Kickstart Your Weekend: Axanar

If you have been on the internet at all over the last year you might have seen the Indiegogo campaign for Star Trek: Axanar.   If not, here is the link:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-trek-axanar#/story

It takes a bit of Star Trek lore, the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation and talks about the pivotal battle that won the war.  The Battle of Axanar and the Captain of that battle, Garth of Izar, were detailed in the Original Series episode "Whom the Gods Destroy".

This though is several orders of magnitude beyond what the Original Series could do in effects and a better story than we have seen in the theatres in a long time.

Here is the first part, done as documentary.



The full movie plans to be even better.

Here is a teaser trailer for the movie with a bit more background on what is going on.



Frankly this looks so good and "feels" like Star Trek.

Plus Tony Todd shouting "I DO NOT FEAR THE KLINGON EMPIRE!"... I mean come on.
That has got to be worth some of your dollars.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-trek-axanar#/story

1901: An Æther Space Odyssey

All month I have been talking about Ubiquity and all week about the ether space of Space: 1889.  But while I am off in a world of fantasy the real world of science and space has done some really great stuff.  Below are some artist renditions of the recent New Horizons photos of Pluto.

http://timsbrannan.tumblr.com/post/124151141014/homostook-hungry-for-change

Then combine that with this video that appeared on my feed today showing the Magnus Effect.




Which lead me to read about the Rotor Ship. All of this has combined to produce something new(ish) in my mind.

1901: An Edwardian Æther Space Odyssey

January 1901. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, Jedak-Regent of Parhoon, Mars has died.  Her son Albert Edward, now Edward VII, has picked up production of the empire's fleet.  He has decreed the 20th century to be the new dawn of the "Space Age".
Aiding this is a new invention by Nikola Tesla, the Tesla-Magnus Rotor.  This new form of ether space propulsion threatens to make the Edison engines obsolete.  They offer better maneuverability in close quarters to smaller celestial objects and now thanks to super conducting magnets found in the asteroid belt they can be pushed to speeds of up to 4.5 mm/d!

The first of five new ships, The HMS Victoria, has been equipped with this new drive and it will begin the race to the outer planets.  Now the fabled diamond mines of Jupiter and the cloud cities of Saturn are within reach.  Even the mysterious planets of Uranus and Neptune are now within a two year journey.  Who knows what lies beyond? A ninth or even tenth planet!

The Victoria is a long range ship with a crew of 50 and supplies for 2 years.  The ship features 12 Tesla-Magnus rotors. Two each on the fore (bow), aft (stern), dorsal, ventral, starboard, and port sides to affect three dimensions of movement. It is also equipped with a main sail and two secondary sails for normal ether flight.

I never claimed to be an artist.

Now if Tesla can only figure out how to make the radio work at the same time the engines are going.

What is "Space 1901"?
Well there are some very, very obvious things going here.
First off it is a nod to the classic Arthur C. Clarke book 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Like that book, this will deal with mankind's first attempt to reach Jupiter. Though this time with a background of Imperial Colonialism.
Also as much as I enjoy the Victorian setting of Leagues of Adventure and Space: 1889, I wanted to move out of the Victorian setting.   I also was not overly wedded to the Pulp action of Hollow Earth.
The Edwardian period of 1901-1910 seemed like an untouched area in gaming.
And of course Tesla.  How could I not do something with Tesla?
There would be a bit of "Star Trek" to this (strange new worlds) and "Space: 1999" (cut off from Earth).
I am sure I will have more ideas when I am done reading Revelations of Mars.

Monster Manual released on PDF

WotC has released the 1st Edition Monster Manual on PDF for the price of $9.99.

Looks like that is up from $9.95 when it was originally released. Damn inflation!

The Monster Manual was the first RPG I ever read. The one that started this whole crazy business for me.  I judge every RPG I pick up against how the Monster Manual made me feel.  Does it ignite that fire of excitement and creativity? Will I spend hours and hours reading the pages?

Review: Space 1889 - Red Sands (Savage Worlds)

Another very quick side-step from Ubiquity to look at another version of Space: 1889.

