planets.
NPCs, Allies and Monsters are featured in the next section. I would have liked more, but again, these are easy to take from any fantasy game.

Chapter X is an adventure/background piece on Roswell.  There are even stats for the Greys, whic is really cool to be honest.
Chapter Y covers psionics and pyschic characters.  This is also pretty cool.

We end with some sheets for characters and ships.

X-plorers is a light game and designed to emulate the games of the 70s.  So in that respect it does the job well.  Some people will want more, but there is still a lot here.  Rule-wise it reminds me more of White Box Swords & Wizardry, in fact you could use S&W as the rules and the rest as add-on.

There is a free version with no art, X-plorers (no art)a Quick Start, a printable Players Guide, and Character Sheets.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Review: Starships & Spacemen 2e by Goblinoid Games

I have been in a real Sci-Fi mood of late.  Partly due to the new Star Wars film coming out, partly due to the release of the revised d6 Star Wars game out there on social media, but mostly due to the release of White Star.  It got me thinking about about another favorite game of mine, Starships & Spacemen.
If White Star is "Star Wars" then Starships & Spacemen is classic "Star Trek".
The author, +Dan Proctor admits his love for Star Trek in the forward of the book, and the cover is certainly evocative of the Original Series.

So what is Starships & Spacemen (S&S)?  It is a "military style" missions-based, old-school game in the milieu of Star Trek.  First off it is important to point out that while this is the "2e" version of Starships & Spacemen it is more compatible with Goblinoid Games other products like Labyrinth Lord, Realms of Crawling Chaos and Mutant Future.  In fact I would go out on a limb and say Mutant Future is a must have since it has rules that can used to create mutants aka aliens.  Realms of Crawling Chaos is Cthulhu and those creatures are aliens after all.  Labyrinth Lord of course provides more monster/alien creatures.
Also, given that it is compatible with Labyrinth Lord it is also compatible with 100s of other products also compatible with LL.  It is also compatible with 1000s of other OSR/Old School products too.

The book itself is 95 pages of content, some ads for other Goblinoid Games products, two full color covers (front and back), character sheet, ship record and hex map. There is no OGL page that I could see.

The system is class and level based.  There are various races your character can belong to. Three basic classes all in the "Confederation" military-like branch; Military/Command, Sciences and Support/Tech.  Or if you prefer, Gold Shirt, Blue Shirt, and Red Shirt.  There is Officer level advancement to level 12 and Enlisted advancement to level 9.  So if you are running a game of a starship "boldly going where no one has gone before" then you are set.   While I am enjoying class/level systems much more now than ever before I do have some issues with this, but I will talk about that later.

The introduction covers the basics of the system; very much the same as Labyrinth Lord.
Section 2 covers the characters and character creation.  Here we have our classes and basic races.
Each class has some basic skills that improve with leveling and each race has ability modifiers.  The races are as expected pastiches of the expected races. This is fine since it works so well here. There are a couple of others too, including some reptoids and a frog like race.
Equipment covers the expected range too.  Though there are two entries that caught my eye. The robot dog for you K9 or Daggit fans.  Also there is a telepathic dog.  This caught my eye because back in college I ran a brief "Trek" game where the medical officer had a telepathic dog on board.

Section 3 covers Psi powers.  These are not class based, but a random  d6 power.  The powers are detailed like spells and there are couple of special powers for stronger characters.  Like other sci-fi games built on the d20 core adding new powers can be easy, but care should be given as to not make the game too much about powers.

Section 4 covers Planetary Adventures. Or what your away team is doing. This covers a lot of "adventuring" style topics including mapping, various weapon damages, and other hazards.

Section 5 is the meatiest of the book.  This covers Galactic Adventures.  I think my favorite bit here are all the space hazards.  Space Mirrors, Gravity Wells.  Enough for a full season of starship disaster scenarios. Atmospheric combat, diseases and even time travel is covered.  So of the top of my head nearly any episode of the classic series can be reproduced with this chapter.  How is plays out of course is up to the players.

Section 6 covers Starships and discusses their basic use, creation and stats.  Combat systems are covered, energy weapons, solid projectiles and shields.  Transporter Teleporter systems are discussed including the ever popular mishap (yes there is a table).   Computer systems are covered (yes they can run more than one program!)  Ship to ship combat gets a pretty decent section since it covers new ground.

