tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post8727295265597351529..comments2024-03-28T08:17:07.009-05:00Comments on The Other Side blog: Plays Well With Others: Horror in Space (BlackStar)Timothy S. Brannanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923526503305233715noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-45664928997522770832022-06-03T00:59:11.104-05:002022-06-03T00:59:11.104-05:00If you're into Star Trek meets Cthulu, I'd...If you're into Star Trek meets Cthulu, I'd highly recommend you check out the comic The Outer Darkness. It's pretty much exactly that. A real highlight was the idea that the ship's facilities can easily recreate any crew member's body, but retrieving the dead men's souls before they slip out of range risks drawing a demon onto the ship and is thus reserved for officers of a certain rank.TPmanWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08415910295872695542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-67079638642066010842022-05-14T10:31:16.188-05:002022-05-14T10:31:16.188-05:00I'll be honest...I haven't really been fol...I'll be honest...I haven't really been following (or reading) these BlackStar posts. I just went back and skimmed 'em (six years worth!) and definitely remember the first one and being...eh. Not super impressed (with the concept or the enthusiasm)...recall that the the "Black" in BlackStar was an acronym based on the systems you were using. Probably didn't help that a lot of these posts figured "things Trek" and I'm not really a Trek-guy.<br /><br />That being said, I AM a fan of space horror...it is perhaps the only type of horror I really dig (perhaps because I find space to be a very scary thing). I don't think that bit was emphasized enough at the beginning...and so I didn't follow the evolution of the thing. However, stuff like The Black Hole, Event Horizon, and (duh) Alien are right in my wheelhouse...and, the horror stuff found in (especially) the original Star Trek series was a lot of my favorite and most memorable bits (Space 1999 had some horror stuff, too, though I didn't watch much of it). <br /><br />The intersection of horror and SciFi (I guess "dark SciFi") was a large part of my childhood, I guess, and it left an impression. I can still recall watching the old Logan's Run TV series...and I was, what? Three years old? Four? Lot of darkness back in the old days with the "post apocalyptic" wasteland influence (even Buck Rogers)...it wasn't till the late 80s/90s that all that stopped except for the odd entry like Pandorum. We stopped being scared after the Star Wars SDI boondoggle. Hell, we could always nuke the aliens from orbit, right James Cameron? Hoo-AH! Marines!<br /><br />Movies like The Thing, War of the Worlds, Invaders from Mars, or the TV film "V" were pretty horrific. Next Gen Star Trek was not. At all. Give me the UNKNOWABLE of space, rather than just another Galactic Civil War involving diplomacy and stand-up battle (because of failed diplomacy).<br /><br />Anyway. The fact that you've carried on BlackStar this long using a cobbled system IS impressive. Probably, it just needs to be written up with its own rules...<br /><br />However, if you're looking for system suggestions, you might take a look at the GUMSHOE systems. It is definitely focused on the "investigative" aspect of RPGs and two particular books (Ashen Stars and Trail of Cthulhu) are probably compatible enough to serve your purpose. Maybe. It's been a few years since I've read Ashen Stars, but I *think* it could be run in a faux-Trek fashion.<br /><br />[you might look at WarpStar also...a kind of WH40K RPG. The premise of the thing is great and might be adaptable to your needs. However, I *HATE* the system they used to execute the thing]<br /><br />Anyway, please keep on keeping on. I promise to be attentive to BlackStar posts in the future. Meanwhile, I'll start working on my own mash-up of Classic Traveller and Beyond the Supernatural...<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-15979268769411488092022-05-13T17:33:35.880-05:002022-05-13T17:33:35.880-05:00Mothership is well worth looking at for scifi/spac...Mothership is well worth looking at for scifi/space horror, and while not horror focused Starforged (part of Ironsworn) is loaded with excellent roll charts.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01311153861887498970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-36472173209509961362022-05-13T16:41:28.351-05:002022-05-13T16:41:28.351-05:00"I have all those choices listed above and th..."I have all those choices listed above and that is also not counting games like Eldritch Skies that also combine space travel with Cthulhu/Mythos."<br /><br />I was going to suggest maybe a look at Dark Space from Iron Crown Enterprises, but since it's long OOP and doesn't appear to be on sale through DTRPG (although Noble knight seems to have a copy) I guess it wouldn't help much. It certainly did the Cthulhoid horror side of things well enough, although the scifi side of it was less Trek and more a mash-up of Dune, Fading Suns, and some Spelljammer elements. Interesting setting, if nothing else.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.com