Space 1889: Red Sands

This is the Savage Worlds update to the classic Space 1899. Like it's fore-bearer this is a game where brave men and women from Earth brave the Ether to travel to a dying Mars or a Venus covered in lush jungles and dinosaurs. Loosely based on the works of Burroughs and Verne this is a space travel game with a twist. There is plenty of room for adventure and the opportunity to plant the flag of the British Empire on a new world or even find adventure of your own.

It is the Savage World rules and you need the core rules to play this. It is great fun and it is to date the best reason given to me to play Savage Worlds.
The only downside to this is that there is no conversion notes from the old Space 1899 to the new system. But that is minor compared to all the material you get here.

The book itself is 193 full color pages.
The "value add" for this book is that it focuses completely on the Space: 1889 universe.  The character creation rules, combat and the rest are all in the main Savage Worlds book.
This leaves room for the "Savage Tales" chapter which is full of adventure hook, ideas and mini-scenarios. Note: There is nothing stopping you from using these with any other edition of Space: 1889 you might own.

This is also a time to address the Pachycephalosaurus in the room.  Why choose Ubiquity over Savage Worlds?

Ubiquity vs. Savage Worlds

Both systems are designed to "generic" systems.  I also associate both system with Pulp-era action.  In fact I might have even said here at some point in the past that Savage Worlds was my "go to" system for Pulp Era Action, but I think I have to give that nod to Ubiquity now.

Though both seem, on paper anyway, of handling the the type of adventure found in Space: 1889.  The Space: 1889 - The Strange Land adventure even comes in both flavors, Ubiquity and Savage Worlds.
I suppose then it is a matter of taste.  Savage Worlds gives you access to things like Rippers and Gaslight.  But Ubiquity gives you access to things like Hollow Earth Expedition.

Review: Space 1889 - GDW Edition

Not taking a break from Ubiquity month here, but I am taking a side step.  I want to look at the the other version of Space: 1889 and talk about their utility with the new Ubiquity version.  Plus there is a lot of material out there that can be found in book stores and at DriveThruRPG for the original version that can, with some tweaking, be used with the new version.

So like the song says, let's start at the very beginning.

Space: 1889 was originally released in 1988 by Game Designer's Workshop.  I am reviewing my old GDW hardcover from the time and the new PDF by Heliograph, Inc..  The are identical in most respects, save for copyright information.
The book is 225 pages with covers, ads and maps.  The maps are also really nice featuring the three faces of Mars and of Venus.

The book lacks proper chapter numbers, but instead goes with titles.
The Introduction covers the basics of what Space: 1889 is all about.  This includes a brief history of the last few years and some of the events of the modern day of 1889.
Characters covers basic character creation.  Today a point-buy system is the defacto means of character generation for most games, but in 1988 it was a new-ish idea.  Characters have six attributes, Physical attributes of Strength (Str), Agility (Agl), and Endurance (End). Psychological attributes are Intellect (Int), Charisma (Chr), and Social Level (Soc).  Like Ubiquity and Unisystem these are ranked 1 to 6.  Characters are given a total of 21 points to distribute among these attributes.
Characters also have 24 skills they can train in either via Careers or training aka purchasing extra skills.    Also detailed is Wealth, which is a function of Social level and what career you may or may not have.
A few guideline careers are offered with suggestions on what attributes they should have.

Up next is the Victorian Age.  While I didn't get to play this game much back in the day, I devoured this chapter. It is the Victorian age, but not exactly like the one we know from history.  Afterall the British were not fighting on Mars back then.
The chapter is largely Anglocentric, which is to be expected really.  There is not a lot here we have not seen before...except that this is one of the first Victorian Sci-Fantasy games on the market.  Even Masque of the Red Death would be another year off and Cthulhu by Gaslight was still not everywhere yet.
Note: Those three games, Masque, Cthulhu by Gaslight, and Space: 1889 made up a sort of holy trinity for me back in the late 80s and early 90s.  So much I wanted to do with them all as one campaign.  College though got in the way...

The Referee section covers basic rules, NPCs, adventures and experience.  The system is largely a Attribute/Skill Dice pool vs a Target Number.  Not too difficult really, and in fact still playable by today's standards.