Section 7, Alien Encounters is the biggest.  This covers not just sentient aliens, but "monster" types as well.  Again move creatures from other games back and forth here with no effort.  The best section is the random "forehead" alien system.  Roll some dice and you have a new alien race. You can even randomly determine a background and environment.
The flows right into Section 8, Alien Artifacts.  Lost tech of ancient civilizations.

Section 9 is advice for the "Star Master" or Game Master.  Some brief background on the setting is given.  There is just enough information here to start a campaign and then get going.  Really this is all you need.  The game is one about exploration and discovery.  So it follows that much of the galaxy should be unknown.  This game is so flexible that you can do just about anything with it.

Frankly, the game really is awesome and has all the joy of Labyrinth Lord, only with spaceships and lasers.

Critiques
Ok so this game is perfect for a Trek-like game where everyone is serving aboard a starship.  The class/level system works for this.  But I do have two issues I want to bring up.  One is outside the scope of the game, the other is inside it.
First off. If I want to play a game of "Orion" Pirates or Smugglers I have to bend my Officers level advancement a bit.  Indeed, some of the classes would not quite work with a group of characters where everyone has to do a little bit of everything.  Yesterday my friend Greg Littlejohn (gm for my oldest in his other game) talked about a Smuggler class.  That might work well here too.

Secod point is the level titles them selves.  While it make perfect sense to have a bunch of Ensigns (1st level) running around doing things, it makes less sense when everyone on 10th+ level and all Admirals.   For this I would use the level titles as suggested ranks only.  Or maybe make the PCs part of a special task force that allows them to work outside the normal ranking system.

Despite this there is enough here to make it all work.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Review: White Star by James Spahn

Unless you are living in an OSR-free zone you may have missed the big release this week of "White Star" from Barrel Rider Games and +James Spahn.

BRG had made a name for itself publishing classes for "Basic" era D&D/Labyrinth Lord which is how I discovered them. Recently James has made the switch with some very successful products for Swords & Wizardry. In particular he released the White Box Omnibus to much acclaim.

White Star is a similar quality effort, but represents a serious step up in terms of quality and content from his previous efforts.  This is immediately obvious in terms of the quality of the cover art, but the interior really lives up (and beyond) that first impression.
White Star is Space Opera viewed through an old-school RPG lens. So think Star Wars.  Not the series of movies really, but just the first 1977 movie.
Starting with the basics the book is 132 pages, two pages of cover art, two blank pages and one page of OGL. As usual BRG is very permissive with the content of the books.  So this amounts to 128 pages of content (127 + OGL).  Not a bad deal really.
The book is divided up as expected.  Chapters on Attributes, Character Classes and Races (more on this in a bit), Equipment, Game Play, and Combat.  These chapters are more or less similar to what you might find in S&W White Box. Not a copy, but a re-write to accommodate the style and tone of the book.  The remaining chapters cover the important topics of SciFi; Starship Combat, Gifts and Meditations, Aliens and Creatures, and Advanced Equipment.  There are also chapters on The White Star Campaign, Interstellar Civil War and Kelron Sector, and the Second Battle of Brinn.
As my friend, Greg Littlejohn says, "just enough meat on the bones, yet room on the plate to add some nice sides."  That is 100% true.

Character Classes and Races
The classes of White Star are simple enough to cover a variety of character archetypes.  The classes include Aristocrat (think Princess Leia or Paul Atreides), Mercenary (Boba Fett, nearly every movie in the 80s), Pilot (Han Solo), and Star Knight (Luke).  There are also two race as classes, the Alien Brute (lots of examples), Alien Mystic (Yoda) and Robot. Each class is 10 levels and presented in the same format as S&W.  So one could easily move classes back and forth between the two games with ease.

Sci-Fi Chapters
The chapters on Starship Combat and Alien Creatures are really the star here.  Starship combat of course can be easily ported over to S&W as ship combat.  But there are a lot of really cool nuggets here.  It is also one of the chapters where the pure "Star Wars"ishness of the book fades a bit into some "Star Trek".
Alien Creatures covers a wide variety aliens. Nearly everything is here; Borg, Greys, Fluffy aliens, the lot.  Since everything is S&W compatible you can move anything back and forth from S&W to White Star. This little feature opens up thousands of creatures to WS.  