Equipment is predictably a large chapter.  More so than the Characters and Referee chapters combined. But it also has nice illustrations of various equipment including weapons.  Heck it is worth looking just for the picture of the rail gun! This is also one of the chapters that has utility for other games.  I have not compared the prices or other stats of the weapons with other versions of the game, but they seem consistent.  Indeed, the prices and stats (range, rate of fire) are useful for plenty of other games too.   I have not run down the lists in all the games, but it looks like there are more weapons in this version.  The PDF and the hardcover includes the original color inserts.   I love the designs of the Martian ships. Wery cool.

The follows right into the Science chapter.  This one is of course just fun.  Flying through the ether and other weird science.  This covers building your own equipment and inventions.

Combat covers... well combat.  All sorts of conditions are covered, ground, aerial, missile, melee, and heavy weapons.   There are even sections on explosives and animal combat.  Color inserts here too.

The next two chapters cover Travel.  The first is Travel and Exploration and Space Travel.  Personally the meat of these two chapters is the Space Travel.  Several points of interest in the Solar System are discussed, mostly the inner planets and the asteroid belt.

The next chapters cover the various locations in the Solar System. Luna, Mars and Venus. Each deals with the unique flora and fauna of the planets. The most detail goes to Mars of course.

We end with some useful charts.

The art throughout the book is a mixed lot.  Very much a part of the times of the late 1980s.  Though I noticed some good Jim Holloway and Jeff Dee illustrations.  Judging it by today's standards though isn't really fair.

The game is still surprisingly playable today.  Though in my heart the newer Ubiquity version has eclipsed it.

I have not come up with a conversion between this and the Ubiquity one yet, but it looks like it would be pretty easy to be honest.  They are roughly scaled the same, skills might be a problem but for the most part it seems pretty easy.  The nice thing is reading this version (again) I can take adventures and supplements designed for it and use them with Ubiquity easy...or rather, easier.

League of Extraordinary Ladies: Batgirl

Here is another installment of the League of Extraordinary Ladies.

The premise is the same as that other League, only gathered this time are powerful women. I am going to alter backgrounds a bit to better suit the time and the place. Overtly these are for Leagues of Adventure, but I think I can safely mix in some Space: 1889 as well.

Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)

One of the youngest members of the League, Batgirl is a top notch athlete, researcher and crime fighter.
Barbara is the daughter of Chief Constable James Gordon and was trained by the shadowy figure only known as The Bat-Man.  By day she works as a librarian at the Gotham Library, which gives her access to the collections thousands of books and periodicals.  She has amassed a collection of crime files that she hopes will be of use to herself or others someday.

Health: 8
Style: 2

Primary Attributes
Body 4
Dexterity 5
Strength 3
Charisma 3
Intelligence 5
Willpower 4

Secondary Attributes
Size: 0
Move: 8
Perception: 9
Initiative: 10
Defense: 9
Stun: 4

Skills (levels only)
Academics, Criminology 6
Archery 5
Athletics 6
Drive 2
Firearms 6
Investigation 6
Larceny 6
Linguistics 3 (English, Latin, French)
Medicine 3

Melee 6

Performance 2

Ride 2

Stealth 7

Streetwise 6

Talents

Attractive
Danger Sense
Headstrong
Well Connected

Resources
Ally 3 (the Bat-Man)
Contacts (the Justice League) 4
Contacts (Criminal) 5

Flaws
Obsession (protect others)

This Batgirl is not Oracle. Not yet anyway. This concept is actually closer to the newer "Batgirl of Burnside" younger Babs.

Again with these I am not sweating the points. I want them to feel like their comic book counterparts.

Review: Space 1889

Space: 1889 was always one of those games that I wanted to play, but never found the time or the group to play it.  I remember picking up a copy back when I was in college and was...well odd to say the least, but still I loved the idea.  It was very much Jules Verne meets H.G. Wells meets Nikolai Tesla meets Weird Science.   The book sat on my shelf for years though unplayed.

Fast forward to Summer 2013 and there is a new Space: 1899 in the works, this time as a Ubiquity game. At the same time the makers of HEX are giving us a Ubiquity-based Mars game.  Seemed like a good time really to jump onto the Ether-ship to Mars.

Space: 1889
This review covers both the PDF and the hardcover book.  The book is 260 full-color pages, with some black & white art.   The hardcover comes with a ribbon bookmark.

It is a gorgeous book really and one that really captures the feel of the original GDW game.  For the first time a Ubiquity book (this time published by Clockwork Publishing) breaks with tradition and gives us some of the background and setting first.

The first few pages, Prefaces, The World of Space: 1889 and  Storytelling in Victorian Space, cover a bit of background and set the stage for what it to come.

Now. Let's be fair.  While this is a science-fiction or science-fantasy game, a lot of real science is ignored to make it work.  Just go with it.  Think about this from the point of view of the Victorians. Many who thought electricity still had "divine" attributes.

Earth (there are no proper chapter numbers) covers Earth. In particular it covers the space exploration of the time and the Alt-Victorian timeline.   If you are using League of Adventure with this, then you will need to figure out which alternate timeline you want to use.  Or just make up your own.  It also covers a little bit on adventuring on Earth. But with all this I am sure you are not going to stick around.  Stats for various creatures are presented throughout.

Mars is next.  This is not Barsoom but the Mars of Space: 1889.  It has influences from various Sci-Fi stories, but this is all new to many.  This chapter covers Martians, the lands, flora and fauna.  I have toyed around with the idea of scraping this Mars in favor of a John Carter version of Mars, but that would really be wasting a lot of good material here.

Venus is our next chapter.  This Venus is the lush, tropical jungle filled with dinosaurs. Not the planetary hellscape we know it is today.  This I am inclined to keep as is.  I read a lot of sci-fi from the 60s and 70s that still described Venus like this, complete with dinosaurs and too me that is just too much fun.  Something like Jurassic Park meets King Kong only on a planetary scale.  The day of Venus is modified to fit more Victorian understanding of science and is not the 117 day long days we know it to be now.

Mercury is not very long, but still a fun read.

The Ether might be the funnest, and most important, chapter in the book really.   This deals not only with the mechanism of space travel, but also the medium.  Here we really get into the Jules Verne-ieness of it all.  This is fun chapter for me because I can see uses of this in other games.  For it's also about having my cake and eating it too.  I love RPGs, but my first love was and still is hard science.  I think that is one of the reasons I have trouble finding a good Sci-Fi game but can play any fantasy game. The Ether is a way for me to hand wave all the scientific inaccuracies and just focus on the fun.

Next we get into the "rules" section of the book.

Characters covers character generation.  This is pretty much the same as other Ubiquity games and that is a nice plus.  I know my League of Adventure characters can now travel to the Moon or Mars.
Now the nice part of this chapter, and something that can be used in other Ubiquity games, is the "Variation on Starting Points".    Your core-book standard is known as a "Promising Character" now. But you could also start as an "Unlucky Fellow" with almost half the starting points or as a "Veteran" with a few more points.  This is something that the Unisystem game system does in all their games and it works out brilliantly.  I expect it would work just as well here.
The Archetypes section includes a nice variety including a couple of Martians. There is no special Talent to buy to be a Martian. Nice change of pace really.

Rules covers rules.  Combat, Damage, and Healing cover that as well.  Again this is a Ubiquity game so these rules are not very different than other Ubiquity games I have read and played.

The main differences in these chapters is the focus on space travel and the planets characters can travel to.
The Equipment chapter should be noted for the shear number of new items this adds to the Ubiquity body of work.

One of the funnest chapters is the Inspiration one.  This is no mere list of Victorian era sci-fi.  Books of fiction and non-fiction alike are listed, with an accompanying paragraph on why they are inspiring. Even a handful of comics are discussed.   TV shows and movies are just listed.  This is afterall, a literary time.

The Glossary is rich and very useful. The Index covers topics and rules.
We end with one of the best looking Ubiquity character sheets I have seen.

In the hardcover the maps of Mars and Venus are on the liner pages.  In the PDF they are seperate wide pages.  In both cases the maps are gorgeous.  They would look fantastic as framed art prints.

This game is a guilty pleasure and I wish I could play it more often.

I might spend some time this week discussing the other versions of this game.