Gifts and Meditations covers the magical-like powers used by Star Knights and Mystics.  Many of these are re-skinned spells. You could add more powers as spells, but only carefully.  Some spells are not entirely appropriate for a sci-fi setting.

The last three chapters cover roughly a White Star campaign universe.  The Kelron Sector is given some detail. Enough to get you going and enough to give you a good idea of what is going and where you can take it your own.   If you watched any Sci-Fi in the 70s or 80s then you will recognize a lot of the pastiche here.

What can I say about White Star?  It is one of the best Sci-Fi games I have picked up.  The more and more I play, the more and more I like level and class based systems for space opera.  It seems right to me somehow.  I think it is because I discovered Star Wars and D&D right around the same time and to me they always go together.

IF I had one criticism it would be I would prefer Sword and Wizardry Complete rules or Labyrinth Lord. But that is weak-sauce on my part really. I could convert it if I wanted.   I can say it would be perfect for my "Greyhawk 3000" game I want to do.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

White Star: Sisters of the Aquarian Order

White Star from BRG and +James Spahn is the new hot game in the OSR crowd right now, and with good reason.  It is based on Swords & Wizardry (so it is simple to learn and play) and flexible. So flexible you can do Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune and any number of other sci-fi epics.   I have been spending a lot of time with it and hope to spend some more.

This class is first attempt to add something to the game, and it is familiar ground to me.  So much so I had it written in my head by the end of my commute last night.

The Sisters of the Aquarian Order (Aquarian Sister) have their geneses not only from my witch class (they can be considered to be the evolution of the Aquarian Tradtition) but also from such sources in Sci-Fi like the Bene Gesserit (Dune), the Sisterhood of Karn (Doctor Who) and the Night Sisters, the Witches of Dathomir (Star Wars).

--
OGL Notice: The following text is considered OPEN under the Open Gaming License. 
Section 15: "Sisters of the Aquarian Order " copyright © 2015 Timothy S. Brannan.

Sisters of the Aquarian Order
The Sisters of the Aquarian Order, also known as Aquarian Sisters, or often "witches" are an exclusive order of human women that train their minds to go beyond what humans can normally do. They spend hours in trances communing with a hive mind that contains all the memories of all the members of the Order past and present and some even claim future.

The purpose of the Order is to carry humanity to the stars and beyond.  In ancient times when mankind was still battling over feudal lands the Order was plot the stars. When humanity was first using solid fuel rockets the Order was projecting their consciousness beyond our own solar system into the the stars.  Now that humans have taken their rightful place among the stars the Order does what it can to keep humanity moving forward.  To what future, only they know.  They believe that humanity is on the cusp of a new consciousness and a new age.

Aquarian Sisters often serve as councilors, advisers and ambassadors.  They can be found in planetary governments, great powerful houses or even on starships.

Sisters of the Aquarian Order (Witch)

Prime Attribute: Charisma
Hit Dice: 1d4 per level.
Armor: none or light
Weapons: An Aquarian Sister may only use very simple weapons as they spend no time learning how to use them.
Special Abilities: Psychic Powers, Rituals

Level
XP
HD (d4)
BTH
ST
Psychic Powers
2345
1
0
1
+0
15
Empathy
1----
2
2,600
1+1
+0
14
2----
3
5,200
2
+1
13

21---
4
10,400
2+1
+1
12
Clairvoyance
22---
5
20,800
3
+2
11

221--
6
40,000
4
+2
10

322--
7
80,000
4+1
+3
9
Telepathy
3221-
8
160,000
5
+3
8

3322-
9
320,000
5+1
+4
7

33221
10
440,000
6
+4
6
Telekinesis
43322

Aquarian Sister Abilities

Skills: All Aquarian Sisters are skilled in basic astro-navigation having memorized hundreds if not thousands of star systems.

Saving Throws: The Aquarian Sister gains a +2 bonus to any save versus charm, hold or mind affecting powers.

Psychic Power: At first level and every 3 levels hereafter the Aquarian Sister gains a Psychic Power.

Rituals: The Aquarian Sister can perform rituals that have almost magical effects.  These powers take longer to activate and use than their psychic powers, but have greater effects.  These rituals are complicated and can only be used once per day each.

LEVEL 01 RITUALS
Bewitch I
Cause Fear
Charm Person
Drowsy
Far Sight
Read Languages
Soothe
Sonic Blast

LEVEL 02 RITUALS
Agony
Bewitch II
Blast Shield
Calm Emotions
Detect Thoughts
ESP
Hold Person
Invisibility
Locate Object

LEVEL 03 RITUALS
Aphasia
Astral Sense
Bewitch III
Liar's Curse
Mind Rash
Mirror Image
Scry
Toad Mind
Tongues

LEVEL 04 RITUALS
Bewitch IV
Confusion
Divination
Elemental Armor
Emotion
Mirror Talk

LEVEL 05 RITUALS
Bewitch V
Charm Creature
Dream
Feeblemind
Nightmare
Overlook
Sending
Teleport


Monday, May 4, 2015

A to Z of Vampires: White Star SPECIAL Space Vampire

Heck with it.  Here is a special vampire for today.  To celebrate the release of +James Spahn's "White Star" here is a blast from the past, the Space Vampire of the 25th Century. The Vorvon!  Also useful for +Dan P's Starships & Spacemen or +Kevin Crawford's Stars Without Number.

The Vorvon

The Vorvon is a vampire from the darkest reaches of space. They are vampires and some even say they are the source of the vampire myths on hundreds of worlds.  They stand at just under 2 meters tall.  Their skin is a sickly pale blue color and what hair they have is thick, course and black.  They have long fangs, and long taloned fingers. It is through these talons that they drain life energy.  The vorvon can choose to drain either 2 points of Wisdom or 2 points of Constitution per touch.  The vorvon can go great periods of time between feedings, but once it meets up with intelligent life it must feed till full (30 points of Con or Wis drained total).

Vorvons do not cast shadow, reflection and they do not show up on security cameras or video recordings.  They have infrared vision to 120 ft and can survive the vacuum of space.

They are immune to the effects of energy based weapons except ones at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum.  These do 1d6 points of damage per firing.  Also the vorvon can shoot and energy blast of their own.  This is actually anti-life energy (also known as necrotic energy) to effect others.

The vorvon can hypnotize (as per the psychic power). Anyone drained by the vorvon becomes a mindless "half-dead" slave under it's control.

A mystical ward will hold it off; a diamond shape made up of four smaller diamonds.

The only way to destroy it is to get it within 800,000 km (500,000 miles) of a star.

Vorvon
AKA: Space Vampire
Frequency: Very Rare
No. Apperring: 1
Size: Man-sized (M)
Armor Class: 2 [18]1
Movement
 Basic: 180' (60')
 Advanced: 18"
 3e: 30'
Hit Dice: 10+5 (50 hp)
% in Lair: 50% (coffin by day)
Attacks: energy bolt,  Energy Drain (touch),
Damage: 1d6, Energy Drain
Special Attacks: Hypnosis,
Special Defenses: Only killed by close orbit to sunlight; immune to energy weapons*
Save As: 102
Magic Resistance: 55%
Morale: 103
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 10/5,750 + 12/hp

STR: 21 INT: 11 (Normal) WIS: 11 DEX: 18 CON: __(15)4  CHA: 85

1 Descending and [Ascending] Armor classes are given.
2 This is used for Basic games, and S&W. Also for monsters that I think need to save a little differently than others.
3 Morale is "Basic" Morale and based on a 1-12 scale.
4 Have not decided yet if I want to use 3.x style undead Constitutions or not. (15) Reflects what their Con would be if I do use it.  I might just put a number in () like I do for Ghosts of Albion.
5 obviously more reflective of personality and character than looks.

The Vorvon first (and last) appeared in Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century episode "The Space Vampire"

May the Fourth be With You

It's "Star Wars day".

I suppose you will be seeing this in a lot of places today, but I also want to increase the volume on this.  James Spahn has released his old-school Space Opera epic, White Star.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148169/White-Star-White-Box-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry


James and BRG has come a long way since putting out LL compatible classes for a buck.
This should be a hit for him.  It is already #1 at RPGNow.com